Olajumoke the Nigerian Cinderella - a real life fairy-tale

As children we all dream of being “discovered”, only a few ever get that privilege. This is exactly what happened to Olajumoke Orisaguna.

In a dusty street of Lagos, Nigerian photographer TY Bello  was doing a photoshoot of British rapper and popstar Tinie Tempah for his newest album. Little did they know the turn this would take.

Olajumoke was born in 1989 in a small town in Nigeria. She learned how to style hair as a way to support herself. She met her husband Sunday Orisaguna, and they married in 2010, and had 2 children. 

They were poor and struggled to get by. Her husband was in construction but times were tough. In 2016 she took one of her babies to Lagos to try to make some extra money selling bread. And it is here where her life was about to take a turn. 

She was moving through the streets of Lagos with bag of bread on her head when she walked passed Tiny Tempah, accidentally bombing his photoshot. No one thought anything of it and the photoshoot continued. 

A while later TY Bello was editing the photos and noticed the photo she took with Olajumoke in the background. She immediately realized this woman was born to be a model.

 She posted the image on Instagram and people were enamored. She set out to find her and finally did on February the 4th “So I found her …our beauty from the @tiniegram shoot and boy have I got a fantastic story to share with you all”

Her rise to fame was swift. She represented hopes and dreams and that the impossible can happen. Just days after her discovery she was featured on the cover of STYLE Magazine.

She went on to sign a contract with Few Modeling Management and has been featured on the covers of several magazines since, she was made the face of PayPorte campaign as well as the ambassador of Stanbic IBTC in 2016. Her story has inspired and brought hope to so many people. And it changed her life in a way she could never have imagined.