It all started just like yesterday. Almost 17.5 years ago. I had been deported back to Nigeria by the American government for committing a felony. My dad came to the international Airport in Lagos to pick me with his new official car: a BMW 315i. The out-of-this-world experience I had while enroute home in that car seemed like an oxymoron when you considered the scenarios that presceded that moment. But I was hooked. I was hooked unto the lofty dream that one day, a BMW 750i would be mine.

Fast forward to January 2019. I had been car-less for over 2 years. I had recently been through what seemed like an endless valley of the shadow of death for 2 years. And so it was while walking to the nearest bus stop to my church to go back home, I prayed from the depths of my heart: GOD YOU KNOW IT’S ABOUT TIME I DESERVE THAT BMW 750i.

If you had seen me that day, you would have thought I was talking to myself like one who was almost about to lose it mentally. I felt somehow that the way the things in my life were turning was not fair. I felt I had been working like an elephant and eating like an ant. I felt I had been lied to by that messenger God sent to me in November 2018 to tell me that HE will soon give me a break through and that I should start to give Him praise for what He has done for me. I felt that….. I felt weary. And so I prayed that the manifestation of my dream BMW 750i should show up just so that I will be sure God still loved me. It seemed like a myopic prayer but I prayed it anyway.

I think HE heard me that day. I think HE felt my frustration. I think HE sat down with me at the bus stop that day and just watched me as I ate Gala and Zobo while staring for 13 mins at the multitude of people that were rushing for buses to their destinations in life. And so HE decided to give me one of my first surprises in 2019.

It’s been 2 months now. 2 months since I got an interesting answer to that heartfelt prayer. It happened on a Sunday afternoon on what may seem to be the same route home. Twas a day I probably will not forget in a hurry. February 10, 2019. I got a message from one of the creditors I’m indebted to. All I could see in the 50-words message was come & pick it up. I parked my legedis Benz and started crying. The tears seemed to come from the depths of my soul. Twas as if someone was peeling onions in Port Harcourt & I was feeling the effect in Lagos.

Come to think of it, what type of person is this PERSONALITY sef. How can HE use someone you’re still indebted to to give you a gift you can’t afford. How? I mean, who does that? I must have read the message again about 356 times. The tears won’t stop. And that was how I became the owner of an Acura MDX. When asked when I can pick up the car, sorry Jeep, sorry SUV, I wanted to be sure the person was sure about the decision so I told the person I would pick it up 4 weeks later. I mean, how can someone give you a gift and you would delay in receiving it. To me it seemed too good to be true. Especially when one of my proverbial mantras in life was IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY ISN’T TRUE. Well, this one was definitely TRUE. OverTRUE dey worry am sef.

I eventually picked up my new ride 3 weeks later and had different thoughts flying through my mental faculties while driving the beast home. WHAT WILL PEOPLE THINK? WHAT WILL SOME OF MY CREDITORS THINK WHEN THEY SEE ME IN THIS ACURA MDX? WILL THEY THINK I’VE MADE MONEY AND REFUSE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THEM? WHAT WILL MY FELLOW PHOTOGRAPHERS THINK? WILL THEY THINK I’VE SIGNED ANOTHER DEAL WITH CANON & REFUSE TO SHOW THEM HOW I HAMMERED? The questions were seemingly endless. And I realized momentarily that it wasn’t mentally right to be worried about what people thought when a well-deserved blessing hits you.

And so while thanking the God that turned my prayer request of a BMW 750i into an answered prayer in the form of an Acura MDX, I just had to ask HIM: BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT I ASKED FOR. That seemed like a funny statement to be making towards the most powerful PERSONALITY in the known & unknown universe. The statement was in my mind for a few weeks before I eventually got what seemed like a response: BUT YOU DON’T HAVE A DRIVER’S LICENCE.

I was humbled. I realized the meaning of the answer that I heard from the depths of my heart. Truth be told, very very few people know that my driver’s license had expired about 7 years ago. Yes, 7 years ago. I’ve been caught by the authorities about twice and offered bribe to get myself out of the situations. I was driving in Nigeria without a driver’s license and this could be the reason that my dream BMW 750i had not arrived? Truth be told, how would it look like if you were stopped by the authorities in a $100,000 vehicle only to discover that you had not been licensed by the government of the land to even be driving at all. It would not look good in any mathematical formula you choose to analyse that moment.

And so I repented of my sins when I realized that many times, I’m the reason why the manifestation of my heart desires seems to be delayed. Many times, I do not yet have the MATURITY license to handle the answers to my prayers. And so the answers get delayed until I’m licensed to manage it effectively.

I’ve also learnt that sometimes before the main answer to our prayers arrives, we’re put in situations that will help us effectively grow into the person that will effectively manage the answer to the prayers. I’ve been using the Acura MDX for a month+ now and I realize that what it takes to maintain that machine isn’t a joke at all. When you’re using a vehicle whose monthly fuel allowance is the salary of many Nigerians, you better be sure you can handle such breakthrough otherwise the breakthrough may break you. I got the understanding of what it will take to manage the more expensive BMW 750i and I realize that I had to grow into that person that can afford the maintainance of that blessing.

It’s been about 2 months now that my dream BMW 750i became an Acura MDX and I’ve learnt so many life lessons therein. I’ve began (or is it begun? Pls help me out, my linguistic people) the process for my LICENSE and hope that the road safety officer reading this piece will not arrest me when next he sees me on the road for not having a LICENSE. Either way, I’m now a firmer believer that though the fulfillment of our dreams may tarry, they will arrive at the right time that we’re LICENSED to effectively handle them. Now I know undoubtedly that though an Acura MDX is here temporarily, my dream of one day owning a BMW 750i is closer to being a reality than ever before. If you like be reading this and be thinking that I’m materialistic, just leave me and my dreams alone and go and dream your own dream.

The END

Oh, lest I forget. In case you’re not aware, I’m the author of a book that will help you avoid the 2.4 million entrepreneurial mistakes I’ve made in my last 2 decades of running different businesses on two continents. I’ve packaged the lessons to learn from my successes and mistakes in a book titled TEARS OF A HUNGRY NIGERIAN ENTREPRENEUR. Costs N4,000 and you can contact me for your copy or order yours on Konga.com or Amazon.com or any other online retailer. Thanks.

THE END END

#seunakisanmi