By
Obododimma Oha
In a recent interview published in nigeriabroad.com and interestingly captioned "Accidental Emigration to America," Moses Ebe Ochonu implicitly hints on the fragile lives of many young Nigerians who are struggling to go to school and to survive. Ochonu is one of the few lucky ones rescued before their future is ruined.
Let us take the matters arising bit by bit.
Ochonu was not one of those condemned to use cement blocks for desks in the primary school but obviously he had all the shit as Nobody. Even his own brother whisked him off on a motorcycle, without telling him where they were going. Little Moses was not told that he would write an admission examination. It was as if he had no choice in the matter. And indeed he was not asked to choose. Someone had to think for him for he had no brain!
He was lucky to have been told that he passed. That was caring as well as a warning. He has not wasted someone's time and should also not waste someone's money.
Little Moses was lucky school was continuing. He could have been apprenticed as a carpenter or mason. Or maybe given a plastic plate and asked to start begging on the road. Not that somebody cannot be a carpenter or mason, but a future great one would have been prevented from coming. So Little Moses went to school. "I am going to school to learn!"
He was even able to go the university! That was an escape. He was just lucky. And encountered the American who helped in opening his eyes! He was lucky for meeting people who led him on. Who had the time in his populous country to counsel him? The jobless fellow was a pest!
It is always good to show people the way, not leave them to find a way on the midst of risks and errors. America helped him to find the way.
I like the transition from permit to permit. He was beginning to learn to manage his life.
Wait a minute. There is something big here. It is the habitat. If the habitat is conducive, an animal, an organism, would live to bring out its best! And so, Little Moses clinched a PhD in African history and has been doing very well academically.
It is good that this interview was published in nigeriabroad.com. I hope that many young Nigerians would read it, especially those looking for a habitat that cares for the organism.
Indeed, some organisms bring out their very best when they face adverse conditions. But these are only exceptions. We don't have to go to Hell before going to Heaven. The best of the best can emerge where things are done properly.
Comments