I AM RICH, BUT WITH POOR EDUCATION; SHOULD I BE YOUR ROLE MODEL

Alhaji Nurudeen is the chairman of the Hajj Board in Ghana, Dr. Amidu is a lecturer at the university of Ghana, school of health sciences, and I am the CEO of Abubakar and Sons mechanics inside suame magazine. We are three friends with an amazing childhood that saw us through our smiles, fears, downfalls and separation.

We used to attend the same kindergarten and lived in the same neighbourhood, so we spent most of our childhood moments together. Rolling in the heap of sand, the evening and weekend quran studies, the "4 poles" and the tyre races, indeed this later generation are missing out alot of fun.

If I am going to tell you all that we did during childhood, we will continue this story in another season, but I have a question and a message for you,  so let us focus on that.
-----------------------------------------------
I am rich, but have a very poor education background;  should I be your role model as a growing youth?
--------------------------------

My friends got separated from me when their families moved out of our vicinity one after the other, I actually lost interest for school for sometime, and I genuinely couldn't continue due to my poor performance and lack of enough funds at home.  Funds could have been found one way or the other if I had the determination to learn, but my lazy nature convinced me that I am a poor at learning, and that I cannot become someone if I continue to go to school. The truth is that,  I never pushed myself, I only believed in my laziness and I decided to quit.

After quitting, I sat with my parents, and told them what I wanted to do now that I am no more in school, I told them I want to learn fitting and luckily for me, a friend of my father was already in that business, so I was left in his care. Initially I was only the errands boy, I kept on going from the kenkey seller to the "red red" seller, and going to the waakye seller every morning was a routine. It was getting boring but I knew I did not want to go back go school, and I have to focus on something beneficial because I dream of a beautiful future.
-----------------------------------------

"What Is your dream for your future, and How do you plan on achieving it?"

It took me 8years to learn most of the things about my new profession, but I practised with my master for 2more years before moving ahead to establish my own fitting shop. I knew the importance of discipline from my former master, and I believed it will help me very much if I applied it at my end, so I did. Time went by and I added the sales of spare parts, and then to the sales of tyres and more. Now I own a very big mechanic palace, a palace where you can get anything concerning your cars and motors, from alignment to repairs.

This is just a summary,  but I believe you have a very perfect picture of my life.  My friends continued with their education and are now rich and successful in their own ways, just as I am, in my own way too. One thing remaining for me to tackle is the fact that I am the one you are living with in the community, I am the one you keep seeing because my colleagues are mostly out of the country or out of the region. Should I be your inspiration, should you also leave school like me?

This question will get variety of answers, but from my observation in my community, the youth of today have answered this question with their actions and in view of that, I want to pass this message to them.

-----------------------------------------------
The youth in my community have massively dropped out of school as I see many of them on the streets during school hours, it looks like only the kindergartens are having a full class nowadays.

That not withstanding, a very heartbreaking act of almost 40% of male youth are involved in drugs and many other social vices. They spend their days doing nothing and their nights abusing themselves and others close to them, it gets more pathetic when you see females also get involved in such behaviours.

Most of them sing anthems which usually has my name in it, and I thought I should say something to them since they hold me as a reference. They say and I quote " going to school does not guarantee your success;  even Alhaji Abubakar made it and is rich now, even though he did not complete junior high".
This is not disturbing to me because I am being mocked at for not going to school, far from that, but this statement is disturbing because those who claim they can make it even if they quit school like I did are actually not doing any of the things I did after I quit school.
I did not do drugs when I quit school, but they are doing drugs.
I did not go round getting involved in all kinds of violence, but they are doing.
I was not involved in cyber crimes, but they are swimming in it.
I decided to learn a skill when I quit school, but they are not doing that and do not have the intention of doing so any sooner, how then do you put me as your mentor? It seems they just want to use me as a yardstick to quit school and do as they please.

If you really want to be like me, first listen to what I have to tell you. I am currently taking adult classes so that I can interact very well with my international business partners without the need of a translator, so that I can assist my kids do their homework and at least read my emails. It gets very uncomfortable when I have to get someone to read my private emails to me and when I have to do record chats on WhatsApp because I cannot type good English. As someone as the same age as my child or less, I will be very Happy if you continue to go to school, and gain some communication skills at least. You can after that branch into any entrepreneurial options that interest you.
You can also do something better with your life, learn a skill or be a sales boy or girl, if the school is just not your thing. Wasting yourself is actually wasting the future you dream of.

Making money out of cyber crime is not success. Anybody who loves Fufu knows that, even though it is sweet to sit and be served, but it is sweeter when you pound, sweat, and served in the "Asanka"afterwards. Do not be blinded by the easy ways of making money, they are traps that lead us to leading a lesser life than we deserve, we become liars as the least of the crimes, but remember "a believer should not lie even if it is for joking purposes", and here you are soaked in lies from head to toe. How do you expect Allah to answer your prayers when you eat haram, wear haram, and drink haram.

As a youth, you need to re-evaluate your life and have a vision and focus. Seek guidance from the people of yesterday, for they have seen and heard what you have witnessed not.

Pray to God to guide you down the road, seek beneficial knowledge, adhere to beneficial advisers and focus on making a better person out of yourself each and every passing day.

Your sister,
Nuhu Alimatu Sadia
Ummuabuuha.blogspot.com
ummi.ug@gmail.com