Without a silver spoon by Edie Iroh
Set in early twentieth century in the southeastern part of Nigeria, the story is about a brilliant and thoughtful boy, Ire, from an impoverished family. The boy almost became destabilized when in his sixth and last year in the primary school, his poor parents could not afford to pay his school fees. Not wanting to go the way of his elder brother, who had earlier dropped out of school to learn trading, Ire devised a means of completing his primary education by working as a servant for his class teacher, Stephen, who would in turn pay his three-term fees. His parents though were not disposed to the idea, but they had no choice and reluctantly released him.
Ire moved to his teacher’s house and work diligently as a servant, enduring the constant mocking from his spoilt silver spoon best friend, Erugo, who secretly envied the good moral conduct and character of the boy. He so much impressed his teacher, who never fails to praise him. Ire never allowed himself to be tempted by the wealth of his teacher, or give in to youthful exuberance even when far from home. His eyes was set on his dream of saving his family from poverty, by being concentrating on his education and he felt so secure, with Stephen paying his fees.
Like the saying goes, life is not a bed of roses. Stephen returned from a journey to discover that parts of his money were missing. He accused Ire of the theft and sent him back to his parent. Distraughted by the false allegation, and faced with increasing school fees, the boy struggled to maintain his sanity, and to ignored the temptation of joining bad gangs. As it seems to him that his days in school are numbered, another crises crop up.
One of his classmate’s school fees was stolen in the boy’s locker during break time, and Ire being the poorest boy in the class, was falsely accused by his estrange friend of being the culprit. After much disgrace and humiliation meted to him by all his classmates, Ire became depressed and confused, as the only thing he claim possession of- his integrity, had been torn to shred. The matter was reported to the school authority, and since it was assumed that he was still living with his master, Stephen was summoned. To Ire’s amazement, Stephen defended him before the authority and took it up to himself to investigate the matter. He later apologized to the boy, as he had found his missing money.
After a through investigation, the most unlikely person, Erugo, was found to be the main culprit, with newly discovered evidences pointing towards him. A joyous Ire was absolved of the allegation, earning back with it his classmates apologies and respect for the way he conducted himself thought the ordeal. He returned back to Stephen’s house to complete his last term in school and his hope of a brighter future was greatly restored. This story proved the saying that ‘honesty is the best policy’.
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