This story describes the beginning of a young man's personal journey. It began when he was frustrated and thought he could travel from the west coast of Africa to Spain illegally through the desert about a distance of 2,000 miles. That trip across countries,led to an unexpected dangerous confrontation with reality deep in the heart of the sahara desert. He would never be the same again;haven't learnt the meaning of life and the critical importance of courage,and persistence and the acceptance of total responsibility for one's very action.

HOW IT ALL STARTED
Right from my early days,I had always dreamt of being rich and great. This was more so as my beginning was very humble. I had always wanted to be like other respected and recognised people in our neighbourhood.
" Joe", as close friends and people will fondly called me, was not the person to be satisfied by what he had then. I was a believer of everything is possible as every sixteen year old kid would belief,maybe because of the motivational books and literature I spent hours in reading and searching for solutions to the overwhelming poverty around us.
....... To be continued

After years of searching and reading i came to understand that "the key to success is for you to set a one great challenging goal and be prepared to pay the price,overcome any obstacle and persist through any difficulty,until you finally achieve it".There and then i,made up my mind to get myself educated,by making the move to gain admission into one Nigerian universities.
Such a plan in other countries especially developed nations should have been plain sailing,"but not here in Nigeria", and certainly not the university i attended.
...........To Be Continued.


I am from a large polygamous family. I'm the first son with six siblings from my mother;My father was a local farmer who could not support his family from the crops of his farm because the harvest was usually poor due to lack of money to purchase fertilizers and other farming implements.
As the the custom where i come from in the southern part of Nigeria where large polygamous family like my own find it hard to survive,every body was on his own except for the mercy of the mothers. How far could my mother help to take care of and my six siblings and i,although she tried to make her children happy by providing what they want she could afford. she was hard working,she cultivated cassava and groundnuts for sale to make sure her children ate and were well taken care off. In all,she was a strong disciplinarian,a woman of prayer and a believer of destiny.
...........To be Continued
After years of searching and reading i came to understand that "the key to success is for you to set a one great challenging goal and be prepared to pay the price,overcome any obstacle and persist through any difficulty,until you finally achieve it".There and then i,made up my mind to get myself educated,by making the move to gain admission into one Nigerian universities.
Such a plan in other countries especially developed nations should have been plain sailing,"but not here in Nigeria", and certainly not the university i attended.
...........To Be Continued.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong. At a point i thought i was jinxed,yes;it looked like i was under a spell!No,my friend,i was not alone ;My fellow campus mates had the same problems.
What were the Problems?
They came in all shapes and sizes with different names too. Students unrest with the resultant riots were a regular occurrence,often it ended in school closure;don't even mention cult activities as good looking young men were becoming monsters overnight,such that violence become the order of the day!Each problem resulted in the locking of the school gates and every body was usually asked to go home.
..............To be Continued

We would spend endless weeks and months at home making our lives miserable and after several months they would recall the students,but before you we could settle down we would again be confronted with the same situation. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)or Non Academic Staff Union of Universities go on strike frequently,hence you find a program design for four years lasting six or seven years;you can imagine what it was for medical students
Meanwhile,my relations-half brothers and sisters who had abandoned their education and traveled abroad were as we call it, "making it".They would come back from abroad ''loaded''parading different flashy cars and building the latest houses.
..............To be Continued

Okay, lets hear it!

waiting

Destiny Is Not A Chance,It's A Choice(Continued 180 Days To Spain)

I began to reconsider my position whether to "cut and run or stay and burn",eventually I decided to try once more. At the end of that existing strike i went back to school. In my third year the worse happened!Again,violence broke out. Students were killed and our school was again closed down.
This time ,it was to be indefinite. We were out of school for one year.
I found myself in the valley of decision. I finally decided to go cap in hand to my relations and friends who were abroad seeking their help,so has to join them there. Sadly they gave me the "turn around",i became very desperate and resorted to taxi driving in the city of Benin.
..........To be Continued

JAJA CAME MY WAY-Part 1 (Continued 180 Days to Spain)

Benin is the capital city of Edo state,an inland state in south-south Nigeria and it's home to several ethnic groups;among them are the Bini,Esan,Afema and Ijaw. A lot of these communities in the state can trace their roots to the ancient Benin kingdom.
The Benin people are full of life,well cultured and mannered. They love to stay in their state to work for their money,but there are no jobs!The city has various higher institutions and colleges and the likes,it also has one of the best universities in Nigeria"where people are trained and qualified to pass-out".
Youth graduate from these institutions,"but,no Jobs;No industries.
The only viable and popular business that few highly connected hard hearted citizens do then was running a (travelling Agency)whether "legal or illegal".
They all called themselves travelling agents. The only thing talked about on the street s, at home or on the phone then was Europe and how to get there!What mattered to any one were how many brothers and sisters you had there. People sold houses and cars for their children to get there;But I had nobody to sell a house or a car for me to go there. Then it happened! It was a chance meeting that would change my life. As it was my usual practice to driver slowly until i found a passenger to carry in my taxi, that was how i drove that fateful day thrown Adesuwa Road G.R.A, Benin City.A huge tall dark man puting on a long dark suit with a hat on,holding a walking stick and a brief-case in his hand,with a bad look on his face, signaled me to stop.He was most odd that you would not like to do anything with such a person.I stopped.
.........To Be Continued

