Role models are powerful and can shape who you become, so be careful who is in your eyes.
Meeting him through my dad, the was something about him that made me desire to learn life from him. He told me No when I went to request to do my IT in his factory. I insisted, pleading I want to learn from the business and also from him for the 3 months I have before I go back to school and he finally accepted.
The aura he commanded in the multinational he worked for made people ask me back then in wonder “how you take know that man”. At some point during my days with his company, he resigned at the peak of his career, crazy offers were given to him to stay on but he declined. They could not just let him go like that so they made him a consultant offer, talk of competence. I was interested in knowing why he resigned lots of years before his retirement and he graciously gave me an hour of his time which was priceless sharing his why.
You could literally see wisdom Oz out when he is talking with a soft calm voice. His composure and carriage spoke loud and clear “I am an authority you don’t need to like me to be true”. Banks would come to ask him to take an interest-free loan for the business; he will say no and fund it in 7 to 8digits himself quietly. He was not under any pressure to please anybody with his lifestyle, his savings, investment and risk-taking culture were something I really tried to learn. I still remember the investments he asked me to do with all my savings which I did not and the investment grew by over 200% a few months later.
From my teenage years, I would watch him jog very early with his dogs sometimes on Saturday and sometimes on Sunday; he still does it to date even though not with the dog's talk of mad consistency from a strong why he installed it in me. His wife worked in the firm too and I was very observant how he treated his wife both at the company and when I was privilege to go to his house.
Believe me, they both made it look so easy I had to ask him about marriage and again he graciously schooled me. I was not anywhere near marrying then; I just loved what I saw about his relationship with his wife, they were so real and down to earth even when they had a challenge. This added to my ardent list of assurances that marriages can work and will work in my hand.
They were both sound and had a command of the business. Every time I was in the office working when both of them were having a conversation, I downloaded so much wisdom. I became family because of my many questions to both of them. I remember when he went to understudy a part of the business from street boys who never knew who he was, as at then he was still a senior supervisor in the multinational with thousands working under him.
He so came down to these street boys’ level that when he asked them questions that he did not understand they would abuse him and he would take it in good faith. When his training with them was over they were shocked at the figure he paid them because they would still have gladly taught for free. He paid them the multinational rate even when they did not know what to charge him. I so laughed when I heard how much they were asking for, he gave them 15 times what they asked for.
I took an initiative to do something at the factory using my money, when he came and saw it, his appreciation and gratitude was something else. Ten years after; they were still using those stuff and the new staff turned their neck when they heard my name the last time I went to see him, meaning he still talks about it. One new staff even asked me “So you are the Unyime Oga keeps talking about?”
His time consciousness was something I could not cope with in my first two weeks. He scolded me seriously for coming 5mins late for an appointment with him. He is discipline personified. He was comfortable driving the same car the multinational gave him years back which was now old. You could see modesty and contentment. I knew he could afford any current model of his choice but he did not. Every day from the multinational job he came straight from there to his factory to ensure things were running smoothly. He kept this ritual till the day he resigned from the multinational.
My inquisitive nature made him show me some documents one day in his office that had figures and I flipped till I saw a page on which I could estimate his net worth and yet he lives like… We once had a situation where he made one call to the government house and the person on the other side of the phone was like “Please I will send some people to sort it out” I was shocked knowing who the call was to; yet to him it was nothing, talk of being truly powerful without noise or drama.
As at when I was there, he had over 60 staffs who ran shifts night and day and their salaries where paid the same day his multinationals use to receive salary without fail. I saw a walking principled man and I made up my mind this lifestyle is possible.
My 3 months there shaped a lot about me. It’s been yearssss like years I left there but I still hear and see him shape things around me without meeting him regularly as before. I now enjoy some of the results I saw then. He made me realize that you can be so powerful and humble at the same time. David could have ordered the three generals to go fetch him water from the secured well but he did not yet they still went; only at, his exclamation ponder about it.
Who models life before you; young man, young woman?