OPEN SESAME

Open Sesame is a comic, inspirational and motivational story that centers around passion, hard work, dreams and everything in between

Chapter One

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, it's therefore logical that I begin this story with the birth of a child, indeed I really should but this is no ordinary story, this is an OTB, and one aim of an OTB is to break the norm, you do understand right? That's why as it is, I would begin this story from the end, never forget Steven Covey's book, 'seven habits of highly effective people' I will therefore tell my story from the end so that you can truly understand this story by beginning with the end in mind.

My name is Emababa, don't get me wrong, I am not baba for the girls, am just baba for 'the everybody'

My name is Emababa and I am a multi billionaire.

Yea bring it on, typical humans always expect everyone to suffer, they would never believe when they hear positive things about you, I guess so many readers would want to hear that I am a sufferer but Job 5 vs 12 is working for me as it is.

Indeed I wasn't born a multibillionaire, now just so some people could really get comfortable since they feel everyone must suffer at some points in their lives, I was born a sufferer, when I say sufferer, there's emphasis on the S, You won't understand but if you ever had to give a testimony on Sunday in church that you had rice with cray fish, emphasis on the 'cray fish' during the week, then maybe you can relate with what I am talking about. If the fear of that soap opera titled 'willi willi' was a luxury you couldn't afford, I mean you couldn't even be scared by it because you didn't even have an opportunity to watch it as your situation was so bad that even though you couldn't afford a TV set, you also couldn't afford to live in a neighborhood that your neighbors could afford a TV set, talk about breaking the magnetic law, for people like us, it was a case of negative attracting negative.

Sitting down to pen this overwhelms me with so much emotions, I imagine Reekado Banks singing 'what do you do, when juice nor dey to mix my gin' for me that is a big luxury, he even had money to buy the gin, we are talking about affording potable water and someone is complaining about the absence of juice, trust me when I say it was really bad, I remembered how elated and super heroic I felt, the first time I wore a pair of jeans or the first time I had a bottle of coke all to myself, I didn't have to share with anyone for the first time in my life. I can remember the tears in my eyes the first time I had to eat jollof rice with chicken, OMG, I can't forget those tears of joy.

Okay, shei you people are happy now, people that love to hear tales of suffering, hehehehe, okay it was bad sha but it wasn't that bad, I guess I would begin this story from one of the most important events in my life, that definitely should be when I got into the university to study the only course that exists in the world, you know na.

This isn't beginning from the end as it is sha but it's like beginning from close to the end, my story begins with I and my losers, Hehehe, we didn't nickname ourselves that way sha but I guess many ladies saw us as such, how did we even find ourselves, I guess it was still in line with the saying that like attracts like, we had so many things in common, but two things majorly stood out, we were great scholars but we were broke, when I say broke, I don't mean the past tense of break, I mean broke as in 'the condition of not having money'

 

Indeed I should begin this story with how I met my loser team, I guess it was one of those days you would refer to as 'Not an ordinary day' Finding one of them on that day would have been a big miracle but finding both of them on the same day was something I didn't see coming, it has always remained one of those days I would never forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

 

'Gbosa!!!'

I turned quickly just in time to see the stars as it hovered around the head of the unfortunate boy in red

'Omo, na slap be that?' I heard someone say, I couldn't take my eyes off the poor young boy that had just received the slap, I can swear his head was on slow rotation mode just the way it happens when we hear 'finish him' in Mortal Kombat, the slapper wasn't relenting, she was about to land the slappee another slap when a concerned passenger held her hand, the reason wasn't far-fetched, we were all in queue to board the University of Benin shuttle bus from Ring road to Ugbowo and I guess in the mad rush, the young boy had pushed the very fat woman, as fate would have it, most Bini women nor get joy, she replied him with a thunderous, jaw breaking, heart rendering, Omni directional slap, probably the kind of slap that made Papa Ajasco grow bald.

 

Even though her hand was now being held, she continued raining abuses on the poor young boy in her native dialect, I couldn't interpret most of the things she said but the summary of it all was that she wanted Ogun to kill the boy, his family and all his friends and well-wishers, all because of a simple push, this world is wicked sha, she had suddenly turned Ogun the god of iron to an hired assassin, worst of all was that she didn't pay Ogun any money o, yet she wanted Ogun to carry out mass murder abi na genocide dem dey call am sef.

I looked again at the boy, he eye don red, the shade of red was Agama lizard head red, the boy was just quiet, the woman was still raining abuses on him and his unborn children, but he held his cool, people were trying to calm the woman down, some other people were trying to console the boy, I knew why the young boy refused to say anything and I am very sure many of my smart readers would know why too, You know abi? Since you know, no need to tell you why, I guess we can just skip that part.

But again, for the sake of those that didn't know, I will elaborate on the why.

Indeed I had being there many times before, that moment when you are so hurt that if you even open your mouth to say one word, the tears would begin to pour out like fountain of living water bible church... Hehehehe, if you like say e nor rhyme, is it your story? Duh!!!

I couldn't help observing the boy, I was lucky to have already entered the bus, the woman entered too, I guess people had to make way for her because the fear of that her slap en was the beginning of wisdom, and like the saying goes, every disappointment is a blessing, the young boy also found himself inside the bus as others allowed him to enter the bus out of pity, he sat in the chair in front of me, It took another thirty minutes for the bus to load, because to fill that bus en nor be beans, people who know Uniben Shuttle would know what am talking about, the bus is so big en, with over three hundred chairs inside, you can even play a football match inside the bus gan.

Finally, the bus moved, since the boy was directly in front of me, I could spy on him without him noticing, I could easily tell that he was a jambite like me going for manual clearance that morning, he had white file and plenty white papers inside it, that was the identity for us jambites or pumites as modified,

The journey was rather uneventful, I guess the presence of the woman had taken away the liberty and fullness of joy that one was meant to feel where the spirit of the Lord dwelt.

All the same, we got to school in less than five minutes, the driver was on top speed mode, Vin Diesel of fast n furious would have applauded the guy if he was there, I guess the driver couldn't wait to have the woman get off his bus, we all got off the bus and I went about my own business, I had to quickly make copies of some documents and I ran quickly to a business center close to the school's main gate.

 

'Please how many copies are we supposed to make for each document?'

It was a male voice, I was on my regular sarcastic mood, I wanted to turn and answer the person in a sarcastic manner when I turned and discovered that it was the slappee from the bus, I don't know why but I suddenly started laughing, he looked at me in amazement for some seconds before he probably recalled my face that I was also on the bus and he started laughing too.

'Omo, that woman wan use slap change your destiny this morning o' I continued laughing as I said that, he laughed too though I could tell he was embarrassed 'My guy nor be small thing o, I swear, that slap na complete knockout, I lose my voice completely' he had tears in his eyes as he replied laughing too, I guess the tears were as a result of laughing despite the circumstance, My short tease was cut short by a booming voice just a few meters away from us

 

'You are mad, infact your mother did a very bad job bringing you up, idiot, dog like you, go and teach your mother, your sisters and your school headmistress how to dress, bascali fool, nincompoop, ......'

And the insults came pouring in as if it was water flowing from a leaking tap,

Of course your guess is as good as mine, it was a lady o and she was raining these insults on a young boy in yellow shirt, wait o, first thing that struck me about this boy was how he was dressed, yellow shirt, yellow trouser and yellow shoe, the first thing that came to my mind as I saw him was MTN's advert 'we dey wish everybody a yellow yellow Christmas'

Hehehehhe, and this boy black ni, the black was so obvious inside the extra yellow en, and I immediately concluded that he deserved the insults jorh.

At this point, the girl nor get any new curse again, she had finished all her insults, we come dey hear things like 'yeye fowl, uzon, dumba skeleton, empty paper, ruper ruper, Omo, I hear curse en, I wan laugh die, which one come be ruper ruper, she for just say fally pupa na or whiz khalifa, hehehehe

The girl finished her rain of insults and cat walked away, she was wearing a very short skirt that revealed a large part of her thighs, and somehow something told me that this young boy had said something about her dressing and that was what had earned him the inglorious baptism.

My partner or rather the slappee had quickly gone over to the guy o, begin form concerned person, somehow they got talking, remember our code na, like attracts like, a slappee and an insultee would definitely attract each other, after a few minutes they walked towards me and whether I liked it or not, that was how I who was already a loser became friends with two other losers, the slappee and the insultee, we were all jambites and of course that was how the greatest super glue sorry I meant greatest bond that will ever exist in this life was formed.

We were all studying different courses though, but our life together was going to be the best days of our lives, our friendship was sizzling hot.

Talking about hot, I still can't forget the day we almost burnt down the school hostel in the name of new discovery

Hehehehe, it was a very wonderful Thursday morning, everyone was busy going to class, but the three losers were busy trying to be Albert Einstein or rather in this case we should say Alberts Einsteins, *winks*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three

 

Okay just before we move on to the Albert Einstein story, I know you would like to meet my friends, yea I heard you say the losers, yea you could call them that sha, no offense taken, so maybe I would just refer to our trio as Loser one, Loser two and Loser three, Shebi you are happy now, hehehehehe, let's move on

Kpankiri, yea that was the name of the one in red, the slappee that had received the heavenly baptism from the woman way nor get joy, he was handsome, chocolate in complexion and of average height but he nor get money and whoever nor get money nor get anything, so we can say there was nothing to write about him, maybe it was because of him they created that phrase 'nothing to write home about' who knows? If you ask me, na who I go ask? He was admitted to study computer engineering, quite close to 'the only course' in the world though.

Meet Kirishi, the best know booker among us, and probably the oldest of us too, even though he always denied his age, Kirishi was the guy in all yellow, the same guy that had received all the curses in the world for commenting on the dress code of a seemingly harmless Nigerian, Kirishi was tall, dark and handsome but who he help? He didn't have money too jorh, so no level, he was a Muslim and was admitted to study computer science

And finally, you have already met Emababa, yea that's me, tall dark and handsome too, but you already know na, the boy is broke, end of story.

