The owner of Agidigbo Radio, Oriyomi Hamzat, has adopted 12-year-old Ibadan-based street hawker, Aminat Apeke, who sells moinmoin and eko (bean pudding and fermented corn pudding).
Oriyomi made this announcement on his programme, where Apeke and her mother shared the heartbreaking story of their struggles.
According to Apeke’s mother, her daughter lost her father at the age of seven. She revealed that she had already divorced him before his death due to domestic violence.
“I left my first husband because he used to beat me,” she said.
Aminat Apeke and her mother
Since then, survival has been tough for the family. “We live on the moinmoin and eko business. I make the moinmoin and get eko on credit. Apeke hawks them, and after selling, we pay for the eko and get more on credit. That’s how we manage,” she explained.
Expressing her gratitude to Oriyomi for his support, she added, “I never thought this could happen to me. My second husband asked me to remove her from public school and enroll her in a private school. He is the one paying her fees, but because he doesn’t have much, he pays in installments—every week. That’s how we manage to keep her in school.”
Apeke’s fortunes changed after her unique sales strategy went viral. She had developed a catchy jingle while hawking, humorously referring to Oriyomi Hamzat as her ‘husband’ in the song. The tune caught people’s attention, drawing customers to buy from her.
One of her fascinated customers sought permission to record her performance after purchasing moinmoin and eko. Apeke agreed, and the lady uploaded the clip on TikTok.
The video eventually reached Oriyomi Hamzat, who was deeply moved by the young girl’s story. He invited her to his studio, and after hearing her struggles firsthand, he made the life-changing decision to adopt her.
