Six years after the Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, promised study scholarship to a set of quadruplets born by a peasant couple in the state, the beneficiaries are yet to enjoy the award. With barely eight month to the end of his administration, parents of the quadruplets, Mr Cyril Onu and his wife, Chinenye, are waiting for an angel that would carry their entreaties to the governor.
The quadruplets, Stephen, Gift, Charles and Miracle, who are presently in their final year at Hill Crest Primary School, Nsukka, had faced ejection severally from school because their parents were unable to pay their school fees. It took the kindness of the school management and the promise of the parents to offset the accumulated fees later in future to keep them in the school.
With N250,000 arrears of school fees over the years, even the quadruplets know that they are enjoying a limited period of grace in school, considering that the management needs fund to pay the teachers, provide facilities and run other sundry expenditures.
Our reporter, who visited Onu’s family at their Alor-Uno residence, located at the outskirts of Nsukka town, met the young couple worried. Looking downcast, Onu said the scholarship promised by Chime, on behalf of the Enugu State Government, on January 2, 2008, to the quadruplets, Stephen, Gift, Charles and Miracle when he hosted them in his residence has not been implemented till date.
He told our reporter that series of letters written to the governor and other government ministries for the implementation of the programme never elicited any response, leaving him worried that the mails never got to the governor’s table.
“I know that His Excellency is a listening governor. I am afraid that he never got any of the letters we wrote for the implementation of the scholarship programme, as he promised. My wife is also worried because we were excited when he made the promise in 2008. We are still hoping that one day, he will remember us again,” he said.
Although the governor might have forgotten his promise in the face of several official matters before him, Onu is still holding tight to it as his lifeline. As schools prepare for a new session on September 22, he is burdened with a shopping list for his eight children in different private schools in the state. The 43-year-old man hides his financial distress with a cheerful face.
In one of the letters to the governor, dated July 23, 2009, Onu pleaded for the approval and commencement of the scholarship. He urged Chime to recall that the Enugu State Ministry of human Development and Poverty Reduction wrote vide ‘RE PLEA FOR ASSISTANCE TO QUADRUPLETS’ letter No ENS/GH/HD/PR/038/116 dated March 31, 2008, praying for state government’s approval of the scholarship for the quadruplets.
In another letter dated July 19, titled Passionate Appeal for the Fulfillment of Your Excellency’s promise to the Quadruplets, Onu appealled to Chime to fulfil his promise.
The letter, which was made available to Education Review, reads, “One of the promises included the granting of scholarship to the quadruplets by the Enugu State Government to enable the scholarship to be sustained even after your tenure in office. In compliance with your directive that the request be put in writing, I have submitted the request through your protocol officer, Hon. Charles Dioke. I have also written reminders to Your Excellency in respect of the requests. I am appealing to Your Excellency to please graciously approve the request to reduce the burden of the quadruplets’ educational expenses which have continued to bite hard on me.”
Onu, a vivacious young man, popularly called Papa Ejima Ano (father of quadruplets) told Education Review that his wife, Chinenye, was delivered of a set of quadruplets on November 18, 2004. According to him, his wife, whom he married in 1994, initially had four children from separate births, two boys and two girls, before they decided to take a break. But nature had its way when she became pregnant again after four years and gave birth to multiple babies, increasing the number of children to eight.
She was delivered of four babies: Stephen, Gift, Charles and Miracle in a maternity at No 94 Alor Uno, Nsukka on November 18, 2004, through a normal delivery process by a midwife. The incident, which was the first case of quadruplets in Enugu State at that time, was widely reported by the media, including Daily Sun of February 13, 2008, where the family sought for assistance for the upkeep of the children.
Onu explained that several promises made by some individuals and organizations for the upkeep of the children were never fulfilled. According to him, appeals to the federal government for support failed to elicit favourable response. Not even the letters sent to the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs could bring respite to the family.
He said the Catholic Institute for Development, Justice and Peace (CIDJAP) of Enugu Diocese, overseen by Monsignor Obiora Ike, visited the family shortly after the birth of the children with financial support and promised to provide a shelter for them. But nothing was heard from the group, save for a report in the CIDJAP Quarterly Magazine of January- March edition, 2007, claiming that the family has been provided a home by the organisation.
The CIDJAP report, made available to our reporter, states as follows: “Quadruplets own home sponsored by CIDJAP. A set of quadruplets delivered by a family in Nsukka have attracted the support of the Catholic Institute for Development, Justice and peace (CIDJAP), Enugu, which granted funds for the building of a family home to shelter the children and the family”.
Onu said the institute asked him in 2005 to bring the cost of the building and he consulted an architect who gave an estimate of N2million, but he was surprised that the institute never discussed the issue with him again. His inability to provide a bigger accommodation has left the large family in a two-room apartment, with little bed spaces for the children.
With a load of responsibilities, Onu said his dogged effort to keep all the children in school has left holes in his pocket. According to him, his eldest son, Ogbonna, lost his admission into the university for lack of fund. To heighten his worries, one of his daughters, Queendalyn, recently got an admission to study in Federal Polytechnic Ida.
“It has not been easy. You know how expensive it is to train one student in secondary school, let alone having eight children. The tuition fees, feeding, clothing, medical cost and other necessities make it a big burden. But, we thank God for everything. People have been assisting us all these while but things are really challenging. We cannot depend on charity because such assistance does not come always. We are really in a difficult situation”, he said.
His cry for help touched a compassionate political office holder in his community, who leased out a taxi to him under the Enugu State taxi cab operators. However, with a weekly target of N16,100 set by the state government, not much could be saved for the education of the children.
Onu also appealled to President Goodluck Jonathan, south east governors, charity organizations, religious institutions and other compassionate individuals for support in training the children, whom he described as ‘the face of hope for a greater Nigeria’. He said those who wish to contact the family for further clarification can call either of these lines: 08038364002 or 07084494844.
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