Health
Fighting for dignity: Daily struggles of physically challenged entrepreneurs
Daily, physically challenged persons are quietly redefining survival through shoemaking, tailoring and other vocational skills to escape a life often associated with begging and dependency. However, behind these stories of resilience lies a harsher reality of rising production costs, weak social protection and limited access to decent work, raising urgent questions about whether skill acquisition alone is enough to break the vicious cycle of poverty and exclusion, writes AYOOLA OLASUPO
For years, Ahmed Adebayo grappled with a reality familiar to many physically challenged persons in Nigeria: poverty, dependence and the ever-present lure of street begging.
Born with a hunchback and severely deformed limbs, the Kwara State indigene faced daunting odds from an early age.
With little support to cater to his welfare and limited opportunities available to him, survival was often a daily struggle. Yet, instead of joining the growing number of physically challenged persons who resort to begging on the streets, Adebayo chose a different course.
In his modest roadside workshop in Ogun State, the rhythmic sound of hammers striking leather echoes daily, replacing despair with purpose.
Seated among worn tools, scraps of leather and unfinished footwear, the physically challenged shoemaker told our correspondent how learning a vocational skill became his pathway to self-reliance.
According to him, his work helps him resist the temptation of street begging despite the economic hardship and physical limitations he continues to face.
He revealed being the only physically challenged apprentice among the six in the workshop where he learnt his craft.
For him, a sense of hopelessness and the fear of who would cater for his welfare pushed him into shoemaking, a vocation he learnt in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
Although mobility challenges and occasional harsh treatment from his boss, who sometimes appeared to treat him unfairly, worsened his situation, he remained determined not to give in to despair.
“I decided to learn shoemaking because there was nobody to cater for me. I felt the little I could make from this work would stop me from going to the streets to beg,” Adebayo said.
He lamented the rising cost of shoemaking materials and low patronage from customers, noting that many clients often complain about prices despite the high cost of production.
Despite these challenges, Adebayo continues to work patiently, producing footwear for customers who often bargain prices far below his expectations.
Adebayo’s experience reflects a wider reality captured in global health data, with the World Health Organisation estimating that about 1.3 billion people globally live with some form of disability.
Efforts despite risks
Beyond the challenges of running a small shoemaking business, every trip to purchase materials comes with its own fears.
For Adebayo, riding his fabricated mobility motorcycle along the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is particularly difficult given his condition.
He said, “I just do it because at least I’m getting some money to feed myself. That is even why I’m still patient at work. Coping for me is by God’s grace because it is really not easy, especially with my condition. At my current level, it is not as if I make enough money, but I’m just managing so that people will know that I have something I do for a living.”
Speaking with our correspondent, Adebayo said that although he occasionally receives gifts from sympathetic individuals touched by his resilience, his ambition goes beyond charity.
He hopes to expand his business and become fully independent.
“Most people give me gifts when they see my condition. I’ve been surviving on that too, and I really appreciate their support. Another challenge I face is when I go to buy materials. I’m always scared riding my fabricated bike along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. I always summon courage.
“I’m very grateful that I don’t experience discrimination. Right now, the only thing I’m asking for is financial assistance because I really need to expand my business so people can see that I am serious with my work,” Adebayo added.
Asked how his vocational skills have impacted his life, he said they have reinforced the belief that disability is not inability, adding that with the right support, many persons living with disabilities could earn a living, contribute to society, and live with dignity rather than depend on alms for survival.
Adebayo’s case is not isolated. Across Nigeria, vocational training is gradually changing the economic realities of many physically challenged persons, offering them alternatives to dependency and street begging.
From tailoring and catering to hairdressing, welding, and shoemaking, disability-focused programmes are helping many acquire skills that restore both income and self-worth.
Yet for many beneficiaries, survival remains a daily struggle.
For 22 years, the resilience of a visually impaired vulcaniser, Oluwabamidele Olopade, has helped him earn a living rather than depend on charity.
At 49, he continues to repair tyres despite being visually impaired.
He turned a roadside workshop into a tool to fight poverty, stigma, and cope with personal loss.
His journey into the trade was driven by a desire for self-reliance. Unwilling to join the ranks of people begging for alms, he embraced vulcanising to support himself and his family after life took a different turn following a series of events in the early 2000s.
Becoming visually impaired strained his marriage and led to a separation that has lasted more than 17 years. Yet, his determination remained intact, as he continues to report to his roadside workshop daily, relying on experience and instinct to repair tyres.
Customers still doubt my delivery
Due to his physical condition, opportunities beyond his workshop are scarce, as many clients prefer to hire able-bodied workers for jobs outside his immediate environment.
Others, however, are eventually surprised by the quality of his work.