As hundred level students, we were fortunate enough to be allocated hostels but guess what? Because we needed the money so badly, we sold two of the spaces and decided to squat together in my own space in the very popular Hall IV that always had the fragrance of boiling beans morning, afternoon and night. You couldn't live in hall IV and not emerge as a beans bender, it was impossible.

Now, let me take you to the Albert Einstein story or rather as it was in our case, the Alberts Einsteins story, we had just begun hundred level and as it were we were very eager to try out new experiments considering the fact that we were science students, for the first time in our lives we were opportune to wear lab coats and even carry out experiments in a laboratory, Omo, nor play o, this was a very big deal for us, none of us had the privilege of attending secondary schools that had laboratories talk more of wearing lab coats.

I can very well remember how much of a doctor I felt like the first day I wore my lab coat to the laboratory, as in en, even though I was studying the only course there was, I just felt good being a doctor for that moment, I so cherished the lab coat that I wore it to church the next Sunday, Omo when people were staring at me, I couldn't help but feel fly, if nor be one girl wey open her mouth tease me openly en, I for nor get sense, take am off sharply.

But still on the Albert Einstein story, kpankiri and I were in the same faculty and we had chemistry practical the day before which was a Wednesday, Kpankiri being the inquisitive one that he was had gone ahead to get two chemicals from a final year chemistry student, according to him the final year student told him that mixing the two chemicals together would produce a chemical that caused instant hair growth and kpankiri couldn't doubt him as the student had very full curly hair, he told kpankiri that he could make the mixture in a cool dry place preferably in the morning and allow it settle for some time and afterwards he could sell it for money.

When kpankiri brought the news to us, you couldn't imagine the heart rumbling Jesus joy that immediately developed in our hearts, for us, the end of poverty had officially come and we just couldn't wait to be branded the big boys in the school.

The chemicals were quite cheap and only a few drops did the hair growing magic, I could imagine just how much we were going to make from the sales of very small quantities, infact I could already point out some potential clients for our product, we already had a name for the product sef, KEK magical swiz, the KEK represented our names but the swiz really didn't mean anything, I guess we just liked the sound of it,

And so it happened that Thursday morning, while everyone was busy going to class the three losers were busy waiting for everyone to vacate room 113, hall IV, unit 1, so we could carry out our little experiment and begin the journey to becoming billionaires.

We got the two bottles and since our final year bonkee wasn't around that morning, we decided to provide the heat needed for the reaction using his gas cooker, we mixed the two chemicals together inside a kettle, that was the conical flask that we could afford ni and we put the mixture over the gas cooker and that was how the shootings began.

The first one sounded like a knockout, without warning, two other shots followed and before we could even realize that the sound was coming from our little experiment, the kettle burst up in flames,

'remove the kettle from the cooker, remove the kettle from the cooker' that was the voice of Kirishi, it was when he shouted that we suddenly remembered that the gas from the gas cylinder could explode if we didn't act fast, kpankiri rushed forward and grabbed the kettle off the cooker, as he made to run outside with the kettle that was already on fire, I guess the fire gave his hands a nasty bite and he threw the kettle and we all watched in slow motion as the kettle flew into the air and softly landed on top the foam of another roommate, and the next thing we saw was the foam go up in flames, as shouts of fire suddenly engulfed the hostel and in a matter of seconds, over fifty thousand hall IV boys were trying to put out the fire in room 113, hall IV, Unit 1.

To cut a long story short, the fire was eventually put out, damages recorded were our roommate’s foam, the table on which we had carried out the experiment and a part of another room mates’ carpet, of course we had to replace the destroyed items as punishment for our misadventure, the little money we had made from the sales of our hostels had to go in for our quest to become Alberts Einstein, what a world! Our hard earned money went down the drain for a wild goose chase.

But that wasn't the only time our money went down the drain, I would never forget our experience with the witch doctor of Afuze.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four

 

Trust me one of the worst diseases that you could contract as a young boy in hundred level is the NMS.

By NMS I mean the No Money Syndrome, God!! that thing can kill faster than Aids, so many things begin to happen to you, nothing is funny to you anymore, you see wealthy people and begin to hate, somehow you become a professional hater, infact you become so angry with the world that you suddenly become a strong waiter of the second coming of Jesus, so that he would just come and destroy the world so everyone would go to the other world and become equal. You know like everyone start all over again from scratch.

 

My friend Kpankiri always had this theory that everyone suffering from NMS MUST go to hell and he always backed it up with deductions, like he would always say if you don't have money, you have a very high propensity to think evil thoughts because you are jobless, again you would be angry for every reason, again jealousy would find you, you would covet and possibly steal in the long run, Infact I strongly believed in Kpankiri's principle. Everyone suffering from the No Money Syndrome might likely go to hell.

And I guess it was because we didn't want to go to hell that we encountered the great witch doctor of Afuze.

The first two months of class for us the losers were absolutely intimidating, it was the Era of blackberry phones, every Tom, Dick and Harry had a blackberry phone, even if na blackberry storm one, but my two loser friends could only afford the brand new China versions of Nokia phone that had the names NOKLA and ONOKIA respectively, as in en, dem nor fit even spell the name well, I still try pass them sha, I owned an original NOKIA torchlight phone, at least my own phone was two thousand five hundred naira, theirs was one thousand five hundred Naira, at least I was the one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind,

OMG!! Those blackberry owners in our class knew how to intimidate sha, once a lecturer wasn't in class, they would start doing conference of blackberry users, they would gather in front of class and start snapping anyhow as if to say those of us that don't have should go and die

I swear many times I wished I were a suicide bomber so make everybody just bomb make we all go heaven go explain, I guess you are beginning to see that kpankiri's theory of NMS sufferers going to hell was right after all.

As if the blackberry users community hadn't oppressed us enough, then came the ladies, we classified them into three sets, the 'blank stare' the 'hmmmm' and the 'pity' crew.

Yea of course many of us would have encountered the 'blank stare' crew, they are those extra haughty kind of girls that actually believe you are not even worthy to say anything to them so they wouldn't want to spoil their royal worthiness with responding to you, so if you decide to gather the courage and say anything to them, they simply stare at you like a zombie, and when you feel you have being embarrassed enough, you simply walk away, those are the crew that would have being the worst hit for me if I were a serial killer.

Then the 'hmmmm' crew, they were also as extra haughty as the blank stare crew but they at least managed to give the 'hmmm' answers, they didn't believe they should waste words with losers so most times their responses were majorly sign languages, a nod of the head, monosyllabic answers and most times a simple 'hmmm'

The goal was the same, when you got tired of the cold shoulder, Shebi you will leave them alone in peace.

Then finally, the 'pity' crew, this was the most annoying set for me, they will wear this fake smile when you are talking to them, they will feign an interest but it is always so obvious that they are just doing that because they feel a certain level of pity for you, it suddenly seems like they see you as a less privileged person and so they just want to do their own social responsibility of helping the needy by talking to you, truth is the aim is always the same, when you eventually get tired of being pitied, Shebi you will still leave them alone.

And so it was, in the midst of all these oppression and discrimination against all those infected with the NMS, I and my loser team decided to be proactive and go the extra mile, we needed to make this money, and our quest for this money led us to another loser like us and eventually to the shrine of the great Witch Doctor of Afuze.

We all knew him as Babuwa, No one really got to know his real name, Babuwa was his nick and it kind of stuck with him all through university days, Babuwa was a die-hard hustler, he did so many things to make ends meet but my guy!! End nor gree meet anywhere, Na middle dey meet.

He always came to our hostel bringing tidings of many 'get rich quick' schemes as at when we newly got into school, but we weren't interested, it was after we had experienced too much from the blackberry crew and the no joy ladies that we eventually decided to give him a listening ear for once.

He made us understand that the new scheme he had brought to us was fail proof, he even pointed out some well-known big boys in the school that had tried it and how it worked for them, all we needed to do was visit a certain doctor that had come all the way from Afuze to help people like us, he cleared our doubts and I guess the quest to be billionaires got the better part of us and we fixed a date to visit the great doctor from Afuze.

His hut was located somewhere around the rural area they called Ekiadolor, after the bus dropped us off we trekked for a rather long time before we arrived at the poor looking hut, I even wondered how Babuwa had come to know such a place that was so hidden from civilization.

'Welcome my children' the voice of the doctor boomed from within the hut as we made to enter inside the hut, it sounded strange to us though, how did he even know we were coming, it didn't seem strange to Babuwa though, he just smiled sheepishly as we all entered into the hut and sat on the mat that was on the floor as directed by the short old man that had welcomed us in.

I looked at him in a way that doubted his ability to help us but I guess he read my mind as he suddenly began to speak

'I am the great witch doctor from Afuze, do not be deceived by my size, go on and ask about me, the first man that ever doubted me was turned into a pillar of salt, the first woman that doubted me was turned into Maggi', he began to laugh sarcastically, as if he had just become Bovi or Basket mouth, when he saw that his joke wasn't funny to anyone, he stopped laughing and continued, 'I know you want to become rich, I the great Witch Doctor of Afuze will make you rich'

At this point, I smiled and I know my friends did too, now he was speaking our language, we dey talk about money and person dey mention salt and Maggi, are we trying to cook soup here? Who be this guy?

 

He stood up and began to do some incantations, he danced round for some time and what he did next took us completely by surprise, none of us in our wildest imaginations could have expected what happened right there before our very eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Five

 

The old man suddenly began to throw summersaults, he did it on the same spot three times and slumped and died

Hehehehe, he didn't die sha but that was the first impression we had when the old man did the third back flip and suddenly slumped and fell to the ground.

