Life is an Art (Ifeanyi)

Happy Weekend to you, great fans of the Nitty Wall. Welcome to another segment of ‘Life is an Art’.

Ifeanyi goes to club and have a few shots. He says sweet words to make ladies fall for him. He takes pictures with loads of money in his hands. He smiles a lot…a whole lot. Ifeanyi is very nice. Ifeanyi is not perfect…not in a least, but there are lots to learn from him.

This incident occurred during service but it’s worth sharing. So my laptop charger got spoilt for like two weeks and I couldn’t take it anymore. I called a friend and he linked me with someone to buy it from. After buying the charger, I decided to use that opportunity in buying a table and chair for my room.

I walked down the road and scanned the shops that sold varieties of things. And then I came across Ifeanyi’s shop.

“Sister, come and buy nice shoes”. He sang as I walked. I stopped to stare at what he displayed.

Indeed, he had nice shoes I could rock to work. I asked for the prices and he insisted I tested them to see how fine they looked on my legs.

“Gosh! See as your legs fine. They go fit inside any shoe at all”. He whined.

I rolled my eyes. “Hmmm…Una seller and your sweet mouth. Abeg tell me the price jare. I no get money today”. I said, remembering the table and chair I had planned on buying.

I’m a prudent spender and I hate to buy things that are not budgeted for…but the shoes were nice.

“Una Igbo people. You can do business ehn”. 

“How do you know I’m Igbo?” He inquired.

“I can tell from your tongue and the way you market your product”. He might speak Yoruba but I could feel the igbo accent in his tongue.

“You’re right anyways. I served here in Abeokuta and I lived years in Lagos”.

“You’re a graduate?"

“Yes. I worked in a pharmaceutical centre here. They didn’t retain me because I’m not their indigene. I wanted to work after service but I thought to myself, ‘How much will they pay that will be sustainable?’ I always wanted to do business, and so I started as a business man full time”.

He invited me inside his shop and explained his journey as a business man.

Ifeanyi talked about how he started off as a business man. He had been selling since he was in school. He was known as woman’s man. He sold wigs, shoes and other women’s clothing. He made friends with the women and got lots of customers.

He had a different outlet in a university in Ogun state where he employed his younger cousin to manage the business.

“How do you get to control your business even though he manages it? You know you can’t trust anyone…not even our cousin”.

“I rented a house for him and pay him a decent salary. I know that he steals and he will steal. I only warned him to ‘steal small small’” He said matter of factly.

He explained how he started his business in Abeokuta…getting a product with high demand and no supply at all in Abeokuta. Liasing with the suppliers in Lagos, making friends with them and building trust and friendship with them.

“Women prefer to buy their products from men rather than their fellow women. I don’t know why but that’s what they want. My fellow female competitors’ do not sell as much as I do…and that’s because I’m a man. I travel to Togo and Cotonou to buy my goods. I may be a graduate but I don’t care that I sell on the roads. I don’t care that I do not work in the offices and wear the tie and suits. I don’t have to resume work at a stated time. I can come to my shop at any time I want. I have my freedom!” He boasted.

It’s our duty to identify what we love, what work best for us and work towards achieving it. Just like Ifeanyi, you shouldn’t care about what people say. Identify your potential and strive your best in achieving your aim.

Lastly, there are no jobs outside. It’s the truth. Jobs are very scarce and thousands of people graduate every year. Companies do not really make use of graduates anymore. They now do an internship program for the graduates or what we call ‘Graduate Trainee’. Corpers are employed more than the graduates because they now look for cheap labour. It’s our duty to gain our freedom and do something on our own.

I hope we gain a thing or two from Ifeanyi’s story.

Life is an art. It is very beautiful and lovely. Although, behind those lovely designs are mistakes and errors. Life is not always the way we want it to be but it is our duty to make ourselves happy.

Remember that life is very short to be unhappy. So forgive quickly, love truly and never forget anything that made you smile!!!

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