Ending Dependency: MAARDEC Takes a Multi-Dimensional Approach to Rehabilitation of Disabled Nigerians (Innovations Case Narrative: MAARDEC)

Abstract

because I was fortunate enough to get a good education and the rehabilitation and equipment I needed. As a primary school pupil in the 1970s, I had to crawl on all fours; no mobility aids were available. My older siblings got me to and from school on a bicycle. During my holidays as a secondary school student, I was dismayed to discover how dependent I was on my brother to drive me everywhere in our father’s car. I was petrified at the thought that he might not have time to drive me or would refuse if we were to quarrel. And what if I worked hard enough in the future and bought a car of my own? Would I have to depend on a driver? Determined never to be dependent on anyone for transport, and eager to assert my independence, I secretly developed a device that let me drive using only my hands. I researched it extensively, sneaking into my father’s car to test prototypes. My first attempts failed woefully, but I eventually developed a model that worked. When my test-drive ended in a minor crash, my father was furious. But when I graduated from university, my family helped me acquire a car, which I drove using the device. Called the Cosokoli Hand-Control Mobilizer, it allows people with lower limb paralysis and amputations to drive conventional cars using only their hands. [See Text Box 1 on following page.] The mobilizer was my second innovation. As a secondary school student in the late 1970s, I struggled with my leg braces, which constantly fell apart. Moreover, by their very nature, the braces kept me from wearing other types of shoes. So I made sketches of a better and more durable brace that would allow me to wear any type of shoes. A roadside welder and technician brought my sketches to life. After several refinements and some testing, I began to use the braces that I dubbed the Cosy Easy-fit-in Calipers. A quarter century later, our organization has fabricated thousands of these versatile, electroplated leg braces for clients who marvel that they can wear them with conventional shoes.