By I finished secondary school in 2016, with no idea and, absolutely, no direction of where my life was going. I became that secondary school girl whose ambitions had gone missing; vanished into thin air. In fact, I stopped dreaming entirely in SS2. Why? Because in my mind, life was going to end after SS3. That was it! Game over! I was just your regular, Warri girl with a school cert who’d continue hustling like she’d been doing since JSS.
Before the beginning at Nigerian Tribune Correspondent’s office in Warri
Everything was moving on as it should until life decided to drop on me a hot slap in February 2017. That was when I lost my foster mum. Ah! That woman might have been the one person who would’ve asked me, “So, what do you want to do next? “Do you want to go back to school?” She was my everything remaining! But she passed on and just like that, it didn’t seem like hope was lost. It felt like it. Everything shattered.
Before the beginning…..
I was just floating in this life with no definite direction; nothing to do. I still had breath in me, yes, but the future was bleak. Very bleak!
However, like the normal Warri babe that I was, I carried on with the hustle. Thank God for a good and disciplined upbringing. I didn’t say, “Oh, because nobody’s watching over me anymore, let me go and misbehave, or descend to the gutters.” No! Somehow, grace and discipline held me.
The beginning at UNIUYO
I was working as a sales girl, earning a “glamorous” sum of ₦6,000 a month to pay my bills (yes, you read that right) before I found my way to the Nigerian Tribune Correspondent’s office in Warri.
What does the future hold?
I went there thinking I was going to be a regular “office girl”—file this, photocopy that, press the phone in peace, and all other errands. That kind of vibe. But Providence had other plans, and so did Baami (my God-sent). He wasn’t around when I resumed that early 2018, but when he finally arrived from the Yuletide and New Year holidays, we talked. One of the first things he asked was, “When last una get light here?” I replied, “Oga, na four weeks now o.” And he said, “Why not do something about it? Can you write a story on it? Can you go out and interview people?”
The journey continues….
In my mind, I was like, “Ah! This is not the ‘office girl’ job I thought I was signing up for o.” Nevertheless, I said, “Okay, sir.”
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So, off I went, into the streets of Ginuwa like a mini NTA correspondent, asking people questions. And I realised… I actually liked it. No, I loved it. I was speaking to people with passion, and they were responding to me with even more passion. It was my first time interviewing anyone, but it didn’t feel strange. It felt right.
…at a worship in Warri
When I got back from the interviews, I decided on my own o, nobody sent me, to write a story based on what I gathered. I had read complementary copies of Tribune newspapers earlier in the office, after all, they were always lying around in the office. I submitted the piece to Baami and… he was blown away. He had earlier requested what my ambition in life was, and I had told him that based on my situation, I would be heading to learn hairdressing after being able to gather some money for my upkeep. Next thing he asked me was, “Would you like to go back to school?”
Rita with classmates
I froze! Is this man kidding me?
Go back to school? Me? Honestly, I had thrown that dream into the bin. Who born me? Who dashed monkey banana? Which money? From where to where? But, in trepidation, I said “yes.” I said yes, even though the dream had long perished. Then he asked to see my WAEC result the following day. I brought it to him. It was mostly As and Bs—except for Economics. That naughty one carried an E like it was trying to escape the alphabet.
Rita receiving a certificate after a journalism workshop in Enugu
He looked at the result and said it wasn’t bad. But he asked if I still wanted to study a Social Science course, or, maybe, switch to the Arts. I’d never been an Art student before—na pure Social Science babe I be. But I said, “Yes, I think I can try the Arts.”
“What do you want to study?” he asked. Again, I had no idea. I’d never thought that far. However, I thought about the work I had been doing—the interviews, the writing, the transcriptions, the connection with people—and I said, “I think I want to be a journalist.”
The journey continues…..
He quipped, “That’s great!” His eyes brightened up with a satisfactory smile. “But you’ll need to take WAEC, again.”
Left to me: “what’s this man saying? With which money?” But this man, God bless him, just went ahead with his pledge; he paid. Just like that! Just like that!! He paid for the WAEC, and, again, I passed with flying colours. Then he paid for JAMB in 2020. Before he agreed to enter into fulfilling his pledges, he had warned that if I failed the WAEC, he would back out of sponsoring my education. To ensure he plays his part well, he also paid for my extramural lessons, bought me the necessary books and also, in his spare time, engaged me personally in some lessons in English and Literature.
Attaining greatness in Accra Ghana in 2024
Meanwhile, amid all these new developments, my brain had gone rustier than a forgotten corrugated iron roof in the village! From 2016 to 2020, I had not touched any serious books. I was just reading novels—nothing academic, just love stories and wahala here and there. I had to shake the rust off. With his warning ringing in my brain, when preparing for WAEC and JAMB, I gave it everything. I studied my textbooks cover to cover like my life depended on it. It actually did. Because I knew: this chance is not coming twice.
And to God be the glory, it worked. I did not disappoint!
The journey continues….
By 2021, I became an undergraduate at UNIUYO; from there, I started having bylines, courtesy of my Baami with the birth of Stonix News. Before I left for school, he had discreetly trained me on news story and features writings. Me! Ahhh, It felt like a dream, when my bylines began to flood the news website. But then, that inner voice whispered, “You’re the first in your family to get here. Can you do this?” And I said, “Watch me.”
At a journalism training workshop
Resilience answered every doubt. And God, being God, sent me angels in the form of friends, too. I met people like Abasiodu Nseyo, Blessing Menegbo, Blessing Emenike, Chioma Obidozie, Magdalene Bright and Anthony Uyah. With their support (and God’s help), I made it through. Through the stress, sleepless nights, depressive episodes, tears, and “who send me” moments. To my cousin, Rukevwe Orien, my sister, Victoria and my half brother, Daniel Okwah, thank you and God bless you.
Today, the climax of the long journey
And now……. drums roll please….an offspring of Enemuru Okwa clan of Olomu Kingdom in Delta State, is a university graduate! The very first in the family. It’s not a privilege o. It’s sheer grace. I am graced. I am the girl the Lord has shown mercy.
Rita with friend and classmate today after final exam
Ohhh my Baami, I’m dedicating this degree to you. Thank you for the endless support and prayers. I thank God everyday for the gift of you. God bless you, endlessly. Thank you for making a dream I never thought I was allowed to dream come true. Because I went to the university, I won my first international award in Accra, Ghana! I mounted the podium with the who and who in the world of journalism across Africa and beyond! Because I went to school, I was able to attend a number of journalism training and robbed shoulders with veterans.
Here comes elegant Rita….to conquer the world
But you know what, that my hairdressing dream, though obscure, was still fulfilled. Do you know that after I was through with my WAEC, my Baami still asked me to go learn the skill before resumption? And COVID-19 lockdown made it possible! I actually resumed at the university armed with the hairdressing skill I had learned and perfected for about six months or more. No dream is too small or too big to find fulfilment!
Signing out being aided by a lad….guess what the lad was inscribing ….
If you like, say “school na scam.” Me, I don use this degree hold body first.
Behold your latest B.A holder!!!
God did!!!!
Rita and friend after final exam today….
I am Rita Enemuru, the one El-Roy has shown great mercies, a fresh graduate from the University of Uyo
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