Chapter 13
My Destiny
In My Own Hands
"Alex, our Proprietor, normally did not tolerate a student remaining in class after the third day of the month without paying his or her fees, but I was an exception. He allowed me to attend classes without harassment or restrictions. But in the fourth month of his grace, that is, January 1974, I myself decided to stay at home for fear of forcing the hand of my kind proprietor. At that point, my total indebtedness to the Institute was six naira (N6.00)."
My brother's unexpected withdrawal of sponsorship was a fateful development, which marked when I had to take my destiny in my own hands. I managed to remain in Lagos thereafter because God destined it to be so. At that crossroads, I must acknowledge the invaluable contribution of my brother's late friend, Tunde Samuel. He became my strong advocate but because God's will had to prevail, all his efforts to see me back in school came to nought. May his kind and gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.
My Future Is Uncertain
Despite my late knowledge of the profession, I loved Secretarial Studies tremendously, and the Shorthand course part of it in particular. Within the six months I spent at Alex Institute before my debacle ensued, I had cultivated a good reading habit, which I acquired in order to be proficient in Shorthand. September and October went by, and no lesson fee was forthcoming but I continued to attend classes at the mercy and by the grace of our proprietor, who had noticed my outstanding ability and was pleased about my great progress. A bleak and an uncertain future stared me in the face, unless relief came fast enough. The expected relief never came!
I stopped Attending Lessons
In human terms, all good things have an end. Alex, our Proprietor, normally did not tolerate a student remaining in class after the third day of the month without paying his or her fees, but I was an exception. He allowed me to attend classes without harassment or restrictions. But in the fourth month of his grace, that is, January 1974, I myself decided to stay at home for fear of forcing the hand of my kind proprietor. At that point, my total indebtedness to the Institute was six naira (N6.00). By the special grace of God, eight years later, I settled the debt with a four per cent annual interest rate. The proprietor happily acknowledged the repayment and expressed surprise that someone could repay such a long debt voluntarily. The inspiration to do that, no matter how long it took, came to me from the example of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo autobiography, “My Early Life” I read while writing the first edition of this book. In it, he stated that out of sheer honesty and transparency he had to settle longstanding debts years after his creditors had forgotten them. I was encouraged to follow suit because I considered it a worthy behaviour to be emulated by a good Christian that I aspired to be.
Chapter 14
All Roads Closed
"I reflected deeply and observed that the only two options left for me was to either become a hunter or a driver but I felt that any such undertaking was not good enough for me as I believed strongly that my life's achievements would be anchored on a good education."
In my first three months of solitude, I devotedly practised Shorthand but by the fourth month, I began to wonder if it was not pointless remaining in Lagos with no definable future. I sought for what would keep me constructively busy because I still yearned for a life-long career, even if I had, meanwhile, given up on my academic pursuit.
I agonized over my situation because I knew that going back home after a year's stay in Lagos would affect my life adversely as that would mean starting all over again. To gain admission to a higher school would be difficult because I had already given up the study of Arithmetic, which was a key subject of any entrance examination! My progress so far in commercial studies, especially in Shorthand, was something I did not like to disrupt in any way. Of the seven of us who started Shorthand at the Institute, I was clearly the most promising.
I reflected deeply and observed that the only two options left for me was to either become a hunter or a driver but I felt that any such undertaking was not good enough for me as I believed strongly that my life's achievements would be anchored on a good education. I was also conscious of the fact that poverty dominated my total environment. Unfortunately, it was the biggest heritage I had! Of course I did not like it and needed to reject it as a fait accompli,if it were not to be the possible legacy of the generations after me.
My path was therefore clear to me in two perceptions, if I were to break out of the shackles that threatened to engulf me: move closer to God and work out my own destiny any way I could. These had been the underlying thoughts that kept me going for three months after my fees had dried up at the Secretarial Institute.
As I have already acknowledged, Mr. Tunde Samuel had made a significant entry into my life, which he tried to keep on course. He was indeed a good neighbour. He it was who encouraged me to read on my own and weaned me from the idea of going back to the village to hunt game. His was the timeliest moral support I ever received from anybody. Despite the encouragement, I was still in frustration and tired of reading all alone without the school environment that gives purpose to it. As a result, even my practice of Shorthand, my best companion, began to suffer.
“A a Pade L'oke” (We Shall Meet At The Top)
There is this Uncle (name withheld) that I had faithfully looked up to for help. He had consistently promised to send me to school. Perhaps he did not realise what such promises had meant to me then! If he had known, he probably would have promised me something else he could accomplish; certainly not education that I very much treasured. Meanwhile I took his word as his bond, seriously and hopefully believed that he would one day fulfill it. For this reason, prior to and during my turbulent times, I kept visiting him, as a constant hint of my expectation from him. Each time I went to his house he fed me and paid my transport fares back home, but nothing else.
Finally I lost faith in him and stopped visiting him. On my way home one day, in the frustration and disappointment that engulfed my total being, I prophesied impulsively: “A a Pade Loke”, meaning, “we shall meet at the top”.
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