1
I gave assistance to the
son of a farmer who was about to be stopped from taking
MBBS Part III examination. He claimed he could not travel to his hometown to
collect his fees as it was just two days away to his examination. In
particular,
he claimed that on his arrival at home, his father would have to run around
for
loans from other farmers to pay his fees. There was a slim chance of getting
the
money needed in two days which was when his father was likely to have
gathered
the fees he owed. I decided to pay his fees to enable him to write the
examination. After this good gesture, I was away on leave and returning home
when the accident that took the life of my husband and left me seriously
injured
occurred. This student came to see me but people were prevented from
visiting me
because of the situation I was in. He left a message that he was the boy
recently helped. I often wondered what would have happened to the career of
the
student if the Lord had not laid it on my mind to intervene in his case.
2
There was another student, a son of a vulcanizer, who was not personally
known
to me. I assisted him into the medical school from which he graduated as a
doctor and finished his residency training. If I had not intervened in his
case,
I wonder what would have been his fate in life.
3
There was a depressed
medical student who entered the medical school by direct
entry with a second class upper division bachelor degree in biochemistry. By
his
second year, he was not doing well and was so sick that he was admitted.
After
he was discharged, he still could not cope with his studies. I talked to him
and
advised him and gave him some financial assistance as well as some domestic
items. I followed up on his academic progress because of his good entrance
qualification. I never gave up on him. Then, I was on leave, but when I
returned, I learnt he would often come to the Administrative Building to
demand
for his certificate when he had not finished his course. Fortunately, when I
returned from leave and heard that he was shouting as he always did, I asked
that he should be told that I had returned. He came into my office. As a
precaution, I left my door fully opened with my secretary nearby. The
security
were there too. I told him that it was true he had been in the
medical school for a while but that he needed to finish. I calmed him down
and
told
him he would finish. I reminded him how he made 2nd Class Upper before he
got
into
the medical school. At the end of our discussion, he had calmed down. He
left in
the
company of his friend, a nurse. Thereafter, I regularly sent groceries to
him.
One
day, he came in to see me in company of State Hospital officials on his
entourage. I
learnt he is working there. He got married to the nurse friend and they have
three
children. This positive side to his story brought tears of joy to my eyes
and
the
thought that if I had not shown concern and encouraged him during his hour
of
need,
his story may have been different.
4
One day, an indigent dental student knocked on the door of my temporary
office
in Alexander Brown Hall where I voluntarily spared two hours after the close
of
work as a counsellor to any student who needed help. He came in and told me
his
plight. I offered him assistance which was not sufficient for his
sustenance.
His main sustenance was from a motor cycle he procured on loan. He got
someone
to run it for him but it did not yield enough. He therefore decided to do
the
business of riding the machine himself. After lectures and clinic hours, he
would take the motorcycle to U.I campus and run trips to make money for his
sustenance. In the evening, he would return to his room to get ready for the
following day. He graduated. During his internship, he came to inform me
that he
would like to go for further training abroad. I was thinking that he had
just
crossed a huddle and was already desiring this tall dream. We both prayed
about
it. Lo and behold, he went for a British visa interview for a single entry
visa
but he so impressed the interviewer that he voluntarily decided to give him
a
multiple visa and asked him if he had money to pay for the multiple visa. He
had
extra money in his pocket because he had planned to go to the spare parts
market
after the interview to buy the needed parts for his bus which runs on the
campus. This enabled him to have enough money to pay for the multiple visa.
He
completed his residency and is practicing as a Consultant in UK. I was
privileged to see him in his practice.
5
During a MBBS Part III (Paediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynaecology)
examination,
four students claimed that their examination forms were not signed. I
intervened
by getting in touch with Departmental Secretary of O & G on why only two of
the
four forms were later signed. I was not given any concrete reason. Attempts
to
get in touch with the Head of Department on Thursday and Friday prior to
Monday,
the day of examination failed. I advised the two students to keep on reading
for
the examination and that the issue would be resolved. On Monday morning, the
day
of the examination, the two students were waiting at the lobby of the
College of
Medicine Building. Immediately they saw me, they followed me to my office in
the
faculty and told me that the Departmental Secretary had said that “no
Jupiter”
can let them write the examination. I said I was not asking “Jupiter” but
God.
By faith, I included their names on the candidates' list and ordered their
names
to be pasted on the desk like the other candidates at the Paul Hendrickson
Lecture Theatre, the examination venue. I went down the stairs from my
office
with them to the examination venue hoping/aiming to see the Head of
Department.
By the time I took some steps, I remembered that I did not pray. I told them
we
had to go back to my office where I closed my door and said a short prayer.
At
the end of the prayer, one of the two students said amen while the other one
kept quiet. I met the HOD who was walking towards the examination venue. I
told
him about the two students that the Departmental Secretary said were not
going
to write the examination because only the names of two of them had been
forwarded from the department as addition. He replied that if I said they
can,
then they should. The students heard this and ran to the venue to take their
seats. They both wrote the examination with other candidates and passed.
