If determination and resilience were the yardsticks to etch one’s name in gold in life, then maybe Mohammed Mustapha has done so numerous times. Born and raised in the dusty plains of Mafa, a tiny agrarian community in the heart of Borno State, North-East Nigeria, the 32-year-old has witnessed suffering in its most cruel form. The second of 11 children, he grew up not knowing what relative comfort means or even looks like.
While many toddlers in urban centres played around joyfully under serene atmosphere, as early as age three, Mustapha and many kids in Mafa had started helping their parents do tasks that can be considered strenuous. It was a tough world for them. Harsh as it was, life got a lot tougher for him two years later when he lost his sight to measles. Things have never remained the same.
“Immediately I lost my sight at that tender age, I remember almost everybody in our community turning against me, as if I had suddenly become a leper,” the school teacher told our correspondent during a telephone conversation from his base in Maiduguri, capital of Borno, earlier in the week. “Parents instructed their children not to play with me anymore or even allow me come close to their houses, I became like a taboo all of a sudden,” he added.
The next few years presented all manner of problems before young Mustapha. Apart from becoming the laughing stock of other children and the community at large, his life’s journey had no clear direction especially with formal education nowhere near in sight. However, by the time he turned eight, his father, after being advised to get him out of Mafa by all means, decided to dump him at a school for special pupils in Maiduguri. He had had enough of the troubles and mockery associated with having a visually-impaired son.
“Since my father could not think of ending my life, he thought that the best way to get me off his neck was to dump me at the special school in Maiduguri,” the 32-year-old cut in sharply. “But he never knew that he was in fact paving the way for a big future for me,” he said.
Arriving in the capital city without being able to communicate in either Hausa or English languages, Mustapha’s joy of finally having the chance to acquire formal education quickly vanished. Back in his native Mafa, Kanuri was the dialect spoken. Even though there were slight similarities to the more widely-spoken Hausa in most parts of Northern Nigeria, the differences were enormous, thereby creating a big challenge for him. He was completely in a strange land.
“If I could see with my eyes, maybe at that point, I could have run away from that school because I couldn’t communicate with anyone,” he recalled with some bit of nostalgia. “Even though there were other children with visual impairment and other forms of disabilities, it was an entirely strange environment for me.
“It took about three years for me to learn how to speak Hausa properly before gradually learning English. I remember crying a lot at the place as a result of these frustrations,” he said.
But like the resilient being that he is, the 32-year-old soon adjusted to his new life. Apart from mastering both languages needed to communicate and excel at the academic institution, Mustapha displayed good qualities, dazzling his way to the top of his class all the time.
“After settling down in the school, I began to do very well in my academics through the help of our good teachers. I received a lot of prizes for my performance and conduct that I quickly became very popular among staff and students. It was a very exciting period for me considering where I was coming from and the rejection I had faced even from my family. It gave me hope for the future,” he explained.
Inspired by his performance at that elementary stage, the visually-impaired teacher took his pursuit of more education to another level by enrolling in the secondary wing of the special school he had attended in Maiduguri even though his family lacked the resources with which to sponsor him. But rather than allow that deter him, Mustapha used his poor background as motivation to continue to forge ahead. By the time he sat the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, and National Examination Council in 2011, it became even more evident that the boy from Mafa was on his way up.
“After the results of both exams were released, my joy knew no bounds,” he said excitedly, chuckling briefly before continuing. “I got 13 credit passes from both exams, I was very happy because it wasn’t an easy feat for someone who lost his sight as a child.
“The following year, I sat the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and I scored 228. I had applied to study History Education at the Gombe State University but when the admissions list was released, I was offered Bachelor of Science in History. I had to accept it anyway since I really loved history as a subject and discipline. Apart from doing a lot of history in secondary school, my interest in the discipline grew further after listening to a radio programme one day where a professor in the field shared his knowledge.
“While many of the people I later met in school told me that their parents were not really happy over their decision to study history, my father and other family members didn’t say anything to me because they thought I couldn’t make any headway in life. My father told me that he wouldn’t stop me from going ahead with my academic pursuit but that he didn’t have and won’t give me a penny for my education. It was a very demoralising period for me,” he revealed.
