Falilat Abiri
10 July 2007
Lagos — Meriamu Abudu, 18, looked forlon. "The mistake I made two years ago will hurt me for life", she muttered. "I am not happy at all. I should be in the university if not for this child", she added, point at the baby strapped to her back. "I did not know it was going to be like this. Now I can not even talk in the presence of my mates. I did this thing out of ignorance. The father of this baby does not even talk to me. He is going on with his life as if nothing happened."
The parents of 19-year-old Amamatu Yakubu are separated. Her father remarried and Amamatu had to go live with her grand mother. Desperate for money to register for the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination (JSSCE), she succumbed to the overtures of Kabir, who had promised, not only to pay the JSSCE fees, but her school fees as well. But what she eventually got was a baby. She now lives Kabir's mother
These two and 13 others who dropped out of different secondary schools, recently got the push they needed to put their lives back on track when a community school, Aiboste Secondary School, Auchi (ASSA), decided to reabsorb them on scholarship. They were however all readmitted into a class lower than where they were before they dropped out. Eight of them: Abibat Umoru, Esther Oshorenua, Amamatu Yakubu, Kerimatu Audu, Bekisu Salisu, Meriamu Abudu, Hauwa Umar, Aisha Kerim, were absorbed into Junior School (JS) III. Five, Salamotu Musa, Awawu Amudah, Afishetu Inusa, Zeniatu Umoru and Meriamu Garuba were admitted into Senior School (SS) I, while Adizat Habeebu and Gold Ofuaegbe were admitted into JS I and II respectively.
Practically all of them were fatherless and their mothers, petty traders. One of them, Mrs Ketumi Yakubu, Amamatu's mother said in pidgin, "she be my hope." She had hoped that her daughter would go to school, get a good job and give her the opportunity to taste the good things of life.
She struggled to describe the shame her daughter had brought on her and the family by getting pregnant. "As part of our custom, it is a taboo and a big shame for your relative to get pregnant outside wedlock. How much more of your own child? My mates have ridiculed me.
They relegated me to the background. Because of this single act I could not discuss among my mates or claim any right. Thank God my tears have been wiped off. I can not express my happiness enough. I am happy that Aiboste People are rekindling my hope, especially now that my husband is no more. This gesture again is confirming what our people say that, 'God drives away flies for the tailless animal."
Mrs Abibat Umoru simply said, "There is no need going over the harrowing experience I went through. I am happy that 'my shame' as my enemies tagged it as turned out this way. I thank God."
Chairperson of the ASSA Management Board, Alhaja Monsurat Abdul-Salam, who spearheaded the cause said the gesture became necessary as result of the escalating number of teenage mothers dropping out of school.
"This trend, if not curbed, portends high rate of illiteracy for this community", she said, stressing that the school, founded, about seven years ago, is a community establishment with a focus on the individual and to address such communal issues such as teenage pregnancy.
"We have a genuine concern for the community dwellers that support our enterprise in one way or the other. Our action, though local will definitely have a global impact."
The gesture she said is also a response to rid the community of illiteracy and equip the women to face the challenges of the grinding and dehumanizing poverty in which so much of the world lives in.
The scholarship, Abdul-Salam said, will cover their school fees and textbooks, throughout the duration of their secondary education. Some of the young mothers who had their babied strapped to their backs described the day as the happiest in their life. Umoru had a word for young girls: "Look at me now, I am the one suffering. Be very careful. Once the deed is been done, it is over."
In a related development, some eminent persons in the community, under the aegis of Progressive Union of Aiboste Descendants (PUAD) donated 20 computer sets to the school. Presenting the items, Chairman of the union, Mr. Abdullahi Habeeb said the aim of the initiative is to reform and restructure rural education.
"Our vision is to establish an enabling and sustainable educational environment for rural dwellers. To achieve the desired national and human development objectives and to bridge the existing gap between rural and urban school students.
The community head, Alhaji Sulaiman Tokurah commended the donors for the gesture and prayed for God to shower His blessings on them.
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