Olopade recalled convincing a sceptical car owner to allow him fix two damaged tyres, a task he completed successfully, earning both the customer’s trust and admiration.
According to the father of two, on some days he earns only a few thousand naira, while on others he makes nothing at all.
Whatever income comes in is often consumed by debts and household responsibilities.
He said, “I’m not getting enough money, but I don’t have any other option. Sometimes I may be in my workshop and make only N200, N1,000, N3,000, or even nothing. Most of the time when I make more sales, I use the income to clear my debts. Because of my condition, people don’t like to engage me for jobs outside my workshop. They prefer to give the work to someone else.
“There was a time a customer came to fix his car tyre. As I was trying to detach it with a jack, the person said I shouldn’t worry anymore, but I insisted that I could fix it. I eventually convinced him, and when I finished, he was happy with the job I did because I fixed two tyres. He then paid me, and I told him that with my condition, people like him can help me, especially if they support me by bringing their tyres for repair.”
Rejected but not defeated
Although Olopade is passionate about music, lack of funds has denied him the opportunity to develop his talent.
Yet, his dream is to expand his business by adding tyre sales, a move he believes would improve his income and secure a better future. For now, he relies on perseverance while appealing for support that could turn years of hard work into lasting stability.
For Suliyat Adigun, losing an arm in a motor accident five years ago plunged her into severe financial hardship and left her struggling to feed her children.
She recalled sinking into despair, often crying herself to sleep and feeling dependent on others. But learning tailoring became a turning point that restored her dignity and sense of purpose.
Adigun said many customers initially dismissed her work after seeing her condition, but she refused to allow her disability to define her future.
“There were days I cried myself to sleep because I had no money to feed my children. People saw my disability and assumed I was destined to beg on the streets. Learning tailoring gave me a second chance at life. Today, whenever I sew a dress and earn my own money, I feel a sense of dignity that no amount of charity can give me.
“I have faced rejection, ridicule and disappointment. Some customers would walk away the moment they saw my condition, believing I could not do quality work. Those moments hurt deeply, but I refused to surrender to pity. Tailoring became my way of proving that my disability did not take away my talent, dreams or right to earn a living.”
She recalled a time when she depended heavily on neighbours for food and struggled to afford basic meals. Today, every outfit she makes represents independence and self-reliance.
“Tailoring has not made me rich, but it has given me something more important: hope, independence and the confidence to move around without shame,” she added.
The Ogun-based tailor said her greatest fear was that her children would grow up watching her struggle to survive. That fear, she noted, motivated her to learn a skill despite the obstacles she faced.
“Sitting behind my sewing machine is more than earning an income. It is a lifeline that rescued me from despair and restored my self-worth,” she said.
At Ojodu-Berger in Lagos, 27-year-old Esther James, who has a speech impairment, now earns a living as a fashion designer after completing an eight-month tailoring programme in 2024.
“Before now, I depended on relatives for almost everything,” she explained through her seven-year-old son, who interpreted her sign language. “Now I make clothes for customers and support myself. People no longer pity me; they respect me.”
‘Relatives abandoned me’
For Kazeem Aderibigbe, a physically challenged beggar in Mowe, Ogun State, the desire to learn a skill remains unfulfilled.
He said poverty and the daily struggle for survival denied him the opportunity to acquire vocational training, forcing him into begging after being abandoned by relatives.
“I would rather spend my day working in a shop than standing under the sun waiting for people to show me pity,” he said.
“The hardest part is not my condition; it is the feeling of being forgotten. If I had access to vocational training, I believe my life would be different. I’m doing this because my family abandoned me, so I have nothing else to do.”
‘A skill could change my life’
Adamu Isah lost his right arm in 2014 when Boko Haram insurgents attacked communities in Borno State.
Once a yam farmer, he said the injury ended his livelihood and forced him to relocate to Ogun State, where he now survives by begging.
In tears, Isah said the lack of access to vocational training has deprived him of the opportunity to rebuild his life.
“When people give me money, they see my disability, but they do not see my dreams. I was a yam farmer in Borno before this happened to me, but today I am begging because I can no longer farm. I beg because I cannot do anything with one arm.”
Growing number of PWDs
Across Nigeria, millions of persons with disabilities face barriers similar to those confronting Adebayo, Olopade, Adigun and others.
Estimates place the population of PWDs between 29 million and 35 million, many of whom remain excluded from formal employment and vocational opportunities.
According to the WHO, vocational rehabilitation is vital to helping persons with disabilities achieve independence and participate fully in society through access to decent work and sustainable livelihoods.
Globally, about 1.3 billion people, 16 per cent of the population, live with significant disabilities, a figure driven by rising non-communicable diseases and increasing life expectancy.
