₦airaland Forum

After the festive period, the decorations will still be there till August/September next year.

Smh

This man can talk!!

And he isn't sure he will be paid at the month.

That South Korea and North Korea no fit work.

End time boyfriend.

Quota system!!!

Once upon a time in 2006, the inadvertent situation I was compelled to accept by circumstances was that I would be settled as a Motor spare parts trader in December 2015 after some years of apprenticeship. Dramatically, I am ending 2015 not with the intention to receive a few thousand naira from my master but proudly emerging as a graduate of law from the prestigious University of Nigeria. That is to tell you how significant this year is to me and to my family. I considered a long time ago to share this story to the public then I grew reluctant at danger of any perception that I have “made it” but on a second thought, I evaluated why I should allow this significant year to pass by without revealing it, besides, I don’t know whose life my story has been destined to change in 2016.Given the growing frustrations most people especially our youths encounter in our society which plunge them into depression, I feel bound in conscience to narrate it. It was in the year 2006 when I graduated from secondary school. I was so enthusiastic and desperate to enter the university the following year. I was so passionate about it that I wrote all the O’ level examinations available. I never wanted any result encumbrances in what so ever form to hinder me from writing JAMB the following year. Unknown to me, nature had made its own arrangements. As I learnt from my principal in the secondary school, “Man proposes, God disposes”. That same year, while I was in the village with my family for Christmas, I could remember walking into my parent’s room on the 31st of December. I had the intention of discussing with them what would be my fate in the following year as regards pursuing further studies in the university. To my greatest shock and amazement, my mother said in tears, “Chukwunonso, I don’t think you would be going to the university anymore, we don’t have enough money to sponsor you for now”. Jesus! I shouted in frantic mood. Although I was thrown off balance with that statement, I quickly understood though with some explanations from them that the financial burden would adversely affect my siblings’ education if they insist on sending me to the university. Things were very difficult for my family then. Being the first child, I saw it as one those sacrifices one has to make for the family to survive. After several dialogue on what to do next, it was resolved that I would go on apprenticeship in Lagos. Sincerely, on that spot, my feet became cold. I saw my dream to enter the university vanish from my sight. My mother cried throughout the night. My poor dad, a brave one at that was also in pain but as the head of the family, he would not cry. He had to be strong for the family. How he wished he could save the helpless situation. But every effort was futile. I quickly made up my mind and got ready for the adventure, the journey to the mysterious island. On January 3rd, 2007, I set out for Lagos to serve as an apprentice with a relative of mine who then was very wealthy and doing very well in the importation of motor and motorcycle spare parts. At about 8:30pm on that same day, I found myself at 23 road, C’ close, festac town, Lagos. That was my master’s residence before we moved down to 6th Avenue, same festac town in the later part of the year were he built his own admirable house. It was very obvious I was uncomfortable that night, a feeling which never for once ceased throughout my stay as an apprentice ,obviously because I never for one dreamt to become one. I love education and that has always been my dream. I had little or no sleep that night and the following day, 4th of January, 2007, I found myself in ASPAMDA, Trade fair complex, along Badagry Express way. The complex is so big and you find thousands of people moving up and down with goods and performing various kind of business transactions. The place is a citadel for automobile spare parts dealers. See, don’t dare the deep pockets of the ” big boys” over there. 90 percent of them never saw the four walls of secondary school let alone the university but are business “gurus” with fat bank accounts. Their business skills are quite brilliant that you marvel at their ingenuity. No wonder wealth is not measured by the litany of one’s certificates. Some of them would tell you they only need education just for the certificate , for archive purposes for they’ve already achieved all they perceive going to the university would fetch them which in their view is all summarized in monetary terms. Day one was one in a million days. I saw a good number of apprentices who out of similar situation like mine were also in the market. Only a few chose from the onset to go into business. For those who never desired to be there, you would always find them reading their old secondary school note and text books at every given break. They would always be keen to share their stories to whoever cares to listen. Soon some of them eventually became my close friends and discovered that the little distinction between us was that I grew up in the city and probably may have gathered better educational background and exposure more than they have (for almost all of them were taken from their respective villages and attended community secondary schools), they quickly saw me as a respite to their depressed world. They imagined that if someone like me who attended one of the best secondary schools in my state (Saint Teresa’s College Nsukka) could be there, why would they complain much? I automatically became an amateur evening tutor and a “mentor” to them, lol. This actually made adaptation very easy and fast for me for they put me through all the basic skills I needed to know to enhance speedy learning. I started liking business. I was doing very well and making good money for my master. My little educational background was helpful that my master quickly made me his personal assistant. With due respect, he only attended primary school those days in the village before he was equally recruited by a wealthy man from Anambra State for apprenticeship. My master was well informed of the ordeals that led me to his house. He knew I never loved to be an apprentice, that I have good educational background that would have taken me straight to the university. He took advantage of the situation and put me in charge of all his shipping documents. I was technically the secretary of his small company. Things were going on smoothly in the first year that my master quickly opened a subsidiary company that deals in the importation