How I broke education jinx among 26 children — Rivers graduate

A graduate of Educational Management from Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rivers State, Okwuchukwu Ededa, tells BIODUN BUSARI about his childhood struggles and breaking the family jinx to become the first university graduate

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. But I later moved to Port Harcourt, to Atali community in Port Harcourt under Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers State. My name is Okwuchukwu Ededa, but I’m popularly known as Timi Gospel in my school. My father died when I was seven. I left my village out of frustration because of what was happening to my siblings.

Is Timi Gospel your nickname?

It’s not a nickname per se. It is coined from my name when I gained admission to study Educational Management at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The people couldn’t pronounce my Igbo name very well.

Okwuchukwu means gospel. So, my middle name is Timothy and one day, someone called me Timmy, which is the shortened version. That was how I came up with Timi Gospel. When I started learning graphic design and needed to adopt a brand name, I used Timi Gospel.

Why did you leave your village in frustration?

I was 21 years old in 2021 when I relocated to Port Harcourt. So, I met a pastor online who is currently my foster father. I was not happy with the negative narrative surrounding my family, so I used to follow his prayer and counselling programmes online and I reached out to him.

He asked me to come, and I left my family house. When I first told my mum, she objected but I didn’t have another choice but to leave her on a Sunday afternoon.

What were the issues with your family that made you leave?

I grew up seeing my elder siblings and half-siblings going without direction in life. They didn’t have tertiary education. My father was a polygamist with 26 children from five wives. My mother was the fifth wife. After my secondary education, I was working in a hotel, but I was frustrated because I knew I should further my education.

My older brother wanted to go to school but he couldn’t. He sat UTME seven times, and he passed, scoring above 200, but he couldn’t gain admission. Later he went to learn the sale of electrical products. He spent five years and on the verge of starting his business, his boss who promised to give him money to start the business died.

There was a time he gathered money to travel abroad. He sold the family land that our dad left for us, but the agent defrauded him of nearly N1m. He was left stranded in Lagos.

My older sister made an attempt too; she even wanted to go to a nursing school but to no avail. My immediate younger brother had already told my mum that he didn’t want to further his education. She begged him to change his mind, but he refused.

Before meeting your foster father online, what effort did you make to go to school?

I ran to Ejule in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State. I was teaching at a primary school. I was also doing missionary work by preaching to people. That was where I sat my first Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. I was focused there. Later, I went back to Ebonyi State.

Why did you leave Kogi State?

I met a contact on Facebook, so I went there to stay with him. I didn’t know he had issues with the community involving a Ponzi scheme where a lot of people lost their money. So, he ran away from home, and I was the one people met whenever they traced him back to his house.

Those periods were a time of suffering for me. I wanted to start a nylon business, which he linked me to, but I didn’t succeed in it. I could go for days without eating.

I managed to get an accommodation, but I stayed there for three weeks. I was faced with hunger, persecution and allegations. I was traumatised. So, I ran for my dear life.

There were good people in Kogi State who are now my friends. They were supporting me, but I couldn’t endure. It was when I got to Ebonyi State that I realised I needed a mentor to help me navigate life.

How did your mum and siblings react to these challenges?

She couldn’t do much. She was physically challenged, but she was a civil servant. At the time, the then state governor withheld workers’ salaries, and my mum was affected. She told us that she promised our dad to take care of us, and she tried.

The salary was not enough. My mum has six children. There was a time my sister wanted to buy a motorcycle for commercial purposes, but I rejected the idea. I knew I should go to school.

Was your dad financially constrained to train his children in tertiary education?

No, my dad was not poor. In fact, he was rich according to the story I heard. He used to work with white men before he went into the local government civil service. That was what I knew about him. He really liked education.

So, he wanted all his children to go to school. But I don’t really know what transpired. But with the little knowledge I had, my half-siblings attempted to go to school, but none could. My father’s first daughter had a daughter of my age.

