Little Success Adegor’s brief moment in the limelight has made a difference in her life. But she’s not exactly living in the lap of luxury, writes ELO EDREMODA, who visited her and family in Sapele, Delta State.
When the video of seven year-old Success Adegor went viral in March, this year, many imagined how the life of the young lad and her family had blissfully changed forever. Indeed, it has. But all is not as it was portrayed to be. The ‘dem go flog,flog, flog, flog tire’ orator wants the support of well-meaning individuals and government to really ensure her success story.
The Nation visited her new home in Sapele, Delta state and discovered a lot to be untrue of the much publicized new social status. Success does not live in a slum anymore, neither does she live in a ‘mansion.’ She lives, not what one can say, an average life still. Her father still makes a living from ‘okada’ riding, while the mother does her petty trade. They (Mr Godwin and Mrs Vera Adegor) say that the only physical change the incident brought to their lives is the move from a single room to a one bedroom flat apartment, in a less slummy area of the town.
On first meeting with Success, one is struck by her bold nature, sharpness and this bright smile that almost never leaves her face. She is the youngest of three children. The first is called Gift, 11, while the second, Marvelous, is nine years old. Both are in JSS two. She is very intelligent, being among the best three of her class, given her last results which only came out on Friday, December 13. She came third, but expressed sadness about it. “I’m not happy at all. I have to work harder,” she stated. She insists on becoming a lawyer and a pastor. Asked why those two professions, the smart girl replied “I want to become a lawyer so I can defend the truth and I want to become a pastor so I can preach the gospel to people. I have met a lawyer. They wear something like a gown, black and white.” She further riled out her favourite things. My favourite food is beans. I like purple colour and I like to read literature, that is novels,” she emphasized.
Success revealed that she has not seen her old friends since then. But she had a piece of advice for them and school heads who may still demand illegal levies from their learners. “I don’t know if I want to see them. I have not made new friends here. For children like me, I will tell them to keep their hopes high and always speak their mind. For head teachers, I want to tell them to stop. It is not good.”
Speaking on her new found fame, she says it makes her feel “special.” Her manager, Malcolm Tagbarha, recalls some instances: “when she goes out, people easily spot her. There was a time we were in Benin. We were stranded and it was raining heavily. It was because of her we got a vehicle to where we were going. Someone recognized her and shouted, ‘is that not Success?’ And we said, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah…’
“In Lagos also, we went to AY Live. We were in Victoria Island, at an eatery. While we just walked in, a customer was buying something, he turned and saw us coming in and said, ‘this face looks like Success.’ We said, ‘yes.’ From there, everybody inside the eatery came out and were celebrating her, so her life has really changed. She is now a celebrity. People take pictures with her. People around here know she lives here. She wants to make her dad proud, I have witnessed it several times. She would ask me, ‘hope this thing I said, daddy will be happy with me?’
On her part, Success said, “when I saw the crowd of people around me, I felt special. They asked me questions and I answered them. You know there are so many things in my head, especially school stuffs, so I have forgotten some of the questions. When people call out to me, I hail them too.”
Her mother, Vera Adegor, says the celebrity status of her daughter robbed off on her. She however debunked reports that the family now lives a wealthy life. “Things have changed in a way because of the popularity. Anywhere I go, people point at me and say, ‘that’s Mama Success!’ When I go to the market, some will stand and just stare at me. Apart from that, the money aspect is not true. Because I was hearing that we have bought a big house and a car. Most of them that came to promise never came back. But they put it in the media that they gave three million naira. They did not keep to their promise. It is just the fame that makes us different from how we were before now.
She explained that her daughter had always been outspoken. “Success, right from being a very young child always spoke her mind. Whenever she is angry, she would say anything that comes to her mind. She doesn’t keep quiet, but will just speak out. Right from time, I did not give them that space to roam about even though we were in that type of environment. I made sure that as you leave the house, you go to the shop. I didn’t even allow them to go watch movies in our neighbours’ houses. If we don’t have, read your books. I taught them to be contented with what we had. If I want to sleep and I feel they will disturb, I will make sure we sleep together in that one room,” the mother stressed.
