Tribune Online

A young man’s dream suddenly turned a nightmare when he lost a hand in a freak factory accident. Just when he tried to forge ahead in life even with one hand, his efforts were frustrated by bad people who stole all he had laboured for, writes BAYO ALADE. JUST a few years ago, Adekunle Adesanya was a young man bubbling with life and hoping for a dream future filled with success. At 29, he was not yet there success-wise, but he was hopeful that one day, in a not-too-distant future, he would be knocking on the door of success. After his secondary school education at St Peters College, Abeokuta, Ogun State, he proceeded to Ajegunle Technical School, Ajegunle, near Ilaro, Ogun State. He could not finish his studies due to paucity of funds. He therefore decided to get a job through which he could save some money and then go back to school. It was in the process that he got a job at Dangote Cement factory in Ibeshe, Ogun State. He did not know that his world was about to take on a course he did not bargain for. He started working as a casual worker, operating the Diverter Machine of the cement company with the hope of being retained as a permanent employee after his probationary period. On the fateful night of March 20, 2012 about one month after starting the job, while working his night duty from 6.00 p.m to 7.00 a.m, a calamity he did not plan for befell him and ended his brief stay in the factory including the meagre N26,000 per month earnings. Not only that, the accident took his arm and almost his life. Adesanya had started his shift on the diverter machine that night as usual, ensuring the finished cement bags passed through the conveyor belt unhindered, as well as sorting and rearranging any bag that got caught in the machine for onward conveyance through the belt. This is what he had mastered in a month and knew the process well. “Anytime a bag is caught in the conveyor belt, I am expected to stop the divertor machine in order to properly rearrange some bags of cement that are stuck; however, that night, as I stopped to rearrange some bags of cement that got stuck, the machine suddenly kicked back to life and I had to quickly jump off it. “When this happened, I hurried to the Control Room to report the incident with the hope that the problem with the machine would be rectified. I was instructed to return to work because that is how the machine had been working for a while. This occurred three times that night and I made a report to the Control Room each time. “On the third occasion, I expressed my anxiety to the technician in the Control Room and he also told me to return to work and manage the machine properly. I would have been sacked on the spot had I refused to get back to work and I did not want to lose the only job I had that kept body and soul together,” Mr. Adesanya recalls. “On returning to the machine as instructed, I met one of the machine supervisors by the name of Mr Joseph. He chastised me for being absent from my duty post and I explained to him what was going on with the divertor machine. He stayed with me to rearrange the bags at which point many bags were stuck. “While we were rearranging the bags, the same thing happened. The machine turned on by itself. I was lucky to quickly get off the machine, however, the man was caught between the railings and I had to pull the cable out so as to stop the machine. I did not stop working because of fear of losing my job. “Around 4am, I stood on the edge of the machine to remove some bags that got stuck. The machine came on without notice. The belt caught my feet and I fell down between the belts. The belt caught my right arm and chopped it off from the shoulder. There was no one there to help me but I managed to pull myself out and called for help. “I laid in the pool of my blood for about an hour because there was no medical staff on duty and the other employees could not do anything. Around 5am, I was taken to a clinic for treatment,” he added. According to a correspondence with his employers dated 22nd October, 2012, Mr. Adesanya’s solicitors requested for a sum of N50 million as compensation. On the 11th of November, 2014, a cheque in the sum of N4.5 million was issued to Mr. Adesanya by Dangote Cement. He had no choice but to agree to the amount because his living condition was deteriorating with no inkling of what the future held for him. He felt his employers could have done better. Speaking further with Sunday Tribune, Adesanya said he had to begin to learn new things such as washing his clothes with his feet. He also had to learn and adapt to using his left hand to do a lot of things even though it has been challenging. Determined to forge ahead in life, he went ahead and bought a plot of land and built a modest two bedroom flat on it, invested in a fish pond business which he hoped would sustain him through an uncertain future he was faced with. “I stoked the pond with about 2,000 fingerlings. Along the line, about 500 died but at least I hoped to still harvest about 1,500,” he told Sunday Tribune. Things did not quite go as Adesanya hoped. Along the line he was duped even by people who called themselves pastors. He was not deterred. Soon, harvest time arrived for his fish business. One night, he heard footsteps outside his house, but he could not come out more so it was very dark outside. By morning all his fishes were gone, he could only retrieve 40 pieces. His hopes for a sustainable business that would at least put food on his table were dashed in the twinkling of an eye! His future, once again, became bleak! With his fish business gone, no wife, no family and no money to feed himself, he had to abandon his home and began squatting with some people, literally depending on them for survival. Pushed to the wall and not knowing what to do any longer, he decided to sell his house hoping to get another lifeline and another shot at getting his life back on track. The issue now is: Should Adesanya sell his house? Would that not be the quickest way back to square one? Adesanya, even with one hand has proved to be a prudent man having managed to start a fish farm. He is sure that he could do with some financial help to restart his fish farming business, add poultry to it and renovate his abandoned house which has been burgled and left desolate. Already, a U.S -based non-profit charitable organisation, Chances and Opportunities Inc., incorporated in the State of Texas and recognised by the US government has blazed the trail in this regard raise business capital for Mr. Adesanya through its website www.chancesandopportunities.org. For now, Adesanya is banking on the goodwill of fellow Nigerians to help him raise at least N3 million to put him back on his feet as well as put his house back into shape to make it habitable so that he would no longer be a burden to people. Note: Anyone willing to help Adesanya can get in touch with the Nigerian Tribune management.