Shaz:
If you're new to Nairaland, please introduce yourself here. Thanks

Hi everyone, My name is Alex Iheanacho.

I run LexnuelSolutions, a training and human development company which helps individuals and organisations to improve their personal and financial possibilities by finding powerful and sometimes unconventional ways to get results.

I also have Financial Intelligence Academy on facebook where I help over 2500 people from 5 countries to improve their financial intelligence so that they can live a wiser, happier and wealthier life.


I have authored some books and just published one with the title: from Streets to Stardom. "Money sense: how to organise your financial life in the 21st century will be released soon.

I hope to connect to connect and learn from you all

Instagram: iamalexiheanacho
Facebook: Alex Iheanacho

What you’re about to read is story of a boy who went from the darkest part of the streets to becoming the person he is today. Someone who by calculation wasn’t even supposed to be here. The story I titled: FROM THE STREETS TO STARDOM:HOW I MOVED FROM A STREET JUNKIE TO BECOMING EVERYTHING I WAS TOLD I COULDN’T BE.

HOW IT ALL STARTED
My mother, the last daughter of a very orthodox and religious family fell in love with a young youth corper who came to serve his father's land. Against family warnings, they had a forced and hurried traditional marriage. However, it was discovered that my mother was with a child few months later.

Due to his disobedience, my father was disowned and disinherited as well. With this, the assumed matrimony wobbled for a time but the bottom couldn't hold after some few months as my father decided to abandon my mother to her fate and pregnancy to pursue his forgotten dreams and regain his rightful place in his family. This was the beginning of sorrow to the disappointed young lady but little did I know that I was about to come into this world to bear the burns and brunt of a broken heart and a shattered dream.

GROWING UP WITH HATE
As the days turned to months, I constantly heard words like: "You are a bad child", "you brought shame to this family", you are a useless child", "you can never amount to anything", "Ozu"(corpse), "they will burn you alive in this town", " you will join armed robbers one day and they will shoot you or you go to jail” bla bla bla bla. Labels like these always accompanied every innocent mistake of mine.I dared not make any mistake if I wanted that day to pass without some stripes on my back and some curses on my small head.

On a particular day, my Grandmother pulled my ears so hard that I felt them leave their frames. Many times, I fainted under the bruises of the cane. But the beatings never stopped. Sometimes, my whole body will be smeared with fresh pepper before the whips are released on me. On one occasion, 7 hefty men poured petrol on me and flogged me till they were all tired and my body shredded. After that, I was tied hand and foot and locked in the toilet.

As this continued, I started sleeping outside. I slept in the motor parks, under the bed, market, abandoned cars, churches (I went to every all night prayers without knowing what the nights were all about).

After sometime, School lost its appeal to me. I had repeated primary 3 three times. But I found consolation in my “Brothers from the streets”. We continued hanging out and slanging not minding that our mates were in class learning.

There was no way I could have enjoyed school. My shirt had turned from white to brown. My Shorts had two big eyes behind it, which my classmates referred to as "Onyoko meter". The only Sandals I had was so terrible that it divided into two unequal parts. I literally wore half sandals, as the other half was lost to the dustbin. I became an object of constant mockery in school. Even the teachers could not hide their disdain for my untidy appearance to classes.

On this very Sunday, while I was watching as usual from my comfortable but tiny hole, a giant muscleman dropped a stick of cigarette that was half smoked. I could feel the banging of this smoky stick as it touched the ground but touched my excitement the most. I quietly but hurriedly unhooked the gates, and grabbed the smoking cigar and located the backyard before anyone could see me and deny me of the longed opportunity. From cigarette I went to plantain leaves and eventually graduated to weed. Over time I wasn’t just a chain smoker, I also became a chronic one.

THE RETURN OF THE STRANGE UNCLE
My uncle who came back from makurdi was worse than grandma.He always stripped me naked and flogged sanity out of me with a five mouthed horse weep. I will yell, shout, plead and bleed but there was no one to help. Even when neighbors asked what he was doing to me in the middle of the night, he will tell them that he was conducting deliverance on me as I was heavily possessed he claimed.

The fact that this man had my body crushed almost every day did not hurt as much as the fact that the ceremony was done in the middle of the night. He would always come to my room after his midnight prayer and brought me out for lashing even when I could not remember what I did wrong and mostly never did anything wrong. Sometimes, he told me he was just flogging me for being alive and refusing to die!

As the chaos continued, I didn't know which way to turn. I knew no uncle, brother or sister I could run to. Many times, I thought of suicide but something I can’t explain kept me from doing any such thing.

ABANDONED IN THE STREETS
One day, grandma, my mother and my strange uncle summoned me. My uncle was in his best behaviour while grandma apologized to me for all the beatings of many years. After that, they announced to me that I was travelling to Cameroun. They said since I was becoming too prodigal in Aba, they thought it worthy for me to go stay with a person they have arranged with in Cameroun as an apprentice and I could come back when I wanted. I agreed as I was very eager to leave home.

