Life was going well for him and his family until something tragic halted the smooth ride! It was an accident that left his left limb shattered. Life took a nose dive as he was despatched to the world of occasional begging along the streets of oil-rich Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. This is the story of Orji Orji.
Saturday Tribune came across Orji Orji near a popular hotel along Airport Road in Port Harcourt last weekend. He was, as it were, hopping hastily to a roadside food vendor to have his supper.
“I’m rushing to that food seller (pointing to a spot) to take some food. I’m hungry,” he disclosed when accosted by our reporter.
When asked why he didn’t go home for his meal, he chuckled and said the little meal at home could only cater for his wife and children. “I can go hungry, but not my little children and wife. I allow them to manage what’s left at home while I look for how to get something into my belly,” he said.
The reporter delved into knowing more about Orji and how the current economic situation has been treating him.
“My name is Orji Orji from Ebonyi State. I have been in Rivers State for several years.
“I have three children and a wife and we live somewhere not far away from here.
“I am in my late 50s. The stress of using these crutches is making me look older than I am, though.
“During the Rotimi Amaechi government (2007–2015), I was on a motorcycle when a car hit us from the back and ran away. That was in 2008 when I was returning from work.
“I was taken to a hospital and I was treated there. After the treatment, I wasn’t getting better so I had to agree to amputating my left leg. I was given an artificial leg there for free.
“In addition to the artificial leg that the hospital gave to me, an Indian man that owned an Indomie company here also gave me another artificial leg.
“I survive by asking for alms from people. But if I am given a tricycle to drive in order to make money, I will be able to drive it conveniently. But who will render such help? Who will God send?
“The little money I make from what people give to me is what I’m using in sustaining my family.
“In addition to the little I’m having, my wife is also selling petty things. My children are in school. They are attending government school,” he narrated.
For Orji, his plight and those of several other indigent Nigerians could be alleviated if the country is blessed with humane and caring leaders.
“Sometimes one wonders if the government is aware people like us are sharing the Nigerian space with them.
“The government doesn’t care about people like us. The situation in the country is telling mainly on the poor.
“The situation of the country is making me angry because of the hardship and the increase in the prices of things and the helplessness of we the poor.
“If I’m asked to advise the government, I will tell them to look for a way to make the country livable for all citizens, especially the poor. Isn’t that why they were elected into office?
“They should find a lasting solution to stabilizing the country before it’s too late,” Orji averred.