How are you today?

I don’t know about you but for me I am pumped and rearing to go.

I slept very late because I was seeing even more opportunities that I hadn’t seen before.

I have gone back to the drawing board.

How about you?

Our first 3 speakers for Day 1 and 2 had done such a great job.

Thank you
Mrs. Bunmi Olaloye
Dr. Olugunke Chenube and
Dr. Enifome Ogbimi.

Day 3 our final day was an eye opener.

It was a special day for me, as I wanted to use workshop to lay bare to you the Kobos and shillings that kept my school going in the early days and even now.

Ònà kan ò w’ojà is a business model I learnt from my Dad.

Daddy is late now, but he was an Economist, he studied in the late 50’s at the then London School of Econmics…

He returned to Nigeria in the early 60’s to head one of the then top Government commercial boards of the day…

Nigeria will always be Nigeria, but we also pray for change… the war and the tribal lines drawn all played itself out, we fell from grace to grass as I watched my people crucify my Dad for being a Yoruba man.

But I watched my Dad build himself up by strategically choosing to see opportunities beyond the norm.

My mum loved gardening and keeping animals… He encouraged her and they started a farm in our back-garden …

When the neighbours complained of the noise and smell, he bought a piece of land that he converted into a maize, lettuce and poultry farm… they later reared pigs as well…

His business also diversified into buying and selling…first it was choice household products, then beverages and drinks, finally building materials…

Then a big Government contract went really wrong… they refused to pay up after a work well done everything went south… (they finally paid a token like 12 or so years later!)

It wasn’t easy, we couldn’t pay the rent so we had to move out…

We did… if only you knew…

Daddy had built a house in VI and it was rented out to a company or foreigner when this happened…

He was also building a house on the farm… what should we do, move to VI or Agege?

He called the family together 3 girls and 5 boys plus Mum.

Daddy told us what was going on. He had a little money which he could use to convert the office at the farm into a small 2 bedroom flat…life would never be the same.. imagine at that time we were living at GRA Ikeja!

Now we would have to live on the farm in the bush, jungle actually… Agege was not what it is today o.

The other choice was for us to ask the tenants to leave the VI house and move in… the question to us was what would you prefer?

My Dad was a firm believer in democracy.

It was a very big debate…

We finally moved to the farm house in Agege… why?

The money from the VI property would soon be due…

The plan was to use the rent to expand the poultry farm and use the rest to complete the house he was building on the farm…

I watched my Dad, pick himself up, walk and work through the mud, using different streams of income to build back from the ground up.

This was my introduction to Ònà kan ò w’ojà. I lesson I have not forgotten.

I learnt from him how to see different opportunities, how to invest from one business to another… Delayed gratification..the list goes on.

Succeeding beyond Covid – 19 would need this attitude…

There are more family heirlooms from where this came from… I learnt a lot from my Dad.

I want to pass this on to you in the hope that you will find your way out of the effects Covid-19 might have brought your way.

So please open your mind and eyes…

I pray you see beyond the norm

Day 3 was another great day where out Main Speaker

Dr Funmi Aina demistified one of those opportunity models, which we usually turn our noses up at…Network marketing… please don’t.

After Barr. Quincy and Mrs. Eugenia Irobiegbulam shared about their experiences and products…

Some of the most skeptical amongst us have had to take a step back..learn, unlearn and relearn… they are now asking questions…

You need to ask questions too.

If you want to own your life… and stop leaving good money on the table,

Ask!

Contact me on WhatsApp 09097343982

Your Mama Monte
Ayopeju Falekulo