We were hailing him initially but when e pass one minute, Omo guy nor move from where he lie down, nor be person tell us say 'the time to panic is now'

Left to I and my two losers we were ready to make a bolt for it and run away but Babuwa took the initiative and insisted that we tried to revive him because if anyone saw us leaving in a hurry and the old man eventually refused to get up, that would automatically pin us as murder suspects

Babuwa ran to the back of the house and got water from a drum, I couldn't help wondering how Babuwa knew the house so well that he knew exactly where to get water from, I let that slide and watched him as he poured water on the old man's head, immediately the old man came alive laughing sarcastically again as he tried to sit up and regain his former sitting position, God, I swear I felt like punching the old man,

'Do not fear, I just communed with the spirits now, and they have great news for you' He said that and looked at our faces as if to allow it sink in before he continued 'but the spirits have said nothing goes for nothing, there must be a sacrifice you must give for your wealth to be released'

Now, I could sense the fear that suddenly grew in the hearts of me and my losers, did this mean we had to offer a blood sacrifice? my mind swiftly moved to Tony Umez, the popular face of blood sacrificer in Naija home video and how it must always end badly for him, at that moment, I felt like running away but I knew how those things went, once you were in, there was no escape route, the spirits would torment your life until you either run mad or drop dead, I swear I was already seeing myself as. 'Amaka' in 'super story' dancing 'jumpilo jumpilo' when I heard the witch doctor's voice again

Did I just hear this old man correctly? Did he just say the sacrifice to become billionaires would be a combined fee of fifty thousand naira from the four of us?

Indeed I heard right because he repeated it again, I suddenly felt better, at least I knew I wasn't going to be another unfortunate Tony Umez,

*By the way, where is that guy sef? E don tey wey we see e face for home video o, abi cultist role don finish for all home videos? Anyway, I leave that for my opponents to answer

 

But fifty thousand naira? That was a rather large sum of money o, all that I and my two loser friends had left over from the sales of the hostel after paying for the damage our experiment caused was fifteen thousand naira, we needed extra twenty thousand naira since Babuwa volunteered to bring fifteen thousand naira.

The great witch doctor asked us to bring the money in three days, the three of us set out to hunt for the money o, we were eventually able to raise it though, borrowing money was something we were quite used to and with three of us setting out to borrow like our whole life depended on it, we could get the money, trust me when you ask someone to lend you money with promise of paying back with thirty percent interest, trust me, they are willing and able to lend you money much more than you can ask or think, if na lie, ask MMM participants na

(I know you will say as at the time when blackberry was trending, there was no MMM, Ogbeni leave am like that o, is it your story?)

 

So we promised our lenders thirty percent interest on their monies, of course what was thirty percent to us, we were going to be billionaires, infact once we became billionaires, we could buy them all and their families as well as their friends and well-wishers so there was no fear about paying back the money.

 

We returned back to the great witch doctor in two days as opposed to the original three days and laid our sacrifice at his feet, He told all of us to go and buy a clay pot each, that after three days, we should open the pot, first thing in the morning and it would be filled with foreign currencies, he told us that after the first morning, the pot would subsequently be refilled every morning with foreign currencies and told us to leave that we were already billionaires

Omo! Whoever said greatness begins in the mind wasn't joking, I swear my level changed from that very minute, infact not just my level, I would say our collective levels changed, we suddenly developed an accent, we suddenly began to talk big, I observed that Babuwa wasn't really catching up with our new flow, he still acted normal like the loser he had always being but I didn't care much, if he couldn't renew his mind, that was his headache

We left the witch doctor's place and headed straight for the market, Babuwa found an excuse why he couldn't go with us but again who cares? Maybe NFCS did, but I and my two loser crew didn't jorh

Common men, we were the latest billionaires in town soon to be revealed, we went without Babuwa to the market and made sure we got very big clay pots too, the pots had to be big enough to carry the kind of money we were envisaging o, no time to look Uche face

The next three days were the longest days of our lives, we just couldn't wait to handle our first delivery of the magic money, we didn't see Babuwa throughout the three days too but you know how it is now, Billionaires have got so much on their mind, we didn't have the spare time to be worrying about someone that chose to vanish on his own accord.

We couldn't just lay low for those three days, anyone that was close to us would have known that we were going to hit it big soon, we even went about pricing cars and off campus accommodations, we were so going to hit Uniben hard en that Uniben wouldn't know what hit it.

And finally the three days were over, on the fourth day at exactly 5am, when all other roommates were still sleeping we jumped off the bed and opened the cupboard that we had suddenly restricted all roommates from accessing, we got out our pots with so much anticipation and our hearts beating at the highest frequency possible, I opened my pot first, then Kpankiri opened his, then Kirishi opened his, the results were the same, there was nothing inside the pot, it was as empty as the first day we bought it or maybe it even appeared emptier to us.

We concluded that maybe we had opened it too early, we covered the pot again and went back to bed, but sleep had become our worst enemy at that point, we couldn't even go to class, we became pot watchers, we opened the pot again at 8am, at 11am and at 2pm, still there was nothing inside it, we decided to call Babuwa to find out if we shared the same experience, that was when it dawned on us that we didn't even have his phone number, we went to his room in the hostel but the roommates made us understand that he had moved to an off campus residence precisely to Ekosodin only two days before.

Hmmm! now the red lights began to shine brightly in our head, we knew absolutely nothing about Babuwa, all we knew about him were based on the things he had told us, we didn't even know what he studied, so how would we even begin to find him

We had one last hope though, we had to find the witch doctor, we believed he would have a solution, we visited the witch doctor's hut that evening but there was no sign of life anywhere, the place looked abandoned and desolate and for the first time we accepted the truth because it so stared us in the face now that there was no shying away from it, we had been duped and obviously it was team work, Babuwa and the doctor were team mates and they had duped us so easily

OMG! When the realization hit me I felt like crying. Okay I will rephrase that, I actually cried, it wasn't just for the fact that all my hopes of being a billionaire had being officially dashed but I could see myself sinking into deeper levels of poverty, all we had and even all we didn't have that we went ahead to borrow at crazy interest rates had gone down the drain, there was nothing we could do, all we could hope for was that one day we would stumble on Babuwa and on that day we would have our revenge

 

And indeed God answered our prayers, we stumbled on Babuwa but for the revenge part, I really don't know about that part, it is rather complicated, maybe it would have been better for us if we hadn't stumbled on him

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Six

 

The days that followed after we were duped were the worst days of our lives, if we initially defined ourselves as broke, I guess the new definition for us would be 'broken' or more like 'destroyed'

We were suffering from all kinds of problems, financial problems, emotional problems, physical problems and am very sure spiritual problems because for person wey nor get money to still carry the money wey e nor get go put for scam, that one na the height of spiritual problem.

We could barely provide food for ourselves but that was one of the joys of living in the hostel, timing is key, know the right time to visit an hostel mate and you could just be lucky to catch a free lunch or supper as the case may be.

(If you are in the University en, write this down, you might need it o, trust me)

 

Our food timetable had no option but to adjust itself, it was now 0-0-1 or 0-1-0 as it appeared, and on the day that the gods decided to favor us, we were lucky to have 0-1-1

Our already raised self-esteem dropped to the lowest depth, for the first time we remembered and loved that scripture that says 'God hates the proud but gives grace to the humble'

We began to conduct ourselves with utmost humility because while we were financially incapacitated, we didn't even know how to recover and make some money to survive let alone pay back the monies we owed. Our creditors weren't on our necks but the fear of our creditors was for us the beginning of wisdom.

The trials we faced during that period could be likened to the trials of brother Jethro or maybe the sufferings of Job would be more appropriate but somehow we survived, engaging in menial jobs, becoming better managers with money and taking hold of every single opportunity eventually saw us through the trying times, yes we paid our debts but not with the promised thirty percent, of course it almost resulted in fights but we won the argument quite easily as there was no written agreement to that effect in the first place and again our creditors valued their money when it came back to them because at a time it began to seem like their money was lost forever like one of Mount Zion Films. The only side effect was the fact that we just knew that all hopes of ever borrowing from those sources had being smashed to the ground.

A few weeks later, when we had managed to survive and recover somehow from our trying period, fate decided to smile on us by presenting to us our most wanted criminal, We encountered Babuwa when we least expected.

It was a very regular day, I and my two losers were returning from sports complex, in our frustration we had decided to start taking 'karate classes' thinking about it now, I wonder what even prompted us to start taking the classes in the first place, I guess that's what frustration does some times, it makes you jump without looking, or maybe since we couldn't become billionaires and make money which was regarded as a defense, we decided to upgrade our physical defense skills.

Anyway moving on, we were returning from karate classes one Thursday evening, we had just stepped out of the sports complex gate about to begin our march down to the hostel when Kpankiri hushed us and pointed, we stopped in our tracks and our eyes followed his pointing finger as our gaze rested on Babuwa, yes the most wanted Babuwa, He was standing beside one of the cab men at the Uniben shuttle park, before we could even raise an alarm or draw his attention he got into the cab and the driver began to drive away, Omo, na there I believe the power of reflex action, We didn't even plan it but we acted in one accord, we ran quickly and rushed into another cab, 'follow that cab' was all the cab driver heard and he stepped on the throttle, We followed swiftly behind the cab that Babuwa had hired, we were very sure he didn't even know he was being followed. His cab drove steadily until it parked at the school's back gate, the gate that led to the infamous Ekosodin village where all things happened, we remained inside the cab as we watched him step down from the cab, paid the cab man and walked through the open gate into Ekosodin Village, Our aim was to trail him to wherever he lived and catch him unawares, we got down from the cab too, Kirishi paid the cab man and we also stepped our feet into the infamous Ekosodin village for the first time in our Uniben lives.

