“My baby has turned me into a kind of celebrity” OAU student finally speaks out

Oyinlola Rotimi, a 400-level student, has reportedly spoken for the first time since she delivered her baby boy in the student residence toilet of Moremi Hall at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

Already OAU authorities have explained that it was not an attempted murder as earlier speculated and both mother and child were doing well. In an interview published on CKN Nigeria

CKN Nigeria reports:

 In spite of the trauma she had passed through since last Wednesday, the student, a native of Ijabe, a border town between Osun and Kwara states, says she is happy that the embarrassment she received from the controversy that surrounded the birth of her baby has turned into a blessing for her.

She says the baby’s birth has made her more popular and important in the society.

Her plan for the baby

“I will continue to keep him more handsome, healthier and nurture him to attain greater height in life. But what he will become later in life is not for me to decide but he will definitely become what God wants him to become. I will just try to train him in God’s way and I am sure His (God) plan for his life will be realised.”

The bean cake she ate deceived her – CSO

According to the institution’s Chief Security Officer, Mr. Paul Ogidi, Rotimi thought she had stomach upset instead of labour pains because of the bean cake she took before going to bed.

“She got to campus late at night on Tuesday and it was learnt that she could not immediately get herself something to eat but later resolved to buy beans cake within the campus. After eating the snack, she complained severely of running stomach, urinated and defecated at regular intervals.

“She felt her stomach disorder was caused by the bean cake that she took the previous night – not knowing it was labour pains.”

Varsity law does not forbid pregnancy - OAU

Authorities of OAU have blamed the improper use of the social media for the allegation that Oyinlola attempted to flush her baby away.

The Head of Public Relations, Mr. Biodun Olarenwaju, who spoke on behalf of the management, described the incident as a “social media rumour.”

He said, “Social media is designed primarily to disseminate information. But in the Nigerian context, many people disseminate rumours. The only information that should be seen there should be those persons who have the authority to speak concerning that particular incident.

“The only truth in the social media episode is that a bouncing baby boy was delivered in the toilet of the female hostel in our university. Other tales on the social media were totally incorrect. Students should not encourage rumour mongering because of the image of the person involved. They have to be careful not to make rumour the news.”

He explained that it was legal for the student to have delivered the baby in the school, stating that universities are institutions for adults.

“It is not a crime for a student to be pregnant. There is no law or decree that states that a student should be punished, an adult for that matter, for getting pregnant. And there is no law in this university that states that an undergraduate cannot become pregnant,” he added.

‘My friend didn’t plan to kill her baby’

Rotimi’s friend, Oluwayemisi Satope, who was in Room 103, Block B of Moremi Hall, together with the undergraduate mother, the night before the incident, said Oyinlola was willing to have the baby.

She explained that there was no attempt by them to kill the boy.

She added, “The truth of the matter is that we don’t know how to go about it when we saw the baby. It was our first time and we didn’t want to make a mistake. I had to call Mama Cleaner to assist us. Immediately it happened, I was the first person to shout for help and two cleaners appeared to assist.

“Diana (Rotimi) had to spend the night on campus to enable her to prepare for her 8:00 am examination the next day, because she stays off-campus. That mid-night, she started complaining of stomach upset and was visiting toilet regularly. A few minutes to 7:00am, she went to the toilet to defecate but delivered a baby.”

Students name baby after VC

And as soon as the birth and survival of the baby became known on campus, students in their characteristic manner called “Aro”, launched into an unsolicited naming feast for the baby. Before the official naming ceremony scheduled to hold on today, OAU students have named him after the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole.

At the Anglo-Moz Car Park of the university, they gathered and named the baby Moremigbemi (Moremi-blesses-me), Oriyomi (My-head-saves-me), Oluwadayisi (God-protects-this), Eniolorunopa (He-who-God-does-not-kill), Bamitale (Be-with-me-permanently) Omole.

Others at the Moremi Hall named the baby Orisamoremi (Deity Moremi), Moremidayisi (Moremi-protects-this), Omomoremi (Child-of-Moremi), Olorunwa (God-exists), Oniyapupo (One-with-many-mothers) Moremioku (Moremi-is-alive), Iyabo (Mother-Moremi-is-Back), among others. Moremi is a mythical legend of the Yoruba race.

We forced the door open to rescue Oyinlola, baby – Cleaners

Also, the two cleaners, Mrs. Shipebi Grace and Mrs. Cecilia Ologbenla, in a chat with our correspondents, said there was no evidence to prove that Oyinlola wanted to kill her baby.

The cleaners noted that they had to force the door open when they were called to ensure the safety of Oyinlola and her baby who was crying.

According to them, the baby was in the water closet when they entered the toilet.

“She would not have wanted to attempt to kill the baby the way we saw her. She only panicked when we forced the door in. We had to force the door in because of the cry of the baby. In fact, it was one of them that came to call us, but you know some students are impatient. They didn’t confirm what happened before they started spreading rumour.”

Undergraduate father keeps mum

Meanwhile, efforts made by our correspondents to speak with the baby’s father proved abortive. He is a 400 Level student of Mechanical Engineering, and is sitting for the second semester examination currently on at the institution.

One of his friends who spoke on the condition of anonymity explained that the young father is very sober about the development. The friend alleged that the young man and Rotimi had been friends for some time. Along the line, Oyinlola got pregnant and they decided not to abort it in order not to compound their ‘sin’.

So what could be truer than hearing from the horse’s mouth, Neither the mother nor her friends plan to kill the baby. The boy was given birth to in one of those weird ways, which every mother that has the experience of labour has gone through…..