Gabriel Dike and Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure

The story of Fathia Dele Rasheed, a primary three pupil of Hope of Glory Academy, Ondo in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State, is like that of a rising star as her determination, handiwork and passion for work suddenly brought her fame.

Dele, young and brilliant, has not only become a household name, but her fame has also transcended beyond Ondo State as her singular action of doing an assignment at the ATM gallery of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) opened doors of fortunes for her. The little schoolgirl was last two weeks pictured in the night using FCMB ATM gallery light to do her Mathematics homework.

Dele was born into a humble family in Ondo. She has been living with her grandmother since age two. But her passion for academic and her zeal for work led her to locate an ATM gallery with light to do her school assignment due to power outage in her area.

The bank management showered her with cash and offered her scholarship from primary school to university within the country. The seven-year-old girl stays with her grandmother in Ondo. There was no light at the time she wanted to do her Mathematics assignment, thus her decision to look for light from any source to do the assignment.

It was gathered that Dele had been using the FCMB Automated Teller Machine (ATM) gallery for long due to the epileptic power supply in the Yaba area of Ondo where she lives. But luck shone on her that fateful day when the Education Secretary of Ondo West Local Government Area, Mr. Matthew Bada, saw her, took her pictures and posted online.

Bada said: “I saw this little girl at FCMB ATM gallery along Yaba Road in Ondo. She was using the ATM gallery light to do her homework. I decided to take her picture and the picture eventually went viral on social media. I respect her determination to make it in life.”

He said it took him time to locate Dele and her grandmother who she stays with, stating that the management of the school assisted in locating her when officials of the bank were searching for her:

“Even the local government area is aware too. Necessary documents were collected to ascertain her identity before I proceeded. But it was very difficult for me to locate her and when I did, the grandmother did not want to release her because she did not want publicity about the issue.

“The development has no doubt promoted the name of the school, which was established not too long as those who heard about her were interested in knowing the school.”

However, the management of the school declined to make any comment on the matter stating that it had established communication with the management of the bank.

The proprietor of the school was not available when The Education Report visited the school. One of the teachers said the management has a policy about publicity: “Only the proprietor can make public comment on such an issue.

Related News

“We have been warned not to make any issue out of this matter. Assignments were given to all the pupils and the way and manner they did the assignments depended on each pupil. Luck has beckoned on Dele and we want to put it at that.”

The teacher confirmed that the Education Secretary of Ondo West LG notified the school about the decision of FCMB to award a scholarship to the pupil when he visited the school to look for Dele after the picture had gone viral in the social media.

Efforts to speak with Dele were not successful as the school management refused to release her for an interview. Also, efforts to locate her house did not yield results. But a man identified as Kunle, who claimed to know her said she lives with her grandmother, while her parents live outside Ondo town.

He said the girl has been living with her grandmother since she was two years old and it was her that takes Dele to school, adding that Hope of Glory Academy is her first school and she is always punctual:

“She is from a very humble background because she treks to school each time I see her. The assistance from the bank will go a long way toward supporting her education. I see her as a determined girl who is zealous.”

The management of FCMB on Friday,  February 14, announced the award of full scholarship to Dele. The bank said in a statement: “FCMB is pleased to announce the award of a full scholarship to Fathia Dele Rasheed, the seven-year-old schoolgirl, who was recently spotted using light from the ATM gallery at our branch in Ondo City to do her homework.

“The scholarship will cover Dele’s education from her current primary grade 1 to the higher education level in a Nigerian institution.

“As a caring and inclusive brand, FCMB will continue to empower individuals and communities by championing and executing initiatives that enrich the lives of Nigerians.”

When the bank’s attention was drawn to Dele’s action, it sent out an appeal to the public to help locate her: “This little girl, due to power outage on Thursday, went to do her assignment at FCMB ATM gallery along Yaba Road in Akure, Ondo State and this picture went viral.

“The bank is soliciting the general public, especially people in Ondo State to help locate this girl so as to render support to her education.”

Impressed by Dele’s action, two individuals indicated interested to raise N1million each for her education online while stakeholders lauded the management of FCMB for awarding the girl scholarship.