For five
years now, despair has become a constant companion for Abdul-Jabbar
Abdulrazak, a primary two pupil of Islamiyah Pilot Science Primary
School, Bauchi Road, Jos, Plateau State, who slept one night and woke up
blind in the morning.
years now, despair has become a constant companion for Abdul-Jabbar
Abdulrazak, a primary two pupil of Islamiyah Pilot Science Primary
School, Bauchi Road, Jos, Plateau State, who slept one night and woke up
blind in the morning.
The minor was said to have been struck by a
strange illness suspected to be occasioned by demonic attack about 1.00
am on the ill-fated day during his sleep, barely two years after his
birth in 2012.
Efforts by his poor parents to find
medical help took them from one clinic to another, before they were
advised to visit the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), where he
was diagnosed of a disease called eclampsia.
medical help took them from one clinic to another, before they were
advised to visit the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), where he
was diagnosed of a disease called eclampsia.
After spending six months in the
hospital, he was discharged, but without regaining his sight. Later, he
started suffering feats of convulsion, during which his mouth foamed
with the eyeballs popping out of the sockets especially at night.
However, his distraught parents forged ahead in their search for a
solution, this time, seeking help at the doorsteps of traditional
doctors and spiritualists. Yet, they returned home disappointed after
each attempt.
hospital, he was discharged, but without regaining his sight. Later, he
started suffering feats of convulsion, during which his mouth foamed
with the eyeballs popping out of the sockets especially at night.
However, his distraught parents forged ahead in their search for a
solution, this time, seeking help at the doorsteps of traditional
doctors and spiritualists. Yet, they returned home disappointed after
each attempt.
Rather than relief, the boy’s condition
worsened daily, with his parents increasingly becoming frustrated after
exhausting their meager financial resources in the elusive search for
cure. Soon, his mother, Halima, who was nursing a six-month-old baby
slid into an emotional wreck, becoming dejected and angry at the
slightest provocation.
worsened daily, with his parents increasingly becoming frustrated after
exhausting their meager financial resources in the elusive search for
cure. Soon, his mother, Halima, who was nursing a six-month-old baby
slid into an emotional wreck, becoming dejected and angry at the
slightest provocation.
Unable to bear the agony and trauma she
had been subjected to as a result of Abdul-Jabbar’s condition, she woke
up one day, packed her belongings and moved out of her matrimonial home,
abandoning the child to his fate, and his father. That was in 2014, but
reports indicated that she has remarried.
had been subjected to as a result of Abdul-Jabbar’s condition, she woke
up one day, packed her belongings and moved out of her matrimonial home,
abandoning the child to his fate, and his father. That was in 2014, but
reports indicated that she has remarried.
Sources said the hapless boy was left
alone at home whenever his father, Abdulrazak, went out in search of
menial jobs to put food on the table, prompting Khadija, his aged
paternal grandmother, to relocate him to her home at Angwan-Rogo, a
suburb in Jos North Local Government Area of the state.
alone at home whenever his father, Abdulrazak, went out in search of
menial jobs to put food on the table, prompting Khadija, his aged
paternal grandmother, to relocate him to her home at Angwan-Rogo, a
suburb in Jos North Local Government Area of the state.
Despite his health challenges, she
enrolled him at Islamiya Pilot Primary School, Bauchi Road, Jos, in
2015, where he is currently a primary two pupil in a class for the
visually handicapped.
enrolled him at Islamiya Pilot Primary School, Bauchi Road, Jos, in
2015, where he is currently a primary two pupil in a class for the
visually handicapped.
But as if constantly trailed by
misfortune, Abdul-Jabbar was hit by another strange disease in April,
this year, which paralyzed his arms and legs. On that day, he suffered a
severe bout of convulsion, which eventually affected his arms and legs.
misfortune, Abdul-Jabbar was hit by another strange disease in April,
this year, which paralyzed his arms and legs. On that day, he suffered a
severe bout of convulsion, which eventually affected his arms and legs.
After being rushed to a General Hospital
at Toro, Bauchi State, where he was treated, he was said to have got
some relief, which however, was short-lived; his grandmother’s hope of
seeing him regain the use of his arms and legs, crashed like a pack of
cards.
at Toro, Bauchi State, where he was treated, he was said to have got
some relief, which however, was short-lived; his grandmother’s hope of
seeing him regain the use of his arms and legs, crashed like a pack of
cards.
Undeterred, the woman who is engaged in
commercial grinding of grains with hired machine to earn a living, took
him to two eye centres, Arab Eye Clinic, Bauchi, and Arab Optical
Clinic, Kano, with a view to at least, restore his sight; sadly, that
effort also ended in vain.
commercial grinding of grains with hired machine to earn a living, took
him to two eye centres, Arab Eye Clinic, Bauchi, and Arab Optical
Clinic, Kano, with a view to at least, restore his sight; sadly, that
effort also ended in vain.
Since then, life has been a nightmare for
Abdul-Jabbar, now aged seven, even as he invests hope in God. Though
resolute in his quest for education, his greatest worry is how to get to
school; more so, as Kabiru and Dahiru, his schoolmates, who usually
assisted in carrying him to school on their backs, graduated last month.
Abdul-Jabbar, now aged seven, even as he invests hope in God. Though
resolute in his quest for education, his greatest worry is how to get to
school; more so, as Kabiru and Dahiru, his schoolmates, who usually
assisted in carrying him to school on their backs, graduated last month.
“My friends who usually carried me to
school on their back have completed their studies in my school; they are
going to JSS 1 in another school. How I will go to school in September
when we will resume from the current vacation has been my biggest
problem,” he remarked recently in Hausa at the Crest Hotel Jos, during
an event where the President of the Rotary Club of Naraguta-Jos, Theresa
Oritsemajemite Eyetan, presented a wheelchair to him, alongside seven
of his classmates.
school on their back have completed their studies in my school; they are
going to JSS 1 in another school. How I will go to school in September
when we will resume from the current vacation has been my biggest
problem,” he remarked recently in Hausa at the Crest Hotel Jos, during
an event where the President of the Rotary Club of Naraguta-Jos, Theresa
Oritsemajemite Eyetan, presented a wheelchair to him, alongside seven
of his classmates.
That gesture, he says, has lifted his
spirit and given him a flicker of hope, and he did not mince words in
expressing his joy. “Rotary Club has given me a wheelchair to ease my
movement; the challenge now is that my hands are weak and not strong
enough to push the wheel of the chair, but I am grateful because I can
get someone to push me to my destination. I hope to walk and regain my
sight someday, as I was not born with my present condition,” he said.
spirit and given him a flicker of hope, and he did not mince words in
expressing his joy. “Rotary Club has given me a wheelchair to ease my
movement; the challenge now is that my hands are weak and not strong
enough to push the wheel of the chair, but I am grateful because I can
get someone to push me to my destination. I hope to walk and regain my
sight someday, as I was not born with my present condition,” he said.