ICHEOKU says what a heart riveting story, told in characteristics that spelt a determination to succeed and her name is Success, Miss Success Adegor. It is a story about a 7 year old, third grade school girl from Nigeria, who was sent out of school because her parents could not afford the $3 (three dollars) school levy, which she was required to pay before being taking her school test.
She was captured on video, after being sent out of school and as she walked home, soliloquizing and agonizing about what happened to her; bitter that she was prevented from taking her examination. She was so incensed that she was prevented from taking her test, which she had prepared so well for and was ready to ace it, that she lamented that she would have even been happier if she was flogged with a cane and allowed to take her test, rather than sent out of school just because she had not yet paid her examination levy.
According to her, the fact that she has not yet paid the fees does not mean that she does not want or intend to pay it; only that the money is not yet available and that she will pay as soon as it becomes available. Continuing, she said that she would have even taken any amount of flogging, corporal punishment, in order to buy her time to make the payment; provided that she was allowed the opportunity to remain in school and take her test, rather than being sent home. In her own exact words, speaking in local pigeon English, she said, "I never pay, no be say I no go pay" and that her parents have not been able to come up with the money. With those words, she catapulted herself into national and now international limelight, as that little girl who wanted to be educated so much, that she was prepared to endure physical bodily pain in order to get it.
A personification of audacity. She was bold; she was audacious; she was brave; she was courageous; she was expressive as she looked into the eyes of her interviewer and unabashedly registered her frustration. ICHEOKU says watching the viral video, one could see the fire burning in her eyes with the desire and determination to succeed. She was not ready to let a little problem, caused by her parents extreme poverty and inability to pay her $3 (three dollars) school levy stand in her way. She was prepared to make whatever sacrifice, endure whatever pain and punishment, including torture and abuse, just for an opportunity to get educated, that she could pass for a Malala Yousafzai of Nigeria. The world admires her courage and zeal to succeed and have since rallied around her to ensure that she gets the education which she wants so badly.
What an uncommon valor; a quality not often present nor prevalent in the African continent; the reason their rulers readily abuse them and stay glued to power until death do them apart. The people are often timid, deathly afraid and so traumatized by their life experiences, that they easily cower and sheepishly follow orders, with their chins tucked in, as they are tossed around by their heartless and ruthless rulers. But not Little Miss Success, who has shown that she is not afraid and that her voice will not be taken away nor silenced by circumstances. She was prepared to pay the price of success, to sacrifice in order to succeed. She is a living testament that in order to succeed, one must want success so badly that they are ready and prepared to make the required sacrifice, including enduring pain and suffering.
ICHEOKU says thousands of Little Miss Success are what Nigeria, in its present state of miasma really needs; people who are not afraid to dare and who are courageous enough to state their mission statement. Such people would have since forced Nigerian leaders to do right and better for and by Nigerians, at the pain of something untoward happening if they don't. Nigeria currently lacks brave and courageous folks, the reason leaderships are always toying with everybody, as well as the overall general fate of Nigeria as one undivided country; admitted some oafs would rather call it "indivisible", a blustering arrogance, in view of the fact that anything and everything with feasible parts, can easily be divided.
ICHEOKU says that nothing will stop Little Miss Success Adegor from succeeding. She has all it takes to succeed, the bold audacity and intelligence. She has already telegraphed her presence to the world, that she is around and that they will be hearing more of her and from her, in so many moons to come. She is an example of a person driven and definitely a statement that there is something in a name. ICHEOKU says Little Miss Success Adegor will succeed and have already succeeded, especially now that she has interacted and integrated with a pathway to success with the many scholarship offers and funds raised for her education. The little girl made ICHEOKU and the rest of other appreciative human beings, really proud. ICHEOKU loves her to the moon and back; and prays that financial hardship shall never constitute a road block to her educational endeavors. What a story; a story of a little school girl who just want to get educated.
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