The late Bloomer

He seriously considered committing 
suicide about three times
The first time was the day his immediate 
younger sister graduated from University 
at the age of 20
He was 22 at the time and he had written 
JAMB seven times
He never cracked the 200 average cut 
off expected of him 
His parents continued to invest in 
extramural lessons and private tutors
He saved up to pay someone with a 
reputation for arranging results to 
help him out
The person was arrested and his result 
was withheld that year
It was as if his life had been pegged to 
be one of failure. 
His secondary school journey was not 
any easier
He attended Baptist Boys High School 
for a while
A school that has produced presidents 
and governors and leaders at every level
He didn't thrive there
He was plucked out and placed in a 
private secondary school in Lagos
He wilted
He  didn't have any friend influencing 
him
He never smoked or drank or 
experimented with drugs
He would lock himself in the room and 
read day and night
He really wanted to make something of 
his life but when it was time to write 
examinations, he would go blank
Blank like a headless 
chicken
Nobody knew why his journey was 
so tough
His younger sister by contrast cleared 
her WAEC and JAMB in one sitting and 
was admitted into the University to study 
Communications and Language Arts at 
the age of 16
The news threw him into depression
He wasn't unhappy that his 
sister was making progress
He was unhappy that his life was not 
moving in any direction
The next heavy blow was his sister 
getting a job while still in 100 level
He had searched for a job for several 
months just to occupy himself without 
any success and she was offered a 
job by 
an engineering firm without any stress
He would have gladly earned a quarter 
of what her sister was offered and he 
would have counted the experience 
as a breakthrough in his life
His sister bought her first car at the 
age of 18, it was a Toyota Corolla 
and he was the one vested 
with the task of teaching her how 
to drive
He was happy for her but his situation 
was quite unpalatable
All the guys he grew up within the same 
estate moved on in life according to 
the normal progression of all people, 
he was the only one that was stuck 
in one spot
It was hell! 
The last child of his parents was born 
when he was eight years old
She was very brilliant
She sped through primary and secondary 
school
She cleared her Jamb and WAEC at the 
age of fifteen and was placed in a private 
university the same year his immediate 
younger sister graduated 
She was admitted to study law and her 
educated was fully funded by a 
government scholarship
He was 23 years old by this time and he 
was still writing WAEC and JAMB
The only other skills he had was driving 
and managing his father's piggery farm
He cried sorrowfully for many days 
He just couldn't fathom why he was so 
unfortunate
He was eventually saved by NECO 
when he enrolled for the examination as 
one of the pioneer enrolees
He cleared all his papers and by stroke 
of luck also scored 201 in Jamb
He wasn't offered admission but he got 
the part-time form to study at LASU and 
was offered admission
He got the admission at the age of 24
When he got to the lecture room he 
realized he was still blanking out after 
studying
He knew he wouldn't pass one course 
if it continued
His parents had taken him to so many 
places for prayers and 
spiritual intervention to no avail
That was the second time he considered 
suicide
Having crossed the hurdle of admission, 
he didn't want to linger on only to turn 
out as a failure again
The day he was planning out to carry out 
his plans, he walked into a pharmacy 
store to buy the 
pills he wanted to take and met her
She was an undergraduate who worked 
part-time at the pharmacy store
They got talking and he ended up 
spending the whole day with her in 
the store
They took to each other like fish to water
She was playing the game of LUDO by 
herself when he 
walked into the store
He asked if he could play a game with 
her and that was it
They played on and on while she paused 
intermittently to attend to customers
He fell in love that day
She was the one that told him about 
JESUS and the gift of the Holy Spirit in 
the course of that 
week
They had been sharing the past as they 
grew familiar with each other and he 
mentioned to her that he had contemplated 
suicide twice
When she asked him why he told her 
about his past and current struggles
She told him what the Holy Spirit can 
do in the life of a believer and 
she gave him examples of people around 
her whose life courses were righted after 
they had an encounter with the Holy Spirit
He didn't really believe her words but his 
heart was glad he had a potential girlfriend 
and he would have given her his head if she 
asked for it
Even though he was born into an orthodox 
church where the closest he got to the 
Holy Spirit was looking at the artwork of 
a dove descending upon Jesus while he 
was getting baptized which was painted 
at the back of the altar in the church he 
grew up in
He followed her to a pentecostal church the 
following Sunday and gave his life to Christ
After the service, he was prayed for and he 
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with 
the evidence of speaking and praying in 
tongues
He did everything just to please her
They had become close friends and he was 
sure she would go out with him if he asked
The only reason she could say No was the 
Born Again thing and he had taken care of 
it and also received the Baptism of the Holy 
Spirit
He believed the table was set for them to 
court and probably get married
When he got home that Sunday, he got into the 
shower and suddenly felt a strong sensation 
all over his body
He began to pray in the spirit in a way that 
he couldn't describe
It was as if he was taken over in the bathroom
By the time he came out of the bathroom, 
he felt a strong urge to read the Bible
He picked the one on his 
bed and he began to read from Genesis 
chapter 1. 
For the first time, his imagination was 
opened and he could visualize what he 
was reading
It was an alien experience to him
He couldn't put the Bible down, he read 
on and on both day and night until he 
finished the whole Bible in 
21 days
By the time he finished the whole scripture, 
something had happened to him
He couldn't explain it but he was no longer 
blanking out
He had "understanding" & a retentive memory
He also had an idea
A business idea that came to him when he 
was reading about the construction 
of the Ark of the covenant and the ark of 
Noah
The idea was burning in his heart
He went to Lagos Island and made the 
necessary inquiries
When he got the needed information, he 
went to his father and told him what he 
needed
His father didn't ask any question, his 
father gave him what he needed
He started his wallpaper sales and services 
business on campus and it was an instant 
success
He was so successful that he began to 
take orders for customized wall papers at 
a special fee and he had paying customers 
who were willing to wait for weeks before 
getting their orders
Within a year after meeting the Holy Spirit, 
he was swimming in money
He also excelled in his academics
It was a glorious turn around.
By the time he graduated in 2013, his 
wallpaper outfit was operational in six 
states of Nigeria
He was a made man
He got married to his sweetheart right 
after she finished her NYSC in 2015
The third time he contemplated suicide 
was when a business associate duped 
him of 25 million Naira in 2016 but by 
the grace of God, he recovered most of 
the money with the intervention of the 
police and was able to bounce 
back.
He had grown in the knowledge of the 
Word and his walk with the Holy Spirit 
that he no longer considers suicide as 
an alternative under any circumstances.
His marriage was blessed with two children
Kiitan, age 4 and Kayo age 1

PS: Dont be short sighted
Looking at your bleak present and using
it to judge your glorious future is foolishness
I know a man who at the age of 38 could
barely pay his rent but had become the
proud owner of three houses by the age of
40 through very legal means
An encounter is all it takes for you to blow
Stay with the Holy Spirit
He is the secret of Jesus' success and
if you let Him, He will make you a success
too
Your path in Him will only shine brighter 
and brighter
Walk with the Holy Spirit and desire the 
sincere milk of the Word
Grow and you will have good success in 
Jesus name