I love culture. And I love cultural weddings. My traditional wedding was one of the best days of my life—complete with vibrant attire, delicious food, and dancing that would make anyone jealous. I’ve always been proud to be Nigerian and African. My dream was to stay in Nigeria and “fix my country.” But then, everything changed with one defining moment…
Let me share my story.
Defining moments are those times when life hits you hard, and reality smacks you in the face. For example, I remember the gut-wrenching realization that I wouldn’t marry the love of my life. I was a broke young man—not lazy, but the Nigerian economy was out to get me. I prided myself on my integrity and refused to be a fraudster. Despite working hard, financial success was elusive.
One day, I proposed to my girlfriend. She laughed and asked if I planned to feed her, buy her expensive wigs, and run a family on my “poverty salary.” Still hopeful, I went on to meet her father (Crazy decision). The way that man embarrassed me, eh…well, that’s a story for another day.
As I left his house, tears streaming down my face, and vowed on number 22 Ogbebor Street Lagos, Nigeria, whispering to myself in grieve, “I WILL NEVER BE BROKE IN MY LIFE AGAIN.” Fast forward to today: I’m doing really well and can afford everything my family and I need, but I carry a major dent in my heart.
A few years after my breakup, I improved my finances and married the girl of my dreams. When our son was three months old, we discussed vaccinations. We assumed the local hospital would be ready to help when the time came. But during an outbreak, we discovered that all their vaccines had spoiled. Our baby fell seriously ill. The labour union was on strike, and there was no power in the hospitals or fuel in town.
The vaccine freezers weren’t operational, and the vaccines had gone bad. Imagine if that hospital had the new Koolboks Vaccine Freezer.
I lost my child.
It was a dark Friday for my young family. This was another defining moment. I put my cultural preferences aside and made a painful decision to leave Africa. I started planning our move, and we relocated to Europe. Healthcare there has been perfect, and I’ve never had to worry about the things that caused me so much pain.
Today, I stumbled upon an ad for the Koolboks Solar Vaccine Freezer. Memories of pain and joy flooded my heart. Pain because of my child. Patriotic joy because no family has to go through what I did. I urge all hospitals in Nigeria to buy this freezer. It’s affordable, with monthly instalments as low as 35,000 naira on a lease-to-own basis.
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