That’s to show how old my half-siblings are. My dad died at the age of 82 in 2007. Before them, he married my mum from another community. The reason he married my mum was the issue of this education. He built a 15-room house and gave it to my mum to use the proceeds from the rent to train us in school.

Were your father’s wives not living in the same house?

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No, they didn’t live together. The way my father operated was building houses for his wives and children. It was just two of his wives who lived in the same compound.

So, what happened after you went back to your village?

The first UTME I sat in Kogi was in 2021. I wanted to study Theatre Arts and I scored 180. But when I met my foster dad, he advised me that I could go into acting without studying Theatre Arts, that it would be better that I chose another course, especially in education.

So, I sat another UTME and picked Educational Management. Before then I sat the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination twice. I started reading and praying.

It was my foster dad who told me about the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. When my result came out, he told a few of his contacts in the university and I began admission procedures. My score was high, so my name was published on the merit list.

Was he the one who paid your school fees?

My mum went to borrow N100,000 from a bank. My foster dad supported the rest, including the accommodation, and everything that I needed to be in school. Then, he enrolled me to learn graphic design, printing, book formatting, and publishing because that was also his business.

How did you cope combining your studies with graphic design?

I coped very well. That was not the only thing I did. I was in school politics and campus journalism. I am currently the president of my department because I have not handed over to my successor.

With all the activities I engaged in, I made money to help myself in school. I didn’t allow my mum to send money again except that initial N100,000. My foster dad sponsored me.

What was your experience like with politics and journalism in school?

It was both fun and challenging. I gained popularity but the workload was there to bear. For the journalism part, it was more of activism because I found myself serving as a watchdog within the school system. I used my platform to expose bad governance and there were clashes of interest with the Students’ Union Government and even the university authorities.

I was a very stubborn journalist, and I got information from inner circles. There was a time we reported the activities of cultists threatening students. It was tough, but I endured. There were gains in it as well. There was a time I worked for some radio stations and got paid. It was about defending the voiceless.

Sometimes, it could be discouraging when you see people whom you tried to defend calling you names, saying that I was trying to seek attention. There was a time I ran into trouble with the university authorities, but it was one of the lecturers who interceded for me. I was almost rusticated.

How did your half-siblings react to your news of being the first graduate in the family?

Let me start with my half-family. They are very nonchalant. In fact, none of my half-brothers knew where I was. Even when I tried to reach out, they didn’t respond. I was number 22 out of 26 among my father’s children.

I called one of them on the phone. The moment I introduced myself, he just said he would call me back, but he never did. Since they knew that I was in school, they usually thought I was calling to beg for money.

So, I don’t have a relationship with my half-siblings. However, my mum told me that they were happy for me when they heard about it.

What is the biggest lesson you want to share with your story?

There are three philosophies in life for me to share with people concerning my life. First, I used to tell people that it is an abnormality to be normal in this abnormal world. I discovered that what was happening to me was not normal.

 So, I had to follow it in an abnormal way.

I channelled that stubbornness into resilience that helped me through school. I kept telling myself that I wanted to go to school and I was looking for help to make it happen until I found it.

The second one is the God factor. I could not thank God enough because I held on to Him. I’m still holding on. I don’t want to be self-conceited but I’m not exaggerating if I say that I prayed even in my worst sinful state. There is no day I don’t pray to God. I have covenant days of fasting.

There were times when cultists would have killed me, but because of my association with Scripture Union. So, the God factor is the best factor that anybody can follow.

Then, the third one is dealing with mediocrity. I saw a lot of mediocrity from where I was coming from. But I resolved to be different. I told myself that I would not be mediocre. My family could not stand up to talk anywhere, but I wanted to break that cycle.

My family didn’t go to school, and I wanted to break that too. I thank God that I did, but it was because I was determined to defeat mediocrity. Before, I could not speak well where others were speaking because my self-esteem had been tampered with. But I overcame it.