We followed Babuwa from a distance, so he wouldn't notice he was being followed, as he walked we walked behind him carefully, anytime he turned, we quickly hid, we didn't want to blow our cover, we were ready to bust him for real this time.

We would have walked for about ten minutes, rounded many curves and alleys when he suddenly took us unaware,

He turned around swiftly and I guess his gaze fell on us as we stiffened, we couldn't hide because he turned around suddenly when we didn't expect, he was far away from us but he stared on for a few seconds before he turned again and continued walking like nothing happened, we were about to convince ourselves that maybe he hadn't seen us when he suddenly broke into a run, Omo!! Person nor need to tell us, we broke into a run too as we chased him, Omo, na there I know say we sabi run, Infact the three of us could run for Africa, maybe our karate training had boosted our agility, we began to gain fast on him, we were almost catching him when he suddenly diverted into a very narrow street and when we followed after him we suddenly couldn't find him anymore. The street was rather very bushy there were only two houses in the street, one was a storey building, and was fenced, so obviously, Babuwa hadn't run into that house, the fence was rather high, so we were quite sure he hadn't scaled the fence either, the other house was a semi completed building though it seemed it was inhabited, as some parts of it were plastered and roofed with windows and doors, while the other parts were without roofs, doors and windows, we were quite sure Babuwa had gone in there, naturally we would have been scared to go into that kind of building especially when it was situated in the great Ekosodin but I guess the fact that we could picture our monies returning to us gave us the needed push, yea talking about that needed force, after all force is a push or a pull na, so I guess our pushing or pulling force at that instant was our money.

 

We entered into the uncompleted part of the building and that single step of faith has till today remained 'A step we would never forget in our lives'

 

Chapter Seven

 

As we rushed into the building, the first sight we beheld jolted us to auto stand still, that was when I understood just how powerful the brain was, in less than five seconds my eyes in conjunction with my powerful brain absorbed all the details as it appeared in that building.

There were six boys inside that building, Babuwa inclusive, it wasn't the amount of boys inside the uncompleted building that brought us to a halt, I guess it was the way we met them that gave us the creeps.

One of them most probably their leader was seating on the back of another one, who was on all fours, knees and hands like an animal, it wasn't his position that scared us but the fact that he was growling like an animal, the one that was sitting on him had a big wrap of whatever it was that he was smoking as he puffed it into the air at intervals, two were standing beside the windows and staring outside the windows like they were trying to find the Nigeria missing budget, another one was sitting on the ground, writing probably the words that King Belshazzar saw fingers writing on the wall in the Bible, Babuwa was standing beside the one we assumed was their Leader, He still had some fear in his eyes though,

In that short time, my eyes and brain had recorded all these details but the most odd thing about these people were the things they had in common, except Babuwa, the other five of them didn't have any shirts on, their eyes were blood red, and except the one that was on all fours, they all had heavy wraps of whatever they were smoking in their hands and mere looking at their face, you could tell that 'dem nor get joy' in the keeper's voice

(Only Planet Phenom pictures can relate to this sha)

 

As we halted, their heads raised in unison and they stared at us without making any sound, I guess we stood rooted to the spot for another thirty seconds as we stared at each other in silence before we took the initiative to turn back, we slowly did a round turn and made a move to walk out of the building, I was beginning to think my grandmother's juju of 'the more you look the less you see' was beginning to work on them when we heard the voice that sounded like thunder

'Cross that place whether una nor go kick bucket now now now'

 

Omo! That was when for the first time I knew just how Moses felt when he heard the voice at the burning bush because at that moment, I knew I became an instant stammerer

(Ok just hold on a second, the word stammerer right? I know as a kid, I felt this word wasn't correct o, but my guy e dey dictionary so nor judge am ni)

 

At that moment, we all lost our voices, as our body on its own turned back again to the sound of the voice we had heard

As we turned, I observed the two guys that were standing by the windows had moved closer to us, they were clenching their fists now and making silly sounds with their teeth like vampires ready to feast on their prey, the one that was writing on the ground was still writing, it seemed he was in a different world altogether, the voice sounded again only then did we know that it had come from the one I earlier assumed was the Leader

'So una nor get respect abi? Una barge into my mansion, una nor knock, una nor greet, una come begin dey comot, leave my door open, which of una Ogun dey kill for here?'

Our first action was to turn back and observe the door that we hadn't knocked but Omo, no door o, it was an uncompleted building for crying out loud, as we turned to face him again, his voice boomed louder

'I say which of una Ogun dey kill for here' this time as he said it, he rose up, when we saw the giant of a man that rose up from the human chair en, nor be person need to tell us, our hands went up in the air, infact we agreed in our hearts and our soul 'na we Ogun dey kill for here'

But it seemed, Mr. giant wasn't satisfied with merely raising of hands, he turned to me, I be nor tell am say na me be the leader o, my legs suddenly began to shake 'Omo na like this person take dey die o'

His voice boomed as he asked me 'Ogun dey kill you' I nodded and replied at the same time 'yes sir, Ogun is killing me'

He turned to my two losers and asked the same question as they nodded and replied in unison same way I had replied, I observed he stifled a chuckle, he was obviously amused by the way we were scared, God we were trembling, even a blind man would know just how scared we were, I guess we had heard too many incredible stories about Ekosodin and how bad guys ate up the flesh and drank up the blood of jambites like us, I could remember that at a certain point I was already asking God for forgiveness and begging that he would accept me in heaven, infact I was even making a case for myself that if he could accept the thief that died beside Jesus on the cross then why must my own case be different'

The huge guy turned to Babuwa and asked 'so na these three boys dey threaten to kill you abi? Na dem say dem wan kill you and all your family, rape your mama and your sisters, burn una house and destroy una land abi?

Babuwa nodded in the affirmative,

Ewo! Naso, I hold my head, this world is indeed very wicked, so Naso Babuwa take change everything for our head? So naso Babuwa take turn us to terrorists at our very young ages? Infact at that moment, I didn't care if I died again one thing was sure, my spirit must worry Babuwa and these evil boys.

(Home video sha, reducing IQ since the eighties)

 

'Oya, give them short sleeve first before anything' that was the voice of the huge guy, the other guys move swiftly, only God knows where the two sharp cutlass came out from but indeed, it came out, Omo, them don drag Kpankiri o, stretch e hand out as the other one raised the machete in an attempt to cut off his hands, o my God! Kpankiri begin cry, nor be play play cry o, Kpankiri was crying beta cry, begin beg, 'please, please, I am the only son of my parents, it is only me that my mama born, Abeg I nor wan to die, I nor want to die'

Shuuu!! I swear I shock, Kpankiri had three brothers and two sisters, all because of cutlass, kpankiri had assassinated them all and the worst part was that he couldn't even speak simple and correct Pidgin English well again.

 

I swear, it was too much for even the guys to bear, they suddenly burst into laughter, even me I was tempted to laugh but I knew I was in the same boat as Kpankiri so I behaved myself.

The huge guy cleared his throat and his boys stopped laughing, then he spoke, 'I am a very nice person and today is my birthday, because today is my birthday, I will forgive you, Babuwa na my blooooood brother, and if you say you wan kill Babuwa and e family, Naim be say you wan kill me and before you kill me, I go kill you, but because today na my birthday, I go forgive una, but the thing be say e still dey for bible say, though hand siddon for another hand, person wey wicked en, he must pay for he wicked, therefore we go give una punishment'

He motioned for us to sit on the ground as he spoke 'make una feel comfortable make I ask my blooooood brother wetin go be una punishment'

We sat on the ground as the four of them except the human chair and the one that was writing on the floor came together and began to talk in low tones, after about five minutes they addressed us and told us what we had to do.

 

They let us go after another five minutes but not after they had taken all the money we had on us, they didn't take our phones, infact kpankiri and Kirishi each received knocks on their heads for using China phones, the huge guy saw it as an insult to Uniben, that a student of the great Uniben would be using China phone.

When we finally left there with our lives intact, the race wey we run en, I guess at that pace we would have given Usain Bolt a run for his money, our punishment wasn't funny but I guess it was better than losing our hands, it was simple sha #smiling

 

Every morning, we had to trek from our hostel to Ekosodin to Babuwa's hostel to greet him Good morning and receive a knock each to begin the day, then in the evening we went to his room again to help him do his domestic chores like sweeping, cleaning the house, watching plates, fetching water and so on and you couldn't afford to be late for your knock or the knocking festival would begin all over again from the start, so our roommates were surprised that we suddenly became very serious students waking up very early every morning and rushing out of the hostel too very early after getting prepared for class, in their hearts we were rushing so we could secure front rows in class but only the three of us knew that we were rushing to receive early morning knocks to begin the day every single day.

 

Yea, we did prefer it to losing our hands sha, and that was how we became slaves to the same Babuwa that had duped us for one full month until Babuwa and his gang finally decided to let us go in peace.

Immediately after this episode with Babuwa, I quit karate and my two losers followed suit, it was simple, if karate couldn't save us when we needed it the most, then we didn't need karate.

 

Life continued non smoothly for us, our loser status didn't change, there was no rich girl that fell in love with any of our broke boys crew as home video always makes us believe, there was no friend we stumbled on that suddenly decided to bless us with cash gifts and change our level, there was no stroke of luck, no nothing jorh, it was just us and our usual loser lifestyle until three hundred level when certain events happened in our lives, Kirishi found a girlfriend, kpankiri bought a laptop and my humble self Emababa after so many hustle discovered one of my talents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eight

 

When I say Kirishi found a girlfriend, I guess a few of my readers would wonder and be like 'was she missing before?'

Just hold on as I clarify the concept of finding a girlfriend as it was for Kirishi, now don't forget the fact that I and my two losers were as broke as broken palm kernel shells, of course you know those shells are only good for being discarded, now in our world, no girl, would really want to jump into a relationship where the guy is the synonym for broke, So I guess you might understand when I say Kirishi found a girlfriend because that kind of girl certainly had to be found.

