White power 001 his much cherished sibbling in one of their relaxed brainstorming sessions had relieved himself with the anecdotes "You could still remember those years of loneliness, sleeplessness and homelessness."black power reminisced
"You know we slept outside before?"he shocked his brother's memory.
"Yeah at babalegba that was 1999 a good Samaritan woman had aided us and get us uncompleted building to stay temporarily.An uncompleted deeper life building was also a hide out and we hang out there like we did at babalegba."
"At least we slept for a year outside and we feed with potential rents that should have been used to pay rents.We hang out saint saviour and deeper life building and slept at uncompleted buildings."White power with memory as sharp as razor still reminisced the anecdotes.
"Uhhmmmmm "
"Joys b guest house was another hide out and we sleep there every night.Enjoying water borne basins for the first time since we moved from ijegun"white power recalled again.Monsuru a hotel staff became tight friend with black power and aided free access to the hotel facilities until alhaji abiodun a former UTC director and hotel owner burst bubble and chased them from the facility.Wale an electrician mostly repair fridge and from wale to bada and kunle who later died like bada offered nothing but feeding .He became a washer shortly eating beans and wale and popular offered adequate feeding.Popular Bakery offered him enough nutrition at the same time he was a vendor."
"You move from popular bakery to ...."
"Onwards to car wash and worked shortly with wale veterinary doctor and later discovered Kings dealer bread where mayowa one of the sons of the founder became my close friends".
"So white power you remember DJ?How did you meet him?"
'We go around Lagos erecting billboard and distribution of posters .He didn't pay me.I was mercilessly exploited an ijebu man.His wife a good later died and he founded community magazine Edu magazine.You remember he stole your idea?"
"I went there to type my essay in his office at governor road.He saw I was into journalism and started the magazine shortly after and I did encourage him"
"He was a dubious person.Though he took me places like trade fair, excursion at lekki and Abeokuta,ikoyi to erect billboard.Yet I was paid nothing and only bought food for me.I wasted my time with him and had no education.He reported me to dad about escapades at the seven up brothel ."white power had recalled his memoirs.
White power had worked temporarily with GNLD store in cele express well paid until he was deceived and sent on errand to buy ogogoro or ethanol and was sacked.He was paid almost a thousand naira per day and was tired of life and returned to car wash and mayowa at his father's bakery placed him on irregular income.Then he left mayowa place he went Jaiyeola where crook laide lasupo took him to busy body car wash in igando left later and went onto work with Jaiyeola at college bus stop igando and thereafter worked shortly with Ola at another car wash venue.Old soldier was instrumental to the growth of his car wash revenue generating business.He first met the now late baba oja through Omo oba Adeyemi and later met baba Fred lawyer for the first time at alhaja's place and met old soldier at the former landlady place and then Dele the otunba and Mubarak father.They provided ways and means of earning a living from car wash business.Obviously old soldier was instrumental in helping his car wash revenue to grow over these period he was kind of grateful .What an excruciating memoirs!
The movement was not sweet from one pillar to post.Nevertheless they moved into the self contain adjoining the landlord buildings who was also somehow fetish like the earlier landlord Oyegunle whom they later learnt moved overseas like black power's cousins when they moved to Denver Colorado.The first two years rents were paid and they felt at ease until there was altercation with the landlord and black power was psychological traumatized like the rest of the siblings especially whenever they come from work.Then the third year money was collected not awared of the sinister motives by the landlord lukman avowed Muslim faithful as he was fondly called.He had roped the laniyan family accused Blackpower, white power and sunny with allegation for beating up his wife and took them to the police. First he began the fracas by disputing passage of water over the fence perhaps to avoid fence damage from daily water exhaustion which though maybe understandable to some extent but go a notch higher and accused innocent folks of beating up his wife was particularly disturbing and disgusting as it seems.Suddenly he arranged with a local hospital to fake bruises on his wife as she lay there emaciated on hospital bed well dramatized in the make believe drama to convince the unsuspecting police corporal and made a statement against the siblings.Somehow some agents and police officers loyal to black power 's patriarch were instrumental for their release and justice denied was finally secured for the innocent folks.The ikotun igando roundabout police station was later dismantled and something peculiar and esoteric often times follow the siblings even in their wilderness trials as they endeavor towards their promise land often times something unusual tends to happen . Perhaps much linked to their spiritual powerhouse Sunday emotively a strong prayer warrior in those early tedious days who was blessed with robust spirit of fighting and learned efficiently how to fight battles with prayers was nevertheless the greatest source of power or the main arsenal that pulled the siblings together especially when their respective avocational outlets were in tatters and parent grew older living on their assets and properties at home giving them stipends and bounties even in Lagos though it grew over time as properties appreciated with the slow growth of Ogbomosho economy which was progressed substantially when Lautech university entered into the fetish and most religious city in Nigeria.The siblings still believed the family silver could be revived whereas things had changed unlike when their patriarch founded the soft drink factory and industries in the sixties , seventies, eighties and even nineties thrived better regardless of the incursion and economic ravages perpetrated by structural adjustment program (SAP) of the babangida regime .He could recall the mimicry of black power unbridled taste for dictions and the day lukman was to belch his remorse for his prolonged misdemeanor and he came over into the apartment and fake the promise that didn't last.
"We should not be quarrelling.We are brothers and any conflicts we have should be settled amicably."he departed with fake gesture and several weeks having made up his mind to chase the tenants despite despicably collecting their rents sent them parking and the next port of call after exit was abaranje in the 1999 to 2000 period.
"Ikeja was the best place and most expensive place to live" he noted
"Daddy can buy property here when factory resume"
"Who will revive it?"
