Not everybody understands the need to survive. My late father used to tell us that some people are born with a basic need for survival – and I am one of them. So when people ask me about my move to Lagos I tell them that it was in my DNA to be a part of Lagos.
You see, Lagos is a land of opportunities. Lagos is where anything can happen and no dream is too absurd and no hustle too unrealistic. That’s why I love Lagos. Every morning I wake up with new hope and determination. Mine isn’t a dream to be rich, mine is a dream to be famous. You can squeeze your nose at my ambition but inside you lies a similar trail of thoughts. We all want to be known, remembered. You want to go to a place and have people open doors for you and call you “Oga” or “Sir”. You want to have people respect you not because you are old and deserve it, but because you have money, fame & power that they thirst for.
I want that too.
Who am I? I am Fabo. I have always been Fabo from when I was young and unable to pronounce my name to when I was in Poly and the lecturers could not be bothered. I am educated, and that is why I know this conductor life is not for me. Condition wey dey make crayfish bend don nearly break me but I am a survivor and Lagos is mine to conquer. I have been in Lagos for two years now and every day after collecting my proceeds from shouting LawschoolMarokoSandfillPhaseone till my throat gets sore I drop my conductor persona, complete with voice disguise and stench, and I become Fabo, that face you see everywhere in the entertainment industry but don’t know who he is. Before the end of this year the world will know.
Yesterday, as everyone was gyrating and having fun at Gidi Culture festival, I was also there on the prowl for opportunities on how to blow. All those celebrities in one place mingling and networking; that is what I want to start doing, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous so small dust too will fall on me. Why am I telling you all this abi? This year I must blow – whether modeling with my over 6ft height and toned body from hanging on bus doors, or rapping with my uniquely gruff voice from a life of hoarse shouting, 2014 is my year to blow and the year the world will know Fabo (abeg help me say Amen). So I want to start to keep a diary to remind myself of what I plan to achieve and how much progress I am making because 2014 cannot end with me still fighting battles that are not my own at CMS. Ahahn, I went to school o, but nah condition sha. Another time I will gist you.
See ehn, I have to go for now. Iya Rasheed is already making noise up and down this compound for her rascal son to come and take his bath so they can escape Lagos traffic, after all today is Monday. First Monday in March and you can be sure the madness will be no different. The walls of my self-contain that I am managing in Adeniji Adele are too thin. If it is not Iya Rasheed screaming for her son it is Mama Bola and her constant Yoruba insults. But did I not say 2014 is my year? I will leave this place and you will hear “Is that not Fabo that lives in 1004 estates?”
This is Lagos my friends and anything can happen. When I come back on Monday, you will see that I am determined with this my plan. 2014 is the year of Fabo.
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29-year-old Boye Fafunwa has always been called Fabo by his friends and in school. He has no idea how the name originated and almost always introduces himself simply as “Fabo”.
Having grown up in the rural areas of Ogun State, deciding to go to Lagos – a land of greener pastures, has been a roller-coaster experience for him. When Fabo was thrown into Lagos Life as an upcoming and thirst-driven artist, he vowed to be seen at all the events and with all the top names in the music industry. Even though he is a graduate who studied Industrial Art at The Federal Polytechnic Ilaro in Ogun State, he has been pushed to a life of hardship by a recent loss of all he holds dear.
Fabo lives in a self-contain apartment in Adeniji Adele surviving on money gotten from his day job of being a bus conductor. At night Fabo transforms into a typical young man in Lagos who is just looking to survive and become famous.
These are his chronicles, brought to you every Monday through FAB Magazine Online.
Ol boy! What an interesting read. Is this a page from Mr FAB’s diaries though as I am sensing they may be one and the same. If it is then I BOW!
nah i dont think it is. he isnt 6ft na
YOU CLOSE EYE READ? if you read well you go know. FAfunwa BOye