In the case of 42-year-old Shehu Baba, despite the impairment on both his lower limbs, which sometimes makes walking difficult for him, he still opted to turn a blind eye to begging. Sitting in his wheel chair, he explained, “Even though I was engaged in begging for sometimes, I discovered that it brought one’s self-esteem to the lowest level, especially if the degree of the impairment is nothing to write home about”.
Until 30 years ago, Shehu Baba was a normal person, walking like every other normal human being. At the age of 10, he fell into a well in Ganjarma village in Borno State while trying to fetch water. “That was when I sustained an injury on my knee cap which later deteriorated to my present condition as a result of the bad treatment I received as well as the second accident I had”.
He added, “But, thank God, my mother ensured that my right leg became active again. She spent a lot of money she sourced from friends and relatives, and I was able to regain my lower limbs. However, I constantly use a wheel chair up to today.
His first effort to grab the tiger by the tail in order to fight his disability was at the time he joined an adult education class at the Methodist School in 1982. “The first step I took in order to become self reliant after coming to terms with my deformity was when I enrolled in an adult education class in 1982 at Methodist School in Jos”.
During his days at the School, Shehu Baba met with others who were suffering from one form of disability or the other. They advised him to join the association of the disabled. “I was told that the association was a platform that protected the interest of the disabled people, so I joined them”.
His decision to join the group paid him well when he was nominated and sponsored among four other persons with different disabilities to enrol for a two-year programme at the famous Plateau Relevant Technology Board, Jos in 1984. “Plateau Relevant Technology is a school that teaches people, including the disabled, different skills which can help them be self-reliant”.
Shehu Baba did acquire the skills at end of his two year programme in 1986, but he spent a long time at home doing nothing. He explains: “After my graduation, I spent quite a lot of time at home doing nothing due to the employment embargo placed on disabled persons then”.
He was, however, lucky when he was later recommended by the Plateau State Ministry for Women and Social Development as a government nominee to work as a petrol attendant at the Jos branch of Total Nigeria Plc.
“With that job I was able to sustain myself and my family of six and I always call on people with one physical disability or the other to fight their inner self by facing the challenges of the world like every other normal person. I believe that is the first step in realising the potentials in you as a person with deformity”.
But the ordeal Shehu Baba suffered when he fell into a well appeared not to be his last. In 2005, he was involved in a motorcycle accident while on his way to work which brought back the injuries he sustained earlier to a fresh status. In the incident, he lost his lower limbs. “I was involved in car accident in November 2005 which compounded my problem, but that did not prompt me to go out there and beg”.
Upon examination at Bimma Hospital and Orthopaedic Centre in Jos, the Chief Medical Director, Dr. I. Igo in his medical report diagnosed Shehu Baba of a various deformity of the left knee and ankylosis of the right knee which required a surgery called arthrodesis of the right knee in a functional position and high –Tibia osteotomy of the left leg.
“I think that is the only problem that hinders my work and now the ailment has relapsed and I have written to the management of Total to come to my aid as I hardly spend two weeks without an attack. This cripples me completely and affects my effort to feed my family of six”.
Asked whether his condition has made him to give begging a second thought, he responded thus, “No, the truth is I don’t want to beg, all I am after is to get my legs back so that I can continue with my work. I have been working with Total for over 18 years and I don’t intend to stop because that is where I earn my living, though I cannot go to work every day as a result of the recurrent attack on my lower limbs. Besides, I have written to the management on my condition and I believe that one day they will help me to undertake this surgery as it requires quite a huge amount of money before it can be carried out”.
