Measured against the original iteration of the five year plan, my life couldn’t be more off target than it is at the moment - I had myself getting married at 26 with two children done and dusted by the time I turned 30, a PhD being progressed, and being on course to retire at 40. At the time I was sitting on the veritable cash cow that was a plum job assuring integrity for a Nigerian operator, and the thoughts of retiring at forty were in part due to the very generous pension provisions at the time.

Between then and now, I gambled on taking a leave of absence to complete a Masters degree, the Nigerian stock market crashed and took along with it a sizeable proportion  of my retirement pot, and the thing with F tanked faster than a kite weighted down by a huge stone. On the surface, the last 33 years have been an unmitigated disaster, a tale of a prodigiously talented dude who has failed to achieve the most that he could. The truth though is amidst it all, there are bright spots, successes for which I can be thankful for regardless. So here goes;

  1. I completed a masters degree - I didn’t make the distinction I thought I would (the issues with DrB in 2009 ensured I was too distracted to study very seriously, I only have myself to blame of course though). Completing it with no resits was more than the bulk of my class achieved though.
  2. I got a job - half my MSc class was Nigerian and we graduated at just the wrong time, when the recession hit and all the pipeline projects we were eyeing dried up faster than a raisin in the baking heat of the Sahara dessert. After the debacle that was my failed attempt to return to my Nigerian job, I ended up interviewing for my current role a week after my post study work permit came through with a January start agreed in short order. As at the last count, a significant number of my mates from that year were back in Nigeria or dating British passport holders as a means to extending their stays in the country.
  3. I met EJ. Even though that died eventually, those nine months were pure bliss. Great conversations, someone to share the minutiae of life with and all the other trappings of being in a committed long distance relationship. I learned a lot about myself in those nine months - beneath my steely exterior there are soft, gentle bits that can be touched.