Editor’s note: Martha Olawale writes NAIJ.com from Florida USA. The woman is passionate about changing the narrative about Africa. Her desire is to spend the rest of her life as “God gives me grace creating a platform for Africans who are making us proud share their stories.” Martha created Stars of Afrika to give the ability for Africans to write their own words their struggles, strength, and eventual triumphs. Her first story is devoted to Adesegun Adeyemo. A Nigerian man was born in poverty but became a true star of his generation by achieving success in his life. Now, Adesegun is the Head, Research and Development at Interswitch Limited, a leading electronic payment firm in Africa.
This week’s story is very personal to me because Adesegun Adeyemo is one of my first inspiration for Stars of Afrika. I knew that I will one day share his story to inspire others to choose perseverance over defeat. I remember when I first met him about twelve years back. His appreciation for life was evident in his captivating joy. He was quiet, loved his books, and in spite of all he was going through, he was more determined than anyone I ever met. My husband loved him and will often tell him “Segun, just graduate and all these will soon be behind you.” He faced odds greater than any that you and I can imagine. He went through the university system with so little but graduated from one of the top universities in Nigeria with distinction. Today, Segun Adeyemo is the Head, Research and Development at Interswitch Limited, a leading electronic payment firm in Africa. His story cannot be captured in a single blog but he tried to touch on aspects that will encourage the readers to never give up. Adesegun Adeyemo, you are our star and a true pride to your generation. Life dealt you its most difficult hands but you fought with valor and won like a true African warrior. Your value for hard work brought you to where you are today and lifted you from obscurity to a place of celebration. Remember, you are not there yet. Keep looking ahead of you and do not stop. Keep your head up and never forget that you are part of a generation of Africans who will change our story.
Background
story I am a Nigerian from Otan Ayegbaju. I was born into a polygamous family in the late 70s in Ibadan at a Catholic hospital. My birth had some complications. I was born breached (called Ige in Yoruba) with deformational plagiocephaly and they had to put me on a life support machine to survive. In fact, my parents thought I was an “Abiku” because I had constant seizures. They thought that I will eventually die like the three children they already lost. My father had three wives. My mom was the second wife. He was in his 60s when he had me (he was born in 1914). He had twenty children in all and I am his lastborn child. My mom had seven children with him, only three of us are alive today; myself, an elder sister and an elder brother. I have a younger stepsister from a stepfather. My parents divorced three months after my birth. I never saw my dad until I was ten years old. When I saw him I thought he was my grandfather. My mom found it extremely difficult to take care of me and my siblings. She would have me on her back while hawking processed locust beans (called Iru in Yoruba) in a hot sun. My siblings were already living with relatives at this time. In the attempt to make ends meet, she started buying and selling used items by travelling to different parts of the country. So she had to drop me also with her relatives. Instead of caring for me the relatives turned me into their child labor. I hawked pounded yam, “Elubo”, “Eri” (goat food) e.t.c. I was bullied and maltreated a lot, always crying to see my mom. They would tell me that I had no father and should be grateful to them. I lived with different families and ended up attending different elementary schools.
Thankfully, my mom decided to come back and take me away with her. I spent about two to three years living with her in a particular remote village called Ago Aare. She was selling food at the time. We faced all sort of persecution mostly from her friend who also was also a food seller. She was angry that in spite of the fact that she invited my mom to the village we had more customers. We started facing spiritual attacks, robberies, and ultimately lost all the customers. I became rebellious and I would leave the house and not show up for days, going from one village or one farm to another, following masquerades around etc. At a point, one of our neighbors, an auto mechanic convinced my mom to allow me to come to their mechanic village after school hours. So I ended up being an apprentice learning auto and motorcycle mechanics. I would go to the mechanic village each day on foot after school. This was between elementary school 3 and 4. After some time I started asking my mom who my father was. I demanded to see and know him. Luckily, an older family member died and we went for the burial in our hometown where I eventually met my father. I was very happy and decided to live with him. My happiness was short-lived when my father decided to go into farming business. He put me in charge of managing it. We had three farm locations. Each day after school, I would go to work at the nearest farm about 45 minutes walk from town. I would go to the farthest two farms (2hrs and 3 hrs walk respectively) at the weekend. My father used the proceeds to service bank loan repayment I knew nothing about. He didn’t take care of me at all and was using me as a child labour. This happened between elementary school 5 and 6. Throughout my elementary school education I was always topping my class in spite of the challenges except on two occasions when I dropped to number two because all classes were combined. I got admitted to St. Thomas Grammar School, Otan Ayegbaju after my elementary education. My elder brother learnt about the maltreatment and decided to take me away with him from my father. So I re-enrolled at St. Peters African Church Grammar School, Ile-Ife. Things were not easy living with him either as he was also struggling to make ends meet. He was a commercial bus driver but most times worked as a bus conductor. I had no textbooks and found it difficult to pay for my school fees. I struggled to buy exercise books. I would wear the same worn school uniform for many years before I could afford to buy a new one. My shoes were specially made (the soles were carved from old tire tread) to last for a long time. To raise money, I started doing bus conducting to remote villages especially at the weekends by following an uncle who was a bus driver and who was also the owner of the bus. I will beg one of his sons to allow me to follow his dad and in return, I will share whatever money I made with him. I was able to pay my school fees and buy exercise books with the little money I made but I was never able to afford textbooks.
