‘I wrote SSCE with foot, bagged 7 credits, but still beg for alms’

Daily Trust: How did you become physically-challenged? 

Ahmadu Yakubu: I was born with it. My parents tried their best to look for medication, but to no avail. I eventually began to use my feet to do whatever I need to do for myself. With them, I can do everything that someone with hands can do. Nobody taught me to do that. From that I got interested in going to school. I started attending primary school in Kude, then proceeded to secondary level.

DT: Was there a section for physically-challenged persons in the school?

Yakubu: No, I was the only one in my class. But it went well; I finished successfully and got seven credits from NECO and five credits with WAEC. 

DT: Then why haven’t you proceeded with your education, resorting to begging for alms like you are now?

Yakubu: That was my ambition, and it still is, to further my education. But right now, I can’t afford it. The institute I want to attend is far from my house and I need to have a motorcycle that will assist me. There also are other school expenses.

DT: Who supported you earlier to finish your secondary school?

Yakubu: No-one. I only use the holidays to go to town and beg. Whatever I get, I use for my transport and feeding till another end of session. I wish I could fend for myself. I’m not begging because I want to. It is that I have no choice.

DT: What’s your ambition after that?

Yakubu: I want to become a teacher. I also want to start writing and publishing books. But for now, my mind is on going back to school first.

DT: Being physically-challenged, what are the issues you’ve encountered when writing exams?

Yakubu: None at all. Sometimes I finish earlier than others. Even for mathematics, I use calculators with my feet. Phones, too. In fact anything that someone can do with hands, I can do same with my legs. 

DT: Why did you come to Abuja?

Yakubu: I came to beg and gather some money to go back and buy a motorcycle which I want to use for transportation to school. I’ve been here for three weeks now.

DT: Is the government aware of your predicament, and zeal to further your education?

Yakubu: Yes, both Jigawa State and Dutse Local Government. They are aware. I went several times and I even met the Caretaker Chairman of the LG, but they have not done anything for me yet. At the state level, I’ve been going there since I was in SS2.

I will like to appeal to the government at all levels to look into issues concerning the disabled. Some of us aren’t happy begging for alms. We need just a little assistance and encouragement to be great citizens. With more help, and attention, even those who are coming up will learn from us, and begging will be reduced to a bare minimum, maybe even abolished.