I remember how my uncle stormed into our house one random day, he came to give an announcement, one that will change the family's history.. "we are going into water business, bottled water." The way he said it as if...he's not asking for opinion, like it's already a done deal, I don't know who told him water business is like oil business😊.
As at the time, I was still in secondary school, but I know my Uncle is just being desperate or overly ambitious, he just lost his bank job, and he's just so bent on getting back on track, we have a not so big building in our backyard, with the agreement of my dad, they broke down the walls of the kitchen and linked it together with the backyard building. They got tables, chairs, sealers and the rest.
Lest I forget our factory's named "Fortune Pure Water: Enriches Your soul"
In no time, our compound became very chaotic, even neighbors are starting to complain and all. My siblings and other family members staying with us became employed/staffs automatically, including me, I was in charge of sniffing nylons and bottles to make sure it doesn't have a foul/awful smell. The first week was somehow exciting and very busy, we all moved about working and setting things in place. Come see my uncle acting the "CEO." He even returned to wearing his office suits and wears.
We usually have a very good power supply, but around that time we started, light became visitor, it comes and goes at will, atimes for a whole week we would have to depend on our second-hand generator that not just consumes fuel but drinks fuel. Going on, we spent more money on petrol than we made from selling our pure water. The sealing machine also, one that's supposed to do it's work professionally and neatly turned out to be a beast the way it seals atimes is like an apprentice tailor who's still learning to sew. Sometimes it over seals, sometimes it seals in a zigzag manner, most of the times it burst the sachets.
Despite all of this, my uncle wouldn't give up, he would say "there's bond to be problems, challenges will come, no one as it easy, it's not time to relent, no time to give up....." He'd ask us to not be concerned and just do our work. The day a staff slipped and sprained his ankle, guess his response..."you won't remember this when we eventually become big, this is just a sacrifice to have a brighter future."
One morning, he just got dressed, nobody knew how or when he planned it, he went out and in few hours he returned to announce he's going on a big networking event, a business proposal to supply our water to all secondary schools in Lagos State. He had already printed over a thousand fliers, he had also hired a boy with a megaphone, and some few people, I had already gone to school at that time, that was how they marched around town declaring Fortune Water the next big thing, I heard them pass by my school too, I didn't really pay attention though, the worse part is..not a single school (private or public) replied/reached out.
Then came NAFDAC(National Agency For Food And Drug Administration And Control), they visited our "Factory". Apparently, someone had reported us, they checked through, my uncle was just following them about trying to sweet talk them, well they wouldn't take that, then they asked for his license. My uncle brought out certain handwritten paperwork and all and said, "We are working on it.” The NAFDAC officials just laughed, dropped a paper in his hands and then they sealed the place.
My uncle was disturbed, sad and devastated, for days he wake up in the morning and go to the backyard to sit on a particular chair, he does that for days shaking his head while staring into the room that housed his water making machine, we all tried our best to make him come around, but nothing seems to change, my dad asked that we leave him that he just needed time, but I knew something inside him had broken.
After about four years, I was in the higher institution then, I happened to live near a real water factory. I saw their big space, the neat environment, the various machines, the uninformed staff and all, I chuckled as I remember "Fortune Pure Water" and my uncle as he said, “We’re changing history and building legacy.”
It was really a total boondoggle. A wild idea that was fueled by desperation, shame, hope and all. I did miss those times though.... I miss the drama, the noise, the sickly generator.. I miss it all, I miss the ridiculous belief we had that starting a sachet water factory could save us from poverty. The truth is just that, even though boondoggles tend to fail, they are most times born from that same heart that fuels genius. My uncle’s idea crashed the same way the sealing machine badly sealed our sachet water, sometimes, even failures leave a sweet aftertaste.
All pictures were generated using AI.
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