Nwanne m, how are you doing? How is Buhari's economy treating you? I hope FELLEP is still on course.

I finally paid the N2,200 (two thousand two hundred naira) to the Enugu State Waste Management Agency yesterday. This is actually the only levy/tax I'm happy to pay for. They come every Thursday to collect refuse. I think the N185 per month (N2,200 divided by 12) they charged me is a highly subsidized fee for the wonderful job they're doing. As for the local government levy (N1,600) and state government levy (N2,000) which I previously paid for, I no know wetin I dey gain from them sef. Lol.

Remember the ugu pods I harvested? I sold four of them last Thursday for N500 (five hundred naira) to an ugu seeds seller at Eke Agbani market. I was hoping to get at least N800 but I quickly took the money when I saw the gigantic ugu pods they had on display there. . She told me they even had much bigger ones before.

Did I tell you that my Agbani landlord saw the garden I constructed in his compound that same day? Lol. I was in my room when I overheard him asking my neighbour,

Landlord: Who did this?

Neighbour: John

Landlord: What is he doing?

Neighbour: He said he wants to plant ugu there.

Landlord: Ok

Few minutes later, I went to his house and gave him one ugu pod, some grapes and oranges.

Me: Good afternoon sir. See what I brought for you from the village.

Landlord: Thank you.

I was relieved that he didn't bring up the garden issue. The gift was supposed to serve as a bribe and silencer anyway. Lol. The surprise came about two days later when he called me.

Landlord: The Johnny, what will you use to fertilize the ugu you planted?

Me: I'm planning to use those weeds I uprooted.

Landlord: Won't it be better if you use the waste from our poultry?

Me: Yes, yes! That'll will be much better sir.

Landlord: Ok, don't worry. We'll give it to you when next we clear the poultry.

Me: Thank you sir.

Wow! What a pleasant surprise. He kept his word and gave me a cement-bag almost filled with the poultry waste few days later. I guess he's happy that my garden makes his compound neater and of course he knows he'll benefit from the ugu too. Afterall, I must operate this my small government on a you-chop-I-chop PDP system if I no want wahala. Lol.

TomorrowToday:
OP is good you questioned them.

Did the said ministry of works inform you guys on the proposed laying of fibre cable before the labourers started?
If not you guys should resist it especially where it will warrant the digging spoiling your properties.

Again, I hope your shop and those of others around you are not the type that extends beyond where is legally permissible. Converting pedestrian walkways to stands where you display your goods. If that is the case. Then you guys are at fault.

No, we weren't informed.

Our shops are not on the pedestrian walkways.

Please watch the videos and see the photos I posted above to get a clearer picture of everything. Thanks.

The men came back this morning but we were there to make sure they didn't encroach into our space. They dug other people's shop fronts as most the shop owners were absent and their shops closed because today is Sunday.

This picture shows one of the men digging.

Here's a 45seconds video of us arguing with the MTN contractors yesterday: https://www.datafilehost.com/d/347e0634

While here, is another very short video of me explaining what's going on: https://www.datafilehost.com/d/c5fde489

This is happening now as I'm typing this. It all started yesterday when some men were digging beside the gutter along Enugu road here at Agbani. They'd done the same digging last year for Globacom. So we assumed it was Globacom again.

Real trouble begun however when they suddenly abandoned the digging they were doing on the road side of the gutter and started to dig on the other side of the gutter near our shops. When we confronted the supervisor of the men. He explained that they couldn't continue on the road side of the gutter because that side belongs to Globacom.


Us: So who are you working for now?

Him: MTN

Us: Did you get permission to do this?

Him: Yes, we have papers from the Ministry of Works authorizing us to do this.

Us: Did they also give you permission to destroy our shops?

Him: We're not here to destroy anything. We just want to lay the MTN cable and go.

Us: But you're destroying our tiles and cemented floors in the process.

Him: We also have permission from the Agbani Market executives.

