The price of blind ambition

There lived a young man named Kelechi in the city of Onitsha. Everyone knew him for his sharp mind and quick thinking. From a very young age, Kelechi has dreamt of becoming rich and famous believing that the key to happiness and respect was wealth.

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Kelechi's father, papa Okafor, was a humble trader who sold goods in Onitsha market, people knew papa Okafor because he was good at what he does, he always sold very nice goods. He had always told Kelechi to be patient and work hard for his success. 'My son, life is not a race', papa Okafor would often say to his son. Do not let your ambition blind you. Success comes with time and honest work.

But Kelechi wasn't interested in what his father was saying. He was tired of living a simple life and waiting for success to come,he wanted more. His best friend, Chibuike shared his dreams. Some evenings the two friends will sit together and be making plans on how to leave Onitsha and make it big in Lagos, the city where dreams supposedly comes true.

One day, Kelechi and Chibuike made up their minds to leave for Lagos. "We can't keep waiting forever", Chibuike said. “If we want to succeed, we have to take action now. Lagos is the land of opportunities. If we don’t go now, we might miss our chance, we will leave on eke market day".

Kelechi agreed, though he knew his father would disagree with him. On eke market day when everyone had gone to the market, Kelechi packed his bags and left for Lagos with his friend, Chibuike. As they got into the bus, Kelechi felt a mix of excitement and fear, he had left his family, friends, his home and everything familiar to him behind. But his friends convinced him that it was worth it for the success he was after.

They didn't know Lagos was not what they imagined. As they got to Lagos, the streets were crowded, there was chaos due to the heavy traffic, and the noise was intense. But Kelechi and Chibuike were determined, they rented a small room and started looking for jobs the following day.

The days began to turn to weeks and the weeks began to turn into months but finding a job wasn't easy. Lagos was full of people like them, everyone was chasing their own dream.
The little money they had saved up started to run out and Kelechi became worried. "Chibuike, what are we going to do? We can't keep living like this",Kelechi said one evening.

Chibuike sighed and replied, "Kelechi, I’ve been thinking. There’s a way we can make quick money. It’s not the kind of job we planned for, but it will get us out of this mess.”

" I don't understand. What do you mean? " asked confused Chibuike.

Chibuike paused, then answered,"there’s a man I met. He says we can make a lot of money through internet fraud. It’s risky, but people do it all the time. We could become rich in no time.”

Kelechi’s heart raced. He knew what Chibuike was suggesting was wrong, but he was desperate. He couldn't bear the thought of returning home empty-handed after abandoning his family. He thought for a while and nodded slowly, 'alright let's do it, I can't go home a failure'.

From that day, Kelechi and Chibuike became involved in internet fraud. They learnt how to scam people online and trick them into sending money for them. At first the money was coming and Kelechi would always send a reasonable amount home to his family, telling his dad that he has found a good paying job in Lagos. His father was proud and happy that his son was doing well.

Deep down inside, Kelechi felt uneasy. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but the desire for wealth blinded him. He started lavishing money on expensive clothes, jewelries, cars and parties,they started living the life they had dreamed of. However, with each passing day, the guilt grew heavier.

One evening, Kelechi and his friend were in their room counting the money they had made from their last scam,there was a loud knock on the door. Before they could do anything, the door was kicked open, and the police stormed in. “You’re under arrest!” one of the officers shouted, as they handcuffed Kelechi and Chibuike.

In the cold, dark cell of the police station, Kelechi felt his world crashing down. All the money, all the lies, had led him to this moment. He thought about his father’s words, “Do not let your ambition blind you,” and realized that he had ignored the warning. Now, he was paying the price. Kelechi had learned a hard lesson. Blind ambition had driven him to make choices that led to his downfall. He had lost everything he once valued in his pursuit of wealth.

From that day on, Kelechi decided to start anew, not with dreams of wealth, but with a desire to live a life of integrity, no matter how simple. He knew it would be a long road to regain his family’s trust and rebuild his life, but he was ready to face it, with open eyes and a heart full of hope.