As a young man in the village in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with bilateral leg paralysis, I crawled on my fours due to lack of adequate rehabilitation as the Nigerian civil war raged on. I endured excruciating pain on my knees and toes as I crawled. 

I longed for a means of mobility that could help me move around in a more dignified manner devoid of pain and humiliation. I found no succour and when the Nigerian civil war started, any hope of my rehabilitation was dashed as everyone was focused on survival.

I developed contracture on my knees and hips. So when the war was over and my parents began to seek for means of my rehabilitation, I was taken to a Salvation Army run rehabilitation centre at Oji-River where I had to undergo a serious operation to release the contractures on my knees and hips in the course of my rehabilitation. 

Those days are really the most difficult days of my life. I met a lot of children with similar situations. Though I realised that I was not alone, the pain and humiliation we suffered was deep and hurting.

However, I persevered and believed that I would triumph and so I started pestering my father on going to school especially when my elder brother started school. As a child, I never considered the difficulties I would encounter going to school as my only means of moving around was by crawling. 

I eventually started school and the rest is history. When I look back, I draw a lot of inspiration from my ordeal and I hope to do something to make life easier for those who find themselves in a similar situation. This experience and others are behind my love for research and development of mobility aids and appliances. 

Among my series of innovations is Cosokoli Easyrider, a rugged tricycle designed for the disabled to reliably move around with ease, speed, comfort and safety. The challenge I have now is the funds to mass produce the tricycle to reduce the price and make it affordable to the disabled. 

Work is now in progress to develop a solar powered Motorized version of this product. This will be a game changer for the disabled.