of motorcycle spare parts and appointed me to head same. I was really doing great in the subsidiary, making every effort to satisfy my master but the truth is, I was always praying for the miracle that would take me to school before the expiration of my apprenticeship duration. I was to serve for not less than eight ( years. C’mon! Every thought of that duration sends me to bed in tears ever night. Notwithstanding the tremendous success I have led my master’s business to, I never for once felt like I belonged to that environment at that particular point. My master and his family were aware of this but he wouldn’t care. After all, he was not losing anything. But unknown to me, God saw my heart, listened to my prayers and fixed an appointed day. As the year went by, things started changing. I don’t know what came over my master and his wife and all of a sudden, they became insecure with the way I was advancing in the subsidiary. They assumed I was too smart for the normal timid apprentice they recruit from the village whom they intimidate to the extent of insulting their parents for being too retched to send them to school. My master and the wife do not share this view alone. Ninety (90) % of all the masters in that business premises see their apprentices as slaves. They treated us as one and never held back in reminding us of how our poor parents begged them to take us in other to alleviate their poverty. I can still recall one of us then by name Emeka who was from Anambra State. Emeka died carelessly in a shabby hospital near their house in Satellite town, Lagos because his master refused to deposit money for his treatment. After all, he was not his child and not worth proper medical care. Emeka always told me how he dreamt to go to school but since poverty could not allow him, he would work hard to become an importer of motor spare parts after settlement. Do you know the most painful part of his death? When he saw that his illness was getting too critical, he was crying and saying; “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die” till he gave up the ghost. God forbid that any of my generation would be an apprentice again and I reject it on your behalf too. Apprenticeship is modern day slavery. Fundamental human right is an illusion in that world. How many of us even knew what fundamental human right was when we never went to school. As tension grew in the minds of my ‘Oga’ and ‘Madam’ that I may one day become too smart for their control in business and may probably grow stronger in business than them someday ,a fear which without their knowledge was the least of my worries (all I needed was to go back to school), they started plotting on how to subdue me. Just like most masters who were everyday issue in the lives of most apprentices, all they could come up with was to accuse me of stealing and saving their money. They accompanied it with other accusations to embellish their story and I tell you, till this day, my master and the wife could not mention the goods they said I stole let alone the money they purported I have in my savings. They knew and were convinced I had nothing but the idea was to cage my conscience and chastise my liberty. After all, I am nobody and should not command such freedom and strength in business. They maltreated me so brutally that I lost my patience. At that point, I saw the situation as the time I have waited for all long. Then, I had spent two year and three months. One early morning, 12th of April, 2009, I went to his room and told him sir; “I want to go home”. He never believed it because my departure was not within his unfair plan. To me, it was then or never. It was the appointed time to go and chase my dream. Still skeptical about my intention to leave, he agreed I would come down to the village for my family to talk sense into my head . Thank God, even the devil does not know the heart of a man. On 16th of April, I was set to go home. Coming home was like someone who was deported from another country. He made sure I left with nothing. All my contacts were seized. Even the international passport he got for me when I was meant to travel to India with him for his medical treatment but was frustrated by the wife who couldn’t imagine a servant traveling out of the country. They told me that I came to Lagos with nothing and if I decide not to come back, I would leave with nothing. They stuffed my cloths in a dirty disposable mosquito net bag and fling it at me. They “cursed” me while leaving their house. They told me that I would never achieve my dream of going to the university. That I would never in my lifetime attain their level of financial status. They made sure that, not only was I denied material benefit, they wanted to reduce my morale to zero level. This is a family I sacrificed my life for. Amidst their maltreatment, I give my best to them, a measure of commitment till which this day, I have not given to my own parents. I was the home tutor for their lovely children and other apprentices in the house. When I got home and after several dialogue with families, it became obvious to him that I wasn’t going back to Lagos with him anymore. He invited the police to arrest me and I was detained in the charge room for more than seven hours before one other prominent relative learnt of my situation and quickly came to the police station and ordered for my immediate release. I was scared to the marrow that day. As young as I was then, I was forced to seat in-between two huge police men who squeezed me like sardine in the vehicle. You may not relate to the psychological damage the whole police episode gave me. My master connived with the two police men who were playing hide and seek in the station to prevent other higher officers from understanding what was going on. Their intention was to instill fear in me so that I would accept to return to Lagos with my master. But you know, when you are determined to reach your dreams, nothing becomes an obstacle. You can die for it and that is one of the major reasons for writing this. My master knew that he needed me in his business and was desperate to have me return. But his egocentric approach to the whole situation was wrong. Unfortunately, the subsidiary was shut down a few months after I left. My beloved parents were battered emotionally during this trial period their son was facing but what could the poor man and woman do to a rich man like my “Oga”. Finally his efforts failed him and I was a free man without any form of settlement for my labour years. It was time to pursue my dreams. To save you the intricate details of what happened immediately after my freedom for my autobiography which would come in detail in the future, I did lots of minor jobs to raise money for my educational dreams. I