When young Adeyinka Sharafadeen Tella gained admission to read Linguistics at the University of Ilorin, his elder brother and mentor, Alhaji Liad Tella had prepared ground for job placement for him. The senior Tella, a veteran journalist was a general manager at the defunct Concord newspapers in Lagos and later became the Managing Director of The Monitor Newspapers, Ibadan. So, in the inner recess of the older Tella’s heart, his younger brother must take after him by being a journalist. But Yinka wanted a totally different career path.
After graduation in 1997 and his national service year in 1998 with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Jos, Plateau State, he came back home to meet an employment letter, without writing any application, to work as a journalist under his journalist brother in Ibadan. Yinka did not jump at the offer. He had a different idea about how to live his life.
Speaking to The Nigerian Xpress, Yinka disclosed that, “Before then, when I was a student in the university, I was always on the road. I was always going to the Republic of Benin to import cars for customers on request. So, immediately after graduation, I found it convenient to go into the business full time. But my brother wanted something else for me.”
The rotund dark-complexioned businessman further recalled that, “The letter of appointment put my salary at N11,000 per month and I could not help but laugh. At that age, it had always been my dream that before I got married, I would start my life with a flat, as my first accommodation. Saving N11,000 monthly towards renting a flat and to get married, I cannot fathom how it would work out. Though I did not reject the appointment offer, I tactically refused to show up for the job.”
With car importation, he added that, “on a good day after a business trip, I could make N50,000 to N70, 000 profits and I could make two trips in a month per chance. So, restricting my life and contend with N11,000 monthly salary could not add up to anything.”
Determined to pursue his heart’s desire, the younger Tella tactically avoided his brother for a month. Later, his brother summoned him and he showed up. It was during the encounter that he politely declined the offer.
“I told him I knew he wanted one of his kid brothers to take after him by becoming a journalist but I told him I was sorry I couldn’t be a journalist going by that salary and he understood me.
“I now concentrated on my car business. But in fairness to my brother, when I started my life, he gave me a lot of encouragement. My first saving was spent on buying a Toyota Camry car, which I showed him, as my first car bought with my own money to start my own business. He asked me how much did I want to sell it and I said N170,000. He wrote for me a cheque of N170,000 and said, ‘I will be the first customer to patronise you.’ That gave me a working capital. I bought the car at N120,000 and I just made a cool profit of N50,000 in one week, one trip!
“So, I went back to Cotonou to continue my car business. Within a month, I got a request to get a car for a customer from Cotonou and I made another N50,000. From there, I moved on to buy a Mercedes Benz car to sell. It was not long before I sold it and made profit. By and large, I started gathering my own working capital.”
However, there was a bit of setback when youthful exuberance beclouded the reasoning of the young and very ambitious man. He started nursing the ambition to go abroad, Europe, America, Canada and other places.
“Before I knew it, I had lost over N600,000 in the attempts at procuring visas from the American Embassy and other places for more than three to four years. I even went as far as the Canadian Embassy in Ghana, yet I was refused visa.
The Nigerian Xpress
