Chinedu had always believed that his village was too small for his dreams.
Chinedu was born and brought up in umuorie, it is a small village which have narrow roads that is not motorable filled with alot of palm trees. Almost everyone knew everyone. If a child sneezed in one compound, someone in another compound would hear about it before evening.
Chinedu mother sells by the road side while his father's occupation is farming. Even with all this chinedu never accepted that his family background is poor. He had food to eat, a roof over his head, and parents who worked hard to support him.
Still, he wanted more.
Chinedu often tells his friend Obinna nothing good is going to come out from this village.
When Chinedu was done with his secondary school, one afternoon he arranged his little clothes into a small bag.
His mother watched him carefully.
“Where are you going?”
“Lagos,” he replied.
“What will you do there?”
Chinedu replied “when I get to Lagos i will find a job.”
His father said to him, “My son, wherever you go, remember that success takes time.”
Chinedu smiled.
“I know, Papa. But I cannot waste my life here.”
He left the next morning.
When he got to Lagos, he got his first job in a phone accessories store even though the pay was small, but he was still happy with the new job. He imagined himself becoming a successful businessman within a year.
But after six months, he heard about a friend making more money in Abuja.
He quickly left his first job and moved to Abuja
At Abuja he started selling clothes and making profits most especially during festive periods, he started telling everyone back home that he is now doing well.
But Chinedu had a problem.
He was never satisfied.
Anytime he sees another person who is making so much money from his own business he will want to leave his own start that person's business.
After staying one year in Abuja, he heard that port Harcourt is a better place for business, Chinedu packed his bags again and left to port Harcourt.
Then came Enugu.
Then Benin.
Then back to Lagos.
Each states he goes he usually endup starting new and different business.
He knew many cities, many streets, and many people.
But he owned almost nothing.
At thirty-five years, Chinedu checked his life and found out he have wasted his ten years relocating to different states in Nigeria without achieving anything.
One evening chinedu received a call from his friend.
It was Obinna.
“Chinedu, come home.”
“Why?”
“My father died yesterday.”
Chinedu was silent.
Obinna had been his closest friend when they were children.
The following morning, Chinedu traveled back to Umuorie.
The moment chinedu steeped foot in his village, the old memories came back, he remembered the mango tree where him and Obinna usually sit back then. The football field where they played until sunset. His mother's roadside stall.
But something had changed.
The village had developed.
He new houses, newly built shops and the village road have widened.
He walked past his family's old compound and saw a large signboard.
CHINEDU'S FARM SUPPLY STORE
He stopped.
“What is this?” he asked.
An elderly man sitting nearby laughed.
“Your father's shop. Don't you remember?”
Chinedu stared at him.
Years back before he left the village, his father has already started selling fertilizers, chick feeds, farming tools but in a small quantity. Chinedu had laughed at the idea.
Now, that small business had become a proper store.
His father had expanded it after Chinedu left.
When Chinedu entered the shop, his father turned and looked at him and smiled.
“You finally came home.”
Chinedu looked around.
The store was filled up with goods, and two of his father's workers where attending to customers.
“Papa, you built all this?”
His father nodded.
“I started small. I stayed. I learned what people needed. Slowly, the business grew.”
Chinedu lowered his head.
For years, he had believed that moving was the secret to success.
Now he understood that sometimes success was not about finding a better place. It was about staying long enough to build something.
That evening, Chinedu sat beneath the old mango tree with Obinna.
“I thought I was chasing success,” he said.
Obinna smiled. “And what were you really chasing?”
Chinedu looked toward the village.
“I don't know. Maybe I was just running.”
He decided not to leave again.
He joined his father's business and began learning everything about it. At first, he struggled because he wanted quick results. But this time, he stayed.
Months became years.
The small shop expanded into a larger agricultural supply business. Chinedu introduced new products, created delivery services for farmers, and began supplying neighboring villages.
For the first time in his life, he was building something instead of constantly searching for something.
One evening, he stood outside the shop and watched the sunset.
His father walked up beside him.
“You see, my son,” he said, “a person can travel the whole world and still have nowhere to call home.”
Chinedu smiled.
“And a person can stay in one place and build a whole world.”
His father nodded.
Chinedu finally understood the meaning of the old saying: a rolling stone gathers no moss.
Moving is not always the problem. The problem is never staying long enough to grow roots.
And after years of running, Chinedu had finally found his place.