Mr. Adegor, who appeared disappointed by the whole fiasco believes people who came with beautiful promises at the peak of Success’ viral video, only came to laugh at his family and as well, expose them to danger. He disclosed that he is a school certificate holder but has some business skills, particularly in poultry.
Recounting the experience thus far, the father said “Well, Bible says in everything give God the glory. The most important thing is God has given us life. A lot of persons came to our house then. Some gave me their numbers and told me to call if I am passing through any stress. Three months after that time, my bike was impounded. I called many of them, I called a commissioner and he told me he was not around. He was the one that came here and gave me his number. The DPO had asked me to call him, that my bike will be released if he responds. I had to call Engr. Ossai who called the Sapele local government chairman to order them to release my bike. I saw that some of them really came to mock me, why some others had the mind to help. Most of them, just came to create more problems. The way they spoke in my house, we could have been kidnapped because they were saying by this time tomorrow, we will come and do this and that. Why promise what you know you cannot do? Nobody asked you to come and do things for us.
“The only difference we have seen so far is leaving that one-room to a room and parlour self-contain. And we are still afraid that if this rent expires now, we may not be able to afford the money. It is N13,000 per month and it was Agofure that paid it for us and I am still riding the same bike I was riding before this thing happened. They only came to expose me to danger. Even what we were given, area boys came asking for settlement. They feel we have a lot of money. When people see me in town they say ‘NoFace (my nick name) your daughter has made money, what are you still doing with bike? Like I said, they just came to mock us. I heard that people claimed we were given N20 million and so on. When the incident occurred, even 419 called me that they wanted to give me a job and I should go and do medical check-up. After then, I was told to send N10,000 for apron and some other things. After that, they asked me to send another money. That was when I realized it was a scam. They said the manager really wanted to help me and I should bring money so I can just resume work. I had already sent close to N20,000.”
Success, full of enthusiasm and high expectations, nevertheless prayed on government to assist her family. When asked for the name of Nigeria’s president and what she would like to say to him, without hesitation she stated, “President Muhammadu Buhari. I know him, if I see his picture, I can show you. (Standing up and putting her hands together, she continued), I will like to plead, plead, plead with him, to please, please, please, help my family. Everybody thinks we have millions but we don’t have any millions. How will my father take care of us? Please, you should at least give him some work to do. Please, let him do it for me and for us.”
Tagbarha chipped this in: “The mum is more like a teacher, while the dad is like a motivator. At their former place, called Urban Area, a slum where people will pass through your room to your parlour and nobody will complain, she would lock them (the three children) in the house, whenever she is going out until she returned. Neighbours started chastising her about it even. Unknowing to her, she was building them. Another striking thing I noticed when I met the family is that they were contented with what they had. They live happily. They love one another, talking about the three children. When the three are in the house they ask questions like they are having a mental quiz in school.”
According to the manager, Success reenacts the March 14 scene when invited for events. Sadly, the invitations have become scarce lately, he added. “Whenever she is called for a show, they would want her to repeat those words. She will play both characters. She is spontaneous. When you engage her, she can just talk on and make you laugh. She can say some deep things that are way beyond her age.”
And she did act both roles, putting out the facial expressions and other mannerisms, as the words gushed out of her tiny mouth. “-You never pay na? – Eh, no be say I no go pay o. Dem go dey pursue person, instead of make dem flog person, dem go dey pursue person. -Okay, so wait… But e better make dem flog you? Nai make dem say make you go tell your mummy. -Make dem flog me. Dem go flog, the cane go tire dem. Dem go flog, flog flog, flog, dem go tire. As dem say dem stubborn, I go tell dem say I stubborn pass dem!”
As for the school, Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1, it does wear a new look. It is expected to be commissioned in January, 2020. Success Adegor automatically is the ambassador of that learning citadel. Her voice drew government’s attention to it, causing a drastic change that affected positively, the lives of hundreds of other children and the staff of the school.
Leave a Reply