“Stop pushing me. I don’t appreciate being pushed. You keep telling me to start. But I’m yet to be ready. Even though my mates have started, the pressure you are putting at me to start is getting me even less enthusiastic about beginning a thing.” these were the words of Bideka when her friend told her about Start. 2015. Three years gone, different businesses had started, grown and far beyond the shores of Nigeria. Thousands have heard about Start. Millions touched by the jobs created. Nigeria’s economy blooming through the ‘one-man’s who decided to START. Bideka wished she requested an invite on http://www.startng.com that year when she saw her friend who started a financial institution that same year. That her friend had grown to be one of the wealthiest ladies in town through a redefinition of savings culture for the average African. Another of her colleague had become a super modelling agent. The one that caught her fancy was the one she heard of that got funding from the pitching session to start the energy company. They were now on the TV as the one of fastest growing energy companies. Bideka’s mind skipped a beat when she tuned the radio and heard the voice of a presenter. The presenter referred to his turning point being the day he heard one of the speakers at Start. 2015 say communication transcends the art of speaking but also giving the listener a life. Tears rolled down Bideka’s face as she finally realised she needed the push in 2015. Every other person seems to have started and left her behind. She knew she couldn’t have been less ready if she decided to be ready. She knew the pressure couldn’t have killed her if she gave in to start. She knew it was the right decision to make if she only begun the race.
There have been several Bidekas. There are many Bidekas. There would be plenty of Bidekas. The punch lines may only be fifty shades of Bideka. But there are fifty reasons, fifty speakers, fifty stories to Start. There are also one thousand people, one thousand ideas and one thousand places to start. There are three days, three places and three conferences to Start. Start. 2015 is only the beginning.
Bideka is totally imaginated and does not refer to any particular person, living or dead. Any similarity with anyone’s real name should please be discarded.
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