Nigerian Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has recounted a remarkable encounter that transformed the life of a young man he met midair in a commercial flight years ago.
Akpabio said since the man has become prosperous, he should equally help other people- a story that has since gone viral and earned him praise from Nigerians online.
Speaking at a recent event captured in a video shared by @AsakyGRN on X (formerly Twitter), Akpabio stated that the incident took place during his time as a state governor when he regularly flew on a commercial aircraft.
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According to him, he was approached by a young man serving as part of the flight crew, who expressed a mix of admiration and frustration over his financial struggles.
“At about 35,000 feet, he came to me in uniform and said, ‘Your Excellency, if this plane should crash now, some of us will die as rich men, and some of us will die as poor men,’” Akpabio recalled.
“I asked him, ‘How do you want to die — as a rich man or a poor man?’ He said, ‘I’d like to die as a rich man.’”
Moved by the young man’s honesty, Akpabio said he later learned that the flight attendant had been offered admission into aeronautic and aviation school in the United States, but he could not afford the tuition fee.
“When we landed, I told him to leave the aircraft and follow me. He followed me,” Akpabio said.
“The first money I gave him was $ 85,000. Later, he brought two of his friends facing the same challenge, and I sponsored them too. Their lives changed completely.”
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The Senate President stated ”Since that day till today, I have not seen him. I learnt that he has children and he is very prosperous. and he is doing very well. He recently shared the story during an interview with media personality, Daddy Freeze — a clip that was later brought to Akpabio’s attention.
“If he’s listening tonight, tell him I want to see him so that he can pay me back some of the money because he has made much profit. If he asks me how? I will tell him to do same to others as I did to him,” the Senate President added.
