The Voice for the Deaf Foundation executive director, Adefala Alaba at a recent event held in Lagos spoke on how he made it in life despite the odds and even with his father discriminating him on account of his been Deaf.
In a program organised by Strategy for Mentoring Initiative and Leadership Empowerment (S.M.I.L.E) in partnership with United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Alaba, who is a Deaf person, spoke on how his father had hated him and was less attentive towards his needs when compared to his other family members because he is deaf.
Narrating his ordeal, Alaba said, “after realizing the situation I was in, I had to think and change my life. I learnt and worked as a carpenter to sponsor myself through college. It was hard but I made it through”.
He enjoined persons with disabilities to maintain positive mindset on the issue of life, “…be a positive thinker, remove any negative thinking, work hard on your own and don’t depend on anyone in life. Always sit down and think on how to move your life forward then you will be great”, he adviced.
A family man for that matter, he is currently married and blessed with three young children; and works with Redeemed Christian Church of God, Christchurch parish, in Gbagada, Lagos,
Alaba founded an organization called “Voice for the Deaf Foundation” in 2011. The organization focus on ensuring that the fundamental right of the deaf person is adequately protected and defended and to create in the deaf person a sense of vision.