Encomium
EVELYN Oikhena is the mother of Daniel Oikhena, the stowaway boy who hid in the tyre compartment of an Arik Air plane, from Benin to Lagos, thinking it was America bound. After being investigated and questioned by the SSS, he was given a scholarship by the Edo and Osun Stte governments up till university level.
In a phone chat with ENCOMIUM Weekly, Evelyn Oikhena told us about the school the boy attends presently and how she feels about how things have turned out.
What school does your son attend now?
He attends Edo College now, and he is in the boarding house.
How do you feel now that you don’t have to spend money on him, yet he will get the best education?
I am very happy. I thank God for everything and the way things have turned out eventually. I am very grateful for the scholarship. I was worried but now things have gotten better. It is the way the media handled it that made people aware of the matter. I would like to meet the governor of Osun State one on one and thank him. But there is no way I can get across to him because I don’t know how to go about it. I have never been to Osun State neither do I know how to get there. The Osun and Edo State governors are the ones that took his matter up. Though the Osun State governor was the first to promise to give Daniel a scholarship. Initially, the Edo State governor did not interfere, I was surprised when they took the matter up. I am very grateful and happy. I say a very big thank you to them.
Will you or have you been given any allowance to take care of Daniel?
No, I wasn’t given any money. I am just relieved that he would be getting quality education till university level without me spending a kobo.
What school was he attending before the incident?
He attended New Scholar Secondary School and later changed to a government school, Ogbe Secondary School, where he spent a term.
The last time we spoke with you, you told us that your husband and his family were disturbing you because they thought you were making money from the scholarship. Are they still disturbing you?
They said they read it in the papers that I said the boy has no father. I told them I never said so. If I want to say so, I won’t bear his name, neither will his son. All I said was that he abandoned us and wasn’t caring for us. Even now, my two boys are at home. They cannot go to school because I don’t have money now. I don’t have anything doing because my shop got burnt. I was trying to recover when all these things happened. My shop got burnt on January 20, 2013, I used to run my own beauty salon.
So, what are you doing now?
I am not doing anything. I use this opportunity to appeal to people to assist me get back my shop, so I can send my other children back to school. I called my husband and told him that he announced on television that he was a good father, but his children are at home when their mates are in school. He said if I can’t take care of them and pay their school fees, I should bring them to him. I told him I couldn’t bring the children to him that God will provide and help us take care of the children.