They
were so happy. It was then they said “you are like an angel. You said you
had to
go back to the office and we saw what you did, you just prayed not holding
anything after you said you forgot to pray before going downstairs to the
venue.” The one who kept quiet said he was a Muslim. He was willing to
become a
Christian after graduation. He claimed he could not change his religion
immediately as his parents would not pay his school fees. His soul was won
by
just dedication and compassion. Actions and not just words can win souls.
When
sacrificing, I was more concerned about the welfare and progress of our
students, not their religion or tribe.
6
There was also this case of a food caterer in the College. My mind told me
to
approach her when I got to know that she was widowed. I asked her if she had
any
child that had completed secondary school so I could get the child a
clerical
job. She said yes, but she had planned to send him to learn to become a
mechanic. However, she sent him to show me his WAEC result only for me to
discover that he got 'F' in all the subjects he wrote including Yoruba
language.
The staff who was to process his paper told me, “This your candidate, which
language can we speak to him as he even he failed Yoruba language or did you
want us to speak Greek or Latin to him when he could not pass English
language
or even Yoruba?” I was embarrassed but suggested that he could be appointed
as a
Clerical Assistant all because I wanted him to earn a living to ease her
mother's burden.
7
Another intervention was that of a brother to my Senior Typist in the
College.
Her brother came to her often and in the process I got to know he had been
looking for a job for a long while. He studied agriculture which made it
more
difficult to accommodate him in the administrative set up that we were in. I
decided to take him to the University Agriculture Farm where I made some
contacts. In short, the Director of the farm accorded me a listening ear and
offered him a job. He told me that there was never a day when he got to his
office without praying for me for getting him a job.
8
A staff in the Correspondence Section of the Bursary Department of the
University approached me that he had someone who had been looking for a job
for
years. I eventually got him employed in our office with the proviso that he
had
to prove that he was diligent and hardworking, especially since it was the
Bursar's Office which was a very busy place. He tried his best and later
applied
for a post in IITA. I helped him. It was a good thing he had started with us
as
it was a stepping stone and an experience he could cite. He eventually got
the
job and was doing well though I have not heard from him for years.
9
There was a gardener from our hometown, Ise (my husband's hometown). I
pitied
him when we visited the village and I suggested we take him to Ibadan to
become
our gardener and replace him with an older one from the village. One day,
our
children had finished their home lesson with their teacher, he then wrote on
the
board with the chalk. When I got out of the house, I saw what was written. I
then asked him; he told me that he wrote what was on the board. I was
shocked.
He told me he had finished secondary school and when I then asked him for
his
certificate, he said he had none as he was owing his school some amount of
money. It was on further interrogation that I realized he had no father and
he
was the only child of his mother. As early as possible I gave him money for
transportation and the amount he was owing as school fees. When he returned,
I
saw that he passed some subjects but the only position available was that of
a
messenger. I was eager to get him a job instead of having him as our
gardener. I
gave him the condition that he had to send some money to his mother in the
village once in a while.
10
I also got a job for a relative of a staff in the finance section of the
College
Office. He was offered a clerical job and had since risen through the rank.
11
There was to be an interview and I realized that one of the applicants was
not
informed because he could not be traced. I was instrumental in finding him
out.
He passed the interview and got the job. I later learnt that he was a good
worker and was posted to work in the Chief Executive's office. Later, he was
found to be also good in sports so much that he won a medal at a sporting
event.
12
There was also a driver who was looking for a job but could not produce his
credentials. He could not be offered the job without a certificate. He was
very
sad about this. I eventually went out of my way to go to the Ministry of
Education to explore the possibility of tracing his certificates. It was an
ordeal but with favor and grace from God, I was able to get it out after
many
visits to the ministry. He was then offered the job. However, he was moved
from
my section. That is life. I scarcely come across him afterwards though.
Whatever
one does it is unto God. He knows how to compensate one in one way or the
other.
I have related the selected instances above where God used me to impact the
lives of
people known and mostly unknown to me not to glorify myself, but to show the
need
for people in position to help other whenever the need arises. It is not for
gain or
popularity, but to help fellow human beings knowing full well that it is only
God
and not man that rewards. Such actions also gives satisfaction.
Generation of Funds for Certification of Letters from Alumni Abroad
In 1990/91, when I became the Faculty Officer in the Faculty of Clinical
Sciences
and Dentistry, I realized that a lot of money was needed for stationery and
postage
for services rendered. There was also a backlog of letters awaiting action
because
there were no funds to meet up with this services, bearing in mind the
importance of
these requests for certification of letters from abroad for alumni. I introduced
the
idea of fund generation with regards to charging fees for requests from alumni
abroad. Both the Faculties and the College of Medicine later adopted this and to
date, and continue to generate a lot of revenue for the service. This was an
influence from the result of my research findings for my dissertation on the
need to
generate funds to subsidize whatever was received from government.