HOW I OVERCAME: My Varsity Education Was Divinely Orchestrated – Veteran Journalist

For Chief Usoro Isaac Usoro, a reputable journalist who had plied his trade across stables – Daily/Sunday Times, Concord, and lately, The Sun, growing up without a father as a toddler, was a though route to trudge.

But his guardian Angels from the divine had some uncanny ways to retool the destiny of the man who saw poverty walking on four legs, and brushed him to stardom.

Several years after, Usoro has edifying titles in traditional and academic circles which he achieved by sheer dint of hard work in journalism practice.

Reliving his survival battle with LEADERSHIP, he recalls: “In 1992, hope was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I never thought of attending a university in my entire life. It wasn’t a dream deferred—it was one denied.

“My father had died when I was in Class 2 in the secondary school. The silence he left behind was louder than hunger, heavier than uncertainty. There was no sponsor, no benefactor, no visible path forward. Just a young man peering into what looked like a permanent night.

“Then, a miracle! Without any sign, God used a fellow named Emmanuel Adegha, a colleague in the Communications Department of the then Daily Times of Nigeria.

“Emma had no wealth, no influence, but he had something far more powerful — a kind heart,” Usoro said.

With a deep nostalgic feeling, he narrated his miraculous university era at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

“Somewhere in the quiet choreography of destiny, a Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) form found its way to me,” he said, adding that it was courtesy of the benevolence of God through Mr Ejiro Onabrapeya who, according to him, was then the Foreign Desk Editor of Daily Times.

“He had bought the form for his sister-in-law. Unknown to him, the lady had already secured one. How Emma knew about the spare form remains a mystery till date,” Usoro stated.

“Emmanuel didn’t hesitate. He collected the form for me on credit. It cost N25. I could only pay back in three humble instalments, each carrying not just money, but gratitude. That became my bridge to a future I’d almost stopped believing in.

“I sat for the exam. I passed. And against all odds, I was offered admission to the University of Lagos to study Philosophy. That was how Emmanuel became the angel God used to open the gates of my life.

“Years passed. Life unfolded. Paths diverged, as they often do. The urgency of survival gave way to the routines of adulthood. Like many stories of quiet heroism, what Emmanuel did faded into memory.

“But destiny does not forget its own handwriting. In 2007, it came back for a full circle. I didn’t know that on a certain day, along the treacherous Lokoja–Abuja Road, my friend’s life would hang in the balance.

“A commercial vehicle he boarded broke down on a lonely, dangerous stretch. He and other passengers were stranded—vulnerable, exposed and uncertain.

“He called me. There was no grand capacity on my part. No abundance to draw from. Just a willingness to help, even if modestly. I gathered what I could—N30,000—and sent it to him.

“It didn’t feel like much at the time. Just a gesture and a response. Just helping a friend. But that money did something extraordinary. It moved him to safety. It put him in another vehicle. About 10 minutes after Emmanuel left that spot, the remaining passengers were attacked. Kidnapped! About five were reportedly killed!

“When he told me the story, the weight of it settled slowly, like rain soaking into dry earth. Ten minutes. N30,000! One decision. One act and a life spared.

“And in that moment, I understood something profound: sometimes, the seeds we plant in the lives of others do not die. They wait and grow. And when the time is right, they return. Not as favours, but as miracles.

“In 1992, Emmanuel Adegha gave me a future wrapped in a JAMB form worth N25. In 2007, I unknowingly returned that gift. Not in equal measure, but in equal spirit.

“This is not just a story of friendship. It’s a testimony of how God weaves lives together—how He uses ordinary people to perform extraordinary things. How a small act, done without expectation, can echo across years and come back as salvation.

“Today, when I think of Emmanuel, I do not just remember a friend. I remember a lifeline. I remember a moment when heaven bent low and placed help in human hands.

“And I am reminded, deeply and humbly, that no act of kindness is ever wasted. Not one. Because somewhere in the mystery of time, it may be the very thing that saves a life,” he submitted.