Hello, beautiful people! Welcome to my blog. It's a pleasure to have you in this space. Once again, welcome š¤
There are some opportunities in this life that are fleeting and irreversible; once you miss them, they might never return to you again, while some would take a long time for such opportunities to arise again. It's very important to seize the right moment when opportunity presents itself to you.
For a very long time I had dreamt of going into agriculture big time; many times I imagine myself owning a big farmland.
So while I was thinking and planning on what I was going to do with my life after my national youth service corps (NYSC) in 2017. An idea came to me to make an inquiry about farming in the state I was in. I started asking questions about what they farm more in the state, what I needed to do, how to get land, and how to store and sell it after harvesting.
After doing all this research, the next step was to look for land on lease. I spoke to the principal of the school I was teaching because the school had large land that they were not using, and he said he was going to lease a hectare of land to me for 10,000 naira. I was so shocked because it was way too cheap. We made an agreement on when I would pay for the land.
A few days later, a friend called me to say that he spoke to someone who is willing to give me more than two hectares of land to farm on, but it's just for that farming season. I was so excited that I couldn't believe it, and he went on to say that the man even has fish ponds on the lands that he no longer uses.
I couldn't contain my joy; it was as if things were working out well for me, and I told him I would also rear fish. I told him he was going to teach me everything I needed to know about fish rearing since his family was rearing fish on a large scale.
The only problem then was now finance, because the money I had was not going to be enough for me, and I didn't want to start farming without having enough money. While I was thinking on how to get money, I remembered there's this signboard I used to see anytime I was going to my CDS (Community Development Service) on supporting small farmers.
I made inquiries on it, and I was told they sell and rent farming stuff at a cheap rate, and they also loan money to farmers.
I went to their office to make further inquiries to be sure what I heard was true. And I also asked what procedure I needed to follow if I needed their help and support. I was told to come back the next day as the person in charge was not around.
Out of excitement, I called to tell my mom that I wouldn't be coming back immediately after NYSC. I explained everything to her; she didn't allow me to land before she told me she wasn't in Support. That I should come back home, her reason being that where I am is too far, and she's not comfortable with the news of tribal fights and killings in the state. She also promised to get a land for me.
That was how that opportunity passed me by, and my mom didn't get any land for me.
Though my mom did that out of her love and safety for my life, sometimes we shouldn't allow fear of the unknown to hold us back. Some opportunities have an expiration date.
THANK YOU FOR READING TO THE END š¤