Social activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has made good on his promise to sponsor young tech talent Darlynton, known online as Smartician, Darlyntino, or Chitiram Buga, for robotics studies in China.
VDM explained that he first discovered Darlyntino on Instagram on December 18, where the young inventor had been building robots, Iron Man-style suits, and even washing machines from scratch. Determined not to let such talent go to waste, he committed $50,000 of his personal funds, a gift given to him by someone else rather than money from any NGO, to send Darlyntino abroad for proper training.
After about a month of visa processing in Abuja, Darlyntino successfully obtained his Chinese student visa. He is expected to resume studies on October 12, with paperwork required to be completed before September 15, 2026. VDM says he plans to personally book the flight and may even escort him to China.
"All his schooling will be paid by me. Welfare, feeding, everything in school. All he has to do is study," VDM said.
He made clear he isn't expecting anything back for himself. Instead, his only condition is that Darlyntino pays it forward someday: once he becomes successful and returns to Nigeria, he must sponsor other talented young Nigerians whenever VDM identifies them.
VDM also opened up about the personal sacrifices behind the gesture. He revealed he has deliberately turned down buying a car or a house for himself, even though his mother still lives in a rented apartment and his siblings never got the chance to attend university or travel abroad, all so he could prioritize impacting lives across Nigeria and fund gestures like this $50,000 sponsorship.
"I see car to buy, I no buy car. I see house to buy, I no buy house," he said. "I believe in impacting, and growth of Nigeria."
For Darlyntino, this marks a major turning point. He has never been outside Nigeria before, and his very first flight was the trip VDM arranged to bring him to Abuja for the visa process.