On the midnight of February 12, 1999, we got to Ghana. “We will go pass the night in a friend's house here in Accra and tomorrow morning we continue our journey to Cameroun", the pastor said to me. I had no objection as I needed the rest as if my life depended on it. As we settled in this house, my spirit suddenly became very uneasy. I was getting the inclination that all was not well, so sleep left my eyes.

However, morning came in a hurry but it seemed to me like it took forever to arrive. The pastor told me that we were to continue our journey. As we got to Tudu Park in Makola market Accra Ghana, he gave me 11600 Cedis (as at this time, a million cedis was worth about 15000 Nigeria naira.) and asked me to wait for him to change more money to enable us continue our journey to Cameroun. And that was the last time I ever saw him.

I cried for hours that seemed like days thinking of how I was going to survive in a foreign land where I knew no one. The thought of everything took sleep away from my eyes for days. My tears flowed freely as I contemplated what life held for me in a strange place where I had no house but was meant to sleep in the open with nothing but pieces of carton as my bed.

I started living my new life by hawking ice cream in traffic, from there I started hawking poster frames and flowers, from there I hawked iced water, I trekked unimaginable distances just to make sales, I worked as a refuse collector, I walked the streets picking metals from the dustbin. At a point, I even worked as a cleaner in a public toilet, washing peoples’ shits with my hands just to make 500 cedis.

Some days were so bad that I had to pick food from the streets to eat or beg for left overs in canteens just to survive. On the worst days, the best I could do would be to smoke and just drink water as I couldn’t go a day without having enough smoke even if I had no food.

My situation got worse by the days. I became very dirty. I bathed and went to the toilet just on Sundays because I had to pay to bathe or shit. I was smelling so badly that when I passed people covered their noses.

Despite all these, I still held the dream and possibility of going back home someday to see the faces of my mother, grandmother and Uncle and show them that I could make it out alive. I saved towards this but I was robbed as many times as I did. Still, I kept hope alive and pushed on.

I got offers to join some drug cartels and robbery gangs, but I refused. This offers made sense, but each time I remembered the words of my grandmother and other haters, I was more determined to stay alive and prove them wrong.

I kept hustling and surviving the scorching Ghana sun which shined on me by day and the chilling dew which greeted my bare body by night till one day I fell sick and was about to die. This was the first day I thought of legacy and impact as I knew that no one was going to miss me if I passed on.

THE REDIRECTION
A guy called Emma who was based in Tema stumbled on me as I laid in a corner in the motor park waiting to join the flight of death when it got to my turn. He treated me and took me to Tema. From there, I met a man who liked me and adopted me into his family against all odds.

While living with him, I started seeing Speakers on Television and I enjoyed everything they looked like especially their ability to move people to action with words. This was when I started feeling that I needed to become like these men. As a nursed the idea of commanding words like these men, some people shouted me down by telling me that I couldn’t go back to school as I was too old to learn; but I hoped still.

Solomon brought me back to Nigeria and handed me over to Chris, his younger brother. But I decided to go home and say hi to mama and other people I could find. As I got to our former house, everything had changed, I learnt grandma was dead, little was known about my uncle and my mother had gotten married at last. I was however able to see someone who took me to see my mother in church as that day was a Sunday.

As soon as my mother sighted me, she started fidgeting. Her countenance changed and I saw so much hate in her eyes. After being sure that I was flesh and blood, she briskly walked towards me with her fingers pointing at me in annoyance. “So you are still alive? You haven't died still? See, if you don't leave my sight this minute and go back to where ever it is you are coming
from, I will kill you with my bare hands since you have refused to die”. This was the welcome address of my mother to me after all I went through to be alive! On that very day, I finally declared myself an orphan and moved on. I went back to Lagos to my adopted family and started a new life.

But the whole experiences left me broken. I lived through many phases of life after that. I became chronically depressed and a sadist. Confidence and self-esteem was lacking in my life. I lost my heart and love especially for women. I lost passion for life and contemplated suicide many times. But music, books, the Bible, exercise, Church attendance and the love I received from my adopted home was helpful in mending my heart and turning my life around.

While I was still struggling with my life, I read a small book by John mason titled, “Don’t wait for your ship to come in, go out and meet it”. This was the book that made me know that I could turn my life around by myself. As I got deeper into books, I then knew I had no excuse not to surmount my circumstances and help a whole lot of others become their best. From there, my life took a new turn. With the help of books, I was able to get hold on the rope of success. Though I have been falling off, I have never stopped climbing ever since.

Chris was my coach and life saver. Even when there was nothing good about me, he loved me still. He took me as a life project and introduced me to everything that turned my ashes to beauty. After a while, he sent me to JT lesson in Ojota in preparation for my going back to school.

When I got to this lesson, I couldn’t read or write. I spelt by sound. But Chris kept pushing me. He used the Bible and hymn books to teach me how to read, and spell. Even when I couldn’t read my own writing and suffered the mockery of ignorant teachers and students in the lesson, he kept encouraging me. Though he flogged and punished me when I messed up, everything was done with love.

