Emeka, Danladi And Kunle In Their Pursuit Of Greatness - The Three Musketeers

  Emeka, Danladi And Kunle In Their Pursuit Of Greatness - The Three Musketeers

Emeka was born into an Igbo family from Enugu but his parents moved to Jos in Plateau State before he was born. His father is an Army officer at Rukuba Barracks in Jos while his mother is running a small palm-oil business at Jos Main Market. Danladi’s story is much related to that of his friend Emeka, he was born in Tudun Wada in Kano State but his parents had to move to his mother’s home of Langtang in Plateau State to oversee his maternal grandfather’s business on his demise. Kunle, on the other hand, was born in Lagos and lived in the state of Lagos all his life but the search for better education led him to the Federal College of Education, Pankshin in Plateau State where his path crossed with Emeka and Danladi.

The college is located North-East of Jos and for convenience and considering it’s impossible to commute daily either from Jos town or Langtang, the young men had to move to the town of Pankshin for easy access to their citadel of learning.

For all three of them, it’s actually the first time they will live away from the comfort of their homes and away from the guidance of their parents. Plateau state is a very fragile, volatile and unstable state where tribalism and religious intolerance usually leads to one crisis or another where lives are usually lost. Therefore, it’s never an easy decision to allow one’s child to school away from home but the quest for better education and better life supersedes that fear of the parents.

Emeka was admitted to study Music/French, Danladi admitted to study Physical and Health Education while Kunle was admitted into the college to study Fine and Applied Art. The journey of becoming a man began for the boys at Pankshin. They had no idea what’s ahead of them but they are determined to be success stories.

It’s one thing to be brilliant in class and it’s another thing to be smart in and out of the class. In the course of studying. Danladi spotted a business opportunity, the town is active and alive as a result of the college there and the majority of the students are from various towns and cities across the region and beyond. Most do not have access to the products and brand of items such as daily needs that they are used to. To get any standard product, a trip to Jos town is unavoidable for the students.

Danladi spoke to his parents back in Langtang about his desire to embark on trading. He was scolded and encouraged to remain focused on his studies. Danladi went back to college after the holidays but the trading blood in him won’t allow him to be at rest without taping the business opportunity – he must be a Ferengi (Fictional race from Star Trek Universe). His Father sent him the sum of 40,000Naira – just about £90 for his college fees and personal upkeep.

The fire burning in him is beyond what any other person he speaks to about his desire can understand. He took a risk, spoke to his landlady to construct a small shop in the compound and offered to pay some stipend monthly, the Landlady could do with an extra income herself being a widow, so she agreed to his offer. Danladi did his own feasibility study amongst the students, collated the list of items that they usually require from Jos, armed with the list and he was off to Jos Main Market, he was able to negotiate for a wholesale price, he covered most of the list and he made it on time to catch the last J5 bus at the Terminus garage back to Pankshin.

On his way back. A lot was going through his mind, what if things don’t work out? How exactly will he tell his parents what he did with his school fees? Well, the deed has been done, he concluded and caught a nap while the J5 raced through the night. He arrived Pankshin late night and took an okada (Motorcycle) with his luggage.

Next morning, he got up earlier than usual out of anxiety as he couldn’t wait to know if he had made a good decision or a wrong turn. He quickly had his shower and went for his class, met Kunle and Emeka afterwards at their usual spot under the guava tree for fresh air and a laugh. He gave them update on his trip to Jos and presented to them some kuli kuli, Kilishi and Dambu Nama he bought in Jos for them. He narrated and gist them about the city, Emeka was upset he should have checked on his mother and at least get some goodies for him too, Danladi apologised as he was on a very tight schedule for that day.

After the lectures of the day, they all went back to Danladi’s house to see his goods; they were impressed and encouraged him. They picked a date to help him with the construction of his mini shop but before that, they needed to get the word out there. So they started spreading the word from one department to the other. They printed some leaflets to get the word out there and they called his business “Why go to Jos”. That was the origin and the beginning of Danladi’s Business.

4 weeks later, his shop is standing but no single item in it – why? They all sold out. Danladi is the only one that could make the impossible possible, all the regular products are available locally. After his cost price and expenses, he made 20,000Naira profit (£40). Not a bad trip and encouraging. He checked with the head of his department on how long he has to pay his fees and he was told he is fine to attend classes but won’t be allowed to write the exams until the fees are paid. That was all he needed to hear! Off to Jos again!

Once in a month trip turned into a fortnight trip and a fortnight trip turned into weekly trips and Danladi’s shop became a ONE STOP SHOP for all AtoZ items.

While Danladi was busy developing his business and attending college. Emeka plays guitar so well and was leading a band locally and playing at local events, he was getting popular as his band style of music is different in that region but yet acceptable and his band was doing so well, they started getting invitations to play in other colleges, shows, and schools from nearby towns and cities. The Emmy’s Band was doing so well. All these shows were not in the way of Emeka ‘s studying and attending his classes.

Emeka’s Band became the talk of the town, no show or occasion were complete without his band. From Langtang South/North to Shendam, from Wase to Mangu, from Bokkos to Riyom and across the border to Bauchi, Nassarawa, Taraba, and Kaduna – his band was making waves across the region.

Kunle, on the other hand, got engaged with the college student politics; he was his department P.R.O and later got elected as the Student Union President. He was very passionate about the wellbeing of his fellow students and always liaised with the authorities on how to secure a better deal and living conditions for his people. His personality, charisma, and popularity did help with Danladi’s Business patronage and of course, nearly all the shows, celebration, and entertainment in the college goes to The Emeka’s Band.

These three Jolly friends are all doing well in their own way. They not only have different disciplines but they also have different talents and they didn’t wait for their certificates to bring to life their talents, they didn’t have to lose their certificates either. They combined the talent development along with education acquisition.

The years rolled by and the boys of yesterday are graduating. Kunle was not only the Union President but got 5 different awards, Emeka and his band members were on stage to thrill the guests and graduating students, Danladi was awarded too for his foresight and business acumen.

After graduation – they remained local in Pankshin to plan their life and prepare for the future. Kunle got employed by the college as a Graduate Assistant to new entrants and the Senator representing that region has requested to have him as a Political Adviser. Emeka joined a record label and fully establish his band with a National tour in view and a Multi-National company as the sponsor. Danladi now operates a full-fledged supermarket, a boutique and constructing a student hostel locally to cater for the students’ accommodation.

All three of them have a success story but the success didn’t come to them, neither did it come overnight. Many factors came into play here and these can be applied by just anyone.

· They identified their passion and talent

· They built on that passion and talent

· They took risks

· They overcome challenges

· They were consistent

· They didn’t jealous each other

· They have a self-belief

· They didn’t rely solely on the certificate

No doubt getting educated will open doors but being smart will open not just additional doors, it will open multiple doors and leave them open.

Get some education but do not bury your talent or passion along the line. It’s great to have a job but even greater to be an employer.