I relished every moment of that flight, said former hawker, Ekuma Jeremiah who flew in an airplane to resume school courtesy Obi Cubana

I relished every moment of that flight, said former hawker, Ekuma Jeremiah who flew in an airplane to resume school courtesy Obi Cubana

Carol Ryrie Brink, that notable American author once said: “The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward.” And that is the story of  Ekuma Jeremiah, who gifted prisoners with his hard-earned cash from selling pure water, not knowing that somebody was watching.

The former student of Ebonyi State University dropped out because of financial problems, relocated to Lagos, and started hawking in traffic. It became his regular routine every day. On this day, around  Ajah in Lagos, Ekuma Jeremiah gave out over 70% of the money he had made from his sales. A van conveying prisoners to a Correctional Center stopped in the traffic and he felt compassion for them. He dipped his hand into his pocket and started gifting them N100 each.

But then, like the author, Jonathan Maberry said, “Generosity could be as contagious as the zombie plague as long as enough people were willing to be carriers.” Unknown to him, someone in a moving vehicle was videoing his act of generosity. The person shared the video online and it went viral. People were amazed how a hawker can have such a heart of gold. Before you knew it, Obi Iyiegbu popularly known as Obi Cubana saw the viral video and the rest is history. Obi Iyiegbu was so amazed that a young man, who barely managed to could be that generous.

The Billionaire businessman not only placed Jeremiah on a monthly salary of N100,000 but empowered him to restart his academics.

Jeremiah has since resumed at Ebonyi State University. This time he went back in style.  For one who came to Lagos probably with a night bus, flying in an airplane was more than he could ask for but his kindness was contagious.

The excited young man shared photos on his Instagram page with the caption: “It is my first time boarding a plane. The journey to greatness.”

As it has been said, what favour cannot do does not exist! Keep giving, keep helping, keep loving.

And finally hear Ronald Reagan: “Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.”