There Was A Time....

There was a time when I was younger I had believed I was the smartest person in Nigeria.... or at least the most prolific in the English Language. I had been surrounded by a lot of people in the urban area that time, and had just recently returned from the United States.

I thought I was the bomb. A genius maybe. Ok, maybe I didn't have a secret basement laboratory to chase my older sister(s) out of, or a huge giant sized (hypertrophied) brain bobbing up and down everywhere I went, or even some kind of red and gold metal semi-robotic suit.

I, just like many of you, felt on top of the world then. I was unstoppable. I was still high on dreams....




I saw myself as a genius. Of course I quickly learnt how much of a delusion that really was when I got my first semester result from JSS1. Quite a shocker really. I didn't fail or anything, but the position I got was so far from genius that the very intangible molecular structure of my dreams was not just broken but shattered and blown off in the wind.

I was left with powdered dreams when reality dawned on me. I grew up a little bit then.

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There was a time when I was younger I hacked two mtn modems and sim cards, not just allowing me to use any network sim card on the modem, but also giving me unlimited internet access on the mtn network. Till this day I have no full idea on HOW I hacked those modems to get that effect. Not just once, but TWICE. I and my brother downloaded all sorts of stuff, both the useless and the useful software and games and movies that we could get across. We even got bored at a time and asked "What else is there to download?"

I took one modem to school and kept on with my acts. I even "rented" out my modem to a friend for a price. One Hollandia a day for using the modem, I was living the life. The good life. My justification was that "after all the stealing mtn had done to me, this was my payback." What could it hurt? It was just data right? A friend of mine, Raji Timi, told me something that stuck in my subconscious - He said stealing is stealing, as far as I did not pay for it, and as far as I knew that the owners of the company would not like my actions, then it was wrong.

This thought prodded and poked at my subconscious for a time without end. I finally worked up the courage to ask an externally invited pastor after service one day on his thoughts on it. I may not remember his exact words that day, but he told me that as far as I felt it was wrong, and that there was no moral logic to justify what I was doing as legal or right, then I need to stop.

With regret, I unhacked the modem and bought all the drinks my friend had given me and "repaid" him, Till this day I have no idea on anyway how I will be able to reimburse mtn, if I even need to, and whether I'll even be able to. A lot of people may laugh at this, but it's a personal choice of mine, It eases my conscience. It feels like the right thing to do.

One day when I had returned home, I asked my father for some money to buy a data plan. He was shocked. He said he thought I hacked my modem and had free internet. I then explained that I no longer felt comfortable with it because it was stealing. He didn't say much of anything after that just a "Hmm" and later went away. I later found out one day what he really thought about it when he said he was proud of me. That because of that, in the future, no matter what anybody says, that he can boldly say that he knows his son is not a thief.

That one statement filled me with such pride that i was quite almost literally levitating off the ground. After that, I never, even till this day, ever felt any regret on unhacking my modem. I grew up a little more then.


When we were all children, there were times in our lives when we thought something or dreamt something before it all changed and we grew up. Maybe we wanted to be racecar drivers, engineers, musicians, superheroes even. Those times may have passed on, but the feelings and memories should not. Those times are the foundations of our NOW. If you have any of those funny or sad or learning experiences you'd like to share, tell us below....

#ThereWasATime ...


Thanks for reading...
Love, Stars and Jam