UNN Professor: I engaged in menial job’s to become an academiaThe Professor of Ethics,
Prof. Nicholas Uchechukwu Asogwa, shared his inspiring journey from being a cobbler and wheelbarrow pusher at Orie Orba market to becoming a professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). He credited his success to the support of two individuals, Nkechi Ohanuka and Proscovia Ndoboli, who helped him by buying a JAMB form and paying his first school fees.
Their kindness and his determination led him on the path to academic achievement. Prof. Asogwa expressed his gratitude to them, his family, and UNN lecturers for their support in his journey to professorship.Asogwa, in a statement titled, ‘My Journey To Professorship’, added that Nkechi bought a JAMB form for him, while Proscovia paid his first school fees and also paid for his stay in the hostel.He said he would have been demoralised by circumstances if not for his determination to succeed.Asogwa stated:
“I recall with tears my days as a barrow pusher at the popular Orie Orba market in Udenu LGA of Enugu state, and then my days as a shoe-mender in one of the female hostels (Bello Hall) in the same university where I have become a professor.“Sometime in 2016, I had a chance-meeting with the owner of C.O.U Barrows, the owner of the then flourishing business outfit from which I used to hire barrow then. In the course of our discussion he told me that seeing me and getting to know what I have become makes him to believe that, ‘what God cannot do does not exist’.”Speaking on his encounter with Nkechi and Proscovia, the professor added: “May I, in addition to my parents who laid the foundation of my education, mention the names of two persons who were strategically instrumental to my academic career and achievements. They are Bar. Mrs.
Nkechi Ohanuka, and Mrs. Proscovia Ndoboli from Imo State and Uganda, respectively. My relationship with them dates back to my days as a shoe-mender in the university. Both of them were my regular customers then.“Upon realizing that I attended school up to secondary level in one of my interactions with her, Nkechi Ohanuka asked me why I didn’t want to further my education. I replied that I desired higher education badly, but that owing to my background, I needed to make some money that would help me to forge ahead.“Coincidentally, the discussion took place at a time that JAMB form was on sale. In the evening of that same day, Mrs Ohanuka came back to my shop, tapped me at the back and upon my turning to know who tapped me, she handed a wrapped paper to me saying, ‘I have discussed with my husband, go and purchase JAMB form.