There lived in Gwabi two friends whose names were
Francis and Chukwuma. They were intimate friends and their friendship started
from childhood. These two friends were brought up in the same village where
their friendship began. Their friendship continued after leaving the village
and decided to settle down in Gwabi, these two friends went into the same type
of business of fabricating spare parts for industrial machines.
Francis and Chukwuma were in this business for a long
period of time, struggling very hard to make a living. Though Gwabi was a big
city that was full of opportunities, these two friends toiled daily to eke out
a living. It got to a time in their lives of struggle when they thought that
they were dogged by misfortunes. Hard as they struggled daily to eke out a
living, difficult was it for them to make headway.
‘’I don’t know why we are unlucky, those who started
after us are doing well’’, said Francis. As despondent as Francis was, he
continued to struggle hard with his friend, Chukwuma, serving as a source of
encouragement for him. ‘’don’t be discouraged because I know that our own time
will come’’, Chukwuma always said to his friend and business partner.
The story, that changed the misfortune of one of these
two friends started with Chukwuma’s business trip to Gwandu, a neighbouring
city to Gwabi where he and his friend, Francis were living. Chukwuma had
travelled there to buy some metal scraps with which they would fabricate some
tools in their workshop for a company that had asked them to make the tools for
its factory.
After buying the metal scraps, he ran into Ifeanyi,
another friend of theirs. Ifeanyi had become a successful businessman and he
had just arrived from an overseas trip. Chukwuma narrated the hardship and
difficulty he and his friend, Francis, were passing through in Gwabi. Ifeanyi then
promised to introduce them to a man who helped to give him the opportunity to
break even in his business of selling vehicles.
When Chukwuma got back to Gwabi, he told his friend
how he met Ifeanyi and the promise that he made. Two weeks after Chukwuma and
Francis set out for Gwandu to see Ifeanyi. They went to meet Ifeanyi in his
office through the address he gave them. After entertaining them, he took them
to chief Iberemadu who after listening to them promised to help at least one of
them to travel abroad where he would have the opportunity to stay, depending on
the readiness of any of the two friends to make a good use of the opportunity.
Chief Iberemadu asked them to come back in one week’s time.
On the day that they were to come and see Chief
Iberemadu, Francis woke up early in the morning to wait for his friend,
Chukwuma at their workshop where they had agreed to meet by 5.30am. He waited
for Chukwuma to come for thirty minutes before setting out for Gwandu to see
Chief Iberemadu. Francis got to Chief’s house at 6.45am and the Chief gave him
the document with which he would travel abroad and a cash donation of five
million dollars.
Chukwuma arrived Chief Iberemadu’s house at 8.00am
with Ifeanyi. The Chief welcomed them
and said that he had given all what he intended to give to Francis because he
made use of the opportunity he offered maximally. There was nothing Ifeanyi
could do to make the Chief change his mind to help Chukwuma. He then turned to
him and said that, ‘’the early bird had caught the worm’’.
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