By Amos Aar
A YOUNG Benue indigene, Godwin Ikyoga, has appealed for urgent assistance after securing admission to study Medicine despite years of hardship, displacement by violent crisis and extreme poverty.
Ikyoga, who hails from Mbagwen in Guma LGA of Benue State, is currently taking refuge in Daudu following the recurring attacks that have made farming and normal livelihood impossible in his community.
According to his account posted on Facebook by a humanitarian, Mr Ukan Kurugh, life became even more difficult after his father remarried and abandoned his mother and her children, leaving them to struggle alone for survival.
With no access to farmland due to insecurity, Ikyoga said he refused to surrender to despair and resolved to pursue education as a way out of poverty.
To support himself and his mother, Ikyoga said he began pushing a wheelbarrow at Daudu market. From the little income he earned daily, he registered for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) and later sat for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.
Against all odds, he scored 284 in JAMB and was offered admission to study Medicine at Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi, a development many describe as remarkable given his background.
In his struggle to raise money for school, Ikyoga said he managed to cultivate a small piece of farmland and planted rice, but insecurity and poor conditions limited his harvest to just one bag. He sold the bag and continued pushing his wheelbarrow in a bid to pay his acceptance fee.
However, with his screening scheduled to begin on the 19th of this month, the young man says he is on the brink of losing the opportunity that could change his life.
As of the time of writing, he disclosed that he does not even have N10 on him while his acceptance fee stands at N35,000, while his school fees total N316,000, sums far beyond his current means.
“I have no one else to turn to. Missing this opportunity would feel like losing my life,” he lamented, appealing for help to enable him to begin his medical training.
Further investigation shows that Ikyoga’s claims are genuine. A senior lecturer familiar with his admission reportedly confirmed the authenticity of his academic achievement and the offer to study Medicine.
