from GRASS to GRACE

Onyema was born by very poor parents who could not afford to send him to Primary School let alone Secondary School and University. His parents' alternative was to send him out to serve as a house boy for well to do men. For eleven years, he served as a house boy for 'Big Men'. When any one maltreated him, they would withdraw him and send him to another man. Onyema was very intelligent and ambitious, but nobody was ready to train him. After eleven years Onyema was tired of suffering and he saw that age was no longer on his side. He decided to call it quits and went to his elder brother who struggled by himself to secure a job as a clerk. His elder brother registered him in Extra-Mural studies class and within two years Onyema took West African School Certificate G.C.E 'O' Level and passed his subjects above credit levels including English Language and Mathematics. He was now qualified to enter a University admission having passed the subjects for his choice course. A feat that nobody at that time had achieved especially as it was just after the civil war. It would have taken him five years in Secondary School to pass the G.C.E.'O' Level. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Ngozi, the Princess, the daughter of the Chief of Amankanu fell in love with Onyema. Chief Okorie, the wealthiest and most prominent Chief in that Region saw it as an anathema that his daughter, Ngozi should fall in love with the son of the poorest man in Amankanu which could lead to marriage. For him, that was the last thing he could allow to happen in his life. Unknown to Ngozi, Onyema had already been offered admission by four Universities before she fell in love with him. Ngozi herself had been offered admission by one of the Universities that offered Onyema admission. Both of them were unaware of the strange happening. While Ngozi had more than enough money for her University, Onyema had no money for his own University education.It was a co-incidence that while Onyema went for the acceptance of offer of admission, Ngozi came for her own acceptance of offer of admission the same day. That was one of their best days in life. Yet the Chief of Amankanu was still vehement in kicking against their relationship.It was a twist of fate that Onyema was later awarded scholarship by one of the biggest oil companies in the country to read Accountancy at the Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA after undergoing a lot of hardships. It was also a twist of fate that Onyema finally married Ngozi, the Princess. Ngozi was also awarded scholarship to read Medicine at Boston University, Boston. At a much later date Onyema became the Group Managing Director of the Oil Company that awarded him the Scholarship, Thus, Onyema rose from GRASS to GRACE..