Uncle Sam Was Lucky (Cynthia Osokogu)

To the business savvy young Nigerian. You are energetic and very ambitious. You have a few successful ventures up your sleeve. Your parents are strict disciplinarians but you are very rebellious. You are naive and  you see almost everything around you as a business opportunity. You desperately want to prove your self, then you start taking silly risk without knowing it, thinking you are working hard.

What happened to Cynthia Osokogu has happened to Uncle Sam before. A neighbour and close family friend (Brother Saamu) like we use to call him was also in his early twenties, a business minded part-time student, Thought he knew everything he needed to know about business because he has been successful running his dad's real estate and I.T business.

They approached him and shared this very wonderful business idea with him. I Think they thought he was very rich because some of the money he got from the business centre and  commissions gotten from sold properties were used for expensive suits and shoes and his dad gave him a car to drive around, being an average Nigerian family. So, he was invited to Ibadan with all expense paid. All entreaties not to travel fell on deaf ears, all he saw was an opportunity to prove himself. He sneaked all the way to Ibadan from Jos despite strong objections from his Dad.


They lodged him in a hotel, drove him around Ibadan but one thing was missing, the cash, thank god he did not have access to his father's money. He went there with the little money he had at that time to negotiate for more time and show seriousness. then he gave them what he came with, about #90,000. They told him to go get the rest of the money and the left the hotel. He has not seen them till today. He was in the hotel room with 4 men he did not know, in a city where he knew no one, anything could have happened to him.

My point is this, as long as you are a young successful ambitious business owner, they see you, they will come for you and they will try you. Most of us lose just our money, pride and drive but some lose everything and life. Guess the likes of Uncle Sam, Monsor, and Brother Bashiru are lucky. Rest in Peace Cynthia.
May God grant your family the fortitude to bear the loss.