{"id":4573,"date":"2013-06-01T16:26:57","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T16:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/we-pack-dirt-to-feed-pay-school-fees-physically-challenged-bridge-sweepers\/"},"modified":"2013-06-01T16:26:57","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T16:26:57","slug":"we-pack-dirt-to-feed-pay-school-fees-physically-challenged-bridge-sweepers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/we-pack-dirt-to-feed-pay-school-fees-physically-challenged-bridge-sweepers\/","title":{"rendered":"We pack dirt to feed, pay school fees \u2013Physically challenged bridge sweepers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A cosmopolitan state has its challenges, one of which is keeping the streets, roads and pedestrian bridges clean.<\/p>\n

In a state like Lagos, there is still a lot of negative attitude in terms of the disposal of waste.<\/p>\n

This is why pedestrian bridges, walkways, major roads and streets are strewn with waste dropped by passersby and motorists.<\/p>\n

One major sight on pedestrian bridges in Lagos is the presence of physically challenged men clearing dirt from the walkways at intervals.<\/p>\n

In the scorching sun or while it is raining, they can be found sweeping pedestrian bridges dotting major roads in the state.<\/p>\n

While sweeping, they pick alms dropped by sympathetic passersby. Some years ago, the Lagos Waste Management Authority absorbed them into its system and began paying them stipends.<\/p>\n

Some of the sweepers, who shared their stories with Saturday PUNCH,<\/i> gave tales of woe.<\/p>\n

At Oshodi Bus Stop, a few of these disabled sweepers can be seen crawling on their buttocks from one end of the long pedestrian bridges to another, armed with short brooms as hundreds of feet pound the aisles.<\/p>\n

Olayemi Ayoola told Saturday PUNCH<\/i> he had been a bridge sweeper for three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hardly feel it anymore when the sun comes out. I see people rushing past me in the hot sun and feel uncomfortable. I just laugh because I don\u2019t feel it anymore. I\u2019m used to it,\u201d the 35-year-old father of four said.<\/p>\n

When our correspondent spoke with him, it was 7.30 am. He obviously lived nearby to have been able get to the bridge that early.<\/p>\n

But surprisingly, Ayoola said, \u201cI live in Sango (Ogun State). It is a long distance away. In order to get to this place as early as possible, I wake up before 5am and stay at the bus stop until I get a bus.<\/p>\n

\u201cLatest by 7am, I arrive here. I start work immediately. By 2pm, my work is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told our correspondent that all his children were in school and that the eldest was a Basic 7 pupil.<\/p>\n

Ayoola is an amputee. His right leg is the only limb supporting him, apart from the walking stick he uses when he is done for the day and is going home.<\/p>\n

Ayoola was not born with just one leg, as he told our correspondent that he had an accident.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cIn November 2005, I had an accident. I was a commercial bus driver at the time. I was doing well. I even owned the bus I was driving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bus flipped over and my left leg was damaged. It had to be cut off. In 2010 when I realised that my family was suffering on account of my not being able to provide for them, I had to seek a way of putting food on the table, which was why I began sweeping bridges.\u201d<\/p>\n

While sweeping, Ayoola gets alms from magnanimous passersby. He said on a good day, he makes up to N1,000 in alms, most of which he saves for feeding and his children\u2019s school expenses.<\/p>\n

Ayoola holds just a primary school certificate but he has taken his fate in his hands and strives to provide for his family.<\/p>\n

Like Ayoola, Shehu Mohammed has been sweeping bridges for three years also.<\/p>\n

He lives at Alapere in Ketu area of Lagos.<\/p>\n

Mohammed told Saturday PUNCH<\/i>, \u201cI leave home by 6am in order to resume work at 7am. I\u2019m married and my children are quite happy that I can provide for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came to Lagos from Sokoto about five years ago. I was told there was plenty of work to do here and I could provide for my family. That was why I came to Lagos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old sweeper\u2019s right arm is shrivelled. It is obvious that he sustained a nasty injury that rendered his arm useless.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was eight, I was in our house in Sokoto when the building collapsed. One brick fell on my arm and I have not been able to use it since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

He too is married and has two children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful to people in Lagos because I am able to send my children to school because of their alms. I make up to N1,500 per day sometimes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Amisu Ibrahim, 36, is another sweeper from Katsina State.<\/p>\n

He is also an amputee who got one of his legs cut off after a terrible road accident in Katsina in 2004.<\/p>\n

