
because I perpetually feel the pain of being an
illiterate in this modern world where everything
has to do with English and education. I also do not
want a situation whereby someone else would
interprete or write for me if eventually I am
chosen to hold an office in my community,” says
60 year old Adalabu Seribor.
The JSS II student of Izon College, Bomadi-
Overside in Bomadi Local Government Area, Delta
State, who lost his mother at a tender age said
though he was privileged to attend elementary
school like some of his peers when he was taken to
Ekeremor community in Bayelsa to stay with a
relation, he however dropped out when he chose
to return back to Bomadi due to the strict regime
of his benefactor, a magistrate. This is a true life story of a man, who believes that
anything is possible with determination. Adalabu
Seribor, fondly called Oyibo by his community
folks told Niger Delta Voice the reasons for his
return to school at old age, a decision that has kept
many people wondering what he wanted to
achieve in school at such age.
Why I returned to school
Narrating his life story, he said: “I am sixty years
now and the reason why I decided to go to school
at this age is because I perpetually feel the pain of
being an illiterate in this modern world where
everything has to do with English and education.
My mother died during childbirth when I was a
little boy, while my father was a hunter. I was
raised by a grandmother after the death of my
mother and later taken to a step-mother when my
father remarried.
“I went through discomfort and hardship from my
tender age to adulthood. It would interest you to
know that I was so tender at the time my mother
died that I was crying for food while she laid dead.
I went through struggles all through my life. I was
opportune to go to school at my young age, when a
relative, who was a magistrate at Ekeremor in
Bayelsa State, took me to his house, but because
of early morning beatings due to my failure to
greet him when rising from bed, I fled back to my
father. I had no opportunity to go to school since
then, and continued doing menial jobs to survive,
which I am still doing.”
On his decision to return to school at his old age,
he said “I realized that without education one
cannot do well in this present society. I also do not
want a situation whereby someone else would
interprete or write for me if eventually I am
chosen to hold an office in my community."
Makes a living pushing wheelbarrow
Seribor, who also explained how he managed to
combine his studies and work, “I am a truck-
pusher. After school hours, I go back home to look
for work to do, which I have been doing to earn a
living. I pay my school fees from there. I am
determined to complete my education because of
the pains in my heart. Have come to realise that
one cannot do well without education in this
society. I do all type of menial jobs for a living: I
pack dirt from gutters, I pack sand, clear grasses in
people’s compounds and pack soak away faeces in
the dead of the night. I am a JSS II student and by
the grace of God I will finish from this school.” When asked what he planned to do in future after
school, Seribor said: “When am through with my
education here, I will proceed to Teacher Training
College because I want to become a teacher. I
want to teach and I advised young boys and girls
wasting their time and years roaming the streets
to go to school. If I can go to school at my age,
then why are young people wasting their time and
opportunity to acquire education?”
Exceptional courage
Mr. Christian Agu, a business mogul in the
cosmopolitan community, described Seribor’s
decision to acquire education at old age as
unprecedented and historic.
He said: “I never believed that somebody of this
age will ever dream of going to secondary school,
it is quite amazing. I know him and I sometimes
call him to work for me. But I never knew he had
this determination. I want to counsel young
people, who have the opportunity to go to school
to emulate him.”
Also, his class teacher, Mr. Edesemi Anesah, said:
“my encouragement to him is that he should hold
unto his determination. He is the oldest student in
the school and my advice to young people out
there is to emulate him.”
No comments:
Post a Comment