In Nigeria, the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities estimates that between 29 million and 35 million Nigerians live with disabilities.
The association’s President, Abdullahi Usman, said the estimate was derived using the global benchmark that places persons with disabilities at 15 per cent of every national population, applied to Nigeria’s 2025 population projections.
According to the report, Kano State has the highest estimated population of persons with disabilities at about 2.5 million, followed by Lagos State with approximately 2.1 million.
Usman said the data would help governments, development partners and advocacy groups design more inclusive policies and interventions.
Behind the figures, however, are daily realities of poverty, stigma and limited opportunities, challenges that skills acquisition programmes are beginning to address.
The Disability Act
To protect the rights of persons with disabilities and promote their inclusion, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act into law in 2019.
The law prohibits discrimination in education, employment and public services, while prescribing penalties of up to N1m for corporate organisations and N100,000 or six months’ imprisonment for individuals found guilty of discrimination.
The Act marked a shift from a charity-based approach to a rights-based framework for inclusion.
However, experts say its impact has been limited by weak implementation, poor awareness and inadequate institutional support, leaving many persons with disabilities still struggling for equal opportunities and economic inclusion.
Support, don’t stigmatise PWDs
Speaking with our correspondent, businessman and founder of KC Kennedy Ventures Ltd, Mr Kenechukwu Okoye, said two of the three physically challenged persons who recently enrolled in his trading and entrepreneurship training programme successfully completed it.
He revealed that one trainee had an amputated arm, while another had a speech impairment.
Okoye, who deals in household and consumer products, said he has, over the years, created opportunities for persons with disabilities to acquire skills that can be practised from home.
According to him, disability should never be a barrier to productivity or financial independence.
“Disability is not the end of a person’s life. I wanted them to realise they could still make an impact in society and be useful to themselves,” he said.
He urged individuals, organisations, and business owners to be more supportive of persons with disabilities seeking vocational training, stressing that access to mentorship and skills development remains key to empowerment.
States making efforts
As conversations around inclusion continue, the Lagos State Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, earlier this year, trained persons with disabilities in financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
Some participants also received start-up tools to help them apply the skills acquired.
The initiative followed the free registration of 100 PWD-owned businesses by the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs in 2024.
The state government said the programme was aimed at creating a more sustainable business environment for the disability community.
Similarly, the Ekiti State Government disclosed that between 2023 and 2025, 130 persons with disabilities benefited from skills acquisition and empowerment programmes under Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration.
Create jobs for PWDs
A board member of the Vocational School for the Blind, Mr John Yekini, said vocational training alone cannot transform the lives of persons with disabilities without corresponding employment opportunities.
Speaking at a quiz competition for blind secondary school students, he urged the government to prioritise job creation and meaningful inclusion.
“There is no point in training the blind without giving them jobs. We need to work. We need to provide for our families,” he said.
Enforce employment quota
Disability advocacy group TAF Africa called for the full implementation of the five per cent employment quota for persons with disabilities in public institutions, alongside digital skills training, inclusive procurement policies, and stronger partnerships among government, the private sector, and disability organisations.
The organisation’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Jake Epelle, said many government empowerment programmes fail because beneficiaries are often left with certificates but without access to capital, markets, or jobs.
He argued that vocational training should be viewed as a pathway to dignity, self-reliance, and inclusion rather than a welfare intervention.
“Persons with disabilities do not need pity; they need opportunity. They do not seek dependency; they seek equal access,” he said.
Pathway to economic inclusion
A Professor of Development Economics at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Hussainatu Abdullahi, described vocational skills as one of the most effective tools for reducing poverty and unemployment among persons with disabilities.
According to her, practical skills enable persons with disabilities to become financially independent, contribute to society, and reduce reliance on family members or public support.
She also noted that Nigeria’s education system places too much emphasis on white-collar jobs at the expense of vocational and technical training, limiting opportunities for many citizens.
Investment not enough for PWDs
Abdullahi said Nigeria is losing significant economic potential due to inadequate investment in skills development and limited opportunities for persons with disabilities.
She noted that many graduates lack employable skills because of an overreliance on theoretical learning.
Abdullahi said targeted investments in vocational training could stimulate entrepreneurship, create jobs, and boost economic growth.
Enforcement gap threatens Disability Act
Commenting on the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, Abdullahi identified weak implementation as its greatest challenge.
She called for stronger political will and accountability to ensure the law delivers meaningful benefits to persons with disabilities.
“Nigeria has many well-documented policies and frameworks capable of improving citizens’ welfare. The problem has always been implementation,” she said.
When contacted, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Minister of Women Affairs, Jonathan Eze, did not respond to calls and text messages seeking his reaction.
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