MY FIRST CAR TURNED ME INTO A MECHANIC.
I was 7months pregnant when I decided to add another wahala to my singlehood
Fasten your seatbelts as I take you on a long ride and share the story of my first car with you
I bought my first car in 2017 with N100,000…yes, you heard me right…One hundred thousand Naira pere
Many of my friends told me back then, Joke, you should get a car now to make your movement easier. I knew I needed a car too but most were expensive. They knew our business was and still doing well but what the majority don’t know is I was on small salary, still on salary though.
Many don’t know business money isn’t my money as we inject most of our profits into acquiring more looms(weaving equipment) and majorly on the expansion of the organization.
I eventually joined an à jo and luckily for me, I was told about a car that had been abandoned in one compound for a very long time the same day I collected my weekly thrift.
I went to see the car and bought it. you need to see the happiness on my face that day ehn, I was very excited to get a car for the first time in my life.
Most people laughed at me & my car…me, I didn’t mind them. Many even said it’s below my level…awon alakoba.
The mechanic said we had to fix a few things and the car needed panel fittings as most of the car parts were rusted; you would literally be looking at the floor through the holes from inside.
I sha was able to fix a few things in the following month. I was doing the fixing small small.
The car actually served me out.
Fast forward to when it now started giving me more problems…not that it hasn’t had issues since the beginning but it became worse.
The radiator was so bad that I had plenty of bottles of water in my car or looked for where to get water around as I literally had to put water almost at every 5km. You know one had to hold on to make it cool down a little before opening the radiator.
As if that wasn’t enough, the fuel filter had issues a couple of times that it didn’t pump fuel from the tank. I will be the one to use my mouth to pump the fuel through the hose. I can’t remember how many times I had to sip petrol with my mouth.
Oil issues nko…it was as if the car was drinking oil at the same rate as fuel. Many issues that I can’t finish talking about today.
This car embarrassed me in a lot of places too. People would help push it to the side of the road at times or help to push it to move. This car made me how to yo ese the fun Moto ( where you put gear in neutral and change it while pushing the car).
I had a lot of good memories with this motor and ugly ones too. I had tools in my car as what connects the battery to the car was always checking. The plug area nko.
Anyway, I summoned the courage to let go of my jalopy after 2 years as it was about ki. telling me then. I sold it to people who turned it into scraps for about N80,000 in January 2020 (…exactly 3 years ago)
I returned to motorbikes(Okada) as usual. I also told myself I would not buy such a car again and that I would rather be using my legedez benz (walking) jejely. That car drained me.
A few months later, God provided a brand new car for me by emerging as the National MSME award winner in 2020 in Nigeria. (Photos in slide 3 & 4)
I’m grateful I applied for the MSME award for the 3rd time. Remember, if you do not apply the answer will always be NO.
Do you know I applied for Excellence in Creative Arts but I was nominated for the overall (MSME of the Year) Award instead…the organizers(office of the vice President) told me the idea I presented was way more than what I applied for(God always working behind the scene even when some things don’t add up).
Have you started working on that idea yet? Are you looking for solutions to that/the problem(s) you’ve identified in your community? Keep doing what you are doing in your corner…your community…your country.
Remember, people don’t really care how you do it but let the result speak for you.
If you are at the stage where you need to apply for opportunities to get them, please do. Learn how to apply successfully for opportunities like this.
Some are no longer at the application stage and they get these opportunities through nominations because they’ve already paid the price in the past.
Kindly watch out for opportunities in 2024
I hope this post inspires someone today.
God bless Nigeria and God bless you all.
I remain your #Ibadangirl
Adejoke Lasisi
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