He leaves his Agbado-Crossing home at 5am and crawls to a bus stop where he gets a ride to Oshodi.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim did not conceal his joy when our correspondent asked how many children he had.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have three now. My wife just delivered our third child yesterday. I am very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he made a surprising announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two wives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He told Saturday PUNCH<\/i> one of his wives lives in his father\u2019s house in Katsina while the second lives with him in Lagos.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim told our correspondent that his two older children attend school and he keeps them happy with the money he made.<\/p>\n

To affirm that, he said, \u201cWalahi talahi, I\u2019m not lying. I send my children to school. The money I make from alms here and the salary LAWMA pays me is what I use to send them to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Ibrahim\u2019s expression changed suddenly.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cIf I tell you that I have not been paid in the last three months, you may not believe me but it\u2019s true. I travelled for 10 days sometime ago, and because the man who supervises us came and did not see me at work, I was not paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve not been paid for three months since then. There is another man, a Yoruba man who sweeps the other side of the bridge. He is crippled but does not come to work every day, yet, he is paid regularly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the man that even if I\u2019m not paid, I will continue to come here and do this work. The goodwill of people and God\u2019s help will sustain me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, as he spoke, people passing by dropped money on his lap; N20, N50, N100. Ibrahim was happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, I get lucky and someone comes along and drops a N500 note. This kind of money greatly helps in paying my rent and the upkeep of my family. If I go home today with N800, the sum of N500 out of that goes to my wife. I keep the rest for transport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On the pedestrian bridge at Anthony Bus Stop, 34-year-old Samson Onasanya, who has been sweeping the bridge for six years, told Saturday PUNCH he was happy doing so.<\/p>\n

Onasanya said, \u201cThey give us alms but at least we don\u2019t have to beg for them. People give us money in appreciation of what we do for the society.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust imagine what this bridge will look like in a day if we don\u2019t sweep it. Look at the heap of refuse I\u2019m already sweeping this morning. Tomorrow morning, there will be as much refuse again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy I am where I am because my family is happy. My children are happy because I am not a beggar. I work and provide for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Ketu Bus Stop, the busy pedestrian bridge owes it clean nature to Saheed Olayinka, 40.<\/p>\n

Crawling on the his hand and buttocks as he uses his right hand to sweep the pedestrian bridge, he explained his daily routine to Saturday PUNCH<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI leave Opebi where I live at 6am and get here before 7am. I work until 2pm and go home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He goes about his work with gusto and words of appreciation as passersby drops alms at his feet.<\/p>\n

The Ogun State-born cripple said he was introduced to the job by a friend and had never had any regret.<\/p>\n

Olayinka said, \u201cEven though some people look down on us as if we are not human beings, I\u2019m happy with what I do. It can really be terrible sometimes. I use my hands to park faeces sometimes on this bridge just to keep it clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany who look down on us just don\u2019t know the kind of work we are doing to the society. But we are also thankful to the government for giving us stipends. There are many beggars on the streets but at least ours is different. We are able to make our families happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olayinka\u2019s skin, like other sweepers our correspondent encountered, looked blackened on account of the sun they are exposed to on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel the sun much. No matter how intense the sun is, I don\u2019t leave my work. If it starts raining, I simply spread my big umbrella and crawl under it until it subsides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Olayinka, a father of four, said three of his children are in school.<\/p>\n

Like the others, he is able to send them to school through the alms he gets from kind people and the stipend LAWMA pays him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI became crippled when I was still a child. I did not go beyond primary school level but I\u2019m not sad at all about my situation. I\u2019m happy I\u2019m one of those who keep Lagos clean,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A physically challenged sweeper, who identified himself as Saheed, was the one who introduced Olayinka to the job. He shuttles between Ketu and the pedestrian bridge at Ikeja.<\/p>\n

The state government pays these bridge sweepers N10,000 monthly but even though this is does not seem to be adequate for their upkeep, they are full of praises for LAWMA.<\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s spokesperson, Shade Kadiri, said there was no immediate plan to increase the monthly stipend of the sweepers.<\/p>\n

She said, \u201cThe idea of paying the stipend is to take them off begging and put them to use in service to the community. I cannot rule out an increment of the stipend though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is that because they are physically challenged does not mean they cannot earn a decent living. Part of the welfare package we have put in place for them include medical treatment. They also have access to loans which we deduct at very small amounts. You have to understand that some of them already have a vocation before getting involved in sweeping bridges.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is that after the few hours of sweeping, they can go back to the vocation which the loans are supposed to enhance.\u201d<\/p>\n

When our correspondent took up the case of Ibrahim who complained that he had not been paid for three months with her, she promised that the matter would be looked into as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

However, one thing our correspondent noticed about these physically challenged sweepers is that they were upbeat about their situation. Talking to them was a great experience as they showed no sign of depression.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: Punch Newspaper<\/p>\n

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