DATA MADE ME

#True life story

You read well when I said, 'Data made me.' My journey in life, the recognition, and the level of success I have attained all started with a 500MB subscription 5 years ago.

I have wanted to tell this story for years, and I believe this is the right time to do so. I believe that when next you come across my website www.dataguy.com.ng, you'll know why it was established.

After graduating from the Polytechnic of Osun State, where I studied Urban and Regional Planning, I felt completely empty. It dawned on me that I had zero passion for the course I studied and reflected back on why I chose to study the course. The desperation to be in school overshadowed my sense of reasoning.

Three years down the drain, and here I was staring at life like a complete failure. My heart yearned to go back to school to pursue my passion in theatre and media art, but how do I achieve this?

I met with my mum and discussed with her concerning my newfound desire, which I knew would be trampled on at the mention of it, but as God will have it, she agreed.

'I had never been in support of you going to a polytechnic in the first place. I guess God has answered my prayer,' this was my typically African mum strongly behind me.

My father was going to be carried along, but for now, we felt we should gather enough evidence to prove my seriousness.

When I meant evidence, I meant I had to go back to secondary school with a fully grown beard to sit for Neco, as I had no Art related secondary school certificate.

I sincerely don’t know if it was madness or passion, but I remembered seat in a class with an undersized uniform crowded by toddlers in grown bodies, all in the name of a certificate.

Three months after the exam, I made all my papers. Evidence number one was ready. Jamb was forthcoming, and I was a step towards the vision I had conceived for years, locked away in my bone marrows.

I dreaded Jamb, having written one earlier, which barely got me into a polytechnic even after reading my ass out.

This time I prepared harder. It was me and my books. I had read all the past questions and textbooks for the fourth time before I had any sense of assurance I was ready to face Jamb. Things couldn’t go wrong, I thought until something happened.

During the time I filled in for Jamb application, I accidentally picked a location that had no single house apartment in the entire village. The only building available was the school I was to write Jamb and a police station.

I and my mum came a day before the exam and were stuck with nowhere to spend the night. To cut the long story short, we begged the police station to give us an empty cell.

I talked with the DPO who gave his office to my mum while I slept in the cell going through my books for the last time. I was in jail for passion's sake, an experience I would never forget.

I could barely sleep. Everything said concerning a police cell was true. The mosquitoes, the smell, the teasing from other inmates from other cells were true.

I decided to go through my phone when I came across a website that sells cheap data. I tried buying data from the site. And just as I finished doing so, I was redirected to a site which says for Jamb Students only.

I clicked on the ad out of curiosity. Lo and behold, it was a site with what I thought were Jamb past questions. I went through them, after all, I had nothing to lose.

The next day I was up by 5 am, ready to meet Jamb face to face. Time was slow, and I was getting really impatient. The exam was scheduled for 7 am, and soon I was on my way to the hall waving at my mum who had prayed down heaven for me.

I got into the hall of countless computer systems and carefully picked the one I thought was faultless. I made a brief prayer and started the exam. I was stricken by how similar the questions I saw are with the ones I read on the redirected Jamb past questions platform. It was word for word and letter for letter. I smiled and proceeded.

15 minutes into the exam, my computer system shutdown. I was assisted with another computer which also shutdown. I had wasted so much time and had so many questions to be answered. Luckily, I was given another computer that didn’t shut down like the rest.

I hurriedly answered the questions and proceeded to submit. I clicked on the submit button 12 times but no response. Then the computer shutdown again. This time, the exam was over.

I didn’t submit. I was so certain I had failed Jamb after all I had been through. How could I tell my mum I was unable to shut down? How?

I bore anxiety and fear all through the time I waited for Jamb results and at some point I lost every hope. When those I know who wrote Jamb were checking their results, I sat back at home preparing for next year's Jamb.

I had planned to tell my mum I had failed without checking the results when a friend brought a printout of my results. He had it printed out on my behalf.

Lo and behold. I had 252, a score I never dreamt of. My joy knew no bounds. Evidence number 2 was available.

It’s been almost two years since I graduated. I had 10 awards in my name. 1 produced movie and 4 written to be produced, 7 books. 'A man with no God' that got me massages accreditation among many.

Then I created an affordable data plan website as a reminder of how I got here. If 500MB could change my life, I think it could change yours too.

Patronize me.😃😃

TO BE CONTINUED.

EddyPaul."