King of Ibadan blind beggars boasts: ‘I have three wives, many children’
The ‘king’ of the blind in Oyo State, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed, who was among hundreds of beggars relocated from Sabo area of Ibadan to a newly built resettlement centre by the Oyo State government, in this interview by Saturday Tribune’s OLUWOLE IGE speaks through an interpreter about the new abode, expectations from the government and other sundry matters. Excerpts
HOW do you feel about your relocation to this new resettlement centre?
I am very happy about it and my people are very grateful to Governor Seyi Makinde for the care and compassion he has for us. This place is good and better, compared to where we were staying before. It has facilities which have made life easier for us. We are appreciative of the kindness demonstrated by the governor.
What else do you want the government to do for you and your people here?
We want the governor to build separate rooms for those of us with wives and children. As a married man, it is not ideal and appropriate for me to be sleeping in a general room with my wives. So, I am imploring the governor to help us construct rooms for married couples among us. Though the present expansive rooms here can individually accommodate more than 20 people at a time, government should build different rooms for us that have wives.
How many wives do you have?
I have three wives and plenty children Are you not satisfied with the facilities on ground here? We are satisfied, but that separate room accommodation is very important. We have water from the boreholes, health centre, two blocks of toilets with about five convenience rooms and solar power. However, we want the state government to provide us with electricity (from IBEDC) so that if the solar power is not available, we can use electricity to charge our phones and other things we need electricity for.
How do you feed here?
The state government is taking care of our feeding here. There are people engaged by the government who serve us three meals every day. They give us different kinds of foods like rice, beans, yam, semovita, tuwo, noodles and other foods. We are very happy about these gestures.
What is the population of the people in this resettlement centre?
We are more than 3,000 in this resettlement centre. You can see our children and wives over there. Some of them have gone out. We also want the state government to build a school here for our children. (Saturday Tribune)
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