Us: We don't belong to the Agbani Market Union. That is the Agbani market over there. (Pointing there) This is Enugu road. We have no business with them.

Him: Look at the papers. (Showing it to us)

Us: How will MTN compensate us for the damages you'll cause us? That is the main issue. Because Glo damaged the other side last year and left without even covering it properly.

As it stands now, we're not satisfied with their papers and explanation. MTN is a multi-national South African private company doing business in Nigeria. We are local small and medium businesses paying our taxes and trying to grow our nation's economy in our own little ways.

Did the Ministry of Works truly grant MTN permission to bury their cables at our own side of the gutter? Why can't the government make provision for all these communication companies to bury their cables at the road side of the gutter where there'll be no damage to local businesses?

NOTE: In the first and second pictures are the two men in charge of the contract. The third and fourth pictures show the MTN cable.

Good morning o! I ventured into urban-farming today. I've started a small vegetable garden in the Agbani compound where I live and do business. The space is beside the toilet and bathroom. We also dump refuse near it. I'll upload a picture and video of it later. My free mb finished yesterday. Lol.

While clearing the weeds, I discovered that the ground is actually german-floored. You'd never know by merely looking at it. (I wish I remembered to take a picture of it before I started) So I arranged the soil in a u-shaped style around the german-flooring and planted 13 ugu seeds. I also transplanted some water-leaf and tomato plants growing all over the compound.

I haven't told my landlord yet. I want him to see it when it begins growing.
Then If he asks, "John, what is all this?"
I'll say, "Sir, I thought it's better we use this space instead of leaving it for weeds and mosquitoes."
If he replies, "But why didn't you ask me for permission as the landlord?"
I'll apologise saying, "I'm sorry sir. I wanted to surprise you. You and your family are always free to use the leaves for cooking."
I hope our conversation goes like that sha. Lol.

I advice all of you to plant ugu and water-leaf at your backyards o! Shebi Buhari said change begins with us? At least by having small vegetable gardens, we go get small change for pocket wey we fit use do another thing. Lol.

Updated (October 1st):
The video and the picture was on September 25th when I started the garden. Download and watch the short video here: https://www.datafilehost.com/d/85fb8c33

I went to the village yesterday. Did I inform you people that I cut my egusi gourds open last time? Well, I was following the Eke-Agbani mama's instruction on how to process egusi manually. She said I should break the gourds, leave them for about a week to rot, wash and sieve the seeds out with a basket and then finally spread it to dry. Thank you Mama.

It's my first experience in egusi-processing. I've posted the pictures of the process. The egusi seeds are not much. But at least e go dey enough to prepare one pot of egusi soup. Lol.

Meanwhile, Papa has started dismantling the motorcycle o! He said it's better if he sells off the parts little by little so that he'll raise my N10,000. I can't wait to receive bank alert gbagam like Psquare. Lol.

NOETHNICITY:
Intend to establish a palm plantation. Have already bought jus an acre of land. Need 4 more.

My father wants to sell his palm plantation located in Enugu near ESUT Agbani. Contact me (call/whatsapp 09095000603) if you're interested. I'll take you there and show it to you.

I want to say a big thank you to all of you for following my business story. E no easy to read from page 1 to 8 true true.

September 18th (that's the day after tomorrow) will make it seven months since I opened my Agbani shop. Hmmm... If to sey I be pregnant woman, I go born by November, abi? Lol. Coincidentally, November 2nd is my birthday. (Make una start to prepare my birthday gift o! Lol)

Most importantly, October, November and December is supposed to be our peak season in this clothes business. In preparation, I've made a signboard/banner displaying my website and phone number. I wanted to do a standard signboard/banner but all the artists I visited here in Agbani charge from N1,000 to N3,500. So I decided to save cost by buying two cardboard papers (N80), a ruler (N50) and gum (N150) and doing it myself with the carton, scissors, razor blade and celotape that I already had. Thank God we were taught how to do it many years ago by our Fine Arts teacher in secondary school. Lol.

