I got a call from the Hotel in Abuja as I Landed . Mr Edgar what would you like in your room they asked. We already have a bottle of Red Wine and fresh fruits. Is there any other thing you would like.
Why won’t they call? I had just paid a tidy N750k just for accomodation and by the time I would have finished with them after my show my bill would have hit N1.5m. So they will call.
As I checked in, I saw a lot of white people. The place is luxe and inviting and my two room suite is a testimony to south aftican taste.
I am doing well for a jobless man. Yes, I am truly jobless as I was asked to resign from my last place of work completing a full circle of suspensions, queries and two earlier sacks
Some pple reading this will say I am gloating and boasting. Those are the very stupid ones. Others will read and see what I am trying to do, which is not only further inspire myself but to also push someone this morning.
My father lost his job twice in banks. The first was the Cross River State owned Mercantile bank and the last was the Kaduna State Government owned Nigerian Universal Bank
He stayed for a total of 14 years without a job and I watched him very closely. He was a very handsome and gifted man. Honest to a fault and a fine dresser.
I saw him wither. The pastors came and said it was an ancestral curse and prescribed fasting and prayers.
We did all of that to no avail and I remeber very vividly one of those sessions in Surulere and they said we shd stay the whole day without eating fasting and praying to break the curse.
By noon, I rebelled and walked away. My father was angry with me as he really needed the curse to be broken since he didn’t want me, his first son to suffer same fate.
So when my first sack came thru the hands of Nicholas Nyamali, I knew the time had come for the fight.
This ancestral spirit will meet a different Edgar. This was not Sampson Edgar but Joseph Edgar. It had better be prepared for the fight.
The Pastors came. They reminded me of the curse and one even took me to a church in far away Mowe where I was told that the grace had left me like it had left my father.
I waked away abusing the foolish Pastor and went home and put on my thinking cap.
I was down. I was in debt and I had no job. What were my strengths. I could talk, write and sell igredients for a fertile mind to make magic and as such I had no business being jobless.
I started the rounds of interviews and found myself being interviewed by pple I was stronger than. I would become impatient and walk away in the middle of the interview.
Then Gboyega Balogun at CSL gave me a job. I bought a very expensive BMW that week to announce my arrival and 15 months after I was asked to resign
Then I went to Aquila. My worse odyssey and ended up in an Efcc jail and that Saturday night inside the cell while my colleagues were busy sleeping, I said enough.
I woke my partner up and said let’s register a firm. Let’s go into advisory. I have raised trillions in this market for thieves who have rewarded me with disgrace. So let’s do it for ourselves.
That night H&G was born inside the EFCC Cell. Today we are now being propositioned to be bought in a multi million Naira acquisition deal
Then I started writing and producing. Duke of Shomolu today has crossed the N2b mark in sponsorships and is the biggest theater franchise in the country all without a job.
Today I live my best life within my means. I am happy and can afford anything I want all still jobless.
So what did I do differently. We have a 20% unemployment rate amongst employable Nigerians which is about 60m.
We have a huge market that is deep depending on how u see the market and your strategy of engagement.
I looked at myself and turned my weakness into strength. I am a talkative and I turned it to marketing skill. I love people and I used that to build a huge network, an Edgar Market.
I am resilience and have built stuff from an 80% rejection in all projects.
Every sector I have been sacked in, I am now playing and playing very well – Finance, Media, Entertainment.
Some of u dont know that I used to write for City People and they drove me. I was Gani Fawehnimis PA for 3 hours, I was sacked in the presence of Dr Beko Ransome Kuti.
What Is the difference between me a jobless man and many jobless people- outlook.
Simple. The way you see your life and the way you see the world. That’s the difference.
This is all I will say for now as I stare at my wonderful N26k South African breakfast.
My people you are what you say you are, it’s not Nigeria happening to you
From a jobless man to you this morning.
Duke of Shomolu
