I was with the delectable Steph somewhere around Cocoa House, Ibadan in the early Hours of September 26, 2015 in a car… listening to soft music ushering from the inbuilt speakers. We had gone out with the old and wise sage, Jude Egbas, the Wonderful and troublesome Ikemesit Effiong, the ravishingly beautiful Nkeiruka, as well as @Gboukzi, @Manmustwack and a host of friends. We were bent on savouring the Ibadan experience for all it was worth.

As I sat close to Steph, music from the legendary Majek Fashek made it into the stereo and these lyrics from the song riveted my attention:

“Everything in life has got its time and season

So you don’t have to ask me why

You don’t expect to sow yam

And reap what cassava…”

Before I knew it, I experienced feelings of melancholy akin to nostalgia. I remembered my University days, some of the pressures I came under from peers, how I was able to conquer some of my very stubborn inner demons and how and why I am now where I was. I also took time to peep into the nearest future to see what is in store for me and what I needed to do to get there.

I remembered the wordings of Ecclesiastes 9:11:

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Then I was going to cry as my mind wandered far away…

THE BEGINNING

I come from a comfortable family. Not the comfortable with the Capital ‘C’ but my parents are okay. Comfortable enough to ensure the kids have the best of education, eat very well, experience the best possible life available but in moderation actually. My parents weren’t born with silver spoons and so they ensured their kids had aluminium spoons in their mouths. Not necessarily golden or silver spoons. The aluminium spoons are standard and get the job done.

So I gained admission to study Law into Nigeria’s Harvard and Oxford University rolled into one- The University of Ibadan. Of course, my mum ensured I never lacked provisions and stuff. She also ensured I never had too much money at my disposal. “Learn to manage what you have now so when you work for your own money, you’ll know how to spend properly”, my parents echoed. They even got me a car as a birthday gift but ensured I didn’t take it to school for reasons best known to them.

I earnestly believed they hated me and chose to treat me unjustly for some sins I had obviously inadvertently committed.

REALITY

Fact is, as a U.I student, I was okay in every sense of it. I had money for the basics, never went hungry, got the latest gadgets and even had a Laptop of my own when I was in 100 Level (Laptop computers then were not commonplace).

Yet, something was missing. Something felt missing.

CAMPUS PRESSURE

I had a Laptop computer, multilinks dial-up internet and all that. I had the ‘Yahoo-Boys starter pack’, you could say. ‘Boys’ walked up to me and told me “Look, use what you have to get bigger. Are those not your mates driving cars? Going to clubs and spending big? ‘Carrying’ the biggest girls on campus”?

“They are right”, I reasoned loudly. I saw these campus boys cruising in big cars… blaring loud music while I trekked the length and breadth of the University campus with the soles of my shoes fighting for the ‘slantier’. I saw these guys going to the most expensive bars to buy the most expensive drinks while I made do with few bottles of Star and Alomo bitters at University of Ibadan’s local student bar ‘ Spices’. I saw these guys cruising babes I won’t dare talk to unless I was ready to be ridiculed.

I saw these guys living the better life.

I almost gave in…

COMMON SENSE PREVAILS

Then I asked myself critical questions:

1. If I become a Yahoo boy and get a car, can I take the car home?
2. Where would I tell my Dad I got money to buy a car from?
3. Won’t my dad either disown me publicly or drive me to a nearby army barrack to be beaten?
4. Do I really need these stuff?
5. Was I not okay as it were?
6. Is there no time for me to live the big life in a legal way?

These questions arose because I am from a strict home. My parents questioned me as regards every new article I purchased. If I purchased a wristwatch at the time, my dad would ask me where I got the money to get such stuff. So, I knew I couldn’t afford to be a Yahoo boy and flaunt the ‘wealth’ at home.

I’ll die or almost die or become a living dead for trying to or actually dragging the family name in the mud.

THINGS I HEARD

I was told that some of the U.I Yahoo boys padded Yahoo-yahoo with ‘black magic’. I was told some of them engaged in money rituals (at a young age). I was even told that one of them was mandated by ‘Aiye’ (spirits) to sweep the roads leading from Tafawa Balewa Hall, UI to the Great Independent Hall, from 2:00am on select days. According to my ‘sauces’, one of them was mandated by aiye to split timber (he was already a slave to the underworld at his young age).

Then I decided it wasn’t worth it. I chose to be happy with whatever my parents gave me and strove to be a bigger person upon leaving school.

THE IBADAN VISIT

So I travelled to Ibadan for Sallah with two of my closest friends Jude Egbas and Ikemesit Effiong. We got to Ibadan and decided to drive around U.I. As we drove round the expansive and beautiful campus, especially from the Great Independence Hall to the Faculty of Law to Awo Hall, I became overwhelmed with emotions.

Here I was living the life I had always craved and not having to worry about any repercussions from some neon-eyed gods. Waiting in front of Awo Hall for Steph, I remembered how a Yahoo boy almost knocked me down with his car some time in 2009. My offence? Maybe because I was a poor brat who had no game and never deserved to live and rub shoulders with the campus big boys.

I then remembered something my dad told me once in 2008 about the honour in making a clean living and avoiding getting into anything illicit because of the repercussions. I remembered where I was last year and where I am now (which is not where I want to be actually). I wondered where I would be now had I decided to take the short cut to wealth. Would I be like those U.I Yahoo boys who because of the money they have made, have chosen to not see that there is a life bigger and better than clubbing, having sex all around and staying within the U.I campus and its environs?  Had I taken the short cut  and struck a deal with the devil and his affiliates, would I be where I am now… with peace of mind I now take for granted? What if after all the devil had done for me, he then asks me to pay him back dearly?

BACK TO REALITY

My mind had travelled and wandered around and I found myself back beside Steph… with the words from Majek Fashek ringing in my large earlobes. I actually wept as it occurred to me that where I was inside Cocoa House was that place where I used to sit back when I was a regular visitor to Cocoa House looking to buy ‘UK Used Phones’.

THE FUTURE AND LESSONS LEARNT.

Young people should never be in a hurry to make it. Don’t get me wrong… there is nothing wrong in being ambitious or even very ambitious. Of course, I believe too much of ambition is never a crime but rather lack of ambition should be an offence punishable with death.

But, while we toil to ensure the fruition of the dreams we have dreamed, it is expedient to know that everything has its time and season. Not everybody will get there at the same time. It is also good to know that as Ecclesiastes 9:11 has said, the race to be big is never for the hardest worker and the most fervent prayer warrior. It is for whom God deems fit to make big AT HIS OWN TIME.

I’ll always bear these at the back of my mind as I strive hard to climb to the top of the ladder… to be the best I can be in a legal way and as God deems it fit.

And please, say a prayer for my parents for ensuring I was brought up the way I was… to believe that taking a short cut to success is akin to the parable of the staircase and the pole vault. If you want to go the way of the pole vault, you will be up but for the very short time. You’ll however come crashing down with a loud thud… maybe NEVER to rise again.

But like going up a staircase, your progress will be steady… maybe slow or fast but it will be steady. Even when you stutter on the stairs and almost fall, there is almost always enough time to recover and continue the trip up.

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Ayokunle Odekunle is an Associate with one of Nigeria’s biggest Law firms. He is also a Media Consultant and Partner at BBG Media Group, a Leading Branding/Public Relations’ outfit.