Disability Is In The Mind: Man With Hearing Impairment Makes the Best Shoes In Garki Market.
Robinson Ekene is a 42-year old man who was born with hearing impairment, he can neither hear nor speak but his disabilities have not limited him. Little wonder it is said that “Disability is in the mind and not in the body”.
Ekene as his is fondly called makes exceptionally good shoes at Garki Market Abuja. He describes himself as the most reliable shoe maker and repairer; This he also believes is the reason he can bank on the loyalty of his customers.
It was not his disability that caught the attention of Kapitalfm online , but the quality of his work, the flock of customers he has and his relationship with them.
Though we couldn’t get someone to interpret the sign language properly, communicating with Robinson was not a difficult task since he can read and write. According to him, he was born with the hearing impairment and because of that, he couldn’t attend a normal school like other children of his age at the time. He attended a school for special needs children but could not further his education due to financial constraint.
His disability and lack of education has not limited him as he curved a niche for himself in the shoe making business. Ekene makes both male and female shoes.
Two of his customers told Kapitalfm Online that he makes beautiful and affordable shoes .
“He makes very good shows and his shoes are very affordable. Most of these nice shoes you see here are going for just two thousand naira (2,000). Another commendable thing about him is, he takes his time to do his shoes very well, some shoes I bought from him, I have used them for almost a year and they are still very strong. He is my longtime customer, knows how to repair shoes very well too, ever since I discovered him, I don’t take my shoes to any other place for repairs” That came from Mr Anthony, his customer of 5 years
Mr okeke also had something to say.Hear him “I will say he does his job very well, the only problem I have with him is that if you give him your shoe for repair, you must stand guard if not he will just drop it and start working for someone else. He has too many customers and most people always want their job done immediately, so most times he succumbs to pressure from other customers who want their jobs done immediately. Other than that, he does his work very well. I have bought a couple of shoes from him too, even these sandals I’m wearing I got it from him”.
When asked if he trains others, he said, he has trained more than five persons and he is currently training someone with hearing impairment as well.
Robinson Hails from Orji-river local government area of Enugu State, He is the only son of his parents amongst three sisters. He has been married for four years and his marriage is blessed with a daughter. His prayer is to get enough money to expand his business and also take care of his family.To that we say Amen.