My mother told me I was born in Ibadan. I remember us living in Ile-Ife at the time before we relocated to Ibadan four years later. But she could not have lied, could she? No reason to.

I hold a few memories from Ile-Ife:

1. One day my mother fried bean balls (àkàrà) and placed them in a sieve on a gas cylinder before she went out. Our neighbor, who I don’t remember anything about (not even gender) came in and lured me to join in eating the àkàrà, one after the other till it finished. You can guess how that ended for me on mothers arrival.

Lesson: Don’t let anything /anyone ruin your reputation. They will come and go. You would stay. They are like fart
2. We lived in a duplex, for several years. On the last day of our relocation, while luggage were being arranged in a truck, a snake creeped out of the wall and roamed around. It even crossed over my brother’s leg where he was doing #2. The snake tried to escape. It didn’t.

Lesson: A bad attitude cannot be concealed. It may take a while but it will still come out. Don’t hide it. Just change
3. For the first few years in Ibadan, when asked about my future ambition, the answer was the same. I wanted to be a policeman. I wanted to be like the traffic warden who used to hold my hands and that of my siblings to cross the road to and from school back in Ile-Ife.

Lesson: Do good. It may mean so much more to someone than you may ever know

4. On our last day in school (nursery school), a send-forth party was held. My friend told my mum, “Sanmi sleeps too much. He can even sleep off on the swing). He was right.

Lesson: Live freely. Be at peace with everyone. Don’t tight the world to your chest.

Shalom!