About three weeks
ago, 27-year old Olajumoke Orisaguna was a complete unknown on the
streets of Lagos, hawking bread. A loaf of bread is about N100, and
even with a full tray such as she carried in her first public embrace of
fame, her whole ware for a day may not be more than N3,000, with daily
profit between N300-N700.
She had trained as a hair stylist, got married but had to leave her husband and a daughter back home in Ire, Osun state, to “hustle” as it were in Lagos. The life of a bread seller in Lagos is easily imaginable: exposure to the elements, to sundry abuse, including the possibility of being raped by unruly artisans and bachelors, who will offer to buy bread and something else along with it, if the hawker is willing. This was Olajumoke Orisaguna’s reality until she ran into TY Bello and Tinie Tempah and her life changed. Today, she has been enrolled as a model. Her story has appeared in all newspapers, on CNN, Huffington Post, and virtually everywhere online.
Two companies:
StanbicIBTC and PayPorte have made her their brand ambassador. The
former even awarded her two daughters scholarships up to university
level. Her face has appeared on the cover of magazines. She is now a
student at Poise Finishing School, an intern with two beauty salons, and
a motivational speaker, even if she reportedly can’t speak English.
When she went to the office of the National Identity Management
Commission to get an identity card, NIMC also cashed in on her new found
fame to use her to promote the agency: “Olajumoke knows she needs to NIMC. She walked into a NIMC centre yesterday unsolicited. Olajumoke is smart. Be like her.” This must be the most saccharine endorsement of Olajumoke so far.
