• ‘Why we couldn’t realise our ambitions’ • ‘We don’t encourage our children to take after us’ • How fate changed their destinies
From Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
Taiwo and Kehinde Popoola are blind identical twins based in Osogbo, Osun State, where they are eking out a living as newspaper agents and vendors. Born on November 25, 1970, cruel fate befell the Popoola twins with blindness. It came after secondary school due to glaucoma, which was not detected in good time.
Problem started when they suddenly discovered that they could no longer see properly attributed to shortsightedness. They were in primary school then. When all medical efforts failed, they resigned to fate and moved on with life.
At the age of 14 when they were in Form One at Ifeoluwa Grammar School, Ilesa Road, Osogbo, in 1984, they started as newspaper vendors on part time basis. By 5.00 am, they would collect copies of different newspapers and magazines from an agent, the late Baba Akintayo, fondly called Baba Asorire, and take to the school area where they sold the copies till 7.30am before going to school.
They started fending for themselves right from that time from 4kobo commission for a paltry N20.00 per copy. They stopped asking for school fees from their parents because the commission was enough to take care of their school fees.
They found the path that led to what they now consider a career through their deep passion for newspapers. Whenever they came across newspaper in their Iresi community in Boluwaduro Local Government, they would read it and file it for reference purpose. They also used to borrow newspapers from one Ibrahim Aremu.
Daily Sun encountered the Popoola twins at the newspaper distribution depot at Orita Gbaemu Junction in Osogbo where they shared their feelings and experiences. First Taiwo.
When and how did you start the newspaper business?
We started as part-time vendors in Osogbo in 1984 when we were in Form One at Ifeoluwa Grammar School, Ilesa Road, Osogbo. We started by using bicycles to sell akara and newspapers at the same time. We used bicycles to distribute newspapers to our regular customers during environmental sanitation and during a census that lasted for a week during the IBB regime in 1991 when Osun State was created.
As at that time, we were not yet blind. By 5.00 am, we would take our supply from the late Baba Akintayo fondly called Baba Asorire and go to our school area to sell till 7.30am. When we began as full time vendors, we stopped asking for money from our parents because the four kobo commission we got as profit on each newspaper in those days was enough to take care of our school fees.
A newspaper used to sell for 20 kobo then.
Every morning, we sold at least 30 copies each. We became full time vendors in 1989 after we completed our secondary school education. On October 1, 1995, we became newspaper agents. We now have 10 vendors working for us.
How did your eye problem start?
It did not start at birth. When we were born, we could see very well until we got to primary school when we started having the problem of shortsightedness and could no longer see from a far distance. We could still see until we left secondary school. But one fateful day, both of us could not see again. That was when we lost our sight completely. We went to different hospitals to correct it but to no avail.
One of our friends and regular customers from Ogun State, who was Minister of State for Agriculture, Awodele Nojeemdeen, took us to the National Hospital, Abuja, about eight years ago for treatment. We have also been to hospitals in Ekiti for treatment. The minister still visits us to read newspapers when he is in Osogbo.
In all the hospitals we went, doctors said there was no solution or medicine for it. Since then, we rested our case in the hands of God.
As a newspaper vendor, what challenges are you facing, in view of your condition?
Though we can see partially at times, taking newspapers to our customers is a big challenge to us. Some of our old friends or people that come to read newspapers at our stands help us to take newspapers to them across the road or street.
How do you differentiate between the various denominations of the Nigerian currency when you are selling your products?
I put N1,000 notes inside my trouser’s left pocket. I do not dip my hand into that left pocket, except I want to use N1,000 note (s). I put N500 notes in the back pocket. Then, the N200 notes would be in another pocket. The same thing for N100 notes and N50 notes, in different pockets, which are very well noted in my mind. Another thing that helps us is that, the currency notes are different in texture compared to glossy paper and others.
If somebody wants to collect N300 change having given us N500 note, we would go to where there are N200 notes. The N1,000 notes can be like the underlay for the currencies. Then N500 would be on top. So, if we bring the arranged currency notes out, we know that we have N1,000 notes lying at the bottom and the N500 notes on top of them.
Do you have female admirers?
Yes, I do. But, this does not affect my marital life.
Do you still have hope that both of you can see again?
By the grace of God, we believe that we can see again. That is why we are always in a happy mood and we don’t give room for sadness.
Do you have any specific talent?
Yes. We are talented singers and entertainers. Sometimes we entertain the reading public who throng our Orita-Gbaemu and Oke-Fia newsstands with our melodious songs. Most times, we use our songs rendered in Yoruba to entertain customers when newspapers do not arrive on time from Lagos.
We drum on a wooden table and sing songs in praise of Nigeria, twins, albinos among others. We also sing to condemn corruption, avarice and slothfulness.
I am a fan of Juju music maestro, King Sunny Ade, while Kehinde is a fan of Fuji music legend, Kollington Ayinla. We are currently in the studio where we are putting finishing touches to our single, which is done in praise of twins.
Some people pay vendors between N20 and N30 to read newspapers because they can’t afford to buy one. Don’t you think it affects your business negatively?
It is not a good thing. The N20.00 or N30.00 is not up to our commission. So, we don’t encourage it. Government has to do something urgently by reducing the cost of newspaper production so that the cover prices could also come down for people to be able to afford it.
