MAGNANIMOUS employees of foremost courier firm, DHL Express Ltd, proved a few weeks ago that their job is not all about dispatching mails and cargo. They offered a lifeline to a distraught Nigerian student, Oluseun Faleye, in far away Peoples Republic of China.
Oluseun, a final year student of Electronics and Telecommunications at the Shenyang Aerospace University (SAU), China, was staying in the Asian country on borrowed times following his inability to defray school fees until the gesture saved his drowning educational dream.
The story of the embattled student was first published in The Nation on Sunday, April 7 in the Deputy Chairman, Editorial Board, Mr. Tunji Adegboyega’s column, wherein he urged members of the public to lend a helping hand to save Oluseun’s drowning educational dream. He was due to graduate in July but could not defray the tuition fees for lack of fund.
Adegboyega, had captured Oluseun’s plight under the headline “The Faleye metaphor” thus: “…when Oluseun Samuel Faleye received his letter of admission into Shenyang Aerospace University (SAU) in China in September, 2011, to study electronics and telecommunications engineering, in furtherance of his course at the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, his joy and that of his parents knew no bounds. Faleye had in 2011 concluded his diploma programme at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, which on March 30 of the same year signed a memorandum of understanding with SAU for the purpose of admitting the college’s products for a two-year degree programme.
“His father, Chief S.A. Faleye, had in a letter of consent to the consular-general in the Chinese Embassy in Lagos, undertaken to take full responsibility for the payment of his school fees and any other financial involvement, before things started going awry. Any parent would not have thought twice before consenting to such a project. Prior to the signing of the MOU with the Chinese university, products of the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology used to secure employment with the airlines or other aviation agencies with their diploma certificates. Faleye had hoped to get a job after the Zaria training.
“However, a new policy which made it mandatory for those of them from the Zaria college seeking employment in the aviation agencies to have first degree came into being at about the time Faleye was leaving the college. This apparently informed the college’s decision to sign the MOU with the Chinese university so that the diploma holders would be able to go there for their first degree programme.
“Faleye and his colleagues were thus in a quagmire, as none of those agencies employed the Zaria college’s diploma holder after that policy took off; at least initially. It was after he had stayed at home for about a year doing nothing that his parents decided to fulfill all righteousness: if what would get him employment was obtaining the first degree in the Chinese university with which the college had signed an MOU, so be it. So, they pulled resources together to ensure that their investment on their son in the aviation college would not be in vain.
“Unfortunately for him, it was after he had left for China that some of the aviation agencies changed their mind and recruited some of his colleagues. Unfortunately too, for him, things did not go as planned as they sometimes don’t. The projection of raising the about N4 million needed for the school fees soon got derailed… his father, in his 70s, had to sell some of his property to ensure he completes his studies. His programme, which commenced in 2011, is supposed to end in July. But Faleye, the last child of his parents, is in a quagmire: he is not sure of concluding the programme due to the financial challenges he is currently facing. About N1 million is standing between him and the conclusion of his programme. If help does not come, all the investments in China since 2011 when he secured admission into the college would go down the drain.
“When he realised the precarious situation in which he is, he managed to secure a teaching job in China. But that country is a no-nonsense country, they quickly stopped him because, as they said, the job is for their citizens. As things stand, Faleye is willing and ready to enter into agreement with any individual, corporate organisation or institution that is ready to offer assistance, on how the money would be repaid. “
Soon, after the piece was published, some Nigerians, including one Prof. Adeleke Ojo of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, offered Oluseun the sum of N100, 000 while Adetumbi Omoniyi and one Asimi also gave him N2000 and N1000 respectively. However, the total sum was a far cry from the amount needed to bail Oluseun out of his fix. This prompted Adegboyega to once again run the story on April 17. The story caught the eyes of the DHL benevolent employees who investigated the veracity of his story and found it to be true. Hence, the employees of the courier firm pooled a whopping N1.5 million together and forwarded same to Oluseun’s school so he could complete his degree programme.
Explaining the motive behind the gesture during a chat with our correspondent, the Chairperson of the Employees’ Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, Mrs. Funmi Glover, said: ”Over 15 years ago, we started a fund called United Nations International Children Education Fund(UNICEF) with one per cent of all employees monthly salary to assist in the execution of some projects undertaken by the international organisation. The projects were not forthcoming and that was the reason why we changed the name to Employees CRS Project in 2012 and Oluseun is the first individual beneficiary of the scheme.”
Expatiating further, Mrs. Glover, who doubles as the Human Resources Manager of the company, said: “It was one of our members called Festus Oluwatuyi, who actually read the article in The Nation and brought it to our attention. We presented his case in our meetings and carried out a lot of fact-checking including his background, the story and other necessary checks. We painstakingly debated his situation in order to determine whether he actually deserved our help because we are also accountable to all the employees, who are contributors to the fund.
“We got in touch with his former school in Nigeria, which confirmed that he is one of their former students and that it had a relationship with the Chinese university. We also spoke with Oluseun on skype and phone before we finally agreed to assist him
“The total amount forwarded to him was about N1.2 million, including his return ticket to Nigeria when he finishes his studies. While we cannot guarantee him employment in our company, we shall use our goodwill to solicit employment for him in the aviation sector.”
Responding, Oluseun’s father, Chief Samson Faleye, thanked DHL employees for their kind gesture, adding that but for their timely intervention; his son would have been deported.
“I cannot thank DHL Express employees enough for offering my son a lifeline to complete his studies in China. I had taught that I would be able to raise enough money to see him through school but my hopes were dashed and I could not raise enough money to carry out the responsibility despite selling a two-acre plot of land in Ogun State for the purpose of paying his school fees when his admission came through.
