Part 3 : Don’t Blame Anyone If You Don’t Succeed in Life -By Tife Owolabi

Before I became a PhD holder, I dropped out of 4 universities, worked without pay, and watched a boy get burnt alive after a mob accused him of kidnapping a Toddler.

That day, I was not looking for a career breakthrough.

I was simply a young cameraman trying to survive.

But the footage I captured would expose a terrible injustice, put my own life in danger, and open the door to journalism.

It would also become part of a much longer struggle — one in which I would abandon schools, lose years to a fraudulent institution, and repeatedly question whether education was truly meant for me.

This is where that journey began.

In 2000, I gained admission into Lagos State Polytechnic to study Business Studies and was supported by my elder brother Lekan Balogun for tuition and other expenses. Feeding was tight and I eventually became the class governor, or HOC, and made friends who became part of my journey through those difficult years.

Getting from Oshodi, where I lived around Kale Close, to the Isolo campus was not easy. But I kept going.

Among the people I met was Olalekan Ogunbowale, who introduced me to his family. The Ogunbowale were such another kind-hearted family. They welcomed me warmly. The relationship has lasted 26years and is still growing. There were also friends like Murphy Alabi, Olaide, popularly known as Dangote, and many others.

At the time, I was already working as a cameraman for a church around Abimbola Industrial Estate, close to the LASPOTECH campus.

I eventually completed my OND.

But I made a decision that would change the direction of my life.

I decided I would not return for HND.

Why?

I was already frustrated by the discrimination between HND and BSc holders in Nigeria. I could see how qualifications were beginning to determine opportunities, regardless of what a person could actually do.

So I left school and took another camera job at CPM headquarters, where I completed a one-year attachment.

I thought I was simply postponing my education.

I didn’t know I was beginning a completely different journey.

I later gained admission to Lagos State University (LASU) to study English and Communications.

But once again, life had other plans.

After resigning from CPM, I decided to work for Global Impact NG as a cameraman without pay.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Without pay.

At that time, I had also become a father. Survival was difficult, but I kept believing that something would eventually come out of the sacrifice for God. A Christ lover. Some people call me Boy-Samuel.

The church trusted me with a small camcorder.

Then one early morning , while still sleeping, I heard a terrifying sound:

“Gbomogbomo!”

Kidnapping and ritual killings were rampant around that period.

I quickly grabbed my camera and went out.

What I captured that day would change my life forever.

A young boy had been accused of kidnapping another toddler.

He insisted he was innocent.

He was taken to the Surulere Stadium area, where he pointed to a woman as his mother.

She denied knowing him.

Then the mob descended on him.

They beat him.

They lynched him.

And eventually, they burnt him alive.

I captured everything.

But I didn’t know that recording that injustice would put my own life in danger.

The tape eventually found its way to Channels Television a leading broadcasting station with several awards.

And then the trouble started.

Part 4 will tell you what happened after that tape was broadcast — how the police came after the perpetrators, how the Surulere community ( Bankolemoh and Shitta ) came after me, and how that one story opened the door to my journalism career.

#Education #Success #Resilience #PersonalGrowth #LifeJourney #PhDJourney

Tife Owolabi,PhD,Anipr
Journalist | Crisis Communication Strategist | Development Studies Scholar

@tifeowolabi