Not only unemployed people or students, some working class people too can no longer afford newspapers again unlike before. People prefer to go through the headlines or read on the social media platforms. This is telling seriously on newspaper business.
It is the turn of Kehinde.
How do you feel about your inability to see?
Nobody can be happy with this kind of pitiable situation because eyes are the light of the body, as the popular Yoruba proverb says, oju lewa ara. But we don’t allow the condition to depress us. We will continue to plead with God for His mercy and help. Our condition has not affected our faith in God. However, we are not happy being blind.
Since your case has defied medical treatment, what do you do to regain your sight?
We always call on pastors and Muslim clerics to help us to pray to God so that we can see again.
When you were growing up what did you want to become in life?
We wanted to be either lawyers or journalists. We wanted to be lawyers because Pa Obafemi Awolowo was always talking about the importance of lawyers to the society, especially as human rights fighters and justice and who can never be cheated because they know the law and are very bold. He himself was a lawyer of repute.
We also wanted to be journalists because journalists, too, know the law and their rights. They are very bold. They can fight for justice and are very important in the society. We wanted to study Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, or Mass Communications at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
But due to lack of funds, we couldn’t fulfill any of the ambitions because we are from a poor family. So, we continued to sell newspapers as vendors and agents and continued even after we finished secondary school till today.
Do you have anything to regret for not fulfilling your ambition?
No, no, no, not at all. We don’t have anything to regret because journalists and lawyers are our friends. Moreover, our newspaper business is part of journalism. It is like we, too, are journalists. We give sensitive information to journalists. They are our friends.
Many of them always come to our newsstands every moment, especially early in the morning, to collect copies of newspapers and magazines. When anything happens and it is newsworthy, we give them the information on phone or when they come around. It is as if we are also practicing journalism, except that our names don’t appear as writers.
We are also crazy about news. Since we cannot read, whenever there is any trending issue, we call on our friends to read the stories for us from the papers. So, we are very current in terms of news. All these fulfill our hope as people who wanted to become journalists but could not.
Some of our grown up children know about sales of newspapers. They assist us in the business. In any case, we won’t encourage them to become vendors or newspaper agents like us. We can only encourage them to become either lawyers or journalists so that we can be fulfilled.
Are you proud to be newspaper vendors and agents?
Yes of course. Though it is not fulfilling as professional journalists or lawyers, we still thank God that we can fend for ourselves. We have been able to build our own house and send our children to school. We also have a business outfit known as Popoola Twins Rentals. We had two vehicles and ran the business for up to 10 years before we sold the vehicles because we couldn’t get reliable drivers to continue the business and we cannot drive. But we were able to make money. We are only facing our newspaper business now.
What would you say is your happiest day?
It was the day our newspapers sold out. It was the day Osun State was created. That was on August 27, 1991, by the Ibrahim Babangida regime. We sold out our papers the next day. We also sold out our stock during the Gulf War. We sold out when Mr. Rauf Aregbesola became the governor. During his reign, the first Executive Governor of Osun State, late Chief Isiaka Adeleke, once told his driver to take me home in his official car for me to bring him a particular newspaper.
But our saddest days were mostly during the military regimes when some of our newspapers were seized by security agents.
Have you attempted any other business since you became vendors?
I went into politics in 2003 when I contested as the chairman of Boluwaduro Local Government Council on the platform of United Nigeria Peoples Party. Although the election was rigged, I emerged as third best candidate, which was an indication that selling newspapers had made me and my twin brother popular.
Do you live in the same house with your families?
Yes. We built a four bedroom flat together at Owode-Ede, near Osogbo. We are sharing two bedrooms each but use the parlour together. We live together with our wives and children. There is no quarrel because there is no discrimination. Our children and wives cooperate. They know that Taiwo and I are two sides of the same coin and cannot be separated by anything. Even if there is quarrel sometimes because we are humans, it is not serious. Peace always reigns. We hope to live together until death do us part.
Are your wives also twins?
We have two sets of twins in our family. So, we didn’t want to waste time, looking for twins to marry again. But we married our Yoruba tribe. I wedded on March 25, 2000, while Taiwo wedded on March 24, 2002. We used the same best man, Kola Moses, who was our friend in primary school. He was a counselor in Osogbo Local Government that time.
How would you feel if your wife gave birth to twins?
I would be very happy to have twins as children.
How many children do you have?
I have two, while my brother, Taiwo, has four. I would want to have more.
How are you coping with the low patronage due to recession?
We have learnt to cut our coats according to our clothes. We are in our dry season now. But we are hoping that during the governorship election in Osun State next year, sales will improve and things will be better for us.
When do you hope to quit the newspaper business?
Until we are old enough and can no longer work. Newspaper business has given us much connections. We can only add any good business that comes our way. But to retire, it cannot be too soon.
Who would is your role model?
It is Mr. Mike Awoyinfa, the pioneer Managing Director of The Sun Publishing Limited. He is our role model. People always talk about him, especially how he created the Weekend Concord in those days and how he gave birth to The Sun. We learnt that he wrote something briefly about us in his back page column in Saturday Sun of September 30, 2017, and sympathized with us. May God continue to bless him. We learnt he also has twins. May God bless his twins and bless all twins’ parents like him.