By Bose Adelaja

If not for their physical challenge, only God knows what inputs Adewale Opebiyi and his wife, Olanrewaju, would have been making  but nature twisted them and this led to visual impairment. Imagine how they run their daily activities without sight!  From domestic to commercial activities, it all implies earning income, fetching water, cooking, sourcing for foodstuff, clothing themselves, making outings, crossing bridges, accessing roads and so many other things without support !!

They have been  happily married for ten years and the marriage is blessed with two children, a boy and a girl.

They were not born blind but tragedy struck at different times before they met. Adewale, 46, and the only surviving child of his aged parents, is from Awori, Lagos State while the wife is an indigene of Ibara, Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State.

Adewale  was brought up in Agege and Mushin areas of Lagos but studied mechanical engineering in Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta and bagged Higher National Diploma in 1991. But when he could not get a white collar job, he started a private business by supplying petro-chemical products and this later paid off with the assistance of a friend.

Olanrewaju Opebiyi and son

In 1997, he went on a trip to Ibadan in company of a business partner and both were on their way back to Lagos after the business transaction when they were involved in an accident after they had burst tyre while the vehicle was on top speed. The business partner died on the spot but Adewale was rescued with serious injuries.

The accident cost him his life savings as hospital in-patient and out-patient for three years after which he became visually impaired.

Meanwhile, the determined engineer waxed stronger in spirit as he did not allow the challenge to wear him down. He enrolled at Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted Children, Oshodi, to learn how to use the braile as nature had placed him on the dark side of life.

After the training, he took up life challenge by venturing into block moulding business. Imagine a visually impaired venturing into that line of business! Think about the business concept: Sourcing for materials like water, sand, cement, moulding and mixing equipment! He resided in a rented apartment but, overtime, space for his business became a constraint as he could not display his blocks for sale. The family had to relocate to the family house at No 13, Amose Town, Meiran/Ijaye.

Few years after relocation, the house started dilapidating to the point that all residents abandoned the building for safety but Adewale and his family could not but remain there due to lack of fund. In the process, he started renovating the house with his block and business proceeds but the economic situation became a hindrance.

During Sunday Vanguard’s visit to the family, Adewale claimed that inspite of his challenge, he could  mould blocks with six bags of cement a day. ‘’A bag of cement produces about 45 blocks of six inches and I use six bags per day and sell the blocks made therefrom  at the rate of N170 per block”, he stated.

On their journey into marriage, the couple still remembered vividly their first meeting.

According to Adewale, they met at Pacelli. ‘’What attracted her to me was her sweet solemn voice and we became friends. Later, we were joined in holy matrimony though we waited for three years before the fruit of the womb came,”he stated.

Olanrewaju, 44, attended U.N.A Primary School, Iju-Ishaga and Ajuwon High School, Ogun State before her predicament.    The wife, a craft person, engaged in private practice but could not continue after relocating to the husband’s family house.  So she went into petty trading, especially in sachet water and soft drinks.

Challenges

Friends of the family provided her a deep freezer which aids her in the business but one thing is lacking: constant electricity to ice the drinks as power supply is not reliable in the neighbourhood.

In a chat with  Sunday Vanguard, she said her challenge was mainly procuring generating set as there was virtually no electricity supply to boost her petty trading. ‘’I need capital to boost my business and a generating set for cooling,” she said.

When asked about the children’s education, she said, ‘’We intended to enroll them in a public school but we had the challenge of proximity. The nearest public school to us is on the other side of the express-way, so, for safety reason, we decided to enroll them in a nearby private school with our meagre resources.”

In the case of Adewale, he needs to upgrade his block moulding equipment and produce quality blocks for sale to enable him meet family challenges, mobility to supply clients and renovation of the house or relocation as the house is dilapidated.

Asked why they were unlike many physically challenged people who take to begging for a living, they responded, ‘’Begging for alms is a taboo to us. We have to put in our best into what we are doing and leave the rest to God.”

The children, Aanuoluwapo (God’s mercy is great) and Oluwasemilogo (God has glorified me), aged 7 and 5, are not visually impaired. The couple were asked how they manage to take care of the children and Olanrewaju said, ‘’I recognize them by voice and feeling. The recession is taking its toll on us. Nigerians should help us.”

Out of curiously, the reporter asked them why they married each other and they responded, ‘’People who are not visually impaired rarely marry the visually impaired because of responsibilities.”

The couple is well known    in Amose Town because of their  hardwork.

One of their neighbours, simply identified as Baba Sade, said his family patronises the couple to encourage them. He said, ‘’Jokes apart, their likes are rare. They wake up before everybody to attend to their children. This touches my heart and I instructed my wife to patronize them. However, their drinks are not usually iced because public power supply, which is poor in the neighbourhood, is their major source of electricity. As for the blocks, the man is doing well but many customers prefer the products to be taken to their sites.

The neighbours pleaded with government and well-meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of the visually impaired couple.