THE SEMINAR THAT SHIFTED SOMETHING
478 Words
Episode 5: The Seminar That Shifted Something
The next morning, Zayyanu wore his cleanest shirt — a sky-blue, faded long sleeve that had seen better years. His trousers were slightly worn at the edges, and his sandals had two repaired straps. But he stood tall, chin up, because this wasn’t about fashion. It was about change.
Musa showed up right on time, chewing groundnuts and holding two sachets of water. “You dey ready?”
“As ready as I can be,” Zayyanu said, locking the door gently. Faruk had gone to school early, waving at him with a grin that reminded him why he couldn’t give up.
The walk to the seminar venue took nearly an hour. Along the way, they passed orange sellers, mechanics, vulcanizers, and young boys pushing carts of recharge cards and soft drinks. Lagos moved fast. If you stopped for too long, it swallowed you.
They arrived at a small community hall with plastic chairs neatly arranged. The banner at the front read:
“Street Hustle to Business Muscle – Powered by HopeBuilders Initiative.”
The room buzzed with people — okada riders, roadside food vendors, barbers, shoemakers, and a few wide-eyed young men like himself, searching for something real.
The speaker, a short, sharp-tongued woman named Madam Lizzy, stepped up. She wore a plain Ankara gown, no makeup, and yet commanded the entire room with one glance.
“I was once a pepper seller in Mile 12,” she began. “Today, I own two supermarkets and a frozen foods store. And it didn’t start with capital — it started with mindset.”
Zayyanu’s heart tightened. She spoke with the rawness of someone who had tasted shame, rejection, and hunger — but didn’t stay there.
She broke down simple business principles:
Keep record of every sale.
Know your customer.
Start small, think big, act now.
Don’t be too proud to begin again.
She looked around the room and said, “Who here thinks they are too educated to hustle?”
Zayyanu almost raised his hand — not out of pride, but guilt.
“Your degree is not a throne. It’s a tool. If you won’t use it to solve your current problem, it’s just paper.”
The words cut deep.
After the seminar, participants received free notebooks and business tracking sheets. As they walked out, Musa asked, “So, how your body dey now?”
Zayyanu smiled. “Like something heavy left my chest.”
Musa nodded. “You dey ready now. Welcome to the real world.”
They walked home in silence, but it was a silence of reflection, not defeat.
That night, Zayyanu sat by the dim light of a rechargeable lamp and began writing in his new notebook:
"Today I choose to be a man not by degree, but by dignity. I will rebuild from the street up."
- Writer