A year later, Chris by passed all protocols and got me registered into SS1 because after I told him I could cope from there and he believed me. With his encouragement, I passed out of Ogudu Grammar school in 2005 as one of the best in my set without repeating any class.

While I was about to write my jamb, Solomon was duped in Ghana and my adopted family started having serious family crisis that tore them into pieces. At that point, I knew it was better I went solo than to be caught in unnecessary family problems. I had developed a strong sense of independence and with this, I set out alone on yet another tough journey of purpose.

I got admission to read Accounting at Abia State polytechnic. But paying my way through the school was hell. I almost stole in my ND 2 just to complete my school fees as I was few hours away from losing my studentship. But help came and I was able to pay my fees and graduated.

I got a job with Diamond Bank as an IT student. But my supervisor always told me that I hadn’t gone to school since I went to the polytechnic and hadn’t been thought by a professor. So I decided to take jamb again.

I got admission to read applied Economics and Statistics at the University of Benin. While I was getting ready to leave for school, I lost almost all my savings to a Ponzi scheme. Before I could arrange myself, I was duped of the little balance I had left. This meant that I was to abandon my admission as there was no more savings or anyone to help.

But I pushed ahead with courage, hope and determination. I got to UNIBEN totally broke. I had to sell my clothes, books and everything I had just to make it to the school and pay my clearance and acceptance fees. After that, I couldn’t pay for any other thing, not even a foam. I was sleeping on a wooden door. I would buy 20 naira beans and ate it for two days. Sometimes, I will just soak Garri in a big bowl in the morning and wait till evening before drinking it. When things got worse, I would go to the school Buka and wash plate so as to be rewarded with a meal or eat the left overs of other students.

I was a perpetual squatter as I couldn’t pay for a bed space. I slept on a tiny foam my roommates called “sim card”. Many times, I had to pick abandoned clothes in the hostel and made them wearable just to have some new stuffs to wear to classes. I hardly bought textbooks, hardly attended classes as I was always somewhere hustling for my daily bread.

I missed many tests and assignments. All through my university days, I never traveled as there was nowhere to travel to. I was always left alone in the hostel. But I kept myself sane with books and audio programmes.

THE TURNING POINT
I was lost till Fela Durotoye and Steve Harris came to our school. After I had their story, I started thinking of a different possibility as my mind was greatly shifted.

Within a short period after these encounters, I found a way to make money. I started writing manifestos for student politicians and also provided them with strategies on how to win elections. With time, I started winning recognition among my mates as an intelligent speaker. I got invites within the school to speak, students came from different rooms to seek my advice and I helped some troubled students to find a way out of their misery and financial issues. But when students started calling me pastor, I had to stop.

As I was preparing for my final year exam, ASUU went on strike. But instead of wasting my time, I went to a barber and begged him to teach me the skill for free and he accepted. I started a barbing salon in my room with just 20 naira I saved daily for the six months period of the strike.

With my barbing business, I started making money and luckily, graduated with my mates as I never carried over any course all through.

Though I felt stuck, I found a mentor who took my life and set it straight. After my youth service, my mentor took me in to live with him. He trained me on Financial Econometrics modelling, Finance Research Techniques and the likes.

Within one year of living with him, I made almost a million naira and moved to my own flat.

I’m more involved now in developing my own brand and chasing my greatness unapologetically.

I run Lexnuel Solutions, a training and human development company is helping individuals and organisations to use no conventional ways to get hold of their lives and money.

My book, " from streets to stardom become an Amazon bestseller in 4 categories and made it to #1 in two of them.

My second book, "money sense: how to organise your financial life in the 21st century will be out by next month and My 3rd book, 31 days money affirmations will all come out by next week.


But I want to go beyond me now and need you with me.

The STREETS TO STARDOM OUTREACH

Come 1st of January, I'm launching a campaign that will help move hawkers off the streets of Africa using references, experiences and modelling and I need you to help me make it possible.

I believe that hawkers are the most vulnerable, most agile yet most neglected members of the society.

Though these guys seek their daily bread under the Rain and Sun not minding all the accompanying dangers, they also have dreams and aspirations in their hearts.

I know because I did!

In the wee hours of the night when the stomach has been fed, they look up in despair and wonder if life has anything else for them.

I wondered too!

When they sell to those guys in the Rolls Roys, they wonder why God forgot their own Roses and gave them only the thorns.

I thought so too!

But we can change this.

We can give them not just HOPE, but an ANCHOR to their greatness.

We can help them find that indomitable spirit of possibility and use it.

We can create a chain reaction that can turn urchins into oysters

We can help them live again.

Will you join me on this journey?

Let's help this one move from where they are to where they ought to be

Thank you and God bless


You can connect with me for us to do this

Facebook: Alex Iheanacho

Instagram:@iamalexiheanacho

Email:lexnuel121@gmail.com

08037981914