Frozen

I remember the day I learnt that I had gotten admission

It was one of my uncles that called my parents

They had reached out to him at the state university

I didn’t make the cut off mark at the federal university

He promised he could assist

He was a non-academic staff in the state university

My father sent him some money and my documents

He called back a few weeks later

He said I had been admitted

My Father shouted for joy

We drove four long hours to the school

My father opened a bank account for me and handed me over to my uncle

The next day we started the admission process

I paid the required fees and started signing course forms all over the campus

I attended the fresher’s orientation programmes and shows

I was finally an undergraduate

I was 20 and had the whole of my life ahead of me

The first thing I noticed as odd was my matriculation number

It was different from that of every other fresher

I ran to my uncle

He said it was because my admission was processed late and it would be regularized once the names were cleared by the school’s senate to be sent to JAMB office

I accepted the explanation

Classes began, I studied hard

I was in the top three in my department

My results were posted like those of other students

Lecturers called me by name and the student’s reckoned with me

I got involved in campus politics in 300L

I was elected as one of the executives of the student’s union government!

I graduated

My name was not on the list of those posted for NYSC

I ran to the admissions department

“Your name was never sent to JAMB for regularization”

I wasn’t the only one, we were about 500

Whoa!

I had spent five years, eight months (including ASUU strike periods) in the University for nothing!

What was I to do?

Where was I start from?

My younger ones were already in the university, both of them in 300L and 100L respectively

I went home and told my parents the bad news

My Father was highly disappointed

He called my uncle, the weasel who was well compensated in cash and in kind for my admission

My Uncle blamed the new Vice-Chancellor and his policies

There was no escaping it

I had lost almost six years of my life for nothing

I wrote JAMB again

My Father decided I should apply to a private University in order to save time

I did

I got to their interview stage

They started alleging that I was either stupid or lying that I was a victim of fake admission,

one of them even alleged that I must have been a cultist who got rusticated a

nd was planning to infiltrate their holy Christian school to recruit students for the devil

I didn’t know when I started crying

What was I doing there?

I should be at the NYSC camp

My girlfriend had gone to serve, we had concrete plans for the future

The interview panel must have sensed my pain

They said they’d get back to me

 I left the school in a daze

I met my babe while we were in 200L

She was the love of my life

And I was back to square one and she had gone up higher

She called me every night and we would talk for hours

I tried as much as possible to keep her abreast of developments in my life

She couldn’t see herself waiting five or six years after NYSC to get married

I understood!

Our plans were thrown out of the window by the weavers of fate

She had to move on and I made the decision for her by telling her so frankly

She understood

We both know it was inevitable

But we were keeping each other company that season because we were both lonely and needed someone to talk to

One day she stopped calling

I got my letter of admission

On the day I resumed at the Christian private institution where I would be locked in like a High school student, I cried unto God!

I got born again while I was in my “Phantom” School

I know God was real!

So I asked God to please restore my lost time!

Everything David lost in Ziklag was recovered and much more

Father, please let these 6 years be restored unto me! Amen.

I tore ahead of my class in a blaze

I was angry

I had studied the same course in my “phantom” school

Four years of studying a thing makes you better at it

Apart from that, I was on the average, four years older than most of my classmates

My Immediate younger brother was in final year in the same school and my other younger brother was in 200L

I accepted my reality

Four years in a private University were quite fast

I kept my head down and faced my studied

Finally I graduated with a first class

I didn’t bother going for the convocation ceremony

What was I celebrating?

I was 30 years old and I had resolved not to waste another year on NYSC

The labour market was employing only 27 year olds with M.Sc and 24 year olds with B.Sc, iy you were 30 plus you were expected to have 5 years plus working experience

I couldn’t waste time on pity-party

What was I to do?

I decided to become an entrepreneur

I started out with Bulk SMS, commissioned writing projects, freelance journalism and book publishing

Those days were tough

Eventually I wrote a proposal to make a daily devotional for an international church

The church agreed but insisted I publish with my own money and bear all the risk! They would only market it once it was ready

I took the risk, raised the capital and published the daily devotional

It was an instant hit

I made over 10 million profit from the venture

Then the church council called for a meeting and said they would take over the publication from that point onwards

I understood their grief

They had the market and I was making all the money

I tried to reason with them to no avail

So I walked away with my profit

Few weeks later I walked into an international company with a proposal

I wanted to brand certain products with their logo for a fee

They loved the proposal but said they couldn’t afford the project

Two days later their MD called me

Would I be interested in working for them?

They didn’t even ask for my educational qualification or any certificate

The offer was stupendous

I said yes!

One year later, my girlfriend walked into the office

She came looking for a job

Whoa!!

She was still single and had dated some guys but nothing really serious

I was single too and discovered I still loved her

One year later I married her

Today we have two children

She now manages my media and public relations business

My younger brother, the one that was in 400L when I graduated got married two years after I got married and our youngest brother got married this year

God restored my lost time

He did it in an unconventional manner

I was in it and didn’t know when he was doing it

I lost nothing

Time was frozen for me

If you are reading this and you can relate to this story, instead of mopping and worrying and complaining

Pray to this God!

Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved