29/01/2026
I woke up around 3 AM last night and Samuel was on my mind. How many millions of people like him are scattered all over our country? He is 19 this year. When Adebayo interviewed him, he said he learned tiling in 2017. He was around 10 years old. Let that sink in!
At 10, he wanted to survive. School was not an option because his family was poor, but he submitted himself to a trainer to learn how to fix tiles in buildings and make money. At 10!
Yet, we make excuses for the failure of our leaders to secure the future of young people in this generation. Samuel was a boy, but he had the heart of a man. He never gave in to the pressures of his environment to join gangs, smoke or involve himself in running after cars begging for money on Lagos streets. A teen!
When he couldn't pay for freedom after learning tiling, he quietly followed his friend to a site where he collected rubber and scrap to sell. This was a choice he made. He could've gone to HK and learned how to "press laptop." He had a choice, even in poverty, to decide which way he wanted his life to go. A teen!
He picked the road not taken. He picked the hard and rough path and that has made all the difference. Samuel was a noble man. He has earned the title of a man now because he is mentally, emotionally, physically, psychologically and spiritually more mature than so many people.
His mother's prayers and his resolve to fight for his life paid off. Now he can pay for his freedom, take jobs as a tiler and slowly begin to fix his life. Above all, his show of gratitude was exemplary. Gratitude is a must!
As a society, we need to look at ourselves hard and ask the hard question: do we want 10 year olds in school learning or on the streets?
Let our politicians reflect on this story as they milk our commonwealth and lavish it on frivolities. Those actions have real life consequences for people like Samuel.
This is not how to live life. How many people will have the opportunity to be discovered on social media like this? This is not the way we want to take care of our young people.
To everyone in poverty now, I am sorry. Given the environment of your birth, sometimes you can begin life in very difficult circumstances.