Gathering the few naira notes that he could lay his hand on – about N10, 000 in all – Mustapha set out for Gombe – hundreds of kilometres away – to commence his registration and life as a university undergraduate. But the money he had on him was far below the N56, 000 he needed to complete his entire registration. He risked losing his admission and biggest chance of achieving his academic dreams – his only hope of securing his future.
“At that point, there was every reason for me not to continue with my academic pursuit because the money to even take care of my registration wasn’t there,” he said.
“But I wasn’t going to let that deter me, I was prepared to realise my goal no matter what,” he said.
While still moving from one part of the school to another to at least pay the few fees the little money on him could cover, Mustapha ran into the vice chancellor of the institution at the time, Professor Abdullahi Madi. Like blind Bartimaeus in the Holy Bible, who had an encounter with Jesus Christ, his fortunes changed for good.
“Immediately Professor Madi saw me that morning, he stopped to talk to me. He told me he was touched by the fact that a visually-impaired person like me could still seek higher education. Thereafter, he told me to see him at his office the next day, which I did.
“When I got to his office, he treated me like somebody he had known all along. But the surprising thing for me was that after giving me words of encouragement for a while, he offered to sponsor my entire university education. It was as if I was dreaming, I couldn’t believe it at that moment. But then that was who he was, kind and generous.
“To help me do well in my academics, he also provided a laptop computer and other important things. Apart from me, he also sponsored other physically-challenged students in the school through a foundation he set up. In fact, without his help and support, I would never have become a university graduate.
“I come from a community where a lot of people including my father wrote me off in life. I remember a lot of people coming to him to ask why he allowed me to go out of Borno to pursue higher education. They questioned the essence of the education I was running after since I had no sight. My father pressured me several times to take to begging for alms instead of going to school but he gave up eventually when he realised I wasn’t going to give in.
“But I am grateful to God for mercies because many of the people, who questioned my decision to pursue education and wrote me off, came to me to beg for forgiveness. They said they were sorry for trying to stop what God had ordained.
“Before going to study History at Gombe State University, I had gone to the University of Jos to do a diploma in special education. I couldn’t continue there because of lack of funds. But I am really happy that today, I am a university graduate despite everything that I have been through in life,” he said.
Shortly after finishing from higher institution, Mustapha, like most young graduates across the country, was faced with the challenge of securing a decent job. Being visually-impaired, his chances were in fact slimmer than others considering the stigma many in his shoes are subjected to. Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt – the 32-year-old hit the road every other week looking for a livelihood. The more he searched, the more frustrating it became. But just when people told him to give up and resort to begging on the streets, luck, again, smiled on him. He has been smiling, too, since that period.
“On one of my visits to Abuja, I was fortunate to have been interviewed on a radio programme. After stating that I was a university graduate and that I would love a teaching job rather than begging on the streets, the governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, got to hear about me and invited me over.
“He ordered that I should be employed as a teacher in the state immediately and posted to a normal school even though I would have preferred being sent to a special school. However, at the end of the day, I was posted to a place where I had the opportunity to teach both normal and special pupils. I have been working there for six months and everything has gone on fine,” he revealed happily.
One month after finally landing his dream job, Mustapha took the bold step of quitting bachelorhood by marrying his sweetheart – Zainab – a visually-impaired young lady he met while undergoing teaching practice in Bauchi State. Though people tried to discourage them from marrying each other due to their lack of sight, their love grew stronger instead with every tick of the clock. Happily dwelling as man and wife today, the couple in fact have bigger dreams ahead of them. They are resilient in their resolve to break barriers.
“My ultimate goal is to become the first blind professor from Borno State,” the teacher disclosed.
“I have begun the process of commencing my doctorate, by God’s grace next year I should start fully.
“I am also putting plans in place for my wife to also attend university. I want her to acquire more education so that she too can become an important person in the society in the future.
“Though we may not have eyes to see, God has given us the mind to pursue our dreams and become anything we want in life. He has brought me this far in life to let people in my community who wrote me off know that He alone has the power to decide how far I can go in life. I really wish my father were alive today to see what God is doing through me,” he said. – Punch.
