THE DIVIDEND OF DILIGENCE
By Nkechi Bianze

They were very poor as a family. So poor that they struggled to feed, and she couldn’t even afford her children’s school fees. So, sometime in the 90s, she decided to start frying and selling akara at a popular junction.

Her akara was so good. She gradually became popular, and even more popular by the day. Her grown up children started helping out before and after school. Demand for her akara then far exceeded supply, so she had to employ staff to help fry.

Fast-forward to a couple of years later, as at the time I finished primary school, she was already selling akara in wholesale. Some other akara sellers stopped frying, and were rather buying from her in wholesale sacks, to sell at retail price. If you go to the town market in Agbor today, you would see some people hawking akara, most of them don’t fry, they buy from this woman.

Before halfway my journey into secondary school, this woman already built a big house, and was driving a decent car.

The last time I was home in 2013, I asked about her. I was told she drives an expensive car, and she has an office and a manager.

She doesn’t fry the akara anymore, all she does is sit in her office and give directions to her staff, while she does the paperwork. She also gets contracts for parties both from within town and from some persons from neighboring towns. She is now a MILLIONAIRE.

I have an aunty who lost her husband about nine years ago. Her late husband’s family stripped her of all she had with her husband. I can even remember she couldn’t afford accommodation, she had to put up with us and other relatives for a while. She was given N100k to start TOMATO business. Five years later, when I went home in 2013, my mum told me that this aunty had almost completed her own house. Just painting and interior decorations left.

My aunty currently has a Jeep for personal use, and a pick-up van which she uses for her tomato business. She is doing very very well.

A friend of mine who I met during my service year told me about his plantain and tomato plantation. We met at the secretariat in 2013, where we both went to register for NYSC as foreign trained graduates.

He told me how his childhood friends were saying things like “guy you fall our hand o, you go abroad go read engineering, then come back come become plantain and tomato farmer?”. He ignored them. He said his grandfather left his father a massive area of land in the village that has been wasting away for years, because his Dad didn’t have any use for it. So, he decided to use it since no member of his family was interested in the land in the middle of his village bush path.

He told me his first year harvest gave him a profit over N6million Naira. The last time we spoke, he told me he doesn’t make less than N12million Naira per annum, and that he has planted palms on the land. These palms when ready for harvest, will more than double what he currently makes.

We all know our dear Itodo Samuel Anthony . He is a teacher. One that has changed the narratives of the way many Nigerians used to see teaching as a profession. He is very devoted to his job. His passion for it is well, “orgasmic” to watch. He was recently honoured as one of the best 50-teachers in the world. The world has been watching, and he is beginning to reap the fruit of his diligence.

Do you know why I have written all these stories? I will tell you.

I have seen several people who tell themselves that they are too big for certain jobs or lines of businesses. Some say things like “Na to sell tomatoes I go take feed my children and build house?”. Many people look down at certain things, as things that no one can excel in.

But think about it...
If an akara seller could become a millionaire from selling akara;
If a tomato seller could become a millionaire from selling tomatoes;
If a plantain and tomato farmer can be making a minimum of N12million Naira per harvest season, which happens at least twice annually;
If a Nigerian teacher of a private secondary school could be recognized as one of the best 50teachers in the world;

It means you can make it big in any hustle. We’ve all got our different paths to success, you just have to find your path. Many people die without finding their paths. While some find it much later in life, like Harland Sanders, the founder of the famous KFC chicken, who became famous in his 60s, for his chicken recipe. KFC is worth over $23 Billion.

It’s all about hard and smart work, diligence, passion, and your devotion to what you do.

Pick a struggle. Pick a hustle, pick a path, and give it your best shot.

Because most often than not, it is not your line of career or business that determines how much you will succeed at it. It is your diligence and general attitude to work. You might think people are not watching, but the world is always watching and continuously looking out for quality.

Put in your best and be good at what you do. With a little bit of luck, and a few opportunities here and there, you will make it “big”.

Because when it comes to success, how good you are at what you do is often more important than what you do.

Remember; you will most likely meet hurdles along the way. There are times you might think “this is never going to work out”. But as long as the passion is still there, and that little voice inside of you still tells you to hustle on, you must continue. The race is often times not easy, and the journey is not of the faint hearted. But how you overcome these hurdles are going to form the main parts of your success story.