It may sound like an argument, but it’s true that not everybody is raised by God to a high calling in life. While some are raised to fulfill certain roles, a lot are raised to just complete the square and balance the ecosystem. I’m not talking mathematics here, it’s all about destiny. Do you believe in predestination? Yes, I do. Indeed, the Bible talks about that. Those who are called to fulfill certain responsibilities in life work for a higher purpose. What makes them unique is that they have real vision, a sense of what it will look like to be successful. They keep everybody on track. They are focused, unwavering amid challenging circumstances. They are unlike the ‘also-rans’ who lose track of what the goal is after a while. The truth is that, very often, they get caught up in doing the day-to-day humdrum and forget why and what they came to the world to do.
Now this is the gist: Young people out there who are still searching for mentorship and philosophy of life to inspire them to realise their dreams that may be laying dormant, need not search any farther. 24- year-old lawyer, Ebizi Blessing Eradiri is the one to look up to. In the last one week, few individuals have got as much positive media coverage as this amazing , brilliant, intelligent, yet humble, lady . No wonder, she has become the toast, and deservedly so, of Bayelsans, and beyond.
No surprise, she has been honoured as the “New Face of Bayelsa Girl Child”, by the state governor, Douye Diri, a lover of education. It’s not for nothing that she has been given such accolade. She’s a rising star with a double feat, a double First Class holder from Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa state, and the Nigerian Law School. She’s the first female and only the fourth person from that university to make a First Class. That’s not all. She’s in the record books as the first graduate of NDU with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average in the university’s Faculty of Law. Isn’t that remarkable? Also, at the Law School, she received the Director General Prize for attaining First Class (Hons).
Already, she’s an Associate in the Templar Law firm based in Lagos. Beyond that, Ebizi holds a Diploma certificate in Computer Studies and a certified Computer forensics Examiner with a Distinction, as well as a member of the Computer Forensics Institute, Nigeria. Who wouldn’t be proud of this ‘hot’, a mix of beauty and brain? She’s, undoubtedly, an asset to be valued, developed, and deployed for good causes, intelligence and symbol of humility.
These virtues, I believe, are what Gov Diri considered before taking the decision to make Ebizi Blessing Eradiri the “New Face of Bayelsa Girl Child”. In addition, she has been given automatic scholarship by the state government to pursue her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in any university in Nigeria or abroad. She has also been offered employment to lecture at the NDU Faculty of Law after her furher studies. Besides, according to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Daniel Alabra, Ebizi has been assured of the state government’s support in advancing her educational career in any university of her choice, anywhere in the world. Beyond that, Gov Diri, has solicited federal government’s support towards the young, brilliant lawyer. That’s how it should be.
Her choice as the New Face of Bayelsa Girl Child, was good judgment, good timing and solid reasoning . According to Diri, the gesture is aimed at making her a role model for young girls in the state and the entire Ijaw nation to emulate. If he didn’t do that quickly, perhaps other states could have “adopted” her as one of their own. In fact, keeping the Girl child in school is one of the concerns of government across the world, a present concern that made the United Nations to set aside October 11, as the “International Day of the Girl Child”. The Girl child someone like Ebizi to keep them on track. Truly, there’s something in a name: She’s not just lucky, Ebizi is a blessed child. Her success and accomplishments so far go beyond facial beauty to include solid personality, perseverance, hard work, and an eye on the goal.
Reading the interview she granted BBC (Radio) Pidgin, it touched my heart. It’s the story of an only daughter, from Agudama-Ekpetiama community in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa. She’s also the second child of her parents. She never allowed financial challenges and the torrid environment she grew up with to affect the actualisation of her goals in life. But, unknown to her, that was all part of her destiny. The lesson here is, even if God has predestined you to be great, you have to work, and strive towards that goal. Other girls need to break that barrier, that nothing can stop a determined mind from achieving excellence.
As she told the BBC, coming from a humble background, didn’t make focus or compromise her virtues. To augment the little money from her parents, she did small outdoor catering and event services, with paid tutorial classes for students. It went a long way to help meet some of her financial needs while in the in the university. Have you been broke before, not knowing where your next meal will come from? Picture yourself in that situation, and on top of that worry, you suddenly lost your soul mate to the cold hand of death. That’s the slice of travails this young lady faced while in school, made even worse lack of hostel and electricity that made her resort to the use of candlelight to study that affected her sight. Many would have given up, but not Ebizi. It’s a resolve, a conviction, an unflappable determination to overcome.
It’s important that she’s acutely aware that the reward for hard work is more work, a prize to do more. As the New Face of Bayelsa, she says it’s an opportunity to change the negative perception some people have about her state. As a public figure now, she’s now more of a public property, all eyes on her. She must watch her every step. I’m happy one of her immediate plans is to mentor young people. Partnering with Non- Governmental Organisations and setting up her own foundation will come later.
Many of us never had someone to mentor us. A mentor is someone whose advice you take and it profits you. Many Nigerian girls have their dreams cut short because no one told them the ways of life, that life is a choice, it’s what you make of it: It includes life and death, blessing and cursing. Whichever one you choose, it’s all yours, because every action has consequences.
Raising funds for the Girl Child will be one of her enduring legacies. Sometimes, life is a bittersweet, full of contrasting pleasures and emotional hurts. She would have wished her mother had lived to witness all the accolades she has garnered. Her mother passed on January 5, 2021, aged 60. Don’t worry, girl, in the natural course of things, children should bury their parents, not the opposite. My advice: Don’t focus on the pains of the past, because when you do, you forget the present. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, nothing can stop a person with the right mental attitude and sound character. All that, Ebizi has has been blessed with . And many more.