People call me ritualist for not having fingerprints – Kaduna-based videographer

Hauwa Suleiman, a 23-year-old videographer and fashion designer from Kaduna, spoke to Ayoola Olasupo about the challenges she faced due to a rare condition called Adermatoglyphia, which causes individuals to lack fingerprints. She became aware of her condition during her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in 2017.

Initially, she thought the issue was with the machines, but when she sat the exam and the biometric system failed to capture her fingerprints, she realized something was wrong. Hauwa had to repeat the UTME, and her second attempt also failed due to the biometric issue. Eventually, she was allowed to write the exam with the disabled option, which helped her secure admission into the university.

Despite this, she never encountered another biometric challenge until she registered for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). During her NYSC registration, Hauwa informed the authorities about her condition and provided a medical report, which helped resolve the issue.