THE BILLIONAIRE PRINCE : PRINCE OF LAGOS

CHAPTER 2: THE SWAMP

At 10:43 AM, the public address system made a loud noise and then the lights went off. NEPA had taken the light. This was normal for Ikoyi. Even in Ikoyi, NEPA takes light.

A court clerk brought a small generator. The generator was noisy. The auctioneer shouted over the noise.

"Lot 7! Five bedrooms, Banana Island, Certificate of Occupancy, distress sale! Who will start the bidding at eight hundred million naira?"

Tobi looked at the picture of his house on the screen. The swimming pool was green because it had not been cleaned for six months. The mango tree his mother planted was still there. The gate was still black.

A hand went up in the first row. Alhaji Bello. He was wearing white agbada and a gold cap. He used to be his father's driver. When Tobi was ten, Alhaji Bello used to buy him Gala and La Casera after school. Now he owned forty trailers.

"Eight hundred million," Alhaji Bello said. His voice was deep.

Another hand went up. A woman in the second row. She was not from this area. She was fair, in a navy-blue suit, red lipstick, and no smile. Tobi had seen her picture in the newspaper. Nneka Ofor, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Trust Bank. The bank that gave his father a loan of N2.3 billion to import diesel.

"Eight hundred and fifty million," Nneka said. She did not look at Alhaji Bello. She looked at her phone.

Alhaji Bello looked at her. "Nine hundred million."

"Nine hundred and fifty million," Nneka said without looking up.

The hall became very quiet. The generator noise was the only sound. Everyone knew that a house in Banana Island for nine hundred and fifty million was cheap. It should be one point five billion at least. But nobody wanted to bid against Alhaji Bello and Nneka Ofor at the same time. Alhaji Bello had boys. Nneka had the bank and the EFCC.

The auctioneer looked around. "Nine hundred and fifty million going once..."

Tobi stood up. He did not plan to stand up. His body just stood up. His heart was beating very fast.

"Nine hundred and sixty million," he said.

Fifty heads turned to look at him. A boy in a cheap white shirt with a burn mark near the button, with N47,210 in his account, bidding nine hundred and sixty million.

The auctioneer removed his big wig slightly. "Young man, do you have ten percent deposit? Do you have ninety-six million naira in your account?"

Tobi said, "No, Sir. I have forty-seven thousand, two hundred and ten naira."

The hall laughed. It was a loud, cruel laugh.

Tobi did not sit down. He remembered what his father told him when he was twelve: "In business, if you cannot buy, you can still increase the price for your enemy."

He said again, louder, "Nine hundred and sixty million."

Nneka looked at him for the first time. She looked at his shirt, his shoes that had a small hole, and his eyes that looked exactly like his father's eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked. Her voice was not harsh.

"I am Tobi Adeyemi. I am the son of the owner of that house. My father is Adeyemi Ogunlade. He is in EFCC custody."

The hall stopped laughing.

Nneka stood up and walked to him. She smelled like vanilla perfume and money. Expensive perfume.

"I heard you are studying Engineering at the University of Lagos. You are in final year," she said.

"Yes, Ma."

"You should be in class, not in auction hall bidding nine hundred and sixty million with forty-seven thousand."

"This is my final year project," Tobi said. "My project is how to lose a house."

Even the auctioneer laughed at that. Even Alhaji Bello laughed. Alhaji Bello pointed at Tobi and said, "This boy is like his father. His father also jokes when there is trouble."

Nneka did not laugh. She looked at Tobi for a long time.

"Your father borrowed N2.3 billion from my bank to import diesel from Russia. He sold diesel to customers who did not pay him. Now he cannot pay my bank. Now he is in EFCC cell. Your mother is in Ikeja living with her sister. Your younger sister is in Canada washing plates to pay school fees. And you are here bidding. You are either very stupid or very stubborn. Which one are you?"

"I am stubborn, Ma," Tobi said.

"I like stubborn," she said. "Stupid boys die. Stubborn boys survive."

She raised her hand. "One billion naira."

Alhaji Bello shook his head. "One billion is too much for that house. The roof is leaking. I will stop."

The auctioneer hit his gavel. "One billion going once, going twice, sold to Imperial Trust Bank for one billion naira!"

The sound of the gavel was final. Tobi's childhood house was now owned by a bank.

One billion naira would be used to reduce his father's debt from N2.3 billion to N1.3 billion. His family still owed N1.3 billion and had no house.

After the auction, people left. Tobi remained sitting in the third row. His legs could not stand.

Nneka walked to him and gave him a white card. The card was thick and heavy. It said: _NNEKA OFOR, MD/CEO, IMPERIAL TRUST BANK, 12B Adeola Odeku, VI, Lagos._

"Come to my office tomorrow at 8 AM," she said. "Not to beg for the house. The house is gone. Come to tell me what you will do to pay the remaining one point three billion naira that your father still owes my bank. If your answer is good, I will give you a job. If your answer is stupid, I will tell EFCC to add your name to your father's case file as accomplice."

She left. Her white Range Rover was waiting outside with a driver.

Tobi sat alone. The small generator was turned off. The lights went off again.

His phone buzzed. Message from Simi.

_Simi Architecture: Tobi, I heard about the auction. How did it go? I drew your house from memory before they demolish it. Come to the studio at 4 PM, top floor, Engineering block. I will show you. And I have gist about land in Epe. It is cheap._

Epe. The word meant nothing to Tobi that day. In twenty chapters, it would become his empire. In one hundred chapters, it would become his war.

He put Nneka's card inside his pocket. He put his phone inside his pocket. He had N47,210, no house, N1.3 billion debt, and two appointments tomorrow: 8 AM with a bank MD who bought his house, and 4 PM with a girl who drew his house.

He walked out of Federal High Court. Outside, it was raining small. Lagos rain.

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