Emmanuel Tobi
Today I celebrate Justina Aniefiok, a multi-talented young lady
who against all odds dared to be different.
I met Justina crying at the final of the 2012 GTBank Lagos State Principal Cup after her school CMS Girls Grammer School, Bariga, lost the final of the female edition of the competition.
It was their third straight loss in the final of the competition
after losing the 2010 and 2011 editions with Justina as captain of the last two finals.
She was wept profusely and was very inconsolable as she was screaming
‘GOD WHY ME?
‘WHY CAN’T I LEAD THIS TEAM TO VICTORY?
‘WHY MUST WE LOSE THREE FINALS?
‘GOD WHERE ARE YOU?
I did all I could do together with other sympathisers
to pacify her but it was to no avail.
She managed to collect my complimentary card as
her best friend and teammate, Slyva Ebiye, who was
also crying tried to appeal to her to stop crying.
A year later I received a call and it was Justina who said
she decided to quit football despite attending CAMP GTBank
in Ibadan as well as being selected by the Lagos State team
and she had the privileged to be hosted by former Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola at the Government House Alausa, Ikeja.
Fixed an appointment with her at the National Stadium and she came with Slyva.
After several discussions, she told me she was inspired by late Stephen Keshi’s mentoring session organised by GTBANK called Tournament Ambassador Programme (TAP).
We agreed she should forget football for the moment since she had no more inspiration to play the game again.
I encouraged her with little funds and she enrolled at the
Lagos State Vocational Centre, Ikorodu, to study PHOTOGRAPHY.
She sponsored herself through school by doing odd jobs
such as cleaning, washing and working as a service girl as parties as she diligently finished her programme.
While studying photography, she returned to her first love, football combining both.
She came back with Slyva and met me at the National Stadium
during the January Women All Stars to seek for a place to do
her three months Industrial Attachment and I took her to my place of work.
Justina again distinguished herself with hardwork and dedication and within few weeks, she was already going for top assignments courtesy of her wonderful boss.
Few months later she told me she wanted to acquire more education and to the glory of God, she is now a part-time student of Yaba Tech studying Mass Communication.
Yesterday November 28 was her graduation and I saw smile and hope on her face.
Her determination to succeed without cutting corners is so inspirational.
She is so godly, focused and loaded with the word of God.
She plays football, plays the drum set for her church as well as
enjoying her professional calling, photography.
I remembered how my wife went searching the malls to buy her a gift during my trip to the US early this year saying won’t you buy a gift for your ‘First Daughter’?
Many people promised to help her and failed but
that did not deter her from striving for greatness.
She was exceptional at the New Telegraph Award at the weekend getting all the shots.
She is reliable and ready to go the extra mile to get the job done.
I celebrate her today and I use her as a point of challenge to others who believes
that they need to know someone before they succeed in life.
To some people who think every lady slept their way through to get to the top, how many men do you want to sleep with?
Today she borrows camera to work but she will one day buy and equip herself with professional cameras to enhance her job and who says Justina cannot cover the 2018 World Cup?
Congratulation on your graduation as I see you winning international awards with your pictures very soon.
First Published 2017