Guess what? I recorded a 28seconds video of my shop this morning. It's about 500kb. It's my own way of Instagraming. Lol. If you want to watch it, download it from this link: https://www.datafilehost.com/d/b5d40cad

Meanwhile, can someone help me beg Mark Zuckerberg to jettison this his plan of stopping my Nokia Asha210 from Whatsapping by December 31st? I wish he'd come to Enugu when he visited Nigeria, I for don warn am make him no put sand-sand for my garri o! Lol. Does he know how much Whatsapp is helping me in this business? Doesn't he know how expensive android phones are, especially in this Buhari economy? Mark Zuckerberg biko, na beg I dey beg you sir.

Your advice is great but you generalized too much.

Do you know that some successful hardworking rich guys are also sending PMs to girls online? It's because they hope to find a wife-material who doesn't know their financial worth and will love them for real.

I went to my village yesterday. I've been at Agbani since August 14th. No be sey I prefer to dey stay for Agbani o! It's just that this Buhari's recession dey bite person bad bad. Lol. Worst still, the motorcycle I bought is still dead and my cousin doesn't open his shop everyday anymore. That means I can't afford to shuttle from Amurri to Agbani and back to Amurri everyday.

Papa, the man that sold the motorcycle to me, is yet to repair it. My cousin convinced me not to pay him any additional money until I'm sure that the motorcycle can at least start. When I told Papa, he agreed, asked me to give him N300 (three hundred naira) to buy petrol to wash the engine and even promised to refund my N10,000 (ten thousand naira) if I'm no longer interested in the purchase. I'm still waiting for the fulfilment of his promise. Lol.

As I was saying, when I got home to my village, weeds and grasses had overtaken my farm. The blocks I'd used to create a pillar for the ugu stakes to lean on had collapsed. I suspect a heavy wind. One of my ugu pods had totally rotted while the others were scattered all over the ground. I had to harvest them this morning. Fifteen ugu pods in all. I brought three of the biggest ones to Agbani today to show the the kind Eke Agbani Mama.

Me: Mama, I told you my ugu were producing pods before abi? See some of them o!

Mama: Heeey! Yes, this is my personal ugu. Very big, heavy and fruitful. Not all those other ugu they sell in the market.

Me: Mama, this your ugu is really wonderful. Please how do I sell it?

Mama: I'll ask the seed-sellers tomorrow. Tomorrow is Eke. But if they don't price it well, you'll keep it till the end of this month. By that time, you'll sell it higher.

Me: Ok, thank you Mama.

Meanwhile, you've all been praising my writing skills abi? I entered for the Etisalat Flash Fiction prize on September 9th o! Get ready to vote for me by fire by force when voting begins. I must win the £1,000 or £500 prize. Thank you all in advance. Lol.

Today makes it exactly six months since I opened my Agbani shop on February 18th. I thank God for John's journey so far. Even though it's been so buharific these days. Lol.

I suggest that the CBN should consider printing ONE NAIRA and TWO NAIRA notes. Doing that would reduce the cost of so many things from the usual approximated N10 to say N7 or N8. I think that's another way to curb inflation.

Meanwhile, why is no one thinking of producing a 30cl purewater (half the size of the present ones) that can be sold at N5?

My cousin called me last Saturday to give me bad news.

Him: Somebody wants to buy this your container o!

Me: How much?

Him: One million! (people laughing)

Me: You no serious. (smiling) Where you dey?

Him: I dey drink with some guys. One girl had an accident and crashed into your container today o!

Me: Are you serious? Or are you joking?

Him: Serious. She didn't injure but she really damaged the container.

Me: I hope her people have money. So that they'll repair it or better still buy it.

Him: (laughing)

After the call, I was still doubting the news because I wasn't sure if my cousin was joking. Then on Monday, the guy who wanted to buy the container N65,000 called me to report the same bad news. Oh no! When I told him to take the container now for N80,000, he told me his wife wants a bigger container. No wonder he was stubbornly offering me N65,000 before.

