Stories of a rise from grass to grace, to many people, may be a case of a happy ending in movies and works of fiction. But for Ebube Essien-Garricks, that popular saying is now just as real as the air she breathes.
The 27-year-old student of the Rivers State College of Health Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, is N64m richer. She emerged the winner of a Cessna 182T aircraft in the MTN Ultimate Wonder promo after a draw held in Lagos on November 13.
The unassuming young lady, who hails from Akinima in Ahoada West, Rivers State, is a 300-level student of radiography. She discloses that she had never dreamt of owning so much money in her lifetime, coming from a modest family background of eight children, where she is the seventh.
Prior to her winning the lottery, she says, she planned to work as a radiographer after school but with the change of status comes her change of plans. "Now I will buy machines and work for myself. I will be an employer of labour," she states.
She also plans to give her aging parents and siblings a 'new life'. "My family needs a new level. This money is for them, not me only. God just wants to use me to bless the family so everybody has a share in it," she enthuses.
When the news of her winning the lottery broke online, some comments about 'the lucky guy' in her life came up — with some people advising whoever she is in a relationship with not to let go. But Essien-Garricks says she is single and when she is ready for marriage, she would not go for anyone who is interested in her money.
"I know what love is," she notes. "People are calling to ask my parents if I am married, some others are giving them promises. Even on the Internet, I don't have a Facebook account but someone has opened one in my name. If anyone is coming because of my money, I promise the person that he will not get a dime because I will make sure he doesn't."
On the current Nigerian Communications Commission's ban of promos and lotteries from network providers, Essien-Garricks appeals that government should lift the ban and checkmate them.
"The fact is that lives are being changed through this. The most important thing is, if they promise, they should fulfil it," she says.
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