Meet Abdul, a disabled with a difference. Right outside the entrance to Shoprite Mall in Adeniran Ogunsanya, Abdul rolls his chair form one visitor to the other, brandishing his stock of white handkerchiefs and face towel for sale.
Ordinarily you would have expected him to be begging for alms from the shoppers, but that is not the case of the proud and sharp-mouthed disabled man. I wanted to take his picture without his knowledge but he caught on sharply and asked if I wanted a shot of him. I said I did, and he posed beautifully for me.
He was allowed to move his minute self around the premises of one of the biggest shopping malls in Africa because he had something to offer.
Rather than wait for the measly change or alms from shoppers who would hardly pay him any attention; he puts his hand into use selling an item that could fetch more money.
Dare I say, he is an embodiment of hard work and self-reliance, he portrays the fact that being a disabled should not confer you to a permanent chair of begging. Neither should limitations and obstacles stop you from being all that you can be.