It's just this morning I got to see the damage by myself. I've been in Agbani since last week. I heard the girl was learning how to ride the motorcycle when the accident happened. I would've been singing "Tinubu, you don hit my car, oyibo repete..." by now if her people were rich. Lol. Unfortunately, I heard she's an orphan.

Worse still, she and her grandmother are even preparing to come and beg me for mercy. Nawa o! This one na double wahala for deadi body and the owner of deadi body. Sighs.

This my father's big house makes people think we're swimming in money. Lol. I wish they could see how I was running away from my Agbani shop last week. I narrowly dodged paying the N1,500 (or is it even N2,000?) security levy when the vigilante men where going from shop to shop seizing goods in order to force us to pay.

Sweetcollins:

Check Igbo dictionary too

Engli-Igbo makeri nnukwu sense (IGbotic mixture)
Just legodi:
1-->SENDiaram airtime
2-->HELPutum juo ya
3-->SITigodi down
4-->STANDigodi up
5-->SHIFTuoro m
6-->Ha eCLOSEzula the shop
7-->I na eDISTURB m biko or eDISTURBzilam biko
8-->CHECKie m in next five minutes
9-->I REACHie gi agwam
10-->Achorom I ENTERgodi bike
11-->Ihe I na eSPEAKi sef
12-->akam na eTHINKi ya
13-->A dim BUSY kita, a gam aCALLugi back
14-->after anyi eDISCUSSuo ya
15-->eGIVEkwana up
16-->TAKEie time gi
17-->chere kam PARKia motor m
18-->achorom iga WATCHia match
19-->SETTLuom biko
20-->STARTia the gen
ADDia your own
Lolz

Wow! A LOVEulum what you wrote here. You're really a professor of engili-Igbo. Lol. Please could you create a new thread for this?

Since you'll soon be heading to the university, I'll advice you to start selling okirika ladies' wears. Chiffon tops, bum shorts, leggings, girdles, gowns etc. That's if you have a good fashion sense and can select nice clothes your fellow girls will like to buy.

When you're going to school, you can still pack them into your bag and sell it to your course-mates, neighbours and friends when you get there.

If you could introduce agege bread to the South East, especially near universities and other tertiary institutions, I think it be a better idea. It'll most likely entail baking the agege bread in that same location instead of transporting it all the way from Lagos. It'll also make sense to import people who can prepare ewa-agoyin to accompany it.

Those of us who are/were Lagosians and those who want to taste the legendary agege bread will definitely patronize you.

It's funny how little drops of spending make a mighty ocean of expenses. Nawa o!

A man was just killed about an hour ago by some unknown gunmen near my shop at Agbani. I was woken up from my nap by the sound of the gunshots.

The man was probably a lawyer going by the NBA sticker I saw on his windshield. According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen parked, one of them came down, corked his gun, marched to the man seated in his car and ordered him to come down. The man looked at the gunman defiantly and was shot as he tried to speed off.

At first, eyewitnesses thought the man had odeshi and had escaped unhurt. Unfortunately, he crashed with his car a short distance from the scene of the shooting.

Nobody knows if the gunmen were armed robbers, kidnappers or assassins. They shot again into the air as they drove off.

Make God save us for this Agbani o! And to think that I was considering opening my shop for business today. Today's Eke and I wanted to open shop for the first time on a Sunday. Thank God I succumbed to the strange drowsiness I felt at about 2pm.

I am an angel. You are an angel.

Maybe Linda was misinformed.
Because I have a feeling she might have also donated her money to Save Mayowa.

Maybe Mayowa's family was misunderstood.
Because that $100,000 can still be used by them to set up a foundation to Save Other Mayowas.

Maybe we are all too quick to judge Mayowa and Linda.
Let's learn our lessons from all this.
Let's not harden our hearts to the sick and needy.
Let's focus on Saving Others.