JAJA CAME MY WAY-Part 2 (Continued 180 Days to Spain)
"Airport Road".
"Come in.'I said.
He sat down,I moved.It has been my practice not to engage passengers in conversion,not to talk of the this kind of man i was carrying. One thing struck me though;he was trying to befriendly !
"How are you?
"I'm fine."I replied.
"Is this the job you do?" He asked.
"Yes for the time being;My school is on strike"
"No wonder,I thought as much! "You speak well."
"Stop!".He said,I'm coming down here".
"Have my card!".
"Thank you sir!"
He pointed and said,"that's my office;you can come and see me anytime."
"It's Oky sir".
He paid me One Hundred and Fifty Naira and i drove off."
The following day as i was cleaning inside of my taxi,i saw the card and looked at it,his name bold written on it .
Jaja,the travelling agent.
"Whao!I had found the key to my destiny."I had thought!
Later that day i want to his office,a beautiful office. I met his young looking female secretary who led me into his office. He wlcome me with a smile and said"fine boy,you are here?" "yes sir,just to come and visit you."
"You are wlcome! He said.
I asked,what do you do in this big office?
"Don't you see the card i gave you yesterday?"
I said"yes;Travelling Agent!That's what i do for a living."
I laughed!!!"So if i want to travel,you can help me?".He said."Yes,That is what i do;Taking people out of this country.
..............To be continued

JAJA CAME MY WAY-Part 3 (Continued 180 Days to Spain)

I said "Ah!".In my mind ;Because you don't see travel agents any how;They are rich and influential people,you don't go to them;Somebody has to introduce you to them."I asked,"How do you do it ?"
"Its not how i do it,but were you'd like to go,and how prepared you are."
I said."Sure!"
He said. Sure!"
"it's oky. I want to go to Europe."
"Europe?"He asked."Yes" i said!
How much do you have ?He asked,
I have no money now."
He laughed!
As at June 1997,He said. "To go to Europe will cost you Four Hundred and Sixth Thousand Naira by air".
I said"There is no where i can get that sum of money now!"
He looked at me. Are you sure you are prepared to go to Europe?"
On my knees. I said"i'm prepared sir."
Help me!"
"Stand up!I see you are prepared. I know when you get there you will make it;"But on one condition".
What condition sir?"
"Yes, you will promise and swear to an oath in the presence of an Africa Juju Priest in a shrine to pay me 1.5Million Naira within three months of your getting to Europe."
That was how it started;He claimed to know everything about illegal travelling especially to Spain. He claimed to have traveled the world by road;He didn't need the immigration office or papers. I became excited! I had onto Jaja for my dear life. I believed everything he told me and was ready to do anything he said.
He said he was a full time "route man"or you call him a guide,if you like. He claimed that very few persons like him could find that route. He maintained the route was the safest and most reliable. Unfortunately what came out later was something else. Jaja the acclaimed world traveller saw himself as a route consultant and before long,i found myself happily paying Eighth Thousand Naira as his consultation fee. This include taking me personally to kano to complete our travelling terms to get us perpared for departure.
............To be continued


KANO (Continued 180 Days to Spain)
The distance from Benin to kano is approximately 1,060 kilometres by road. Kano is the commercial city of Northern Nigeria;it's a base for most cottage industries. The major languages of communication are Hausa, Fulani and English. Fifty percent of the people are Muslim by Religion. The people of Kano are peaceful,quiet and law abiding.
At Kano we met other 'route consultant' who also brought their own different travellers. it was like a point were all illegal travellers met before heading for their journey. Our stay in kano lasted 7 days.
Here we gathered our food items. Garri, Groundnut and 2 litres of water were the bulk of our shopping. No one remembered to take medicines along,we felt we were going far away from illnesses in Nigeria;"typhoid,Malaria"...and the rest.
At the Kano park we boarded seven trucks. Incidentally,not all the people on those trucks were for this unfortunate journey;some were traders,some were drugs dealers,while others were cattle farmers who on their way would alight at their various villages.
We all minded our own business because we were warned that "making friends or creating familiarity with anyone could endanger us,if that person run into trouble".These trucks took us half way through our journey on the motorable path. The final entry into the main route was to be done on foot.
............To be continued.

We Lost Our Way(Continued 180 Days to Spain)

I was inside the seventh truck. It seemed the driver of this truck did not know the way. Due to too much wind and sand storms and the truck overturned;One of the passengers,a young man;Died on the spot."The truck overturned,and he fell out of the truck-as it fell on him and crushed his head".
It was ghastly and very frightening;I fell out and was unconscious. I do not know for how long,I was myself;all i could recall when i came to myself was blood gushing out of my nose. waves of fear,anger and utter frustration assaulted me in those few seconds,as my immediate attempt to get up proved futile;But i was alive!
It was a tough time........Then i looked around and saw people scattered,frightened and trying to get up-after several hours;it would seem. Those who could stand up, did! And the route trucker also stood up and we continued on foot.
............To be continued.