Dear Reader,
In 2022, I was down and out. I went from hosting the biggest bicycle race in Calabar to roasting plantains, frying potatoes, and grilling chicken at Mobil Junction. I owe this to shady partners. It happened so fast that I was neck-deep in debt. I was losing faith in my abilities. I didn’t want to consider the possibilities of powers beyond me involved. I’m a man and I’ll get out of this!
I finally decided to serve my nation and when I arrived at my Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) in January of 2023, I got a bike and started a transportation business. I was a kabu-kabu rider, picking people from one spot to the next for change. It wasn’t fancy but I made money. I quickly learned street names and noted hot spots. Market days were bliss as most money was made on those days. I started a savings account. Geez! I could breathe now.
Well, the bike wasn’t mine and the Owner had need of it. Sadly, I didn’t have enough to buy mine and it won’t serve in the long run, even if I did.
In June, I got wind of an employment opportunity. I spoke with the man in charge. He scheduled a virtual meeting. I’m a salesman from a long line of salesmen. I started my first business in 2006 with a loan from my mother, which I paid back in less than two months, so it should be a breeze, I thought. Frank Chidera said he couldn’t hire me for sentimental reasons but asked me a question that would change everything: what if you became an employer? I was left puzzled, but I wanted to change my lot! So, I listened. That meeting birthed Rapidshift Inc., a sales agency that has done 8 figures in sales and 6 figures in revenue. Read The Foolishness of Great Ideas – Oparawhyte if your idea sounds silly.
Frank Chidera likes apples more than anything else in the world. It didn’t matter what was wrong with the world, as long as it didn’t affect apples, there was hope. In the same June, he said he wouldn’t eat apples anymore until he made his first million. At this time, he was one hundred and ninety-five thousand in debt. Well, he called me in October of 2023 to say he was having apples for breakfast.
See, life opens up to you depending on how badly you want it to. It’s like a woman, you have to be tough to get the best love.
Read the story of Gauis Mucius, a noble Roman youth from the early Republic, as shared by Jack Donovan (| Jack Donovan (jack-donovan.com) in his best-seller, “The Way of Men.” An Etruscan King named Porsenna had besieged Rome by garrisoning his soldiers around the city. Gaius Mucius asked the Roman senators for permission to slip into the Etruscan camp and kill Porsenna. He killed Porsenna’s secretary by mistake, and he was captured by the King’s bodyguards. Gaius Mucius said to the King:
“I am Gaius Mucius, a citizen of Rome. I came here as an enemy, and I am as ready to die as I am to kill. We Romans act bravely and, when adversity strikes, we suffer bravely. Nor am I the only one who feels this way; behind me stand a line of the those who seek the same honour.”
Porsenna threatened to throw Gaius Mucius into the fire. Gaius responded by thrusting his own hand into the fire. As his hand burned, he said:
“Look upon me and realize what a paltry thing the body is for those who seek great glory.”
Porsenna told Gaius that, were he a member of his own tribe, he would commend him for his bravery. Gaius was released, but he told Porsenna that there were three hundred other Romans who would be willing to sacrifice themselves as he had to save their city, and that if the siege of Rome persisted, sooner or later one of them would manage to succeed in killing the King. Porsenna sent an envoy to the Romans, offering peace terms. Gaius Mucius earned the nickname “Scaevola” meaning “left-handed” after losing his right hand to the fire.”
Again, how badly do you want it? It takes courage, and according to Jack Donovan it is “the will to risk harm in order to benefit oneself or others.” You must decide that you shall try, and you will not die trying. You shall get it!
I want it so bad, and nothing shall stop me! Refuse to die where you were born! Refuse!
The chief patriarch.
