Hey Folks, welcome to this week’s capsules!

Last week, I began a new blog series; Four Categories of Talented Folks and we began looking at the first Category of Talented Folks; those yet to find their talents. I promised to share with you the story of a man who did several jobs before he eventually found his passion and became a friend to presidents of several African countries.

Isaac Durojaiye popularly referred to as Otunba Gadaffi was until his death, was the CEO of DMT mobile toilets. A sewage disposal company. In other words, a company known for providing convenience for people in public gatherings. A weird passion he had indeed because faeces disposal is not an exciting task for many. In his words “I don’t want to cover my face because I pack shit, as was obtainable in the past. It’s job and I dignify it.”
Brother Duro, like he was fondly called by friends and relatives, had taken on several other jobs before he found his talent. A close pal confirmed to me that he (Gadaffi) had worked in his father’s bakery for years before he left the shores of Nigeria. After leaving Nigeria for the States, he developed himself in body guarding and became a personal body guard to Eddie Murphy (of Coming to America) for years.

Upon returning to the country, he also became a body guard to the late MKO Abiola for years. He was assigned to take charge of a wedding event and then he spotted a problem. his passion was birthed when he decided to be the solution to that problem. Remember I noted last week that your talent is the solution within you to a human problem?

Quoting him from an interview with The Sun Newspaper many years back. “In 1992 I was in charge of a big society wedding, where we had about 10,000 guests and only two toilets were available. That was when the idea of mobile toilets came to me, and in 1996, it became a business. I expanded the idea; we constructed the toilets locally and today it’s working!”

When I first shared this story in one of my earlier blog posts, someone opposed me, claiming it was not a passion Gadaffi had, that he (Gadaffi) probably stumbled into the business and carved a niche for himself in the market place. I smiled because the person in question was a close family friend to my husband and his extended family. He had worked for my father-in-law in the past and was like an uncle to my husband.

Now hear this, two weeks before his death, my husband visited him again in his office and he told my husband a lot about his business. One of the things he told my husband was the fact that it took him six years to break even in the shit business. Averagely, the normal teething phase of a business should not exceed the first five years from the inception. Most businesses don’t survive the first three years. Usually business consultants advice you change your line of business if its unprofitable after the first five years.

Here is my point. What on earth would make a man stick to a non-profitable-shit-packing business for six years?! Only one word can best describe it; passion! Shit business was not just an opportunity that he found but it was an opportunity he was passionate about which made it his talent. When it was time to get dirty, he got really dirty on the job before he could afford subordinates who did the job on his behalf. In his words ” we don’t ;t discriminate against any shit, regardless of race, sex, religion, language, creed or distance. But against all odds, we have been able to prove to doubting Thomas’that it is possible.”

This is not to say faeces disposal can’t be engaged in for the money sake but the difference between the one who is talented at it and the one who is doing it for the money sake is this; the former does it excellently, whole heartedly and with an air of pride, knowing that he is contributing his own quota to humanity. The later on there hand, does it half hazardly with complains and murmuring because he is only interested in it for the money.

Let me define this thing called talent again for clarity and proper understanding. A Talent is any solution that lies within you to a human problem. A Talent is anything you are very good at doing, something that comes to you naturally. A Talent could also be anything you are passionate about and thus you are willing to learn, so as to be very good at.

Hear this, the TV reality shows have lied to us. They have given us the impression that only actors, singers and dancers are talented. Please understand that talents are of two kinds; conspicuous talents and deeply embedded talents. While some talents are easily noticeable, some others are almost unnoticeable as they are deeply embedded in their owners. Talents come in shapes and sizes. I can’t go into details for now.

My point is this anything could be a Talent. Faeces disposal is a Talent. Refuse disposal is a Talent, cleaning is a Talent. Anything you find unusual fulfilment and passion doing, is your talent. Mr Fela Durotoye, my ex-boss used to say any person who gets angry at a dirty environment, each time he walks past one, or each time he walks past a full waste bin, that’s his talent and his millions in disguise, beckoning at him. So, to you who thinks you are not talented because you are not a singer, actor or dancer, here is my word to you. You are talented. Every man is talented. Find your talent. I will wrap up on Gadaffi’s story next week Tuesday.

Punch line: your FRUSTRATION is an indication of a PROBLEM that you have a SOLUTION for.