A former street beggar, Mr. Abdulsalam
Idowu, heaved a sigh of fulfilment of a life ambition as he was called
to the bar to start practising as a lawyer in Nigeria on Wednesday.
Idowu, who defied all odds, to bag his
law degree from the University of Lagos in 2015, had proceeded to the
Nigerian Law School, where he emerged successful in the August/September
2016 final bar examinations conducted at the end of the one-year
programme.
The new wig, who engaged in street
begging to fund his primary and secondary education, was among the
4,225 graduates of the Nigerian Law School called to the bar in Abuja on
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Having lost his mother at about age
three, crippled by a disease that befell him thereafter and left with a
father and relatives who had no interest in his future, Idowu started
begging at age eight in Erin Ile, Kwara State, to see himself through
his primary and secondary school education.
Against all odds, the 37-year-old had earlier in 2011 obtained a degree in Political Science from the same University of Lagos.
Not satisfied without a Law degree, he
struggled to secure admission to study Law while in the final year of
the first degree programme.
Idowu spoke with our correspondent on
Wednesday at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, venue of the
two-day call-to-bar ceremony.
He said, “I was not satisfied when they
gave me admission to study Political Science because I have always
wanted to be a lawyer.
“So, I struggled to get admission to
study Law. I got the admission when I was in my final year, writing my
final project for the Political Science degree.”
He narrated how he began to beg for alms
to enable him to get education, a sojourn which he said landed him in
Lagos, where he was able to raise money to complete secondary school and
later got admission to the University of Lagos.
He said, “It was sometimes in 1987, I
was about eight years old in the public kindergarten school. All my
mates were promoted to primary one but I was not promoted.
“I asked why because I attended classes
and sat for exams. I was then told that I was not a registered pupil but
they only allowed me to attend classes and take exams.
“That day I felt very sad and on getting
home I called everybody, including my father and aged paternal
grandmother, whom I was staying with, because I was very angry.
“I told them that I wanted to be
registered in school but they said there was no money and that there was
no way I could cope in school because of my condition. But I insisted
that they must register me and that they should not bother about paying
my fees.
“They registered me and as soon as they did, I took to the street begging for alms to meet some financial demands that came up.
“When I gained admission in 1993, I
could not afford N520 school fees but I had been hearing the story of
Lagos State that one could make money in Lagos State. So, one day I was
begging in Offa, Kwara State, then I said why shouldn’t I join a train
to Lagos and perhaps I could make money to pay for the fees, buy a
uniform and get my locker. So, I joined the train to Ido terminus in
Lagos. I started begging. I stayed with some people under the bridge and
I was begging in some areas including Idumota.”
He said he was travelling to and fro
Lagos to raise money which he used to settle his fees till he got to the
final class when he was supposed to write his O’Level West African
Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations which he could not raise money
for
.
He later relocated to Lagos fully where
he was able to raise enough money through his begging business to sit
for the WASSCE as a beggar and passed after two attempts.
He subsequently gained admission to
UNILAG with the intention of continuing his alms begging business to
raise money to continue his education.
He had just N39,000 as savings from his begging business when he got admission.
But he exhausted the money after completing his first semester registration.
He was however lucky that some compassionate Nigerians and organisations decided to sponsor him after reading his story in The PUNCH.
Speaking with PUNCH on
Wednesday, he attributed the inspiration which drove him to bagging two
degrees as “God’s miracle”.
“I thank God because if not for Him and those He used to come to my aid, I can be nowhere now,” he added.
He said his immediate plan was to get a job in a law firm.
“I wish to set up my law firm later and in the nearest future I want to become a judge,” Idowu said.
