Spending each day under the hustling and bustling Ikeja-Along bridge in Lagos, Olakunmi Ali’s mind must have been preoccupied with thoughts about his poor condition and what the future holds.

Advertisement

But luck appeared to have smiled on him recently when he met with Afolabi Oriyomi, a Lagos-based fashion designer, in the company of his team including Obianke Emmanuel, the photographer.

On that fateful day, Ali, who hails from Osun state, was sleeping under the bridge unaware of what was about to unfold.

Oriyomi and his team had gone to the location for photoshoot and were awaiting a yet-to-be-revealed model when they spotted Ali and decided to try him out for a session.

Advertisement

“I and the photographer @koko4president met him under Ikeja-Along bridge while we were waiting to shoot another model. The model was stuck in traffic so I suggested we shoot ali instead,” Oriyomi told TheCable Lifestyle.

The experiment proved too convincing for Oriyomi that he concluded Ali “was born for this.”

“It was a natural for the start, his skin tone, face, and built made the outfit look great. We just washed his hands and feet with water and we started shooting,” he added.

Advertisement

Indeed, Ali seemed to have waited for this opportunity for years. His striking pose, body composition, facial outlook among other characteristics are typical of someone who has gone through a modelling masterclass.

In a Twitter thread, the fashion designer and student of Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) commended Ali’s overall performance during the shoot.

“I had a shoot today at Ikeja, while we were waiting for the model to arrive,we decided to meet with a guy (Ali) who was sleeping under the bridge to model for us. I would like to believe that Ali was born for this. His pose, his body structure and his skin tone was perfect,” he wrote.

“The photographer is @koko4president. We created magic and I can’t wait for you guys to see the images. Koko is flames. Ali is born for this. Look at his face and pose . Everything came easy with him today…”

Advertisement

As of the time of this report, the post has garnered over 5,000 retweets, 14,000 likes and more than 300 comments.

Advertisement

In a follow-up post, the creative director, however, expressed sadness over Ali’s poor condition. He revealed that he found him sleeping under the same bridge when he visited the location again.

“I have tears in my eyes right now. I am at the same location again today and I just saw Ali sleeping under the bridge,” he added.

He also told TheCable Lifestyle that Ali is yet to secure an accommodation but expressed optimism that he would find help as a result of the post.

“Yeah no accommodations yet . Hopefully we get help from this post and people see the greatness in him. He has such a warm personality and willing to learn also,” he added.

Ali has continued to snag attention of several Nigerians as words of his poor condition and impressive modelling skills spread on the microblogging platform.

Oriyomi had in one of the posts revealed that Beth Model, a Lagos-based multidimensional modelling agency, called him shortly after his post went viral.

“Beth Model just called,” he wrote.

He, however, told TheCable Lifestyle that they “are yet to meet with them (the company).

Several Nigerians have taken to Twitter to also express sympathy over Ali’s condition while commending his modelling skills.

Here’s what some Nigerians had to say:



Copyright 2024 TheCable. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from TheCable.

Follow us on twitter @Thecablestyle