Mrs. Juliana Godwin with her son |
Mrs Juliana Godwin, a
42-year-old Junior Secondary School I (JSSI) student of Junior Secondary
School, Gosa, Abuja, has become one of those persons with strong will to change
her condition. Mrs Godwin, who
hails from Riyom in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, had her
education stalled by lack of sponsorship, a situation that made her to drop
out, in 1983, of LEA Primary School, Riyom.
“I had to leave for
Jos in 1983, since my father could no longer sponsor my education to secondary
school because he had no money. While I was with my cousin, I enrolled in a
tailoring shop to learn dress making. I completed it within a year
and six months”, she told Sunday
Vanguard. In 2001, she and
her children left Jos to join her husband in Abuja, where they live at Gosa
village, along Airport Road.
An industrious
woman, Godwin became the bread-winner of her family. Since had skill in hair
plaiting, that became a source of livelihood for her and the family. Later she
ventured into hawking of water in a basin in Gosa market to boost the family’s
income. “In 2003, I was
able to save some money from water hawking. I started pepper and tomato
business with N1,000 from the savings. I also went into corn roasting business,
but my husband stopped me from the business in 2007,” she said.
In 2008, Godwin
decided to go into vocational training with a non-governmental organisation
called Refocusing Nigerian Talents Organisation, RENITO, where she was trained
in soap (liquid, medicated and bar), pomade and disinfectants production. “Now I can produce
and sell the products I was trained on, and I started with N1,500”, Mrs. Godwin
narrated. “I came to realise
that the business was lucrative and helpful to me and my family. I decided to
make savings towards going back to school after I dropped out in 1983.
“My husband was
against my decision and quarrelled seriously with me. But I didn’t give up on
my decision. In 2013, I went on to enrol at Junior Secondary School, Gosa,
Airport Road, Abuja, where I started in JSS I F. I was able to raise N10, 000
to pay for admission expenses. “Why I decided to
start from JSSI was because I had never in my life stepped into the four walls
of a secondary school. I told myself I will start from JSS I, as it will help
me to have the foundation of secondary school education and to understand what
I would be taught.
“My principal was
surprised and asked me whether I could cope with secondary school education as
an adult and a married woman. He and the staff also encouraged me to continue
since I had made up my mind. But my husband continued making trouble to stop
me”. She wants her
teachers and principal to treat her just like other students notwithstanding
her age or as a mother, because she wishes pass through the school system, and
is ready to accept every academic and moral discipline that will shape her
future.
“I am the oldest
person in the class of 80 students. I participate in every school activity, and
I am happy with that. Even when I come late to school, the teachers do punish
me just like other students, and I have no problem with that, but I do behave
myself as an adult.” She is a mother of
four children, who she sponsors to the tune of N9,700 in a session while she
also takes care of the family’s upkeep. “I have seen great changes in my life,
and I am coping seriously. My aim is to study marketing in the university after
I would have completed my senior secondary education”, she added.
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