"I think nobody but we will do it"
"Jonathan has turned to music nobody is like daddy"white power noted as he moved from police college when they sometimes strolled away from the pastorium and relieved the stress of living in overcrowded house a beehive of meetings and gatherings for church members and church workers calling him in randomly to see the man of God for help counseling and the rest of church pieties that occasion demands.They had moved into Ikeja pastorium after they exit Oyegunle house in ijegun and moved there.Their nagging aunty was married to pastor okewole who see kids were in London but married second wife the Blackpower 's popularly known as mama Ikeja .There was nowhere the whole family could sleep after altercation with Oyegunle and non payment of rents forced the landlord to terminate their respective rights.
"Daddy where are we going to live now?"white power was perturbed and the mother came to the aid.
"Depele my sister stays in igbodo market Ikeja and live with her husband in the pastorium.She will offer help."she confided in he husband.
"Oh first Baptist church Ikeja next port of call"white power jubilated and there was phone call and the accepted
"Come over the whole family for the meantime "the family was elated and the joy of staying Lagos capital and very optimistic they good men of god could be helpful to the family and perhaps family silver might be revived.How they were wrong.That was how they moved to Ikeja and thereafter the good disciplinarian as expected became much worrisome virago though sporadically."White power eat the food like a civilised person stop the spat in your mouth and clean the spilling the bits in your mouth before taking further morsels.
"white power ignored warnings and it turned out to slap."mama Ikeja.
At one time they had gone to Ikeja airport sneaked into the Reverend's blue Peugeot drove them to the airport and when they came back white power was beaten for dodging house cleaning.A cup of coffee offered in exchange to cooled his frayed nerves.He was fond of Police college playground watching football and basketball and occasional visit to Ikeja golf clubs.The fracas at random interval between pastor and the aunt and between siblings and their aunt sometimes derogatory remarks often not called to order.One day this gentleman pastor had remarked"Since you had no child of yours these siblings someday would find you and reward you."
Blackpower 's crushes would not work out due dearth of money and under employment and it crashed as they came and there was so much suspicion about siblings living in the pastorium until another uncle provided funds though derogatorily that was used to secure housing at governor road.Black power and white power during the period had become vendors selling papers from ikotun to iyana ipaja tis Ikeja hawking papers even at Ile zik bus stop to the extent white power hawked papers till mangoro cement from Ile zik hawking PM news . Sometimes got accidents and scattered papers and funds on the road and was able to regained his feet.He was taken to the hospital and got some injection refused to take medication and was taken to his agent Talako.He stopped morning hawking and shifted to evening papers and fake money forced to eventually quit evening sales.One of his fellow vendors died on the spot and there seem to be esoteric powers following every perceived evil doers against the family either died or risk his or her life in the process.He washed clothes do menial jobs for late bada who didn't care whether he survived or not.They seem to have the same spirit as their father and convincingly it was true now they had imbibed the spirit of vengeance from him.Wherever late Moses had worked the spirit of vengeance with the karma of untimely death seem to be the retribution of any of his perpetual or spontaneous offenders especially the remorseless ones .Black power had few friends and most intelligent ones and any thing less a counterfeit and unconvincing.
"White power I Ve always tell you be like me and don't be like others as I be like dad be like dad and I think your brother jony also emulated that too "
"If you don't struggle for yourself you will not eat . Don't you understand.You no ho see money there."
White power disagreed and that was their greatest fight and until the eve of their status becoming billionaires and trillionaires there seem never be on talking terms though black power won the contest white power provided foundation for the winning the contest.
In the midst of family experience in Ikeja even long after they left Ikeja and moved to abaranje from governor road Blackpower returned to Ikeja from the business routine of hawking papers in ikotun roundabout before fashola came and gave it a facelift to hawking papers at iya ipaja and later Ikeja he learned a great deal about the powers of undiminished passion for prime destination.
He started selling papers in 1999 at the onwards enterprises in ikotun.Onward a native of south south was the first person executive board probably in the whole of alimosho and perhaps never would be his like or sample again now that internet had reduced the propensity to consume physical papers though still have a role for there's a difference in holding physical papers and electronic papers or e paper at the mere click of your touch pad or computers.He was also the second vendor in the area after the unceremonious death of idowu senior brother a kind of bombastic melodrama of the human personel.His sister taiwo sold briefly there and later after pregnancy and child rearing had the better of her she moved on with life and his brother idowu took over who moved the stall from ikotun filling station to the other side of the road stationed before a private hospital facing the road not far from brt bus stop.He sold for many years and perhaps been a later graduate from Lasu opted for better life compared to the agony of slavish vendorship .All of these years they use there in those days at the filling station in those and several acquitances were made.Not a dint of memory and a dint of acquitances had stayed except the destined ones.They comprised of Laide Lasupo,Kayode,Mathew an edo lawyer ,Naths king Cole later studied philosophy at unilag,Dire Asala and another Osun state citizen who studied elect elect at Uniben formed the cabal of his intellectual base and they debate almost there's to be .Then onward a failed agent debilitated and devasted by agency indebtedness or agency indifference discovered there was so much money in retailing than the wholesale end of agency and turned full scale vendorship.He had subsidiary stalls all over alimosho from governor road,to old police station to ijegun etcetera onward was closer to his customers selling news papers and in 2000 had moved from onwards to talako an iyana ipaja agent and worked with him briefly who moved often papers that remain in his collection after papers were distributed to his vendors down ikotun roundabout for another of sales .He was making more money than onwards from both retailing and wholesaling respectively.
Obviously dearth of entrepreneurship and social safety net seem to make Nigerian youth endangered species the world over.
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