My name is Danjuma Adamu, I am 32 years old and born crippled. I have been in Lagos for 17 years. When I got to Lagos, I joined a sports t...
My name is Danjuma Adamu, I am 32 years old and born crippled. I have been in Lagos for 17 years. When I got to Lagos, I joined a sports team but we were catered for only when we were needed to compete for the government. After that, we were left to sort ourselves out until we were needed again. In between these competitions, I go to a filling station on Awolowo road Ikoyi to beg for Alms.
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I saved up N35,000 from these competitions and decided to start a business instead of begging for money. I met a girl who sells recharge cards, I told her I have N35,000 but I would like her to sell recharge card worth N50,000 to me. I promised her I would pay back as I sell. Even though people tried to convince the girl not to give me anything on credit, she told me “I am going to help you because I see how you hustle around here. If you never return the 15k to me, I’ll take it that it’s gone, but for future’s sake, I hope you return it”
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The day she gave me the N50,000 worth recharge card, I was surprised at how people treated me. One man who is a regular customer came to buy fuel, saw me selling recharge cards and gave me N10,000 for N5,000 recharge card. At the end of the day, I sold all the recharge cards and people who would normally drive by without giving me anything, gave me money to support my business. The next morning, I returned the lady’s N15,000. I also put back into the business, my initial capital, the profit and all the money people supported me with which totalled N52,500
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After 3 years, I moved to Falomo bridge, facing oncoming traffic from Awolowo Road. Since I’m on a wheel chair, I can move around to face Dangote office or incoming traffic from Golden gate. One day, MTN officials came to me, told me I was doing well and they bought me this nice wheel chair and a very big umbrella. I don’t know how they knew about me but this has helped me a lot
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I have been selling recharge cards for nine years now. Now, I can fend for myself and family here and in the village. The difference between now and when I used to beg for alms is that I feel more important in my mind now, even people greet me with more respect and I get help even without asking.
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