Sunday, July 8, 2012

‘I Don’t Want To Be A Destitute’

HE walks around the campus of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti in crutches with pains written all over his face. One of his legs has been amputated after a
ghastly accident. Students and members of staff of the institution watch him with pity.
But Oluwole Kazeem Daniel is determined not to live a life of pity. Consequently, he has dared all the odds to forge ahead with his studies.
“I don’t want to either indulge in self-pity or become a destitute in the society,” he told The Guardian.
Daniel’s problem started in August 2009 when a vehicle in the convoy of a politician in Ibadan, Oyo State, crushed a commercial vehicle at Iwo Road. Many commuters at the Bus Stop, including Daniel were affected. Five people were confirmed dead on the spot, but Daniel who was among the survivors was rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan for treatment.
His family was happy that Daniel was among the lucky survivors, but their joy was short-lived as doctors at the hospital told them that his badly-affected  right leg would be amputated. The news was too hard for his mother, Kuburat, who collapsed instantly and later developed hypertension. Daniel’s father died in 2001.
Daniel’s mother reportedly sold all she had to pay for  the surgical bills for her son to be amputated. The surgery was successful, but the bills kept coming. The trauma seemed too much for the widow to bear. She died while trying to source N280,000 to procure “knee prosthesis to ease Daniel’s movement.”
In one of the documents, UCH said “This patient will need to procure two prosthesis at the cost of N140,000 each, making N280,000.”
With supports from his family, friends and public-spirited Nigerians, Daniel managed to get one and has since been using it. As an orphan with nobody to run to, he took to petty trading to survive, having vowed not to turn a street beggar.
Before the unfortunate incident, Daniel had completed his National Diploma at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti where he studied Business Administration and also completed his mandatory one-year internship at Ado North East Local Government.
Even with his present predicament, Daniel would still not give up on his dreams. He applied to the same institution for his Higher National Diploma (HND) and he has been offered a provisional admission to study Business Administration and Management.
According to him, “I have been offered admission for my HND. I need people to assist me with the school fees and other financial aspects of completing this programme. As a matter of fact, I don’t want to indulge in self-pity, neither do I want to be a destitute in the society. It is my belief that I can still be relevant to the society and my admission into this institution is a clear confirmation of that.
“I have personally tried a lot but as we all know that school programme is financially tasking, I need people to help me to complete this course.”
The Head of Department (HOD) of Business Administration of the school, Mr. Oladele Aiyegbusi, commended the resilience of Daniel, noting that despite the challenges he had faced, which ordinarily would have forced many to resign to fate, he was doggedly pursuing his academic career.
He said: “The truth is that it has not been easy for him, especially moving from the hostel to the classrooms. When he gained admission and I got to know of his challenges, I had to write a letter to the school authority to give him priority not only in the allocation of a room in the hostel but a special room so that he could be free. Four students occupy most of the rooms, but with my intervention, he was allotted a small room.
“He is a rare student and one or two times I had to part with a token amount of money to pay for his motor cycle ride from the hostel to the classrooms. Such a student deserves to be assisted.”
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the school, Mr. Adeyemi Adejolu, described Daniel as an indigent student and an accident-victim who is however  determined to succeed in life but needs assistance from the society to surmount his challenges.

-The Guardian

**************Lets support Oluwole Daniel************

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