Her name was Sade, okay firstly, greetings to my Yoruba comrades, this is one of those names that confuse us, in the Pronunciation, you would hear the 'H' sound o but in the spelling, the 'H' disappears, yet we all complain of confusion caused by the top leaders, I always believed that the confusion in this country began from the grass roots, this is one example.

Sade was definitely not kirishi's type, gosh this girl pass kirishi too much, Sade was beautiful, perfectly endowed, a true hour glass shaped model, and infact the way she was polished en, You would think she didn't grow up in Nigeria, She even had the foreign accent too, she was a two hundred level Law Student, How Kirishi found such a girl had always remained a mystery to us and how he eventually lost her was a bigger mystery.

Three hundred level for us was our year of miracles or should I call it early satisfaction, the first miracle happened with Kirishi when he found Sade, his own miracle came quite early in the year. No one knows the true story till today but what Kirishi told us was that he and Sade had boarded the same bus to school one day and Sade had got into an argument with the conductor and he had intervened when it became uncontrolled and somehow had beaten both the driver and the conductor of the bus, hmmm we didn't argue we only noticed that he returned to the hostel that day with a swollen head and lots of bruises, whatever had happened didn't matter to us, because the next day, we saw a real charming beauty at our hostel looking for Kirishi and I guess from that day we began to pray that one day, we would also return home with swollen heads and bruises, maybe that was all we needed to break the yoke that had prevented us from having girlfriends.

You know that change that comes upon your life when you give your life to Christ? That was what happened to Kirishi, He suddenly became a new man in Islam, suddenly Kirishi's lifestyle changed, he began to upgrade o, Kirishi no longer followed us to night market to do throw and catch.

Oh!!!  For those of us that don't know throw and catch, throw and catch is a form of buying where all the clothes are spread on the ground and then the seller throws the clothes up, the more you are able to catch in the air, the less you pay for the clothes you are buying, we didn't care about the very obvious smell of second hand or Aloko as Nigerians popularly call it, that always strongly choked the cloth, there was no smell that 24 hours soaking with detergent couldn't remove.

Kirishi no longer did trekkers club with us, he began to use shuttle bus from one point in the school to the other, kirishi no longer even ate our regular fishless, meatless and ingredientless rice and beans mixture anymore, he now bought food instead, infact from the day he met Sade, his whole life changed, Sade only regarded us the very first time she came to the hostel to see Kirishi, after then she began to disregard us, she wouldn't greet us, she would answer rudely sometimes when we tried to create a conversation, and whenever we complained, kirishi was quick to defend her, we observed that Kirishi was slowly drifting away from us, he fancied our company less, he wasn't interested in our low life discussions anymore, infact he totally upgraded but the question that continued to plague our minds was 'where did he suddenly get the money from to live this new life'

Kirishi began to spend money on Sade, infact he became her money bag, this was Kirishi that had always been slumming with us, where did all this money suddenly come from?

Sade came to the hostel one day and we took our leave as kirishi had begged us to always do, somehow we overhead her telling Kirishi that she wasn't comfortable with coming to see him in the school hostel anymore and that was all we heard o.

We couldn't believe our ears when Kirishi told us the next morning that he was going to rent a room at BDPA, he was moving to an off campus residence and he was going alone, he didn't require our company, Omo, our Kirishi had fast become a puppet in the hands of the almighty Sade, indeed her every wish had suddenly become his commands, I and kpankiri strongly believed that there was more to this than meets the eyes, true to his words, that evening, Kirishi returned with Sade and packed all his stuff and left, we couldn't believe our eyes, so naso woman come in between our friendship of three years, we really got to understand how true the saying was that two things could easily come between men: women and money.

We couldn't hold him o, we let him go, after all Douglax and Vikky Wattz sang a song titled 'Let it go' If they could let go, who we be to not let go. Kirishi was a man after all and that was how Kirishi found the girl that took him away from us and practically ended the friendship we worked so hard to build, it hurt so bad, but life had to go on, maybe he had broken the loser grip for himself after all, so it was just two Losers left, I and Kpankiri and I guess fate saw how pained we were and so fate decided to smile on us by blessing my guy Kpankiri with a laptop!!!

OMG! Laptop? Did I hear you say laptop? That was how I reacted to the news when kpankiri told me that his elder sister who lived overseas that had once forgotten about him and the family was sending him a laptop, mhen, the way I take happy en, you go think say na me wan get the laptop, yes o, at least even if I nor fit buy, as far as my guy was a laptop owner, me too don be laptop owner by association o.

Laptop to us was a very big deal, as in en, guys don too oppress us with phones and laptop, I was still using my nokia torchlight and kpankiri was still using his China NOKLA phone, so the coming of laptop into our lives made us feel just like the apostles in the upper room when the holy spirit descended on them.

When the laptop came the next day en, my guy wan crase, he just dey smile anyhow, I guess most people would have thought he was mad ni, guy nor play o, thinking about it now, the specs of that laptop na die sha, 500MB Ram, 32gig HDD, hehehehe, my guy, even phone get level pass that laptop, and na wetin Kpankiri sister fit buy for am be that, anyway at that point in our life who cared? Only NFCS did, if dem like make e b 20MB for both ram and HDD, laptop na laptop ni

So that first night en in the hostel, we took turns doing watch night over the laptop, kpankiri would sleep for the first four hours holding the laptop to his chest while I stayed awake and watched, then I would sleep the remaining hours holding the laptop to my chest, while he stayed awake and watched. Infact our corner became out of bounds to our roommates, everyone was a suspect, we didn't know so much about operating a system but at least we sabi type, come and see intimidation, we didn't bother to get a bag for the laptop o, kpankiri always carried the laptop in his hands like that to class, Our departments still had lectures in the same class, and I always made sure I sat beside him, he was the proud owner of a laptop and I was the proud bestie of a laptop owner, nor try that bestie o, he became my bestie sharply as soon as the laptop appeared.

But this life en, why is it like that, you would not believe that on the first week that the laptop appeared en, some girls actually began to speak with Kpankiri for the first time in their lives, Infact a few of them suddenly turned friendly, but no wahala, it was for our good na, we key into the friendship na, after all, offer last while stocks last.

And it was in the midst of all these miracles that my own came, it wasn't loud, it came like a still small voice, most probably the kind that Prophet Elijah heard when he couldn't find God in the fire and in the wind.

In the midst of all these upheavals and tupsy turvy of losing our best friend to Sade, kpankiri being blessed with a laptop and people wanting to become our friends, I found something about me that had always being there but maybe I had never really taken note of it until that very day.

We were in the hostel, and one of my old friends the black prince came visiting, we were just chatting and gisting it was a free for all conversation, infact all my roommates took part in the discussion but as the crowd gathered, Kpankiri made sure he secured his laptop by hugging it closely to his chest, no matter the joke that was cracked, none was funny enough to make him let go of that laptop o, suddenly it was time for truth and dare and it was going very exciting, until someone dared me to sing, Omo, I tried to laugh it off but dem nor gree o, and so in the midst of no option, I decided to do the dare, I began the song, with a preparedness of being mocked, infact I even closed my eyes, as I began to sing, I couldn't hear anything again, the hostel suddenly became quiet, I guess they had all run out of the room, or maybe my bad voice had killed them all and the spirits were observing a moment of silence for them, I resisted the urge to open my eyes and finished the song, still there was silence, then I mustered courage and opened my eyes, I couldn't believe what I saw when I opened my eyes.

The hostel was full, it wasn't only filled with my roommates, even students from other rooms had gathered in my room, when I say the room was full, I meant the room was full, as I stared on in surprise, the applause began, it started as quite low, then it began to build, and it began to increase and in a matter of seconds it became a loud deafening applause with shouts following, I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears, these people were clapping for me, I couldn't control it, the tears began to drop from my eyes, I had to run out of the room so that they wouldn't observe I had tears in my eyes, that episode ended, they officially began to call me 'singer' in the hostel from that day and officially I discovered I had the musical talent in me but throughout my three hundred level e nor help me because e nor bring any money for me, infact maybe we only upgraded our statuses to losers with a laptop and a good voice.

Meanwhile as we rounded up three hundred level, I and Kpankiri with combined efforts decided to rent a room outside the school too, we also picked BDPA, meanwhile we hadn't heard from kirishi in a long while, he was still keeping his distance and we allowed him be. So we paid for the accommodation with a mind to resume four hundred level there, it was a one room apartment, attached to a rather big three bedroom flat, the toilet and bathroom were located a little distance away from the one room apartment though it was still inside the compound, the owner of the house and his wife lived in the flat, we were going to be their only neighbors, it seemed the one room was originally meant for a security guard, but did we care? Off campus na off campus mhen, no time.

 

During the holidays before we resumed four hundred level while I pondered on how my life was going to be and how I was eventually going to break the chains of LOSERHOOD from my neck, my friend the Black Prince came along with an offer that I couldn't resist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER Nine

 

The Black Prince was an upcoming rapper and prior to this time he had once intimated me on his plans to release a mix tape, and I guess I was happy for him, I didn't anticipate that he would be requiring me to feature on his first mix tape that was why when he came to me that Saturday morning in my Father's house, it took me by surprise.

'Guy, I wan feature you for my first mixtape o'

I looked at him with rather confused eyes because I had never even being to the studio before in my life, he repeated the statement and I was like 'you wan picture me for your first mixtape, as in you wan mention my name for the song?'

He looked at me and laughed 'no na, I want you to write the hook as well as a verse for the song'

I know I would have appeared silly as I stared at him, in my mind I was busy wondering what he meant by hook, 'are we fishing here? What was this guy talking about, hook and verse?

