I had gotten into Obafemi Awolowo University and joined a group of Christians that would change my life forever. By the way, I often get hesitant writing about monumental events like this because I have a few things in my life that doesn’t echo this and the fear of people holding me to such a high standard scares me. I guess that serves as my Disclaimer. So back to the gist. So I met this lady Tola Awoyale in the Christian group I had joined and I can’t really remember what the connection was but we got on well in 100 level. As a group of 100 level students, we would always hang out and gist and as our 100 level began to end sometime in March 2001, Tola told a couple of us that she would be having her 19th Birthday at home in Lagos and we should show up.

As a Teenage boy on holiday, what more could you be doing than having fun? At least so I thought. As April 24th 2001 approached, I called up my friend – Muyiwa Sonuga and told him about the party invite. For you reading this, this story may not be a big deal but for us then it was a big deal and you will understand why it is monumental for me. I lived with my parents in the backside of Ipaja where the roads are bad and very bad. Where we often query why on earth would our parents decide to live in this part of Lagos. I often joked that if the CIA was looking for you, hide in Ipaja, they won’t find you. While Ipaja was remote, I am not sure it was about Ipaja being remote, I think it was more about my parents giving us somewhat exposure by taking us to the city to see family friends and after those brief visits, return us to our cave. It birth some type of frustrations in us as kids especially we the boys. It fuelled the need to get serious with life and create for ourselves what we have spied at.

Back to Tola’s Birthday. April 24th 2001 arrived and I got Muyiwa ready. Baseball T-shirt ready, Timberland Boots cleaned, Baggie Jeans straightened, Mitsubishi Gallant cleaned and we hit the road. Some Ipaja boys going to explore Lekki. lol. Now, one of the good things about both the high school and University I went to is that nobody really cares who you are or who your father is. In school we were all on the same level. This trip to Lekki will inform a lot more decisions in my life. My Dad had often taken us to 1004 estate in its glory days to see some cousins but that was the farthest we went but this time, without notifying my parents we were crossing into the Peninsula. See the Lekki, I am talking about in 2001 is not the Lekki you see now. Lekki Phase 1 then was the deal. As myself and friends drove into Lekki Phase 1, we were bewildered with the magnificent buildings we saw on Admiralty way, we missed the address we were heading to. I remember several WOW statements in the car. We drove pass houses facing the Lagoon and wondered who are these guys that own such magnificent castles in this serene neighbourhood. Lekki was very serene then. Come on, we’re coming from Ipaja where even if your parents completed their edifice, they won’t paint outside of the house. By the time, we got into Tola’s house, my friend Muyiwa had lost his appetite. He couldn’t even eat. **Smiles** @Muyiwa, I didn’t mean to expose you. I wore it well. I ate real good but there was a conception going on in the womb of my mind.

Reality hit me hard to appreciate how humble Tola is. OAU puts everyone on the same pedestal but Tola is one privileged lady that didn’t carry it around. As we began to drive back home, it was closing time in Victoria Island and all the executives were rushing out of their high-rise buildings in their suits, getting into their cars and heading home to beat the 3rd Mainland bridge traffic. I was impressed with what I saw. Whether they were suicidal and frustrated on the job didn’t matter to me. I was just a 19year old boy that was seeing the life he wants to live, the places he wants to live, the places he wants to work, the type of cars he wants to drive. I remember driving on that 3rd Mainland Bridge and seeing one young man driving a Honda Accord with his suits hanging in the back, I told Muyiwa ” I will work in one of this High Rise Buildings, I will drive this type of Car with my Suit hanging behind and I will live on this side of town”. The rest is history. Even when I later didn’t want to, it was too late as God already backed those words. I was eventually going to move to that part of town, drive that same car, hang my custom made suits in the back but didn’t realize that was a dream I once craved earnestly. Till today, it has become so hard for me to go to Lagos and stay in another part of Lagos. How a somewhat casual birthday party invite fuelled the determination of a 19years old boy.

I can go on and on or talk about escaping Professor Fawole’s Extra Year trap with a resounding A or the several trips from Lekki to Ipaja but I have been told to keep my write-ups short. However, let me touch on that briefly. I had scored a resounding B in IRS 404 in the first semester and hoping to exceed that in the second semester. However, my strategy was always to do well in the Continuous Assessment and set a goal for myself in the exam. Interestingly the majority of those that have failed the first semester course wanted a 100% for the exam which I felt was ridiculous but I was in the minority so my vote didn’t count. To do a 100% exam increased the number of answered questions to 5 or 4 meaning for a lecturer that inspects your phrases when marking, you don’t have much time to read over your answers and that was my fear. As soon as I put the last period in my answer sheet, time was up and I had to submit. Lacking confidence in what I had done, I dragged myself to the Covered pavilion where I accidentally sat next to Tola. Curious about my demeanour, she queried. Now, bare in mind I am taking a 4year course and she is taking a 5year course, we had often bantered on how I was gonna to leave the bunch of law students in school but that didn’t matter here. She asked if I required an agreement in prayer and she prayed as simply as she could. Such was my friendship with Tola Awoyale. As a result of escaping Professor Fawole’s extra year, when I was going to change province and I wasn’t sure that was the right decision and I needed someone to pray with, I had to reach out to my old friend and say you better be praying for me and my family because if this move goes wrong, your brother would be roasted.

Truly there are friends without any form of gimmick.