Saibu Umar woke up one fateful morning with life out of his limbs, unable to walk again. He was then 10 years old. Now he is 74. He said he did not sit down to count and mourn his predicament, instead, he crawled and followed his parents to the farm.
Sabu was met during the week balanced on his locally-made wheelchair with an umbrella over his head to beat the sun and the stubborn rain that has refused to subside in October. His quartered territory is a portion at the Old Welfare Junction, Igbudu Market, Warri Delta State.
He wore a cheerful smile as he called out to Sunday worshippers, who were headed to and from their different worship centres.
Saibu spoke extensively on his life journey: “My name is Saibu Umar, I’m from Kano State. I am 74 years old. I have been in Warri for almost 50 years now. I have two wives and seven children.
“I wasn’t born this way. One day, when I was 10, I was running errands for my parents when I collapsed all of a sudden.
“Then, there were no hospitals so my parents used different herbal treatments on the leg but nothing worked.
“So I haven’t been able to stand or walk since that time. Because there was no wheelchair as of that time, I was using sleepers to crawl.
“As a result of my situation, I couldn’t go to school. In my condition, I was farming with my parents till I got to my 30s.
“After sometime, I left my parents, got married and started a business. I was selling clothes then in Kano. Life was hard for me as a result of my condition.
“After sometime, the business crumbled. Because of how difficult it was for me to lead a normal life as a result of my legs, I started begging. It was not favourable in Kano so I had to come to Warri, Delta State. I learnt you people were kind, here.
“I am still begging today because my children are not well to do and that is because, there was no money to send them to school.
“Some of them are into carpentry, one is a hairdresser, another one is riding Keke and so on. So they are managing on their own.
“Sometimes, I make N1000 to N2000 from begging alms and that is what I am using to feed. My children are all grown up, so I don’t send money home all the time.”
Having been around for over seven decades, Saibu said he has witnessed, firsthand, how Nigerians go from good to bad and worse. He recounted how N3000 could buy a cow of the same size that is now being sold for N800,000.
He added that the hardship in the country has made Nigerians turn against themselves as every man is looking for his own existential survival.
“Nigerians are suffering. As somebody who has been alive for almost 75 years now, I will tell you that.
“You know that there was a time when N3000 could buy a cow? That was how good life was for Nigerians then.
“All the government of this country know how to do is talk. They talk too much, make endless promises that they know in their heart that they won’t fulfill for the sake of getting votes.
“Mind you, it is not that there is no money to carry out these mandates, there is money but they have kept it for their generations to come.
“It seems the newer the government, the more difficult life becomes for the citizen.
“Tell me why it is almost impossible to be able to have a sufficient one square meal a day with N1000?
“The hardship in the country has made almost everyone heartless, especially traders. They now pray for government policies so that when they hike the prices of their commodities, they blame it on dollars,” he lamented.
When asked what he would like government to do for him, he said he had no expectations from the government. According to him, the government has never done anything for him.
Hear him, “What will government do for me? When the country was good, the government did not assist me in any way, is it now that the country is upside down that I will now put my hope in government?
“I have never expected anything from the government because all they do is promise and fail.”
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