It took the Black Prince some time to explain to me before I finally got it, he actually wanted me to compose the chorus as well as write a solo for his new song, yea, na chorus and solo we know o, nazo we take know am back then o for children choir days.

This was for me a really big one, for the first time I was going to compose a song that wasn't going to be for my ears only, before this time, I had written many songs o, infact the number of songs I had written before this time could make dozens of albums but I never saw music as my thing, for me composing those songs en, was like Musicracy, music of me, for me and by me.

But this time, I had to compose music for third party, trust me, it wasn't so easy for me, infact I do believe that it wouldn't have been easy too for Ezekiel,

(Lolz, na my Aunty dey like to talk that thing that year o)

To cut a long story short, I wrote the hook and my verse and just before the holidays ended, I had my first studio session of life, Omo, nor play o, that tension box en, e get why dem really call am tension box, as soon as I entered inside to record the hook en, nazo different colors of tension begin fly enter my body, red tension, green tension, blue tension, infact the rainbow tension came too.

I don't know what happened but somehow I just lost all my nerves, to the extent that dem come dey pick my nerves for ground.

To cut a long story short en, we finally recorded the song o but someone else had to do the chorus wey I write because I suddenly lost my voice because of tension and even my verse didn't come out as great as I would have wanted it to but at all at all na winch like my Delta brothers would say, and so that was how I recorded my first song ever featured by the Black Prince and he titled it 'Wonder'

He was a rapper and I was a singer, and it was a gospel single too, Omo as the jam land like this en, all my own thoughts be say 'we don arrive'

Infact en, I was already seeing myself as top star and icon, for my mind en, once the song hit people ears like this en, the money will just begin to flow in like water, that billionaire mindset that I once developed when we encountered the witch doctor of Afuze suddenly returned, my long lost swagger came back in full force, I began to style again, infact, I was already seeing myself in fame and stardom, I began to talk big and act big, infact I was definitely sure that the dropping of that single would become my lucky break and the key that will finally unlock the chains of Loser hood from my neck.

Hehehehe, thinking about those days now remind me of Albert Einstein’s popular rhetorical question

 'Who dash monkey banana?

Infact if I was the monkey in this case en, leaves nor even near me, talk more of jungle, talk more of banana, Omo, with this mixtape en, I was equivalent to a monkey in the desert, Omo, the much anticipated jam drop, we put it online an after all the publicity and much noise, we had only five downloads, and we ourselves knew the downloaders, Me, another of my guy, the black prince, his elder sister and another of he guy too, those were the five downloads, I swear e be like film for my eyes, even the show wey we manage go perform the song, we had to pay them to allow us feature on their stage, as in en, after this episode en, I gave up on music o and the chains of loser hood come tight well well again upon my neck.

 

We resumed four hundred level and I and Kpankiri resumed at our off campus residence,

Even if it was a one room apartment, that refuse to contain itself because the bath room and toilet was built outside the room a little distance from the room, we didn't care o, whether the devil liked it or not, we had being integrated into the big boys crew, we also lived off campus now and don't forget my guy had a laptop na, so we were big boys in our own ways.

Omo nor try the kind things wey we dey chop that time sha, we were still very broke guys, staying off campus didn't in anyway increase our financial status o, we still remained where we were, our food combo was usually a function of the available foodstuff in the house o, we would have combinations like 'Bread and groundnut oil, indomie and yam, bread and garri, beans and spaghetti, yam and pap, just think of any combo as far as that was the available, it fast became the desirable and I guess it was these kind of combos that led to our unforgettable toilet experience on our third week at BDPA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Ten

 

'Whatsoever a man soweth, the same he shall also reap'

I guess that part of scripture became applicable to us when our systems decided to react to the excessive dosage of junk that it was being forced to receive.

As rightly quoted by a famous friend, 'when devil dey work, cellophane dey break glass' that was exactly how it played out on that very day that our digestive system decided to declare a mutiny on us.

We had our own share of heavy concoction that morning as we had practically exhausted all the foodstuff in the house, that morning, we just got some vegetables that were available in our compound, put it into a pot, added the palm oil that was left in the can, added the leftover onions, the little spaghetti that was left, the few grains of bean that was left, the left over bananas from the ones our Landlord gave to us and an idle looking piece of yam, we mixed everything together and cooked it all together, we called it food salad, we never knew that food salad was going to be the source of our downfall in the long run.

We had eaten our concoction and were already prepared for class, when the first signs came, you know that sound your stomach makes when you are hungry that makes it seem like it's trying to have a conversation with you? That was the first sound I heard as I made to lock the door, I turned and looked at Kpankiri, the sound had come from his direction,

'Haba, Kpankiri, why your belle dey sing? You dey hung....' And my statement was left unfinished as my own stomach produced even a louder sound, I looked up at kpankiri, as our eyes met, we both laughed but as we began to laugh, we suddenly stopped laughing at the same time. I was very sure we had both felt the touch of the anointing at the same time,

Suddenly as if a bell was rung, we found ourselves running to the toilet, I was a faster runner than Kpankiri so I used the talent that God had given me for the special purpose, as I got to the door, I burst it open and sat on the toilet seat, meanwhile kpankiri began to tap on the door impatiently, “fast o, fast o' I stood up and came out feeling a little bit relieved but as I opened the door and made to come out, the anointing grabbed me again, as I was about making a round turn, kpankiri pushed me out of the way and practically flew into the toilet, as I stood there totally uncomfortable, hot sweat beads rolling down my face, infact my body was soaked with sweat, he came out in a few minutes, feeling relieved as I rushed back into the toilet, but as I sat on the seat, I could hear him tapping on the door again impatiently, that was when I knew that we were in for a very long morning that day, and that was how we spent the first few hours of that morning exchanging turns on the toilet seat until the unforeseeable happened.

The toilet suddenly stopped flushing, Omo nor play o, the toilet decided to go bad or maybe the soak away pit decided to get full at that very ungodly hour of the day, when I got out of the toilet, kpankiri was about to rush in again when he saw the look on my face, he could easily tell that something had gone wrong and with very few words, he understood our predicament, we didn't have many options, indeed we had only one option and it was an option that we wouldn't opt for normally but with the way it was, we sure didn't have many choices, so we went for the only option that we had.

A knock on the door and it was this lovely beauty that opened the door, one guess was that She was the daughter of our Land Lord, probably she had being away in school all these while, maybe that's why we hadn't seen her all the while we had been in the house, Omo, our mouth enter lock mode at once.

D rumbling in our stomach was unbearable, how could we open our mouth to tell this piece of beauty that we wanted to use their toilet? She just stared at us a little bit confused as we also stared at her lost for words although it was very obvious that we were uncomfortable, the legs twitching, the heavy beads of sweat running down our face down to our body, I was about to pass out when I suddenly heard kpankiri's voice from behind me.

'Good morning ma, please I would like to inform you that we are your tenants from the other room and without warning, our toilet has encountered an unprecedented damage and as it is now, we are pressed with an involuntary desire to use your loo, please would you oblige us?

She looked at kpankiri again, it was obvious he had lost her, even me for lost, if nor be say I already know our problem,

'Sorry, I don't get you, what do you mean?'

As Kpankiri opened his mouth to answer her again, nazo I dive the answer, Omo, no time to shame again, it was better to be embarrassed than allow what was about to happen to us happen o,

'Abeg we wan use una toilet, our own don spoil and our belle wan kill us'

Omo, just like Moses' rod parted the red Sea, nazo she clear road for us, show us the way, I dived into the toilet and freed my bowels, as kpankiri did same, they had two toilets in the passage way so we both had one to ourselves as we swore to ourselves that we were never going to eat any kind of combinations again in our full lives.

We might have stayed there for another one hour, if not for Mercy that gave us some medications, yea her name was Mercy and after she helped us with the medications, we became relieved. And that probably was the first encounter that sounded the love bell that later rang loudly between I and Mercy.

Meanwhile after Mercy had saved our lives, we couldn't go to school anymore that day as time was already far spent, we just spent the remaining time lying on our stomachs, with so much hunger as we had lost all the food we had to our toilet experience. It should have been a little past 6pm when we heard a knock on the door, Kpankiri went to the door and opened it, I observed how shocked he was as he stood rooted to the spot, I felt he had seen a ghost as I ran up to the door to see who it was, and there we were staring into the face of the least person we had expected to see at our house that fateful evening.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eleven

 

I guess at that instant I and kpankiri could be likened to the disciples that were praying for Peter's release and how they must have been shocked when Peter came knocking at the door.

We were indeed dumbfounded, we sure could have expected to see any other person at our door that evening but definitely not Kirishi.

Yes, just the same way it sounds strange to you, that was how it appeared strange to us, what did kirishi want with us? We stood there staring in silence before his voice broke the silence.

'I am sorry'

At that moment, I guess the anger really got a strong hold of me,

Sorry?

Was that all Kirishi had to say after throwing years of friendship to the mud? After blatantly turning his back on what we had worked so hard for, after rubbing our trust in the mud, all for a girl?

Sorry?

No, I couldn't take that, I turned back and went into the room and lay on the bed, I was really boiling with anger now, I guess kpankiri felt the same way because as I jumped on the bed in anger, I heard the door slam shut with a loud bang, I turned to observe an angry Kpankiri coming towards the bed, it seemed he was even more angry as he muttered some incoherent words under his breath.

There was another tap at the door, we ignored it, the tap continued and it became irritating, I got off the bed with anger, I was going to give Kirishi a piece of my mind, infact I was going to tell him off. As I opened the door in anger, the words rushed out of my mouth, 'Get out of our hoooo....'

I stopped as suddenly as I had begun because though Kirishi was still standing there, the person that had tapped the door was Mercy. I could observe she was surprised, A quick look at Kirishi and then at me she probably understood the situation on ground.

