Adenike Oyetunde-Lawal is a remarkable human being full of compassion and strength. She answered the questions I posed in a calm, measured tone. She is a fascinating person and I hope you enjoy reading this article.
What do you do?
I do not know how to answer this and in what context but I would say I am trying my very best to ensure I am living in purpose, spreading my light everywhere. Most especially, I am ensuring that the many persons that cross my path experience a part of heaven. It might not be all the time but I try my best to ensure that I am in the moment. To answer your question, I function as the Senior Special Advisor to the Lagos State Governor. Actually, in my capacity, I advise on persons living with disabilities.
What exactly is a Gratitude Coach?
Ha ha, it is just two fancy words honestly speaking, but more realistically and practically it is my experience of being a grateful person or expressing appreciation and thankfulness. I realised that it started to impact a number of people. However, I decided to get an online certification of some sort during the pandemic to legitimize the whole thing. So, it is just me exemplifying and, I will be honest, that quite a number of people have been impacted. Not to toot my own horn, but I coach them on their gratitude journeys.
What legacy do you want to leave to the world?
I want to leave quite a number of things. I want to leave power and possibilities. I want to leave hope and the power to just be. I want every single person to talk about how my meeting them and their meeting me changed their worlds. I want to leave a legacy of kindness and hope in humanity. I want to ensure that I am as human as I possibly can. I might not be at 100 per cent but I can proudly say I am working towards that. Is it a possibility to get to 100 per cent, I do not know but I believe that time will tell? I want to leave the world knowing that truthfully like that Beyonce song says, “I was here, I lived. I loved; I gave all that it was that I had on the inside of me to give. I know that with God, there would always be something to give. It never ends.” Purpose always branches off into different expressions however, it remains on the same path.
What do you want your brand to say to the world?
Adenike chuckled as she made the very astute observation that this question is very similar to its predecessor. She says, “I feel like this question is very closely related to the last question. I want my brand to depict possibilities, hope, light, kindness. My brand will depict grace, a whole lot of grace. My brand will depict love in all its forms, love through even unlovable circumstances. I want my brand to scream, look at me, look at anything I do and anything that I support. My brand, to the world has to show laughter, happiness and joy.”
What is the Amputees United Initiative?
Amputees United Initiative is just me. In my own little way, acknowledging that there is a gap, paying attention to the mental well-being of younger children who were either born with limb differences or had acquired a limb difference at one point or the other. I just felt it was necessary for us to come together and have a community where we can create a safe haven for ourselves, push ourselves, support ourselves, encourage ourselves, hold hands, share our vulnerability and just demand for more, be accountable to each other and continue to refer one another for as many opportunities as we know that we are qualified for. This is
what AUI is all about.
What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
I would tell her to love more, network more, go out more, be daring, adventurous, just be her because as a thirteen-year-old, I was everything I dreamt I would be and there were no regrets as a 35-year-old now. I would try to explore a bit. I would tell my thirteen-year-old self to just go for it. Express yourself and reach for the stars and do everything you think you can.
Which three people, alive or dead, would you want to have dinner with and why?
This is an interesting question. I had never thought about this. One person that comes to mind easily is Rebecca Cokley. I am not sure if I got the pronunciation of her last name correctly but she is in charge or works with Joe Biden guiding policies on disabilities and I just got to read about her about three weeks ago. I read about her in a book, I tagged her on Instagram and she dropped a comment and she followed me back. It was awesome. One person, I would love to sit with. Hmm, I am not sure. There is really nobody I can think of. Maybe a person who can demystify and break down the crypto economy to me in simple terms and then thirdly, honestly, if we want to go the biblical route, I would not mind speaking to Rahab. I want to know. I just want to have a conversation not necessarily with her but be in her company. Another person is Saul, it would be fascinating to hear from him as well as Peter. I was going to mention a celebrity but they should chill where they are. I can read their memoirs. Those are the only two persons alive and the three dead people I would love to have dinner with and of course, I have told you my reasons why.
What three things do you think disabled people should focus on right now?
- Being economically or financially empowered.
- Galvanizing support and coming together and just doing what we want to do for
ourselves. - Think outside the box in terms of need, say a non-profit which is working on
something. We need to start to look for things that would outlive us and what would
outlive our immediate needs. We should also reach out to others in different
categories of persons living with disabilities.
What would you say to a newly injured disabled person? What advice would you give
them?
Wow! I would say this is a whole new ball game, an entirely different ball game and easy on some days, harder on some but doable on all days and at all times. I would also say, determine for yourselves what you want to achieve regardless of your disability and then just go for it. Wouldn’t you rather try, attempt and fail at it than not even making any attempts at all? I would also encourage a newly disabled person or a person now living with a disability to you know, if you can, take the option of exploring the world, live outside of Nigeria. You should experience what is like to live with a disability in a different country. Another piece of advice I would give is to try and ensure that one is economically or financially empowered because nobody wants a liability. I think those are the things I would say. I would also say that you are not alone, there is a community of people who are like you, who can help you, reach out, do not stay by yourself, do not stay locked in. You might feel that you are alone. Nope! There are many of you out there who can and who are so just reach out to them.
Wheelchair Girl 
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