Remember!
We saved Kanu Nwankwo.
He is Saving a Thousand Others.

My wife. She's my romantic mother and my children's mother too. Lol.

Ferraricash:
Hi, I have abt 4acres in Ibadan and I'm intending to plant watermelon, I will need some analysis, do u have ideas about watermelon ?

Watermelon! What I know about watermelon is that it's a very fragile plant. Na ajebutter e be. Lol.

Watermelon does not like direct sunshine. It's best to plant it beside a fence, under a tree or with other plants like corn. This is so that it'll enjoy shade. It also yields fruit within two months. And this rainy season is good for it.

Yet I wouldn't advice you to use the entire 4acres of land for watermelon alone. Or did you mean 4PLOTS of land? Because 4ACRES fit big pass 4 football fields o! Lol.

If it's really 4acres and you have a long-term agricultural vision, why not plant cocoa also while your vegetables are growing? Cocoa is an exportable cash crop. Cadbury, Nestle etc wey dey Nigeria need am. Even companies abroad need am. Lol. I'm still thinking of how to go into cocoa farming here in the South-East o!

In most cultures, a shaved head is generally considered a sign of humility or respect. That is why most people shave off their hair during mourning. So I think covering long hair is/was seen as a way of showing respect to God.

There's also the need to minimize distraction during worship. Women like amplify their beauty with their hairstyles and show it off afterwards. I believe sey hair covering dey reduce their shakara. Lol. I suspect men with long hair were also expected to cover their's too.

I also have this feeling that there must have been uniformity in dressing to check fashion competition amongst women during worship. The uniform dressing tradition has faded most likely due to Christianity's growth. Just the same way, hair covering is fading off gradually.

Looking at Christianity, women are more religious. But looking at Islam, men are more religious. I think the reason is that Christianity tends to protect women while Islam tends to suppress women.

That said, I think that, generally, women are more spiritually-minded than men. Why is this so? 1) Women are more in tune with nature, emotionally and intuitively.
2) Women are PHYSICALLY weaker than men and thus need the SPIRITUAL strength offered by religion. Whereas, a man tends to rely more on his physical strength to survive.

I think God's punishment clearly applies where you sin, disobey or rebel against Him.

The devil's doing could also be considered as God's punishment in some cases. For when we sin, disobey or rebel against God, we expose ourselves to attack from the devil.

Then, there's the middle where good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. Do we call good happening to bad people, God rewarding them for their evil deeds? Do we call bad things happening to good people, the devil punishing them for their good deeds?

That is why I believe there's an afterlife where everyone will be finally and fully rewarded or punished. This life is not enough. Is the suicide of Hitler or the poisoning of Abacha enough punishment for the evils they committed while they lived? I don't think so.

Very creative!

I'm sure many welders here in Nigeria can construct something like this. It's just that theirs will be only bungalow structures and won't be as strong as these cargo-container type.

There are some lessons I've learnt and I'm still learning on this my journey to wealth. Or do I call them principles I live by?

1) Listen to God's voice

Sometimes I call it 'intuition' or 'my spirit'. It will tell me to do this or do that. To go to Igbo land and start up something. To talk to so so so person about something. To share my story on Nairaland. Lol.

2) Be IGBOtic

There is something special about being Igbo. Other nationalities respect and envy us for our intelligence, ingenuity and industriousness. I no wan fall their hand. Lol. I must live up to the Igbo golden reputation.

3) Develop yourself

I'm not just talking about school education. I develop myself by reading. I read newspapers. I read books (Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich, 48 Laws of Power etc). I read novels. I read blogs. I read how-to-dos. I read everyday. You people have been asking which school I graduated from. I don dey dodge the question since. Lol. I'm not yet a graduate. I actually dropped out from university some years ago due to financial constraints. My writing skill is perhaps as a result of a mix of talent and factors such as growing up in Lagos, reading the dictionary, novels etc. Honestly I don't believe that a lack of a university certificate can/should limit me. I'll keep developing myself the new-school way.

