PUNCH
There are perhaps a few people in the world today who can hold on to their goals and convictions tenaciously through the haze of disabilities like Murtala Shuaibu.
The visually impaired mechanic, who hails from Agbede, in the Estako West Local Government Area of Edo State, has been fixing cars for over 30 years.
Among many residents of Tugamaji, a community on the Gwagwalada Expressway, Abuja, where Shuaibu’s auto workshop is located, he is popularly known as ‘The blind mechanic.’
However, his popularity soared on social media recently when a Tik Tok user, who claimed to be one of his clients, made a short video about him.
In the viral video, which has now been viewed more than 80,000 times, the 55-year-old blind mechanic briefly describes how he accurately troubleshoots and fixes a variety of automobiles.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the father of two, who resides in Kano State, said he became blind while driving a car in 1996.
With a tinge of confidence in his voice, Shuaibu explained that the encouragement he received from people around him boosted his resolve to continue working as a mechanic.
He said, “I am a visually impaired mechanic. I am 55 years old and I have two children – a boy and a girl. I started learning this work in 1988 but I went blind in 1996.
“Before then, I was physically ill and sought treatments, some of which I think had side effects that affected my sight. I started to have blurred vision in both eyes. Initially, I thought it would go away but it got worse.
“One day, while I was driving, I lost my sight and could no longer see with both eyes. It was like being in the dark all of a sudden, but I resolved to continue as a mechanic because that was the only source of living that I knew.
“At the initial stage, I was living in regret but people around me encouraged me not to dwell on my disability but continue with my work and there were people who believed in me.
“That was what convinced me to continue working. I became visually impaired before I got married, so I decided it shouldn’t stop me from my life goals.”
Trained ears, hands
Having lost his sense of sight – which is vital for his job – Shuaibu began to steadily adjust to the proficient use of his sense of hearing and touch to repair cars.
He recalled, “At first, it was very challenging to repair cars as a visually challenged person. I thought it was impossible for me to fix cars, identify their defective parts and gauge their problems without my sight. In fact, I almost gave up in discouragement, but my persistence and courage kept me going.
“I had no other means of work and rather than become a beggar, I decided to put my mind into adjusting to my new situation. So, I began to train my hands, nose, and ears to make up for my lost sight. I mastered car parts with my hands and attuned my ears to the sound of engines so I could detect when there’s a problem. That is why if I hold a spanner in my hands, I can tell its size and use my hands to chart where I should apply it.
“I also rely on my nose to sense if there is a fault with the cars I work on. After a period of years, my ears became sensitive to figuring out what is wrong with a car and my hands adapted to changing automobile parts with minimal assistance.
“Now, once I listen to the noise of your car, I can tell you its problem whether it is coming from the amber or there is a stabiliser leakage or the nozzle needs to be serviced and fixed. I work on Toyota, Honda, and other some other cars.”
From his early beginning as an apprentice to a local mechanic, Shuaibu steadily began to gain mastery of the skills required to fix automobiles.
Soon, he began to receive positive feedback from his clients who marvelled at how he easily figured out car faults and from there, they began to recommend him to their friends and colleagues.
