Got a similar story.
Our Dad was born and bred in Offa.
Primary school - Offa
Secondary school - Offa
Only university took him out of Offa, to Lagos (UNILAG).
He served for one year in Anambra.
Returned to Kwara (Ilorin) to start life as a lecturer in Kwara College of Tech (now Kwara Poly).
Left after a year or two to return to Offa to work in one of Chief Adesoye's companies.
He then started his own businesses.
For 45+ years, he has been doing businesses in Offa:
- Blockmaking, early 1980s
- Petroleum marketing (filling stations), from 1984
- Plastic manufacturing, mid 1990s
- Toilet roll manufacturing, mid 1990s
- Primary school, from 1996
- Secondary school, from early 2000s
- A'levels training school, from 2000s
- College of Education, from mid 2000s
- University, from 2021 (spent 13 years building it)
All of these businesses he was setting up in Offa (all within 5-15 km of his house), except filling stations that had branches outside Offa.
Pivoting as business environment changed.
Offa is a town of c.200,000 people (much smaller when he started). He holds the title Babalaje (The Chief Businessman) of Offa.
He is 74 now and has lived almost 70 of his life in that town, apart from university & NYSC years.
- No chasing multinational jobs and all that
- No relocating to the city to hustle after uni
- No holidays to London or America as we do these days (though he has been to many countries, usually business trips)
- Never experienced the 9-5 city traffic & stress we undergo here
- Living in same house with his parents until their death, still "gisting" with them every evening
- Reads newspapers daily, but books sparingly
- Home-cooked traditional Yoruba foods
- Returned to school (Ife) in his 60s to do masters & PhD (shuttled between Offa & Ife for 6 years to do that)
Built all that from/in a town of 200k population (probably 60k when he started).
A good example that shows you can do a lot from a (relatively) small town. Not everyone will relocate to Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, UK, Canada, USA to build a good life.
We have commissioned a biographer to write his story.
Once you make some big money, pack your thing and buy a house in GRA to avoid those, “Dattin goro zo ka gwada” or “Aɗaral bakur iya da matuƙar amfani” guys disturbing people early in the morning.
📌 STEPS TO GET MOBILISED FOR NYSC
1️⃣ Complete Your School Clearance
Ensure you have completed all necessary academic and administrative clearances required by your institution.
2️⃣ Confirm Your JAMB Matriculation List Status
Check that your name and details are correctly reflected on the JAMB Matriculation List. This is important for NYSC mobilisation.
3️⃣ Internal Mobilisation by Your School
Your institution will compile the details of eligible graduates after graduation list has been released, and begin the internal mobilisation process for submission to NYSC.
4️⃣ Check the NYSC Senate List
After your school submits the list, you will check the NYSC Senate List to confirm that your name has been successfully uploaded. Only graduates who find their names on NYSC senate list would be eligible to register online
5️⃣ Register on the NYSC Portal
When NYSC opens registration for your batch, proceed with online registration using your correct details.
6️⃣ Print Your Call-Up Letter
After registration and deployment, print your NYSC Call-Up Letter and prepare for the Orientation Camp.
🎉 Congratulations in advance to you ! 🇳🇬
I love how deeply local the north is. There is hardly any northern child who doesn't speak Hausa. Even if abroad. Hardly any office, school, radio, TV, restaurant, etc that doesn't speak Hausa. We need to find a way to replicate this across other regions to preserve our identity.
Some of us aren’t desperate. We just want to live a normal, above-average quality life filled with tenacious commitment to Allah’s dictates while also helping our families, parents, loved ones, friends etc. and hoping to die on the straight path that leads to paradise.