Chapter 1When the Dream Began to Grow
One day, I spoke with my auntie and told her that I was fine, but the work I was doing was not my dream. I
wanted to return because I did not want to continue depending on my uncle.
I complained a lot about my situation. My uncle's wife did not really like me, but even with that, I preferred the
way I was treated there to the way I had felt during those six years in Cameroon.
My auntie told me she would return and send money for me to come back.
My uncle eventually put me into a Sienna coming from Lagos to the East. I arrived in Awka, Anambra State.
My auntie rented a room for me and introduced me to a man who told me I could succeed in the work he did. He
told me he had built houses from it. I thought maybe this was the opportunity I had been waiting for.
The work was making and laying interlocks and blocks. I mixed cement, sand, and stone and worked hard. The
man even praised my strength.
But when the contracts finished, I was not paid the way I expected. Food was arranged for me in the morning and
at night, but I was working without seeing the progress I wanted in my life.
I went to another man I knew who owned a block industry and explained what had happened. I started working
there.
That man treated me like a son. He helped me when I had problems and made sure I had food. His name was
Mike, but I called him Aburo. I was very happy because, for the first time in a while, I felt someone was
genuinely looking out for me.
Then trouble came again.
There were people looking for me in Awka, and I became afraid. I decided to travel to Asaba in Delta State.
In Asaba, I worked at Mike Mike Company, around the Kuka Junction area, molding blocks. I noticed that the
payment did not match the work I was doing. I became unhappy and eventually resigned.
People in the company knew me. They supported me and spoke to the manager about letting me follow a vehicle.
I became a conductor and earned about â– 10,000 a month.
But I already knew I did not want to remain a conductor forever.
I wanted to learn how to drive.
I started following a 911.
That was where the next chapter of my life began.
