I woke up this morning at my own pace—when I wanted to wake up, where I wanted to wake up. I am not owing any bank. I am not owing any individual. I am not a billionaire. In fact, I am not a rich man. I don’t have any pressure to go out and work for money. I am not under pressure to achieve anything today. I am not under pressure to impress anybody.
In fact, I wanted to take a walk to where they are constructing a flyover at Otuoke. I am not under pressure to impress any person. The reality is that I don’t really care who is ruling Nigeria, because before Nigeria suffocates me, the person ruling will be more suffocated, no matter what he owns.
I detached my mind from what is designed, described, and accepted as success. For me, success is living the life you have always wanted to live while contributing to society, and not being under pressure for society to give to you or to take from society.
Life, for me, is sustainability. You see these plantains behind me? The sun gives them energy. They take the waste products of our existence, which is carbon dioxide, convert it to carbohydrates, and we eat those carbohydrates. We gain weight, then we exercise, burn fat, release more carbon dioxide, and they produce more food for us. Sustainability.
How sustainable is what you are doing? You are a president—how long will you stay there? You are a commissioner—how long will you stay there? You are working for somebody—how sustainable is it? You are living a lifestyle of grandiosity—how sustainable is it?
I live on the barest minimum. As at now, I eat only one meal a day, and I have not taken medication for my blood pressure for more than one month. I wear what I want to wear. I am not under pressure from any association. Apart from Government College Old Boys’ Association, I don’t belong to any group where I must dress a certain way, contribute money at a certain time, or be present at specific events.
Freedom. Freedom to live my life in my own space, at my own pace. Freedom to determine my values. Freedom to decide where I need to be and where I don’t need to be.
I told myself recently that if I made any vows to people and I am finding it difficult to fulfil them, I will tell them the truth: “This is what I can pay. Leave me alone. Don’t put me under pressure.”
I have told my children and those close to me that if I leave this life now—though I believe I will live long, because this one-meal routine is helping me—I have done my best. I exercised this morning. I have not taken my bath yet—freedom not to take my bath before doing this video. When I leave here, I will take my bath, drink cinnamon tea, and I won’t eat until about 3:00 p.m.
It is my life, and I am living it. I don’t need to impress you. I don’t need your validation. Your opinion is not that important in what I am doing. I am stating the truth, and I am free because I know the truth. If you are angry about the truth, that is your business.
Somebody asked me, “Is that not too much wisdom for one man?” No—that is why I am sharing it. It is my contribution to humanity and to society.
It is not what I own that has made me who I am. It is the process of doing the things I have done that has made me who I am. Don’t just look at the income you will generate—look at who you will become.
The avocado I have here, even the plantain—it is not the eating of it that gives me fulfilment. It is the fact that I picked eight plantain suckers from a refuse bin where they were dumped, near where the Vitaphone building is now. I received two from a friend. I brought some bananas from Okigwe. Reverend Bishop (of blessed memory) gave me some. I brought some from Arochukwu.
These small things I gathered have grown into this. There was a time I sold plantain suckers worth ₦100,000 from here and within my school compound. From leftovers of a species somebody brought during a lecture, I cultivated something meaningful.
The joy I have is that waste products—what people threw away—have been converted into something useful. I will go and visit my professor who has a machine that can turn these stems into yarn. Imagine turning stems into yarn that people can use—that is fulfilment for me.
So, what are you leaving behind? Have you really discovered yourself? Or are you still pursuing size, structures, and comparisons? No. Discover yourself. Live the life you have chosen—the life God has designed for you or the one you have chosen for yourself—without harming humanity.
God bless you.
