An old friend of mine came back to Nigeria after a decade living in the US.
He did not come back willingly though, he was deported. He had with him nothing save for the years he toiled in a farrm boy in Másáchusẹts.
He had managed to build a house at apple junction Amuwo Odofin Festac while still abroad. He also had a small car.
With these and assistance from friends he thought it would be relatively easy to get back on track, It wasn’t!
He tried his hand on this and that but nothing substantial came out of it. Some days he begged his gate man thats sells petty stuff in front of his house to borrow him two or three thousand for petty stuff like petrol.
One day he said to me casually .
“Tjak I am selling my house and moving to Ondo”
Are you nuts i asked?
“Absolutely. I am going to set up a farm in Ekiti”
My friend does not look like anyone that can cultivate a farmland.
Nothing we said made sense to him. He sold his car and house. For some years I didnt hear from him.
A couple of years later I was attending a conference organised by some young guys in south Africa. At the airport i saw someone that looked like my old friend but he looked so different.
I called out his name and truly it was him. We hugged and after some narrow talks, I asked what he was doing in SA.
Long story short, he supplies some companies agricultural products and breezes into town quite often. Back in Nigeria I discovered he was being humbled about his business.
He exports to four different countries and has grown fabulously wealthy and prosperous. He had hundreds of workers and was setting up a factory in Ghana.
What is your conviction? What is that thing that drives you, that propels you.
Even if everyone says hey you must be crazy to try to do this, what is that thing in you that says do it?
My friend sold his car and house for a chance to achieve his dream. Today he is richer than us all his friends.
What drives you? Go for it men!
Tunde Jakande
Tjak.