Dear Plantain Seller: We see you after 10 years of hawking 

Dear Plantain Seller,

Aka, ‘I Dey Go O’.

Well done. Keep the business going. You just caught the eyes of the netizens and they are wowed.

Some are proud of you, some are spitting nonsense. Which is normal. The attraction here according to Tayo Odusanya, who made the expository post with your photo, is your look.

They do not imagine a guy like you hawking plantains. Tayo said, “His physique betrays his trade yet very passionate. His likes would have preferred to swindle and blame others for their inadequacy. Companies and government should desist from giving rewards to undeserved beings”.

So there are many with such physique who become immidiate self entitled hulks. But you have taken the challenge and rather than become lazy or worried of how to nail a million naira capital from the air. You have found a gap and persistently delivered on it.

Plantains are one of the most consumable foods around. And the profits thereof is quite decent as well. So why not? There’s nothing wrong selling plantains. Nothing wrong with what you have done for years. One idiot said you are a failure because you have sold it for close to 10 years.

I don’t see it that way. I see passion and consistency. I know well that consistency always leads to prosperity. You could be steadily building your house and the people don’t even know. Anything good takes time to build. For these 10 years you have built trust. You have built an identity. People know you and understand what to get from you.

Much more, you have built a customer base. And the idiot who thinks you are failing is a blind monkey. They are the ones who are quick to have premature growth. They are the unstable types. Today they sell plantain, tomorrow they hear that Keke is the reigning business. The abandon their plantain to do Keke. Few months later Government bans Keke, they move back to selling bread.

So brotherly, I celebrate you. People with vision who are on a mission don’t see the shame people see. They see their dreams and understand their timing. What is wrong with selling plantain? Unless you have another vision. Unless plantain is not selling. If you decide to sell sand, just sell it creatively and most passionately. And this is what you have done.

As a married man you have a wife and kids to feed. Bills don’t care about the shame others see. You are better for your hard work.

When Tayo dropped your photo, immediately people identified you. They vouched for your passion and validated your trade story. That is gold. So I celebrate you.

Yes, agreed, you can diversify, you can grow. But persistency is also a form of growth. And yes we all make mistakes. We learn and move on.

As Ogunwusi Bamidele Segun narrated, she said you once gambled and lost all your money. She said, “He gambled with his money some years ago and lost all the money for his plantain business. He was totally down. At this time, some of his customers, who are mainly working-class women couldn’t get to buy plantain from their customer while the guy was wallowing in regret. One day, God showed up for this guy as one of his numerous customers traced him to where he lives along Thomas Salako Road Ogba and gave him enough capital to restart his business. This is a story of about four or five years ago. I hope he has learnt his lessons.”

Well…

You have gone 5 years straight since then. You mist have learnt your lessons. And one day soon, you will meet smart partners who will invest and you could start selling plantain with an app. Naturally this business will grow.

And for many out there who rather steal or do wicked business to survive should be more ashamed of themselves. You end up selling your soul for nothing.

Your Plantain spotter,

Ediale

#ForTheCulture

PS: I wish to partner with you.