Seated in a wheelchair, Muhammad Dalhatu and one of his seven employees assembled a cooking stove he had built. Enclosed in a square steel frame and mounted on four sturdy metal supports, the stove uses a small air blower to force air into the combustion chamber, enabling used engine oil to burn with a steady blue flame similar to that of a conventional gas cooker.
The stove is the latest in a series of innovations developed by Dalhatu to reduce emission and address local deforestation in communities relying on firewood for cooking.
He said people with disabilities are often among those most affected by extreme heat, prompting him to venture into producing charcoal briquettes and energy-efficient stoves that do not rely on firewood.
“Our charcoal briquettes are made from maize stalks, rice husks, groundnut shells, and other biomass materials,” Dalhatu told Explorer English.
In 2016, just three months before his wedding, Muhammad Dalhatu was involved in a road accident. The crash left him with a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him.
The accident shattered nearly every aspect of his life. His wedding was called off, and the private company where he worked terminated his appointment.
Speaking to Explorer English, Dalhatu recalled that some people advised his parents not to sell their property to fund his treatment in India, arguing that the effort would be futile.
He was eventually flown to India for treatment. When he returned to Nigeria, he was in a wheelchair, despite the hopes of many that he would walk again.
“Whenever I see a person with a disability begging, I would tell myself, ‘This is how my life will end,” Dalhatu recalled.
The fear of becoming dependent on others pushed him to discover a talent he never knew he had. He turned to innovation, determined to build a different future for himself and change what he describes as the “ugly narrative” of begging among persons with disabilities in northern Nigeria.
A new beginning
Muhammad Dalhatu, now the founder of MDU Ecochange Solution Ltd., rose from an employee to an employer. He has built an enterprise that employs seven people.
By promoting his products on social media, he has expanded his market beyond his home state Adamawa. Today, some of his products are sold across Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon as well as Sahel nations.
His achievements earned him national recognition. He emerged as the only person with a disability to win Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Award in 2026 and the only recipient from northeastern Nigeria.
Dalhatu said people with disabilities can explore different ways of earning a living instead of relying on begging.
“As a person with a disability who has gone to school, you can start extra lessons for children in your community. You can also start a business with the little you have. Begging can only diminish your dignity as a human being” he said.