Kirishi quickly grabbed hold of the situation and began to apologize again, I didn't even know what to reply him because having a third party around was making me try hard to contain my anger, Kpankiri came to the door again and observed the settings, I guess Mercy understood that it wasn't a good time to visit so she excused herself and went away, now the three of us were left on our own to settle our differences, kpankiri went back into the room, I turned back and walked into the room too but this time I left the door opened so Kirishi could come inside.

Kirishi was like the prodigal son, Sade had led him astray and it had cost him so much, it had even earned him an extra year in school because while his Sade madness engulfed him, he had spent so much money on her, borrowed so much also and when he didn't have any more to spend, he had also spent his school fees on her and that had cost him his second semester exams as he couldn't register and write most of the exams, it  had inevitably earned him automatic second semester spill over, and the crazy thing about it all was that it still wasn't a big deal to him at the time because he thought he was in love, it was until she had left him for someone that had much more money to throw around that the scales eventually fell off his eyes and it became clear to him that Sade had destroyed a large part of his life, He had been her mugu 20 and she didn't even bat an eyelid when she told him it was over.

As it was now, he didn't even have anything, he couldn't renew his rent, no one was willing to lend him any money again, all the monies he had borrowed, he couldn't pay back, he had lost friends, he had lost money he had lost time and like the prodigal son he had decided to come back and ask our forgiveness, so we could go back to being brothers like we had always being before Sade came into the picture.

The story was rather unbelievable but even though we felt sorry for him, we couldn't just accept him back just like that now, no na, you couldn't just dump us and then because you suddenly do not have anywhere else to run to, you come back running to us, nah, we didn't roll like that, so we did what we had to do, we sent him away from our house, it was payback time and we kicked him back onto the streets same way he had walked out on us.

 

Hehehehe, e for sweet sha, if we could actually do that but you know, milk is thicker than water, our bond was a strong one, even though we weren't necessarily blood, what existed between us was far thicker than water, it was like milk and not cowbell please, it was peak condensed milk.

So even though we actually told him to get out of our house and actually made him understand that we weren't teddy bears that he could just use anyhow he wanted, we watched him walk slowly to the door, there was tears in his eyes, he was totally dejected, he looked like one that had lost all hopes, but just as he opened the door and made to leave, we gave him the mad shout that we usually did whenever we successfully deceived someone. We ran to him and hugged him, it was good having our friend back, indeed he had hurt us but we were sure glad to have him back, yea, the three losers were back together again and it was worth celebrating.

We were still basking in the ambiance of our wonderful reunion when we heard the tap on the door again, this time I knew who it was, Somehow I knew something had clicked between us while we were at her house that afternoon, I moved quickly to the door and opened it, indeed I was right, I winked at my two losers, kpankiri winked back because he could get it, Kirishi looked on in confusion, I smiled broadly at her as I stepped out of the room to join her outside.

 

A certain chemistry was fast developing between I and Mercy and I guess the reaction catalyst was the unforgettable toilet experience, somehow my roving mind fast forwarded to our wedding, I could imagine the priest asking 'how did you meet her?' and I would be like 'through an unforgettable toilet experience'

 

Hehehe, Mercy tapped my hands and brought me out of my reverie, she wore this very beautiful smile and I couldn't help but stare at her uncontrollably, was this what people meant when they talked about 'Love at first sight?

I guess it was my turn to fall in love, I just hoped it didn't turn out to be another kirishi versus Sade, so help me God.

Chapter Twelve

 

Mercy turned out to be a truly amazing friend, she was beautiful and intelligent, she had completed her Ordinary National Diploma at Federal Polytechnic, Auchi and she had come home for one year, pending when she could get into the university as a direct entry student or probably return to the Polytechnic to obtain a Higher National Diploma if the university didn't work out.

Mercy could talk sha, that girl can talk for Africa, infact I am very sure somehow she would have shared a relationship with Chris Tucker.

Mercy was also a very smart person, aside the fact that she was intelligent, she also had knowledge of a wide variety of topics, you couldn't beat her in general knowledge about the country, infact when she talked about the civil war en, you would think she was beside Col Odumegwu Ojukwu throughout the war and probably also beside Lt Col Yakubu Gowon, because she seemed to have an eyewitness account from both sides.

Mercy had so many great qualities but one thing that practically drew me very close to her was the fact that she was a really amazing dancer, she danced with so much passion and energy that for a split moment I began to nurse the weird idea that maybe I might be able to dance after all.

Hehehehe, The first thoughts about me actually dancing sounded very amusing to me, I know you wouldn't understand but I guess when I tell you my dance history en, you would understand.

I was so bad at dancing that I usually didn't qualify to dance in my secondary school cultural team, infact even in the choir en, to tune in to the general choir march was a very big deal for me, maybe that was the real reason why I never had love for the children choir or even the school choir because dancing was involved, I was indeed very bad at dancing that anytime I tried to dance en, My list of advisers always increased because it never took me long on the dance floor before concerned and well-meaning citizens of the federation began to advise me on why I had to find my real talent and stop posing a threat to myself and my environment with my monkey moves that almost made dancing seem like a nightmare.

I could remember how loudly I had laughed the first time Mercy had actually hinted that I could be a good dancer if I actually worked hard at it, indeed, it sounded as a very big joke to me, I didn't for one second believe that heresy, But Mercy was unrelenting, She always tried to bring it up anytime we were together, she would always be like 'you try it first na' and I will always be like 'Nah, thank you, I would pass'

 

Meanwhile the closer we became, the more my feelings for her grew, what I felt for Mercy was unique, it wasn't a feeling born out of lust, it was a feeling born out of a desire to love and care for her without getting anything back for it.

Her friendship didn't in any way come between I and my two losers, I could say it made our bond stronger, as she always came to the house, loved to share our company and she always came with goodies for the boys, maybe She was our very own 'Mama for the Boys'

Many times my two losers prompted me to tell Mercy how I truly felt about her, but maybe I was just too shy to tell her because after their motivational speeches I would convince myself that I would bare my heart to her on our next meeting but the moment I saw her, I always found an excuse for why I couldn't just open my mouth to say those loving words I really hoped she ached to hear.

Mercy actually was a very strong Willed person and she was determined to make a dancer out of me, her favorite motivational saying was 'there's a drop of potentials in every person' she strongly believed that I had the potentials to dance and she was truly willing to harness that potential in me and that was how she forced me to begin dance classes with her.

Yea, it was for Tuesdays and Thursdays, We used a secluded part of their compound for our rehearsals and my God you wouldn't believe it after three weeks of intense rehearsals, it finally happened. I became a world known extraordinary dancer, somebody give the Lord a shout.

 

Hehehe, I pray o, who dash monkey banana? My guy, lock up, as my friend kirishi would say, 'e nor dey, naim be say e nor dey'

Wetin nor dey for body nor dey for body, you can't force it, after three weeks of unsuccessful rehearsals, Mercy accepted the fact that I wasn't really cut out for dancing but the three weeks of rehearsal wasn't a waste as during the course of the three weeks and the times we spent together, we really got to know ourselves better, I really got to understand so much about her and I was fully convinced that I was ready to tell her just exactly what I felt for her.

Even though Mercy had accepted the fact that I wasn't really cut out for dancing, she always wanted me to watch her anytime she engaged in her personal dance rehearsals, She was a member of an organization, she called it 'House Of Zenom' She had always invited me for their meetings but abeg e, I really wasn't interested, she finally convinced me to attend one of their programs and I didn't have any excuse anymore as we had rounded up four hundred levels examinations, I was still hanging in school and nothing much was happening, So because I had no excuse, I obliged her and attended the program and that was one decision that really set up quite a number of chain reactions in my life that till today I always remember that decision as one hell of a significant decision that has always stood tall in my life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

It was an Entertainment concert, House of Zenom was an entertainment outfit that focused on almost all the genres of entertainment that one could think of.

Music, dance, drama, poetry, script writing, painting, and so much more, it was an organization that was dedicated to promoting artistry, creativity and talents among young people.

Most of her members were undergraduates and very young graduates, though a few secondary students also found their way into her membership list.

The event was held at the University of Benin, Main Auditorium, House of Zenom wasn't a University of Benin organization though, it was an external NGO and they just decided to use University Of Benin for that particular event that year.

This also made it very difficult for me to give Mercy an excuse because there was no question about the distance this time, the event was happening right under my nose.

And that was how I reluctantly went with Mercy to the event that Saturday afternoon but years later as I look back, I always want to thank Mercy for giving me that one in a life time opportunity.

 

The event was totally captivating and inspirational, I would have said mind blowing but I do not want some terrorists to capitalize on my choice of words and go ahead to blow up another thing.

I was totally dumb struck when I saw so much creativity and passion oozing out of the veins of young people, yes people like me and people that were even younger than I was, I was already spurred by all these, I already felt a strong urge to rise up and start affecting my world before Mercy came on stage to do her thing.

When she came on stage, the audience went agog with loud shouts, obviously, she was a favorite for the audience but as the shouts rose, I couldn't even whisper, I was staring like I had seen the burning bush, I was totally speechless, the Mercy that was on stage sure wasn't the Mercy I had always known.

There was this brightness that clouded her face, she shone so brightly like the sun, she really looked amazing in her costume, I was quite sure my mouth had hung open for all the flies to dwell inside before her dance partner came on stage too, he was another young boy, he also looked very handsome in his costume.

