Struggling with difficulty not to betray his emotion as he sat among family members at a congregation organised in his honour by the Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide International headquarters, last Thursday, in Ajah area of Lagos, Tunde Olaniyan, batted his eyelids intermittently, to avoid the tears trickling down his cheeks.
But as he stood up and walked down the isle, at the mention of his name, a gush of tears flowed down his cheeks,with thunderous applause from the congregation. Never in his wildest imagination had the 21- year-old Ordinary National Diploma Accounting student of the Lagos State Polytechnic, thought that fate would smile on him this way. But for providence, the undergraduate would have been six feet below, with thought of him apparently deleted from the memories of his friends , following his conclusion to end it all by committing suicide.
Infact, May 25, 2016 will forever remain indelible in the minds of the Olaniyans, as their only son and last child drank a poisonous substance, with a suicide note notifying them of his action. This was because his school fees, N45,000 which his parents struggled to gather was stolen by suspected pick pockets inside a commercial bus while on his way to school penultimate Tuesday, an act he concluded dashed his hope of furthering his education. The undergraduate who had in an exclusive interview with Crime Guard , (June 2,2016) lamented how life had been unfair to him,traced the genesis of his woe to the verbal dismissal of his father from the Nigeria Police immediately he was born.
In spite of the harsh living condition, he managed to pull through until he gained admission into LASPOTEC. He had lamented that
“Things have not been easy for my family. I grew up with the hope of going to higher institution and thereafter work with the certificate, instead of taking to dubious ways of making it. So, my admission letter into LASPOTECH to study accountancy came as an answered prayer to my dream. But fate has been so unkind to me, as each time I bore the hardship, I faced more challenges. “My parents managed to give me between N800 and N1000 from Iyana- Ipaja to Isolo as pocket money for one week. Out of it is my transport fare and feeding money . T o complement what they gave me, I resorted to work as a bus conductor. We plied Iyana-Ipaja to Yaba . I woke up as early as 5am , worked until 10am and thereafter go to school. I was earning N700 and N1000 daily, depending on the number of turns we run . But I was forced to stop in my OND 1 second semester, when it started having a negative effect on my academic performance, as I sometimes missed classes and didn’t have much time to read. I had no choice than to depend on my parents who are barely struggling to survive. My mother is a petty trader while my father is a driver. They struggled to raise N45,000 for my OND 2 school fees in January. I left home that fateful day with the hope of paying the money into the bank when I got to school. But to my dismay, I discovered that my bag was torn by the side and the money had disappeared”.
Suicide according to him was the only option , as the amount took his parents three months to gather. That he did by purchasing GO 90, an insecticide which he took in a gulp and waited for death to take him. But the arrival of his elder sister who met him writing in pains , saved the day as he was rushed to Omoju hospital in Baruwa area of Ipaja where doctors battled for several hours to revive him.
As you read this piece, the much sought after help by the undergraduate has come, as he was given a scholarship to study to any limit of educational qualification he desires, by the Motailatu Church Cherubim & Seraphim Worldwide International Headquarters (Sanctuary Chapel) The decision according to the General Evangelist of the church and Vice President elect of the Christian Association of Nigeria ,CAN Professor Joseph Otubu, was reached after Saturday Vanguard’s publication.
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