Twenty-five year-old Fatima Aliyu may be physically challenged but she is very industrious. She is engaged in animal husbandry as well as tailoring for a living. Fatima from Maikujera village, Rabah Local Government Area of Sokoto, is also not just involved in the activities of the association of the physically challenged in Sokoto, she is as well the chairperson of the female wing of the group comprising about 300 women.
She is one of those who receive the N6, 500 monthly allowance of the Sokoto State Government to the physically challenged in the state. Fatima who is a divorcee with two kids, decided to use the N6, 500 wisely by investing it in animal husbandry.
“Since 2008 when we started receiving the N6, 500, I began rearing animals. I bought a sheep at N5,000 and a goat at N3,000. The sheep gave birth to two rams which I sold to attend to some financial needs. The animals kept multiplying and at present I have seven in number.
According to her, she sold the first ram at N19, 000. She was full of gratitude for the N6, 500 monthly assistance which she said had gone a long way in helping her start a business and realize profit to meet some of her needs.
Fatima also observed that, “the N6,500 being given to us has really helped in reducing the number of beggars on the streets.” She, however, wants the gesture to spread wider so that more of her counterparts, who are yet to be registered, would be accommodated.
However, before the monthly N6,500 which she decided to put into animal husbandry, she had been involved in tailoring to make ends meet and she is still actively engaged in it.
She said she learnt the trade at the vocational centre of the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria, FOMWAN, in Sokoto.
Fatima said she chose to learn tailoring because it is much easier for her. She said she has four years experience as a qualified tailor.
According to her, she now trains her relatives and whoever is interested in learning the trade, adding that she has trained about eight people mostly her relatives.
She looks forward to getting contract to train others and sew uniforms and other items on large scale orders from organisations.
But how does Fatima effectively blend all her engagements – tailoring, animal husbandry, chairmanship of her association – and taking care of her children? She said after her two children, aged seven and four – leave for school, she goes to Sokoto Central market where she remains between 10am and 3:00pm to attend to association matters and then goes to attend to domestic matters and her tailoring business.
She has a tailoring shop near the Isa Maikware Jumaat mosque in Sokoto city and gets helping hand from a relation.
Fatima disclosed that usually she makes N4,000 to N5,000 per month from her tailoring business. However during the month of Ramadan, she revealed that she rakes in about N10,000 to N20,000 as patronage is high.
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I combine tailoring and animal husbandry to earn a living … Says 25-year-old female cripple