4) Choose your friends wisely

I met the friend who lent me money to do business during our days at Unizik. I met another of my closest friends till date at King's College Lagos. I'm a very friendly guy but I have few persons I consider my friends. Getting into my Facebook friends list is easy. Getting into my real friends list hard well well. Lol. I've realised that friendship is one of the most important things in life. I always try to make good friends and be a good friend.

5) Sacrifice

I try to sacrifice some pleasures to reach my destination. The Igbo say that "ejighi akpata etufuo abu ogaranya" (let me translate it in pidgin: "them no dey use get throway become rich" If I need to eat using the ONE-ZERO-ONE formula, so be it. Lol. If I need to be girlfriendless, so be it. Lol. One day one day, when I get to where I'm going, I'll be able to afford TEN-square meals and 300 concubines like King Solomon if I like. Lol.

6) Life's hard

LG say "Life's Good". Na lie! Life no easy. Lol. Making money is not easy. Becoming a millionaire is easier said than done.

7) Be patient and persevere

The bottom line is I can never give up. I will keep knocking on the door of wealth and success until it opens. If e no gree open, I no go look for Apian way or try to break am down like a criminal. Lol. I'll ask God for the key. Then I'll seek until I find it.

Semi-Good news:
I bought this third-hand Carter motorcycle this morning from my neighbour at Agbani who repairs motorcycles beside my own shop.

I call it semi-good news because I've only paid N10,000 out of the N25,000 he agreed to sell it for. The okada itself cost N20,000 while the N5,000 is what it'll cost me to change the piston, chain-cover etc plus pay for his workmanship.

Well, it's still good news sha. I heard a new Carter motorcycle costs about N200,000 (two hundred thousand naira) now. That means a second-hand Carter should cost from about N80,000 to N100,000. Nawa o!

Make una no congratulate me until una see the picture abeg. Lol. I'll upload it later when I recharge and get free mb as usual.

Bad news:
I almost lost my diabetic little cousin last Friday. What happened was he developed a swelling on his neck about two weeks ago. His mother took him to an elderly woman (I don't know if I can call her a traditional healer) to carry out the MGBAPIA procedure on him. I heard the procedure involves the healer inserting her finger into the person's throat and bursting the swelling with her fingernail.

After the procedure, my little cousin's condition got worse. The swelling didn't go down as expected and he was still in pains. This time around they took him for ISI YARA AGBA. Another traditional procedure. There was still no improvement.

By Friday morning, he was unconscious. We had to rush him to the hospital UNTH Utuku-Ozalla. The doctors and nurses responded as quickly as they could. Drips and an oxygen tank were attached to his body. Thank God he's responding to treatment now.

Unfortunately, I can't share the picture with you all. I'm sharing the story because we almost lost my little cousin to ignorance.

One of the doctors on duty took time to warn us never to handle a diabetic patient so ignorantly. She told us that TONSILITIS (known as MGBAPIA in Igbo), which he was suffering from, is more of a symptom of sickness and not a sickness itself. That there was no need to burst it. All we needed to do was to give him antibiotics or bring him to the hospital for proper treatment. That by bursting a diabetic patient's tonsil, we had unknowingly worsened his already fragile health condition. She even scolded us for trying to save money by treating him traditionally instead of bringing him to the hospital.

Biko, unu nyere m aka reduce o the ignorance and aka-gum in rural Igbo land. Lol. Warn your friends and relations in the villages not to treat any neck-swelling (be it tonsilitis, goitre or sore-throat) with cheap crude traditional methods. Tell them to first take antibiotics and if symptoms persist after three days, to please visit and enrich the doctor abeg. Lol. It sounds funny but it's not. I'm laughing because my little cousin is still alive thanks to God and the doctors and nurses at UNTH Utuku-Ozalla.