A photo of a school girl spotted doing her homework in front of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Ondo State is presently melting hearts on social media.
The schoolgirl identified as Dele was captured kneeling close to the ATM at a branch of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) along Yaba road in Ondo city.
A Twitter user Bada Maruf Matthew shared the photo last Wednesday and it has since gone viral evoking a series of reactions on the microblogging site.
Bada who said he is the Education Secretary of Ondo West Local Government wrote:
“I saw this little Dele at FCMB Bank along Yaba Road in Ondo City. She is using the ATM Gallery light to do her homework.
“My respect goes to her determination to make it in life. Let it go viral.“
Four days after Dele’s photo emerged on social media, FCMB has finally reacted with a promise to support her education.
The bank quoted Bada’s viral tweet and wrote:
“We are inspired by Dele’s determination to study. It’s great our ATM Gallery could light her books for the evening, but we would love to do more to support. Can you please help us find Dele? Please RT until it gets to someone who knows her.”
The bank urged social media users to help it locate the girl
Bada who tweeted the photo has, however, shared an update, saying he has been able to locate the girl.
He revealed that the little girl lives with her grandmother and she has been told about FCMB’s plan for her granddaughter.
He tweeted:
“I have been able to locate her and her grandma. The grandmother and the proprietor of her school (Hope of Glory Academy) were well informed.
“Even the Local Government authority is aware too. Necessary documents were collected to ascertain her identity before I proceeded.
“Many have responded to the post. The branch where I saw her has also responded. I was able to open an account for her last Friday, they asked me to come back tomorrow being 10/02/2020 for the details of the account.”
Many social media users who were moved by Dele’s determination to education and FCMB’s kind gesture have taken to Twitter reacting to the viral photo.
See some of the reactions:
Nice gesture @MyFCMB But a small,off-grid electricity hub 4her immediate community would be most appreciated. Then we can impact not only Dele, but also Soji,Ayo,Tunde & prevent dem from makin d trip 2d ATM.Individual interventions ar cool,but we must seek to widen our influence
— JBrian (@realJBrian) February 9, 2020
https://twitter.com/XtainGrey/status/1226572072610037760
@Ondofirstborn wrote: Ordinary lack of electricity could not stop or discourage her. That’s a typical Ondo Child. We are stubborn, determined and persistent. We don’t back down easily until we achieve our aim. We are basically unstoppable. Dele is a goal.
@Egwunte: Dele was determined to do her work when others could easily tell their teachers there was no light to do the homework. She’s needs to be encouraged.
@T_AkinLaguda: Heartbreaking. We choose to light up senate, house of rep, state assemblies & homes of govts folks at all levels to the detriment of children like her. Big shame on all of us & especially the ones that lived through & experienced a functioning Nigeria now dysfunctional.
@OladijiDada: That Is why, the struggle for a better Nigeria starting from today, is a guarantee for a better future for Dele and millions of other Nigerians. If Govt has truly failed, which they have, how about the citizenry? Have they done enough to make a change? God bless Nigeria
@Imagervet: This is so heartbreaking for me. Thanks for highlighting and kudos to FCMB for whatever they can do to give her a better chance at life. Nigeria wearies me sometimes.
@John_Fatoye: “Dele’s resilience inspite of obvious odds show that numerous number of children are ready to give their best to access education. We @Yattiyr_Init remain committed to identifying and helping such children So much can be done to reduce the massive number of out-of-school children.”
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