Spare a thought for your namesake, Governor Tambuwal

Your Excellency,

The story of Aminu Abubakar Baruwa, as published in this newspaper last week, is the type that can rend the hardest of hearts. It is very easy for you to miss it, Your Excellency, since you are always busy attending to the task of governance. But one or two of your media aides might have seen it, especially strategically placed as it was, on page three of the paper. They will be in a position to confirm what I’ll say here or better still provide you with a copy of the paper or even get you the story online, since there are many ways to obtain the story in this day and age.

Before you wonder what it’s got to do with you, let me quickly say that your namesake Aminu Baruwa is a Sokoto state indigene who also resides in the ancient city.

According to the news story, which was filed by our ace reporter Hajiya Rakiya Muhammad, Aminu Abubakar Baruwa is a blind/mute/amputee who is forced to subsist by begging, though he had tried all he could to remain self-reliant in the past.

He was apparently born with all his faculties intact but a series of accidents, right from his infancy left him in his current state. At the age of a few months he lost his hearing, but that did not stop him from joining his siblings to attend Quranic school when he was older. At about the age of ten years, Aminu encountered his second mishap when he was knocked down by an overspeeding motorcyclist. Aminu ended up with fractures on both legs. Unfortunately the treatment he received couldn’t save the two legs and Aminu had to have his right leg amputated later. After this he remained at home for five more years, unable to do much with one leg and no hearing aid.

But at the age of 15 Aminu Abubakar decided to fend for himself against all odds, so he started to do petty trading at a shop on Marafa Danbaba Road, an area close to his family home. After a few years, Aminu was able to move from petty trading at a shop to travelling as far as Maiduguri and parts of Chad Republic, to buy and sell smoked fish.

Unfortunately, just when he thought he had found his feet again and could stand on his own, fate dealt him another blow. This undeterred and enterprising young man was diagnosed with Glaucoma, a serious eye disease which often leads to blindness. According to Aminu’s brother Lawwali, all efforts to save his sight weren’t successful and Aminu ended up blind as well. With this last blow, Aminu’s trading activities were brought to a halt. And though he does a lot of things by himself, like washing his clothes and going to the mosque for prayers, he nevertheless had to succumb to financial pressure and join the ranks of beggars.

This physically-challenged but proud young man is now compelled to sit by the roadside, at a spot near his family home and beg for alms. It’s the only way he gets what he lives on, his a brother Lawwali disclosed. This same brother also told Daily Trust Saturday that all efforts to get Aminu included among the beneficiaries of the 6,500 naira a month welfare package from the state government failed. In his own words ‘We tried all we could to get the people in charge of payment to include Aminu’s name but without success, so we just abandoned the struggle.’

And this is why I’m writing this open letter to you Your Excellency. Please, take pity on your poor namesake and get him included among those enjoying your government’s welfare package. Additionally, the state should sponsor Aminu’s medical check-up to see if with hearing aid or some walking aid his life could be improved on. A multiple-disabled man who still tried to fend for himself should be assisted to regain whatever ability he still possesses to make him self reliant.

In the same story, a sign language specialist named Faruk Ahmed Shehu, told our reporter Rakiya, that Aminu could learn a lot if placed under the  care of a specialist. This lecturer at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto opined that ‘Cases like that of Aminu are rare but when handled by experts at designated place or institutions, the person’s talent can be harnessed (and developed) rather than resorting to begging.’

So once again I am appealing to His Excellency, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state, to wade into this matter and come to the aid of this poor indigene of Sokoto state.