i was once in the slums of the city of warri in the niger-delta region of nigeri

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I want to tell a story of deprivation,neglect and long suffering.It all began some twenty years plus ago,i was born into a family of 12 sibblings.My father is a honest police officer married to my mother who had no education or bussiness knowledge to support the family .DUE TO THESE FACTORS,We had to go live in the slums known as "igbudu no.1" in the town of Warri in Delta state,Nigeria.Due to fact that my dad refused to partake in the norm of the Nigerian police force{bribery},his take home pay of $10 per month [equivalent in Nigerian currency] could not substain the the family.Due the these hardships;as early as 10years old,i walked up to my father one evening to ask him why we had to suffer like this and why he bore so many of us?.All he could answer was that he is my grandpa's only child,and he had to bear so many kids to substain the name of the family.When i left the primary school at 12years of age,my father took me to be an apprentice at a machanic workshop with an excuse that he had no money to pay for my secondary education.After about 2years,i was given a mini SONY radio through which i got to know about life.From then on,i decided that i was not going to live the life of poverty and diprivation.I stared doing minial jobs during weekends to save for my education.When i was 16,i wrote my GCE and passed without telling my parents.Two years later,i got admitted in the university to study law.When i realised that i could not pay for my tuition fees, i told my dad about my admission AND HE WAS MOVED by my courage.After thinking it through for three days,he came up with a plan wherein he gave up his pentions and gratuity.He did this by borrowing from a moneylender, the collateral of which is that my whole family would be his slave in the event that my dad dies before his gratuity is due.That was long ago for this 2007, i was called into the Nigerian bar to practice law.And you know what?,my father has retired and forfeited his pention and gratuity for my sake so that i can become a lawyer.Presently,my sibblings are all at their various stages of their education through their own personal efforts and my parents are now in the village as community heads helping in forstering oneness in a troubled society.As for me,i am giong to apply my training to help the widows,less priviledged,oppressed and the upcoming youths to face the challenges of getting university education usually seen as the preserve of the rich.