Zero to One: Transitioning over the Conveyor Belt!

Towards the end of my NYSC, I had a call with a former coursemate, during which we discussed life after service. He said, “If I get something tangible here, I might just remain in my deployment state.” I responded, “Well, if people have started from zero in Lagos and made it, I don’t see why our stories should be different.”

That same year, I stumbled on a book that shifted my mindset permanently — “Mindset” by Carol Dweck. One powerful idea stayed with me: rejection doesn’t always reflect failure. If you did everything right and still didn’t get rewarded, maybe the judge, the spectators, or even the employer got it wrong.

For some people like me, with zero connections and stereotyped backgrounds(education, environment, people), following the money can be like completing a puzzle in the dark. One of the big questions is: “How can I get to a place of impact where money flows through, given my uniqueness (not disadvantages)?”

Better put:

A simple answer, ”it is not rocket science” - Raji Fashola’s famous response.

I recall that when I was younger, many were considered to have a brighter future solely based on their educational abilities. I will argue that this is not the case. Similarly, there are people with such promises, based on their uniqueness and inbuilt skills, who are meant to lead their peers regardless of the situation. I have found this to be wrong as well.

Success is not a combination of just one single element, as famously said, most successful people are T-skilled. Exceptionally versed in one thing and mostly average in others.

If you have a great voice, not having a good appearance can hinder your chances of becoming a successful artist. Having the height but not the body build or stamina can reduce your chances of being drafted by a basketball team. Knowing math is not enough if it can’t be applied, and the results of the application are not effectively communicated.

One might think the story of Agba Baller (Asisat Oshoala) or the sprinter Tobi Amusan is a groundbreaking success story, but what we often fail to realize is that their accomplishments, as we know them, were merely them succeeding again. When success is repeated enough, the result is compounded. They did not just start winning at the stage at which we first knew them; they had already won other stages prior. If we had known them from the supposed start, they had succeeded against self-doubt.

During my NYSC programme, I was still a rookie software engineer, fresh out of school with no corporate experience, but I noticed something. Before completing my mechanical engineering program at Laspotech, I worked with one of the industry’s senior professionals, my mentor, and we successfully developed a content management system, similar to WordPress, for a prominent state government in Nigeria.

While working with him, he would narrate the technologies in the late 90s and early 20s, ensuring that I realize the privilege I had with the significant advancement in the very short time(imagine not having git, or GitHub, but code living in Floppy Disks(Diskettes), no SSD), omo… x10^100 ¹. He would often say to me “you should have a better career than I have, as you are starting with way more than I had.” These discussions made me realize we are all on a conveyor belt in this thing called life.

While growing up in the early 20s, my dad would narrate how the Apapa Port had lost its glory days. The European Quarters, a 30-minute walk from our home, was a multicultural “big man” settlement, and he would share stories of Folawiyo Towers as we gazed through its lights in the evenings on our way home from the madrasah - Arabic school.

He would share with me memories of how easy it was as a youth to take a night stroll at the Marina in the Lagos Island. When he took us to the beach, he shared stories about the racecourse, what it was meant for, and narrated the games that had happened at the Onikan Stadium. I was still a child at this point, around 2005-2006.

My Dad would continue with the stories of how his father moved around the southwestern part of Nigeria as a farmer. How his childhood shaped who he became, the lessons he learnt growing up, and how we can navigate similar experiences if we encounter them. Unknowingly to him, all that I realized at that point was a boy who has grown to be a man - now I am the man, married, while my dad is old with grandchildren.

Just as my mentor shared his early career with me, so did my father, and the same was true of my many teachers; everyone I knew was once what I was or a little bit different(an innocent child). I followed my path, which is similar to some of theirs. They all grew to become something else that I didn’t know, and now narrate how they did what I am currently doing - adulthood! I think I have to infer old age, as they might be dead by that time.

It’s all a manufacturing line, with a conveyor belt transferring us to the next processing stage based on the qualities we’ve garnered from the previous stages.

A Yoruba adage says:

“You don’t become a (specific)height just by growing taller in a single day.”

My mentor is now a Manager at a major tech-enabled company in Nigeria, and any company in the world would be fortunate to have him on board. My dad has grown older and is now the Imam of his entire street. And me, following their paths, just where they were at my current stage, with a bit of steeze and a lot of cappings.

After my NYSC, I chose who I wanted to fit their shoes once they no longer fit them based on my disadvantages (qualities). And all I have been doing is more of what they did exactly to get to where they are; it’s not rocket science. I don’t have to end up at their exact position or company; something similar is very okay.

All these are emphases; there is so much to be done from a humble place. Starting small doesn’t always mean ending small. How would you have become a manager at NNPCL if you had not worked closely with the kind of people you were to manage? Even if not at NNPCL, how can you be a supervisor if you have not been supervised or done something related? Mind you, some people are naturally born managers, their uniqueness, aye!

Internships are a great way to learn how an industry operates; they let you make mistakes and give you experienced people at arm’s length. Some paid positions are similar to paid internships. Still, without a supervisor or senior, you are solely responsible for the mistakes that occur – tell me how paying a full-time swe NGN70,000 is supposed to be a job.

And just like a production line, some items in the line perform well at the current stage. For others, the machine might be overheating or overpowered, the materials might be of poor quality or exposed to moisture, or the belt might be contaminated. Hence, they fall off the line due to quality assurance and are reprocessed. It might take more time to replace the person you look up to, and that is completely fine!

This also doesn’t mean you are modelling your life against someone else’s. My dad doesn’t write code, my mentor doesn’t teach Arabic and Islam, and my other teachers don’t possess the same skills as these two - they have special knowledge or traits unique to them.

I write code, and I don’t teach Arabic, I have lived in ways very different from what they had. I have no farming experience, had a way more challenging childhood than my Dad could narrate, and a far enjoyable career than my mentor, so far. But looking back, I could have felt, was this possible, at all?

To some, backgrounds, education, and networks are a disadvantage, and yes, how you start determines how you end, but that does not mean that every child from the gutters of Ajegunle can go on to rule the world, nope. This suggests that, despite the quirks that come with every human being, there is a forward path for our lives. And who knows, one of the forward paths could be a place of impact? Great things can happen from a disadvantaged place, aye?

And again, going from a lowball experience directly to a more impactful one does not just happen. You have to be willing to give what you look forward to requires, and if not more, remember that the kind of life you aspire to is the prayer point of many people, including you!

No be only you like better thing!

No one has a complete disadvantage; your uniqueness positions you for what you should do, right now, and what you could do in the future. You could have an average face and a good voice, making you a suitable candidate for a voiceover artist job. You could hate the crowd, but it’s a good fit as a backup singer? You could be short with good stamina, a good athlete for a particular sport, but not basketball?

Find a vacant position that fits you perfectly, even if you have no prior experience – this reduces extraneous requirements. Rinse and repeat until the end of your career, and possibly, your life.

When considered deeply, no one is disadvantaged.