Thread by @GbengaWemimo

He was one of those guys
Who could sell salt to the sea
Once he met a man driving a blue Benz 200
They had a chat, a short chat
He sold the man a white Benz 200
Funny thing he wasn't a car salesman
He was a teacher
The man paid him upfront
To buy and deliver the car

Once he was walking towards a concert
Fela's concert
A man approached him
'Hello sir, I want a ticket to the concert
Two tickets actually
For me and my girlfriend
Can you assist?'
The show had sold out
He got his magic wand out
Convinced the bouncers the man was a VIP
He was good

He was a teacher barely making ends meet
His Father was a Cocoa seller
Determined his son must wear a shirt and tie
He was miserable at teaching
But he must honour his father
Marketing was his gift
He felt stuck
Living a lie to please his Father
Ignorance cannot dream

He refused to marry
Even when he was of age
His parents found him beautiful damsels
The best their influence could buy
He is an 'AKOWE'
One of the few educated ones
No woman would dare say no to him
What is your problem? Demanded his mother
What is your stress? Barked his Father

It became a riot
His father's friends children were marrying
His Mother's friend's children having babies
He remained alone
It was a marketing strategy
His Father summoned him
He went to the village
All his kith and kin were present
It had gotten to a head
Resolution time

His Father spoke first
He ranted and raved
What else can a Father do?
He was an ingrate
The city has changed him
Blah Blah Blah Blah
His mother cried
Tell us if you are not a man
Is that thing working at all?
I mean your thing
There is a solution, if you let us in
He watched

He greeted the elders
I had a dream, he said
My great grandfather came to me
He gave me a calabash of water
He said 'Drink', I drank
He took my hand
Showed me a lot of goods
Sell, he said, sell!
I woke up, I told my Father
'Akowe', 'Akowe' was his cry
My grandfather is not happy

The gathering fell silent
He was the only educated one among them
The pride of the entire village
Their compound had been renamed Akowe's compound
Because of his enlightened status
What is he saying?
What are you saying? They asked
'I will marry, but not while I am a teacher'

It was unheard of
A son blackmailing the entire community
Giving conditions to his parents
This is Africa
Wisdom and direction belong to the elders
What does a child know?
His father felt insulted
His mother was outraged
He said their mouth is smelling
He shamed them
Shame!!!!

It took seven days
His father called another meeting
So what do you want to do?
I met a man,in the city
He has a deal with a Tyre company
He had been given distributorship licence
For Tyres in the South-west
He has asked me to work with him
He will be my partner
I will sell Tyres

So you will not even sell Cocoa?
Your grandfather sold Cocoa
He taught me the cocoa business
If he wanted you to sell something
Wouldn't it make sense that you sell cocoa
Your grandfather didn't even know what a Tyre is
How can he tell you to leave Akowe job
And sell tyres?

It was a tug of war
Will you marry once I give my go ahead?
He looked at his mother
She nodded
He had told his mother about his woman
She had been making arrangements in the background
I will marry sir
Very well, I release you to do what you desire
He knelt
They prayed for him

That was the greatest sale of his life
Selling his own dream and vision
To an entire community
In exchange for their own vanity and pride
And they bought it
He sold tyres
Became a multi-millionaire
Had many sons and daughters
He dared to live his dream
Dare to live your dream!