They did a dance that had a simple message, the message was straight and it hit my heart like a thousand arrows. And this was the message 'if you lived your life without finding your purpose here on earth and using your God-given gifts and talents to achieve that purpose, then you totally wasted your life here on earth and you deserved to be cast into utter darkness'

The dance didn't last for up to five minutes, Mercy represented the one that didn't identify her purpose and the young boy represented the opposite version of her, they were very skilled as well as passionate about the message they were sending across, when the dance eventually ended and Mercy was being led into utter darkness as her punishment, I felt the tears drop from my eyes, that was my life, I suddenly realized that I had never thought about my purpose here on earth neither had I even tried to take out time to develop my gifts and talents, indeed the dance spoke to me, I knew I had made a new resolve that day.

Even before the guest speaker gave a ten minutes talk on why we must fulfill our purpose, I had already made a resolve to affect my world, I had made up my mind to die empty, there was no going back, I had long misused a large part of my life not even knowing my purpose talk more of fulfilling it, but my presence at that event that day had opened my eyes, I had found my purpose and I was ready to embrace it with all I had.

The next day, I told Mercy I was interested in joining her organization, which was the first step for me, I had to align myself with people that could make the journey towards fulfilling my purpose easier for me,

When I told Mercy, she at first thought I was trying to mock her so she just smiled and ignored, when I said it again, she looked up at me and when she saw the seriousness in my eyes, her face brightened, there was this joy that oozed out of every pore in her skin, she was more than willing to take me to the initiator of the organization.

And later that evening, we were at the house of the Leader of the organization.

Deremo was his name, He remains one of the greatest minds I ever met till this day, Deremo didn't have much to tell me, he simply told me to go and ask myself the question 'Why I was born' He told me that until I could correctly answer that question, I could never ever really fulfill my purpose, that was all he said to me and I was accepted into the organization on the premise that I would be exposed to a lot of talented and creative geniuses and maybe that would eventually help me discover my true purpose or as Deremo put it 'The Why Of My existence'

 

I and Mercy were still very close friends, maybe now that we were in the same organization, I would have being bold enough to ask her to be my girlfriend but that was against the rules of the organization, members were not allowed to date each other, I couldn't understand why though but I sure believed Deremo had his reasons.

But I and Mercy remained a very close pair, and to make the bond even stronger, she got admitted as a direct entry student into University of Benin, so while I moved unto final year engineering, she moved into two hundred level to continue her education.

I joined House of Zenom and found myself in the musical arm, I grew fast there, and indeed I was one of the 'fastest growers' in the words of Bill.

Bill was the name of the music director and he was a great songwriter, producer and singer too. He became very fond of me and in a very short time, I was among the top singers in that arm.

House of Zenom provided me my second studio session when they featured me as lead for one of their songs, yea music was really great for me but somehow I felt I still hadn't found my purpose.

After six months in music, I spoke with Deremo concerning how I felt I still hadn't discovered my purpose, Deremo advised me to test all the waters and wherever I swam effortlessly and derived great joy from was definitely linked to my purpose for living.

And that was how I began to move from one arm to the other, in a bid to discover my true purpose, I moved to House of Zenom inspirational dancers and proved Kirishi' saying wrong, kirishi had once said 'e nor dey naim be say e nor dey' but you won't believe it, when I really put my heart into it and with all the motivations I got from the lovely people around me, especially Mercy, I just didn't have a choice, the dance that was buried deep within me was given breath and to the amazement of my two losers, I actually began to step and dance to the rhythm, I remember how I had wished our theatre and cultural arts teacher back in secondary school could see me now that I had proved her wrong, when she said I could never be a dancer.

 

I didn't make as much breakthrough in dancing as I did in music but I enjoyed myself all the same and I had proven a point that if you really put your mind to it, nothing was really impossible.

And that was how I spent the final year of my schooling trying to find my true purpose, I did well in all the arms of House Of Zenom that I chose to study under but I still wasn't convinced of my purpose, but one thing became clear to me, nothing was really impossible if you really put your heart and mind to it, achieving always depended on you and you alone, it all begins from the mind, whatever the mind could conceive, one could achieve and that was how I achieved success in all the arms I chose to work under.

There was but one arm left for me to understudy but I was quite sure that couldn't be my purpose because I really couldn't see how one could make money and truly become great and enviable pursuing that kind of passion. Even though all the other arms I had being in didn't really bring in money, at least it had prospects, as in, in my own small way, I was already quite popular and I could make a few bucks from featuring in some small events and stuff like that.

 

In spite of myself, I was ready to go ahead and understudy this arm of House Of Zenom that I was quite sure couldn't be my purpose, but just before I could begin, something came up that separated me from the House of Zenom and all the wonderful people that I had come to know in the space of one year and a few months

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

Yea, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) came up. I was really having so much fun with my House of Zenom family that I didn't know when time crept up on me like a thief in the night, I graduated with a good grade and in a few months I had to go and serve my nation, and it had to come at the time that I was about to understudy the final arm that I seriously doubted the possibility of it being my purpose.

And so with a truck load of mixed feelings, I separated from my House of Zenom family as I moved on to Kwara state to serve my country.

Okay I guess some people rightly interpreted NYSC to mean 'Now Your Suffering Continues' because that is exactly how it was for me during my one year of service in Ilorin.

I wouldn't recount all my experiences during the one year of service to my nation but I do remember many low points. I do remember how hunger and starvation used me as punching bag on many occasions that the government refused to give us our stipends early enough.

I remember how many times I had to walk very long distances all because I was trying to manage the little money I had, I remember how garri and groundnut became my favorite food during my NYSC year and how most times I couldn't even afford sachet water so most times I had to have a drink from the well in the compound. Anyway, like they say, what doesn't kill you make you stronger, I guess NYSC couldn't kill me, so it just had to make me stronger and It was during one of the programs that I attended during my NYSC years that I heard the message that changed my thought pattern and also my life forever.

It was one of those Nigeria Christian Corpers Fellowship (N.C.C.F) meetings, there was an invited guest and he titled his message, 'Your Must Do' his whole message centered on the fact that God had given everyone a special purpose here on earth and no matter what else you were involved in, you had to make sure you set out time for that special 'Must Do' from God or one's life on earth would have been a major waste.

Then when I least expected it, he dropped a quote from Colin Powell and that quote has always guided my life since then, he said

'Always Have A Purpose In Life That Is Beyond Position And Money'

As he spoke those words, I felt something deep down in my heart, the quote turned out to be my 'open sesame' it turned out to be the magical words for me that opened my mind to the vast possibilities that lay ahead of me. it immediately dawned on me that I had got it wrong all the while, tears formed in my eyes when the reality hit me, somehow for the first time, my real purpose in life became clear unto me, that same day, I wrote down my purpose and waited eagerly for the end of NYSC so I could go back to Benin to understudy the arm of House Of Zenom that I had once strongly believed couldn't be my purpose. Now I was sure, the speaker had opened my eyes finally.

After my NYSC, I returned back to Benin, and I embraced the last arm of House of Zenom that I was meant to understudy, they called it 'House of Kreativity'

This arm comprised of writers, their aim was to affect lives and change the world via written words, these comprised of stories, articles, movies, poetic renditions and all such. I swear this was much more spiritual for me than all the other arms, one had to learn to connect with the ultimate control tower, it actually took me a long time to grow in this arm of House Of Zenom, truthfully, this arm didn't bring much fame or even money but somehow, I felt much more satisfied with my life, there is this satisfaction that comes from fulfilling purpose, trust me, no amount of money can buy it.

After my NYSC, while I still studied under this arm of House Of Zenom, I got a job with a company that wasn't a friend of the public, yea, our company had that image that made people see you as public enemy number one, and trust me, there were lots and lots of hilarious moments but the down moments were much higher, many times I had all the reasons to feel bad but there was something about fulfilling purpose, when you are fulfilling purpose you always had a reason to be happy, I wasn't close to being the richest person in the world at that time but I was a hundred percent sure I was the happiest person in the world, my purpose fueled my happiness and my desire to go on.

I began to write many articles and anytime I was down, writing jolted me back up, after much learning, I wrote my first online story and many more followed but like I anticipated, it didn't bring in any money, neither did it bring the fame too because most people hardly even knew the author, but it brought me joy that my writings could bring smile to people's faces and help people make the right decisions too

I began to write movies too and plays for stage acting, I defined my own style for movie scripts and every single time I saw my scripts being played out, the satisfaction was always there, My dull moments suddenly disappeared, I had this contentment and satisfaction.

I would have been content to always live the contented and satisfied life of a writer even if the money never came but maybe another vital quote played in my life, 'consistency is the key to results'

I continued writing and on the insistence of a friend, I entered into a competition for writers and it was on a continental platform, and boy! Believe it or not, I won

Yes, Emababa won the first prize for an African writing series competition and that was my first big break among other big breaks that came afterwards.

Most of my movie scripts got national and international recognition, from the loser I was, my purpose took me to great heights I never ever imagined I could get to. And writing today is the once well-known loser turned Multi Billionaire and it was only one thing that turned my whole life around.

That quote from Colin Powell became the unlocking key to my treasures, it became my very own 'Open Sesame'

I found my purpose and I followed my purpose despite the fact that the road was thorny and pretty uncertain'

 

We all turned out right, yea, I and my two losers turned out right, Kirishi went on to become the CEO of a software developing company, he had a thing for softwares, and he followed his passion, kpankiri on the other hand went into politics, he always had it in him and he thrived, and Mercy, yea, Mercy got a unique deal with a dance company overseas and she has being doing great things over there, we are still in touch though, maybe we might still get married one day sha.

 

My last words for you reading this story, don't get me wrong, I am a billionaire today but I paid the price, yea, long years of hard work, long years of sticking to my purpose even when it wasn't profitable, I would want you to always remember the quote from Colin Powell it still guides me till this day 'Always have a purpose in life that is beyond position and money'

Let this be your own magical open sesame that should unlock the doors of exploits for you.

Trust me with your purpose comes true satisfaction and happiness and every other thing shall be added unto you.

Thank you for reading this story, I hope it inspired you to fulfill your purpose here on earth.