Murtala Shuaibu is one of perhaps a select few people in today’s society who can steadfastly adhere to his objectives and values despite his physical limitations. The sight-challenged mechanic has been repairing cars for more than 30 years. He is from Agbede, in the Estako West Local Government Area of Edo State.
Shuaibu is well-known as “The blind mechanic” among many people in Tugamaji, a neighbourhood on the Gwagwalada Motorway in Abuja, where his auto business is situated.
However, a TikTok user who claimed to be one of his clients recently released a brief video about him, which caused his fame on social media to skyrocket.
The 55-year-old blind mechanic quickly explains in the popular video, which has already had over 80,000 views, how he accurately diagnoses and fixes a variety of vehicles.
The Kano State-based father of two revealed to Saturday PUNCH that he lost his sight while operating a vehicle in 1996.
Shuaibu remarked that the support he received from others around him strengthened his commitment to carry on working as a mechanic, with a hint of confidence in his voice.
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 to 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 achieving my life goals.”
Trained ears and hands
Shuaibu gradually learned to use his senses of touch and hearing to fix cars after losing sight, which was essential for his job.
He recalled, “At first, it was very challenging to repair cars as a visually challenged person. I thought I couldn’t fix cars, identify their defective parts, and gauge their problems without my sight. 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 to 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 was 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 years, my ears became sensitive to figuring out what was 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, if there is a stabiliser leakage, or if the nozzle needs to be serviced and fixed. I work on Toyota, Honda, and other cars.”
Shuaibu learned the skills necessary to maintain cars gradually, from his early days as an apprentice to becoming a local mechanic.
His customers soon complimented him on his ability to diagnose car problems quickly, and as a result, they started referring him to their friends and coworkers.
Shuaibu explained to our correspondent how he goes about his daily activities and said he needed time and care to perfect his sensory abilities.
“When you bring your vehicle to me, I will ask you to start the engine, and then I will listen carefully to it. When you rev the engine of a car and something is wrong with it, if you listen carefully, you will hear some abnormal sounds that will emerge from it. Mechanics know this.
“There are times I ask the person patronising me to open up the bonnet, and I will use my hands to decipher or check what I think may be wrong. I can show you what is wrong or mention what you need to buy. If you want to buy the part yourself, that’s fine. I can send someone to help me buy it and fix it for you.
“But to be sincere, sometimes it is unbelievable how I work on cars, and I can easily detect what the owners don’t detect.”
Challenges encountered
Shuaibu still faces some difficulties despite his desire to overcome the limitations of his vision handicap.
Some folks find it challenging to trust me with their cars since I’m blind, he added. They are perplexed as to how, without having their physical sight, I can diagnose the issues with their vehicles.
“When I initially began out, convincing my clients of my abilities took a lot of time and work. Some people also try to underpay me or dispute with me when I explain the criteria for their vehicle. Fortunately, I am well-known in my workshop community and can identify my clients by their voices.
“Some curious people come around just to watch me as I work. Others bring me their cars, and as I do the repairs, they are amazed and recommend me to their friends and colleagues at work.”
Shuaibu, a blind mechanic, needs assistance from others to get around the city and get to Kano, where his family is located, which is 423 km from his business.
“I have the support of my friends and family members who help me. Though I work here in Abuja, I live in Kano with my wife and children. Sometimes, I have to close the workshop before 7pm when it gets dark in order to get home safely. It can be dangerous out there for people like me, and you can’t tell who’s who.
“When I want to travel to be with my family, I usually go in the company of my friend. Although there are several occasions that warrant me to rely on the kindness of others to cross gutters, board buses, or ensure my safety in public,
“I have a friend, Muhammed Ibrahim, here in Abuja under whom I work. He owns this workshop. My stay in Abuja is temporary, maybe for three or four months before I return to Kano State.
“Ibrahim sometimes goes to work on clients’ cars where I wouldn’t be able to go physically because of my condition. I stay with my friend whenever I am here in Abuja, and I also have a younger brother who also lives in this city.”
He continued, listing accommodations and transportation as two of the biggest challenges he had to face, particularly for people who are blind or visually impaired.
“Accommodation is one of the biggest challenges I contend with here. Another is mobility, especially for someone who is blind. Some of my clients live far away, and their cars have broken down completely in need of my intervention, and they have come to trust me.
“There is a physical limitation that my condition places on my profession, and that is why I hope to get a means of transportation with which I can meet my clients when their cars develop problems rather than waiting for them. I am also planning to get my own shop so that I can work freely in a space that is suitable for my physical challenge.”
The blind mechanic concluded by exhorting young people—especially those with physical disabilities—to never lose sight of their abilities and to resist giving up.
“Youths should have job skills even with education,” he remarked. “People with disabilities are endowed in their own special ways as well, and they must resist the temptation to give up.
“Young people should constantly be confident in themselves and understand their potential. When I went blind, I would have given up my job if I had been surrounded by pessimists.”