For those of us who love soccer; there have been those
moments when we pray silently in our hearts for the officiating referee to help
our teams out of trouble. I do not think there are many football players who
will turn down a penalty freebie from a referee when their teams need an
equalizing or winning goal.
A lot has already been written about the fairytale leap from
grass to grace of Olajumoke Orisaguna so I will not attempt to retell the
story. I must express my joy at such a dramatic change in fortune for this
young woman and her family. The individual who offered her time and platform to
help a stranger deserves a lot of praise in all this and that I must state
gives me greater joy.
TY Bello needs no introduction; she is blessed with one of
the most beautiful voices I have ever heard and her albums her on constant
replay on my music playlist. She has done worthy and inspiring things before;
she produced a documentary to highlight the activities of an elderly woman Mama
Ekundayo who had devoted her life to taking care of orphaned children. Transforming
Olajumoke from a bread hawker to a portrait model is not a publicity stunt; I
believe it was a reaction to her heart’s prompting and she should be proud of
herself.
The human being fails many times to do good to his/ her
fellow human so I believe any act of selflessness should be commended. Doing good
does not come naturally to many people and some have found it very difficult to
see any good out of Jumoke’s story. I have read where a few people made guarded
remarks and offered free advice to Jumoke to remain level headed and to ensure
that her family did not suffer adversely from her new found fame.
I really do not understand why we always expect that there is
a bigger chance that things could go wrong instead of right especially in a
case like this. I do not expect that a former bread hawker with a husband and
two children would lay waste of a real opportunity to get out of a difficult
life. I do not expect her to alter her menu considerably and adopt an exotic
lifestyle which is lightyears away from what she was used to simply because she
got a big and expected break. Would I lose my mind assuming I got a break of
such magnitude? I do not think so even if there is a very slim chance. It will
take a monumental failure of character on my path for such to happen; Jumoke
may not be formally educated but it will be wrong to assume that a young lady
who braved relative indignity and hardship to fend for her children is devoid
of durable character.
There are important points to note from #Olajumoke’s story
other than a “rags to riches” theme. It could have been an undergraduate young
lady without any economic challenge who photobombed TY Bello’s shoot. It could
have been a very tall, dark and well-toned young man who was returning from a
difficult day at work; Olajumoke was definitely not the only person who
strolled past that day but her pleasant smiling face outweighed the well
balanced platform of bread upon her head. The first point to note is that TY
Bello and all involved in the “Transformation agenda” chose to do something
good to a stranger and this Nigerians must emulate. We may have cameras or
make-up kits but we can be good and responsible citizens of Nigeria, great
friends and caring family members. We can also help complete strangers and
those who are unable to pay for our services or repay us for our sacrifices.
Jumoke is 27 years old and can barely put two words of the
English language together. There are millions like Jumoke spread across the
nation who are without education and reduced to difficult lives despite
learning vocations. This clearly shows how Nigeria has failed an entire
generation. Millions with potential may never get a stage to showcase their endowments
and skills; families and entire communities may continue to wallow in poverty
why the privileged few continue to live and parade themselves through the land
like royalty which they are not.
This is an emergency which must be urgently reversed. There
is no amount of money that is too much to invest in educating and improving the
economic strength of the least amongst us. This is what we should all be
advocating and fighting for instead of scouting for opportunities to enrich
ourselves just like those who have plundered the nation’s commonwealth recently
did. We should not allow the children still on their mothers’ backs become
Olajumoke ‘pre-TY Bello’ no child should have the dream of hawking wares while
hoping to crash a movie shoot. There are many like her, many like me and you
who only need one chance for a breakthrough. Jumoke got hers and we should
rejoice with her instead of anticipating a meltdown which unfortunately has
characterized many lottery winners.
The haters should calm down and simply try to experience good
for once. Some are upset the entire event has been attributed to a divine
intervention while one individual questioned why God watched on while Jumoke
struggled until a few weeks ago. Should it really matter if a winning goal is
scored in the first minute or the last second of injury time? I will always be glad that people like Jumoke get the chance to change their lives. Corporate bodies are known to endorse celebrities so Jumoke has simply gotten part of what would have been earmarked for overpampered entertainers and opportunists.
There is no shame in receiving such help when it is offered. May we not miss our opportunities and our big breaks when they come.
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