Every person that is existing and have existed in planet earth have had some experiences relating to the topics presented in the #Weekend community led by 
It all happened in 2007, just two years after I left Highschool. I decided to visit an old friend of mine in Jos-Plateau State, Nigeria, just on a two weeks holiday to help rethink about the next phase of my life since my university admission had not yet come. My visit to Jos-Plateau State brought mix feelings to me that I'll not easily forget in a haste. I met my old Highschool classmates and was perplexed 🤔🤔🤔 about the kind of wealth he possessed just within two years of leaving the Highschool, what's very difficult to achieve in the hardship posed by the Nigerian economy. He was living a comfortable life in Jos-Plateau. In bid to inquire more about him, he told me of his investment in Port Harcourt, where we went to Highschool. Immediately I heard Port Harcourt, I believed it he was God sent and it'll favor me. Once I got back to my friends house, I became curious and at the same time restless asking myself what the problem was that I was not favored to become wealthy like this my classmate. During our meeting he asked me when I'll return to Port Harcourt and told him in a weeks time, so we booked an appointment, he gave me his complementary card to call him once I arrived Port Harcourt.
How it all Started
After arriving Port Harcourt from Jos-Plateau State, I suddenly changed my attitude towards relating with my parents trying to put the blame on them. What was running through my mind was how to become rich in a short while. My mom noticed that I was bordered by something and asked what the problem was and I told her it was nothing that I can't handle. I can't forget that faithful Tuesday afternoon when I visited the office of my Highschool classmates in his Port Harcourt office. I was given the best reception of all times. I immediately felt at home and began to narrate what I'm going through in life in order to attract his sympathy. He promised to help me and as we ended our discussion section he gave me 20,000 naira for transportation. This act of generosity gladdened my heart, before I left we booked an appointment to meet in exactly a week's time. I already felt like a rich man just waiting some confirmation.
The Deceitful Moment Came
Our appointment to meet fell on Tuesday 18 September, 2007 and I was elegantly dressed in my best suit. I cherished that suit a lot and was used for special occasions alone. He immediately told me that he wanted to introduce me to an online business but the problem was that'll add of amount of money in order for me to access the cash. I agreed immediately because of the personality involved being my classmate and told him that my dad's house was available and I could sell it if there's an already buyer. He immediately became more vocal and agreed to bring a buyer in two days time. The house worths about 15 million as at 2007.
The D-day
Immediately I got home I began to search for the house documents and my dad noticed that I was anxious, curious and at the same time restless. He asked me what the matter was but I told him nothing. Being an old man and full of wisdom, he decided to monitor my movements. It didn't take too long I found the documents and was so excited not knowing that he saw everything that had happened. He decided to follow me the next day to the place of exchange. The meeting with the buyer was scheduled for 11am on Thursday 20 September, 2007. My saving grace was my two hours delay. I arrived the venue by 1pm and discovered that the office was locked and I asked someone in the neighborhood is he knew such a person and he told me that they're fraudsters who made use of the property to scam people and that 2 hours ago they were around and where in a haste before they heard that the police was looking for them and they fled the area. That was I was saved.
Learning from the hard way and the lessons
Immediately I got home my dad asked me what I was doing in the Diobu area (the venue of the supposed transaction) and I started crying and explaining to him what had happened. These are his words to me and they're the lessons I learnt from that incident:
- there's no shortcuts to wealth making and there's reward for hardwork and diligence.
- I realized that not all that glitters is gold and not all that are in the street that are genuine people. If my own classmate could defraud me then there's nobody worth trusting completely.
- taking shortcuts to success can be harmful and could lead to ones death.