A Nigerian community has embarked on a campaign to help a little girl since a photo of her went viral; the young student was pictured using the light of a bank’s 24-hour ATM to complete her homework late in the evening.
Twitter user Bada Maruf Matthew first uploaded his photo of the little girl on Feb. 5, 2020. “I saw this little Dele at FCMB [First City Monument] Bank along Yaba Road in Ondo City,” he captioned. “She is using the ATM Gallery light to do her homework.”
“My respect goes to her determination to make it in life,” Matthew continued. “Let it go viral. #Deledetermination.”
Identified only as Dele, the little girl soon did go viral for her industrious use of the bank’s ATM light. Many social media users, touched by Dele’s ingenuity, and concerned for her situation, reached out with messages of support.
“Dele’s resilience in spite of obvious odds shows that [a] number of children are ready to give their best to access education,”
wrote one person.
“Dele was determined to do her work when others could easily tell their teachers there was no light to do the homework,”
wrote another. “She needs to be encouraged.”
As per Nigeria’s
New Telegraph, many netizens also speculated that Dele’s need to use the light of the ATM to complete her homework was due to a power outage, a common phenomenon in this area of Nigeria.
On Feb. 9, First City Monument Bank took to Facebook themselves to respond to Matthew’s viral photo and Dele’s growing cause. “We are inspired by Dele’s determination to study,” they wrote. “It’s great our ATM Gallery could light her books for the evening, but we would love to do more to support.”
They did. In collaboration with Matthew, who assisted with the paperwork, FCMB opened a personal account for Dele. The bank details were posted on
Twitter on Feb. 10 for willing donors to be able to contribute to the little girl’s ongoing education.
As per
Wazup Nigeria, Matthew revealed that Dele lives with her grandmother and attends Hope of Glory Academy in Ondo City. “Even the Local Government authority is aware, too,” he explained, adding, “Necessary documents were collected to ascertain her identity before I proceeded [to open the bank account].”
Before long, the viral hashtag #Deledetermination had also reaped additional offers to help the little girl and her classmates. “Thank you for sharing this inspiring story,” d.light Solar Nigeria posted on
Twitter. “Dele’s determination to study is worthy of commendation.
“We @dlightnigeria are happy to empower Dele and her classmates with our Solar Lanterns and Solar Home System to excel in their quest for knowledge,” they added, posting photos of Dele and her classmates holding up their new solar lanterns on Feb. 11.
As per
Trading Economics, as of 2020, the Nigerian “Living Wage” for a family stands at 137,600 Nigerian Naira (US$378) per month. Each country’s living wage is calculated based on the estimated cost of living according to certain criteria.
Nigeria’s calculation includes a “predefined food basket”—taking into account 50 food groups and national food consumption patterns—housing, and transportation. There is “a margin for unexpected expenses,” as per
Trading Economics; however, education is not specifically identified as a living expense.
Dele’s days of completing her homework by the light of an ATM may be over. From now on, the industrious student and her classmates will get by with a little help from their local community and caring netizens around the world.
