DARE TO MAINTAIN POSITIVE THOUGHTS AND DECLARATIONS

CHIDIMMA BENSON

I sought for a medium through which to tell this true and ever-living and heart-felt story of a mother grateful to God for his faithfulness, and here is one. The immediate reward for choosing to do what is right and lawful in a corrupt system is often unpleasant and discouraging. But for those who dare to trust God’s justice, maintaining positive thoughts and declarations concerning their situations, the compensation would be glorious. My son, in spite of the academic disappointments he went through for not submitting to corrupt examination-practices, continued to maintain a positive stance and declaration concerning the course he wanted to study and the university where he planned running his program. His dream course was always Electrical/Electronic Engineering. It is obvious that he is wired for exploits, electrically and electronically. From childhood, he had loved to manipulate anything that involved the two. Thus, after he graduated from secondary school, my husband and I did not object to his wanting to pursue a career in these paths. Knowing exactly what he wanted, he searched for a university in our geopolitical zone that would offer him the best.

Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) was highly reputable regarding Engineering courses. Hence, it became my son’s firm choice. When it was time for him to take the entrance examination for tertiary-institution admissions in my country, he straight away filled in his dream course and his dream university. He took the examination but when the result came out, he was very disappointed to see only the scores of two out of four subjects he took their examinations. Unfortunately, the two missing scores were the scores of his best subjects - Math and Physics, which, if sent, would have boosted his aggregate score for admission. The only explanation I had concerning my son’s two missing scores was that they were sold to another candidate who needed those scores to reach his required score for admission. This was among the corrupt trend concerning tertiary-level entrance results in my country then. My son was very devastated by the situation as it crushed his hope of getting admitted that year. However, shortly after, he got back on track and buckled up for another entrance examination the following year, maintaining that Electrical/Electronic Engineering in FUTO remained his target.

The next entrance examination was waited for with eagerness. My son had studied as hard as he could. Finally, the day came. As was my habit, I reminded him to obey examination rules and stay away from any form of malpractices. Among the things I thank God for about him are his attentiveness and reception to my counsels. He was always focused and had no trouble to give to anybody. With godly teachings at home, he had learned to play by the rules. On reaching his examination center that day, he was asked to pay some amount of money to have answers supplied to him during the examination. He refused the offer, knowing that it was clearly an examination malpractice. A large number of candidates paid and finished their examinations in a record time. My son and a few others who refused to pay were left to tackle their questions with their brains. However, when those who paid had all left, the examiner became impatient with the group who chose to use their brains. She collected their answer scripts way before the official stopping time. As a result, my son had close to half of all his questions unanswered. He was again devastated,

and came home depressed. I encouraged him to keep his hope aglow, knowing that a miracle could happen. He had been unjustly treated for refusing to partake in a fraudulent deal hence, I expected God to give him a miracle.

When the entrance results were released, my son’s case was again disappointing. Of course, considering what transpired in his venue, we were not to expect anything favorable. We were only praying for a miracle to happen. Nevertheless, his result was far flung from being a miracle. I cried as I thought about the unfair treatment meted on him. Not long after, I noticed that he had become calmer, more determined and studious, giving no time to entertainment or frivolities. He connected only with what would legitimately gain him an admission the following year. At this time, God was using his challenges to prepare him for what he had for him in the future. He was developing, not just mentally, but in character, too. Afraid that in the next examination he might face the same kind of situation and then miss the following year’s admission, my husband and I suggested he went through another kind of program to study Accounting since he was very good in Mathematics. He vehemently declined the idea, declaring that no matter how long it might take him to be admitted for his dream course in his dream university, he was ready to fight on. According to him, any other field of study other than Electrical/Electronic Engineering would be a nightmare for him. On hearing his strong words, we allowed him to have his way.

While preparing for the following year’s entrance examination, my son earnestly searched to register in a zone that has any examination center known for absolute strictness during examinations. An institution in our state of origin with that reputation became his center. Not even a mobile phone was permitted to be taken into any of its examination rooms. Every candidate was allowed the full duration allotted for the entrance examination. My son peacefully wrote the examination and returned home happy. When the results were released, he was favored. Eventually, he was set to pursue Electrical/Electronic Engineering in FUTO. He gave himself to much research there in school during academic sessions and when at home for breaks. The theoretical and practical knowledge he acquired by researching brought him to a level where, in his second year, he began dreaming of designing a drone with locally-sourced materials. While seriously considering that, in his fourth-year internship, he designed a power-transfer device. His dream of designing a drone later came true when he designed a surveillance drone as his final-year undergraduate project.

My son had majored in embedded systems. Upon graduation, he was selected for an innovators’ program named I-FAIR where he finetuned his power-transfer device and named it “Transmode”. This device automatically changes power between the mains grid and a power generator without interruption and human intervention. It protects appliances from voltage surge, automatically starts and stops a generator and offers user-set timer for generator shutdown. The device also has a smartphone/computer version for the remote control of generators. My home was the first house where he installed his device and my family has been enjoying its services since then. Besides drone and “Transmode”, he has also designed a Smart meter, Solar Street light, Bluetooth-controlled ground vehicle and RFID card-identification System. He has a list of problem-solving projects undergoing research. I have continued to enjoy his products made specifically to facilitate my career. In the face of setbacks, those who maintain positive thoughts and confessions concerning their good dreams will eventually triumph and become blessings to humanity. For anyone who may like to watch, the following is a link to my son’s YouTube presentation of his “Transmode”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_znIcjS5EE&t=2s&ab_channel=i-FAIRIsraelNigeria

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