applied to study law and wrote JAMB in 2010. The day my name came out on UNN website that I have been admitted to study law was one of the best days in my live and that of my family. I collapsed in our sitting room in shock and it took some minutes to get me back to consciousness. I was extremely happy for I worked hard and prayed for that admission and at one attempt, it "clicked". That was the greatest miracle and sign that studying law was my true desire and God willed it. During the time I got my admission, most of my mates in secondary school were already in final year in various universities but you know, life is never a competition for God designed our parts differently. Life in the university was a great experience and it totally shaped me into what God has set for me to become in the future. Every encounter for that five years was an opportunity to learn. That is why you should always try to see the good side of every situation no matter how bad they may be. See, I was really destined to be in the university and as a law student. My influence grew among my contemporaries right from my first day in school till the day I left. A humiliated apprentice not only got to the university, he became the leader of the largest Christian association on campus and immediately after that became the president of law student association which I held till I graduated. I was not just a student, I was considered a model and a worthy student leader by most students in the school. This is a boy who should have languished in frustration and misery but I was determined to reach my goals. But you know my fame in the school was without some misguided antagonisms. Some students saw me as one who always commanded all the attention and weren’t happy about it. Some saw me as a competition and set their plot every minute to pull me down. Some even took me to be a hindrance to their individual quests and sort to crush my person. The funny one happened when some waged "war" against me and accused me of embezzlement of our association fund and just like my master, they could not provide any evidence. Thinking they would destroy me, they increased my popularity and raised my friends from nothing to above four thousand (4,000) on Facebook after I gave my reply to them. There is nothing like bad publicity, *wink*. Thanks to my faculty and friends who stood solidly behind me. I never blamed the naivety of the individuals who fall within the above mentioned categories, they may not have gone through the furnaces of life like I did. Life is not a competition, nobody whatsoever except God willed so can bring you down. Focus on the part which nature has designed for you. In this amazing year, 2015, I am a graduate of law. Currently waiting for law school by October next year which was delayed due to an inadvertent mistake on my result by one of my lecturers (thank God it has been taken care of). I may not have made the best result in my class, I was neither among the most brilliant students. But I am happy today because my passion paid off. Not only am I a law graduate, but the first in my clan, lol! Even my master who is in the same clan is obliged to accept it and accord me that respect. He finds it difficult to look me in the face now and always wished he never made those mistakes for I have long forgiven him. I forgave him because I am not perfect as well. I forgave him for he was the tunnel that built me today. I forgave him because he taught me business skill which I still have today. He is a man gifted with an amazing business intellect. The opportunity of serving him was the foundation of the obsession I have for cars and made me a freak for everything on wheels. I am going to launch a car blog by next year, a freelance and pleasure one though, to share with you the beautiful world of automobile which you may not be aware of. You will like it…lol. Finally dear reader, my story is not out of leisure writing but a motivation if you find it interesting. Every event in our life is a preparation for something greater if you give it a second thought. That things are bad today do not mean your world has collapsed. Stay strong and fight that stubborn obstacle. We are destined for greatness in our own different ways if you choose to embrace your own cross. God is always watching and he knows what you would be right from birth and no human being who chooses to be used by the devil can ever bring you down. Make a firm resolution in 2016 and ask God to be with you. Your destiny is in your hands. I really long to see the day all of us would celebrate our collective and individual successes and achievements. Life is indeed cruel and brutal but only the courageous ones triumph. I thank my beloved parents who believed so much in me and have stood solidly behind me throughout my journey in life so far. I thank my siblings for putting my sacrifices for their sake to good use. They are all in the university as you read this and my immediate younger sister, the first daughter is wedding this Xs, I invite you. All my friends and colleagues especially Omeye Emenike. (Being my best friend is worth a million blessings) I thank you all. I also forgive my "enemies" and pray they forgive me too. The world is too sweet and interesting to bear grudges and kee malice. I wish you all merry Christmas and a happy new year. Ugwuodo Edwin.

Please come back to Nigeria. Ghana no favour you.

No wonder you are still playing street football.

Wike has failed. He should return to the court room.

Lets see his picture so we can celebrate him and if possible patronise him so other time. The best form of advert is a 5star review.

Airforce1 is an Arsenal fan..Were can I download and listen to your songs?

Were Is this imp from?

Be giving yourself hope.

The man with the highest selling products iin the whole of Enuhu state.

I will never get married to a short guy not even Jude Abaga.

The greatest business man in the whole of Enugu state.

For the ladies, it means more money.

His songs are only sounds..

The guy no fine sef. were don jazzy pick am from?

Prick no get shoulder by Brymo.

see him k leg..

This school is a waste of time and resources.

After all, he is also human.

Not that I know of. Its always from home to the office and back to the house. No friends ever come to vist except me or his mum.

I know I m not his main chick but his job is and I don't have problem with that.

I know. I was referring to private schools in Nigeria.

My boyfriend doesnt have any friends, the only people that call his line is his mum and i. Should i be worried? Mind you, he is doing good for himself and quite comfortable.

The real question should be who is that one person Timaya is following?

This why owners of private school make millions of naira per term.