SOURCE:NAIJANEWS
This week’s story is very personal to me because Adesegun Adeyemo is one of my first inspiration for Stars of Afrika. I knew that I will one day share his story to inspire others to choose perseverance over defeat. I remember when I first met him about twelve years back. His appreciation for life was evident in his captivating joy. He was quiet, loved his books, and in spite of all he was going through, he was more determined than anyone I ever met. My husband loved him and will often tell him “Segun, just graduate and all these will soon be behind you.” He faced odds greater than any that you and I can imagine. He went through the university system with so little but graduated from one of the top universities in Nigeria with distinction. Today, Segun Adeyemo is the Head, Research and Development at Interswitch Limited, a leading electronic payment firm in Africa. His story cannot be captured in a single blog but he tried to touch on aspects that will encourage the readers to never give up. Adesegun Adeyemo, you are our star and a true pride to your generation. Life dealt you its most difficult hands but you fought with valor and won like a true African warrior. Your value for hard work brought you to where you are today and lifted you from obscurity to a place of celebration. Remember, you are not there yet. Keep looking ahead of you and do not stop. Keep your head up and never forget that you are part of a generation of Africans who will change our story.Background
story I am a Nigerian from Otan Ayegbaju. I was born into a polygamous family in the late 70s in Ibadan at a Catholic hospital. My birth had some complications. I was born breached (called Ige in Yoruba) with deformational plagiocephaly and they had to put me on a life support machine to survive. In fact, my parents thought I was an “Abiku” because I had constant seizures. They thought that I will eventually die like the three children they already lost. My father had three wives. My mom was the second wife. He was in his 60s when he had me (he was born in 1914). He had twenty children in all and I am his lastborn child. My mom had seven children with him, only three of us are alive today; myself, an elder sister and an elder brother. I have a younger stepsister from a stepfather. My parents divorced three months after my birth. I never saw my dad until I was ten years old. When I saw him I thought he was my grandfather. My mom found it extremely difficult to take care of me and my siblings. She would have me on her back while hawking processed locust beans (called Iru in Yoruba) in a hot sun. My siblings were already living with relatives at this time. In the attempt to make ends meet, she started buying and selling used items by travelling to different parts of the country. So she had to drop me also with her relatives. Instead of caring for me the relatives turned me into their child labor. I hawked pounded yam, “Elubo”, “Eri” (goat food) e.t.c. I was bullied and maltreated a lot, always crying to see my mom. They would tell me that I had no father and should be grateful to them. I lived with different families and ended up attending different elementary schools.
Thankfully, my mom decided to come back and take me away with her. I spent about two to three years living with her in a particular remote village called Ago Aare. She was selling food at the time. We faced all sort of persecution mostly from her friend who also was also a food seller. She was angry that in spite of the fact that she invited my mom to the village we had more customers. We started facing spiritual attacks, robberies, and ultimately lost all the customers. I became rebellious and I would leave the house and not show up for days, going from one village or one farm to another, following masquerades around etc. At a point, one of our neighbors, an auto mechanic convinced my mom to allow me to come to their mechanic village after school hours. So I ended up being an apprentice learning auto and motorcycle mechanics. I would go to the mechanic village each day on foot after school. This was between elementary school 3 and 4. After some time I started asking my mom who my father was. I demanded to see and know him. Luckily, an older family member died and we went for the burial in our hometown where I eventually met my father. I was very happy and decided to live with him. My happiness was short-lived when my father decided to go into farming business. He put me in charge of managing it. We had three farm locations. Each day after school, I would go to work at the nearest farm about 45 minutes walk from town. I would go to the farthest two farms (2hrs and 3 hrs walk respectively) at the weekend. My father used the proceeds to service bank loan repayment I knew nothing about. He didn’t take care of me at all and was using me as a child labour. This happened between elementary school 5 and 6. Throughout my elementary school education I was always topping my class in spite of the challenges except on two occasions when I dropped to number two because all classes were combined. I got admitted to St. Thomas Grammar School, Otan Ayegbaju after my elementary education. My elder brother learnt about the maltreatment and decided to take me away with him from my father. So I re-enrolled at St. Peters African Church Grammar School, Ile-Ife. Things were not easy living with him either as he was also struggling to make ends meet. He was a commercial bus driver but most times worked as a bus conductor. I had no textbooks and found it difficult to pay for my school fees. I struggled to buy exercise books. I would wear the same worn school uniform for many years before I could afford to buy a new one. My shoes were specially made (the soles were carved from old tire tread) to last for a long time. To raise money, I started doing bus conducting to remote villages especially at the weekends by following an uncle who was a bus driver and who was also the owner of the bus. I will beg one of his sons to allow me to follow his dad and in return, I will share whatever money I made with him. I was able to pay my school fees and buy exercise books with the little money I made but I was never able to afford textbooks.
SOURCE:NAIJANEWS
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