25/08/2025
“They Called Me Worthless — But I Became the Woman Whose Name Fed Generations.”
Written by RosyWorld CRN
I was born in 1991 in a mud house in Ebonyi State, and my arrival into this world was not celebrated — it was mourned. My father wanted a son, but when the midwife whispered, “It’s a girl,” his face turned bitter. From that day, I was the child who was considered “extra.” My mother tried to shield me with her love, but her hands were tied by poverty and sorrow. By the age of five, I already knew what rejection felt like. My brothers ate meat while I was left with watery soup. My father never called me by my name — only “this girl.”
Hunger was my first teacher. At seven, I hawked akara before school, balancing a tray bigger than my head. Some mocked me, others pushed me into gutters just to laugh at me crying. One day, a boy from my class shouted in front of everyone: “Who will marry a girl that smells like fried oil?” The whole street roared with laughter. I ran home and threw the tray down, but my mother lifted my chin and said, “Even oil that smells feeds nations. One day, you will understand.”
Despite rejection, I loved books. I borrowed tattered novels and old newspapers, and words became my escape. At thirteen, I promised myself that I would not die poor. When I passed my exams brilliantly, my father tore my result sheet in rage. “School is for sons, not useless girls!” he barked. That night, I nearly gave up on life, but a whisper inside me said, Hold on.
At seventeen, after my mother died of an illness we couldn’t afford to treat, I knew I couldn’t stay anymore. With only ₦200 hidden in my wrapper, I boarded a night bus to Lagos. I slept under bridges, eating scraps from dustbins, until one night Mama Nkechi, a food seller, caught me stealing leftover rice. Instead of beating me, she said, “If hunger has humbled you this much, come and work with me.” That was my first miracle.
Working with her, I learned the secrets of cooking in bulk. I discovered the art of seasoning, how to stretch little into much, and how to make food speak to the soul. Soon, her customers started asking, “Who cooked today? This food tastes different!” When she proudly pointed at me and said, “My daughter,” something in my broken spirit healed.
With her blessing, I saved ₦1,500 and started my own roadside rice stand. My stove was second-hand, my pot borrowed. The first day, I sold only one plate, but I smiled at that one customer as though they were a king. By the third week, I was selling ten plates a day. By the second month, people traveled from far just to taste my food. But success attracts enemies. Area boys demanded “settlement.” When I refused, they overturned my entire pot of rice into the gutter. I fell to my knees as my sweat and hope poured away, but I remembered my mother’s voice: The stone the builders rejected can still become the cornerstone. I borrowed again and started afresh.
Ten years later, the same girl mocked for smelling like fried oil owned one of the largest food processing companies in Nigeria. From rice mills to packaged spices, my products entered homes I had never even stepped into. Children chanted my brand name in schools, mothers prayed for me in kitchens, and investors bowed to shake my hand. And the same father who once called me useless now sits in my mansion, tears flowing, whispering, “Nne, forgive me. You are the light of this family.”
I smiled — not with bitterness, but with grace. Because the girl they called worthless became the woman whose name fed generations.
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✨ TO BE CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS
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