The Highway Again

The Highway Again

At 2 p.m. I realize that I must get back to the conference in Ile-Ife before traffic gridlock sets in.  I got out of the city no problem.  I was told that the ride to Ile-Ife should take no more than 2.5 hours, but it took 4 hours.  I guess this can happen on the way home from the Hamptons any summer weekend too.  However, everyone is driving in the proper lanes on the LIE, and no one is selling Christmas lights to people in cars at a standstill in traffic.  It’s still beyond me why they sell Christmas lights when the power is out a majority of the time. 

It was during this ride that I received a text from Gbenga with the news that one of the volunteers from the conference had died in a traffic accident on the same road I am travelling.  It was a terribly tragic event that took Gbenga away from the rest of the conference.  I quickly reviewed the advice I received at lunch that if we get into an accident I should run away so that I don’t get arrested or shaken down for a massive bribe.   Fortunately we made it back to Ile-Ife unscathed and with all of my on-hand bribe cash still in my pockets. 

I checked back into the Camaroon.  Still no internet, but at least they gave me soap this time.  I have dinner with Pinka who is a screen writer doing a movie about the life of TV writers, sounding much like “30 Rock” which she had never heard of before.  The lights are going off every 20 to 30 minutes, but I am getting good at not paying attention to it anymore and remaining engrossed in the dinner conversation.  Tonight they give me my kids’ favorite meal, pasta with butter, a plain dish that I welcomed whole-heartedly.  I gave away the fish that accompanied it.  We talked a lot about the American presidential elections.  Many people I met watched the debates and were interested to hear what party I lean toward.    

The Contest

The Contest

The start-up contest was awe-inspiring. The ideas and thoughtfulness were on par with some start-ups I see pitched here in the US.  The ideas ran from cyber crime solutions to tele-medicine initiatives to self-repairing devices to a set of artificial ears that deaf people can use to translate spoken words into text.  The contest had 50 young people presenting ideas and solutions.  The ideas were solving problems for Nigeria, as well as the rest of world.
 My top picks: A medical records system stored on a SIM card, a transportation safety system to alert friends of problems, a few great mobile banking solutions and the voice-to-text conversion system for the deaf.  I look forward to investing and hearing more about these young entrepreneurs in the future.

Heading Home

Heading Home

One of my favorite driving experiences was my trip back to the airport after the event.  I left my hotel 7 hours before my flight for the airport.  We were about 60 miles north of the city so needed extra time to navigate the only highway in Nigeria.  Halfway to the airport we encounter traffic.  So we do what everyone does in Nigeria when they hit traffic, cross the median (which is a steep pit) and then go the wrong way down the highway against traffic. We cruise down for about 3 miles and realize that the traffic is because of an accident in the north-bound lane that we are now on.  It was a very bad accident - probably the most destruction of cars/trucks/buses that I have ever seen.  So now we have to get back on our side of the highway.  The reason that our side of the highway is stopped is because cars and trucks stopped on the northbound side came over to our side and slowed us down.  The embankment is really steep and a few (not just one) trucks flipped over while making the lane change.  Then a few other cars just sort of broke down while slowed down in the traffic.  So with a lot of lane changes we make it around the accident after about an hour delay.  
We get to within 5 miles of the airport (the equivalent of the Triboro heading to Laguardia) and everything stops again.  This is now just the daily commuter traffic.  2.5 hours later the airport is within sight and I get out and run for the terminal to make it to my required check-in time. 

It turns out my ticket was somehow “cancelled”, so I had to get in another line to get a ticket.  I am all set to buy my ticket, but when I give him the credit card he says, “cash only”.  I had to pay 157,000 nir, equivalent to $1,000 in American cash. I fortunately have $1,000 on hand for tips (otherwise known as bribes in the US).  I give it to my host and ask him to get it converted to Nigerian nir.  He runs and comes back with a bag of money.  We hand the money to guy at the counter who is running the operation on 3 cells phones and a laptop computer that was linked to the public wifi, and ask for the ticket.  He gives us the money back and says he is not allowed to take cash from customers.  He calls his supervisor, who is nowhere to be found for about 15 minutes.  Then he comes over and starts counting the 157,000 nir.  He then takes the money and stuffs it in the big backpack he walks around with. 
I get my ticket and go to security.  Surprisingly it was easy to go through security even though I had just purchased a one-way ticket from Nigeria to New York City (flying through Istanbul) one hour before the flight, not checking any bags, and paying cash for the ticket.  I made it to the plane on-time, which doesn't mean anything because it's Africa and nothing is on time.  We leave an hour later, and I arrive safely home with everything intact. 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!

Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up."

Last weekend I ran the New York City Marathon just like I have done many times before. But this time was very different.  I had the chance to spend time with someone whom I think exemplifies one of the most important personal traits - persistence with a never-give-up attitude.

 

About six months ago I challenged my friend Chris Kaag, who is disabled former US Marine and in a wheelchair, to run the NYC marathon.  Chris is very adept in hand crank wheelchair racing; however the rules of the NYC marathon require that you use a "push rim wheelchair" to compete in the wheelchair division, which he had never done in his life. Chris accepted my challenge, so he needed to learn a whole new sport in six months if he was going to compete.  This was about the equivalent of someone learning to ride a bike and then doing the Tour de France six months later.

Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything."
He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive."
As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb.
When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied,
"I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

On one of the earliest training runs that I did with Chris, he could hardly control the chair.  My seven year-old daughter still remembers too vividly how he ran her off the road.  He persevered over the ensuing months and then did what in my eyes is the most important component to success - he showed up at the starting line.  Anybody that gets to the starting line is a winner.  I watched him at the start as he discovered he had brought two left gloves and then rigged them to work (every Marine learns to adapt).  The look of fear on his face made me feel that maybe I pushed him too hard, which is a very unusual thought for me.  But then, the starting gun went off, the racers started up the Verrazano Bridge, and Chris was off in his first wheelchair race.

Henry Ford could not read nor write, failed and went broke five times in business before he succeeded.

R. H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York City caught on.

F. W. Woolworth was not allowed to wait on customers when he worked in a dry goods store because, his boss said, "he didn't have enough sense."

The next three plus hours were Hell for Chris.  He had difficulty accessing his water supply and became dehydrated.  He had trouble working his chair with the rigged gloves.  He was not accustomed to his brand new wheelchair.   Chris exemplifies in this race and in life the never, never, never-give-up attitude.   About 10 years ago he was diagnosed with a horrible disease that has put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  Many would spend the rest of their lives depressed, but not Chris.  His motto "get up and move" is what keeps him on the go every day and encouraging others to do so.

Chris, thanks for inspiring me and others to never give up!

check out this link for other inspirational figures that never gave up --  http://www.brucemuzik.com/blog/inspiring-stories-never-give-up/

--
Nickolas Jekogian
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