Dreams Don't Die, People Give Up On Them

Dreams Don’t
Die, People
Give Up
On Them
“Success Is Sure For Those Who
Never Give Up”
DR.CLEMENT OGEDEGBE
Dreams Don’t Die, People Give Up On Them
No part of this book may be reproduced,

distributed, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, including photocopying,
recording, or other electronic or mechanical
methods, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-07967-356-2
Copyright©2019 Clement Ogedegbe

All Rights Reserved
cogedegbe@yahoo.com,
Clemzyclement24@gmail.com
Dr. Clement Ogedegbe
Telephone: +380639373433
Cover Design: Adeola Disu {United Kingdom}

All bible quotations are from the new King
James Version
Success is Sure For Those Who Never Give Up
Dedication
This book is dedicated to everyone who has a
dream and who is willing to pursue that
dream till it is fulfilled.
This book is dedicated to everyone who will
never give up on his or her dream in the face
of hurdles, obstacles and setbacks.
This book is dedicated to you who have gotten
this book to find out the reason why dreams
do not die.
This book is dedicated to all those who are
about giving up on their dreams. I pray this
will be their turning point.
This book is dedicated to those who are ready
to dream big, achieve those dreams and dream
again.
Acknowledgement
To my wife GodGift Chinenye (TopsyGift)
who sacrificed her love to allow my dreams
and destiny come first, you are simply
amazing. Thanks for proving to me that true
love is real.
To my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Godwin and
Esther Ogedegbe, I appreciate you for being
there to support and sponsor me through my
journey to actualizing my dreams. You are the
true examples of caring and loving parents.
To my siblings, I appreciate you all for your
encouragement and motivation throughout
my journey to fulfilling my dreams.
To my friend and colleague, Tein Ockiya, you
are the destiny helper who came to inspire me
to pursue my dream again after I had
abandoned it. My sincere appreciation goes to
you.
To my mentors, teachers and everyone who
has played one role or the other in my life, I
appreciate you all.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One: Life is Meaningless
without Dreams………………………4
 Imagine a world without dreams
 Why You Must Consciously Have a
Dream
 The Path I chose in Life
 Nuggets
Chapter Two: Difficult Roads,
Beautiful Destinations…………….29
 The road to greatness is full of thorns
 When the Going Gets Tough!
 There are no shortcuts
 Nuggets
Chapter Three: Dreams Don’t Die but
People Give Up……………………53
 Dreams Are Always Alive Until
Fulfilled
 Success is Sure for The Never–Give-

Ups
 Fix Your Eyes on The Dreams
 Nuggets
Chapter Four: The Journey of Life….81
 Destiny Calls if You Can Hear
 Dream Again If Need Be
 It’s Never Too Late To Achieve Your
Dreams
 Nuggets
Chapter Five: Overcoming the
Bottlenecks to Destiny……….108
 Love Versus Destiny
 Let No One Belittle Your Dreams
 There Are No Dream Killers in Life
 Nuggets
Chapter Six: Believing the Beauty of
Your Dream……………………134
 See Yourself in the Future
 Patience and Passion Keep Dreams

Alive
 Though it Tarries, Wait For it
 Nuggets
Chapter Seven: Beginning is the
Hardest Part……………………163
 The Fear of Failure
 Just Take the First Step
 Love Came At Last
 Nuggets
Chapter Eight: Impossible Then,
Inevitable Now…………………..177
 It Always Seems Impossible Until It
Is Done
 You Can Become What You Want To
Be
 Conclusion
 Reference
1
Introduction
What is it that separates the great achievers of
our world from the mediocre? It is dreams! All
men dream but not equally. Some dream and
abandon their dreams, others dream and
pursue their dreams till they are fulfilled.
How would your life be if you followed all
your dreams till the end? Have you ever
imagined how much you would achieve if you
never gave up on your dreams? If you could
picture a world in which all your dreams come
true, how would that world be!
I believe you must have listened to people
who told you that dreams die and that all
dreams are not achievable. Perhaps someone
has told you that your dreams are too big and
that they would never be realized.
2
In this book, I am going to prove to you that

dreams do not die and that all your dreams
are achievable. The principles that separate the
great from the mediocre are all outlined here
for those who want to see all their dreams
come true. This book is an opportunity to
learn how to dream and how to make your
dreams achievable.
This masterpiece will blow your mind. It will
dare you to never give up on your dreams and
challenge you to go pick up your abandoned
dreams and achieve them.
Dreams Don’t Die, People Give Up On Them!
A book that will revolutionize your life!
3
Chapter 1
Life Is
Meaningless
Without
Dreams
4
Chapter One
Life Is Meaningless
Without Dreams
5
As I stood on the podium waiting for my

name to be called, several thoughts ran
through my mind. It was a mixture of happy
and sad thoughts. Sad thoughts because I felt I
should have acquired this about ten years ago
and not only that, others got it within six
years, but it took me ten years to come to this
point. As I looked at those who stood on the
podium with me as colleagues and the rest of
them who sat in the beautiful big round well-
decorated and densely-populated hall waiting
for their turns to be called up the podium, I
realized that the lot of them were people who
are ten years or so younger than I am. I have
spent the last six years with people who are far
younger than the last child in my family, as
classmates and colleagues on a journey to
acquiring the prestigious degree ‚Doctor of
Medicine‛; a degree I have dreamt about while
still an early teenager. Although my dream
ought to have been achieved at the age of 23 or
at most 24, here I was at 33 standing on the
same podium with people I am a decade older
than and waiting to receive the same diploma.
6
While I struggled to get off the sad thoughts

from my heart, I began to see the other side of
the circumstance, the positive side of things. I
began to hear a voice on my inside saying to
me ‚yes! It took you this long to get here, but
the good thing is ‚you did not give up on your
dreams‛. The voice continued to speak further
and said to me ‚you have fulfilled your dream
at last and that is all that matters. How long
you took to get your dream fulfilled is not as
important as the dream being fulfilled. Many
have given up on their dreams, others had no
courage to walk the long and curvy road to
their dreams but you have conquered all
hurdles and obstacles to get to your dreams.
You ought to rejoice. You are a winner. You
did not quit! For winners never quit and
quitters never win‛.
As these words resounded in my ears, I took a
deep breath and suddenly, happy thoughts
began to flood my soul and it began to make
sense to me that the dream is all that matters
and not how long we take to achieve it.
7
Before I could finish refreshing my soul with

those happy thoughts, I heard the names Dr.
Ogedegbe Clement Oboatarhe. I walked
prestigiously towards the rector, vice rector
and vice dean of my university, Ivano-
Frankivsk National Medical University,
Ukraine, took a bow, shook hands with them,
and collected my diploma.
As I walked down the podium alongside my
colleagues, I said to myself ‚Dreams Don’t
Die, People Give up on them‛.
8
Throughout that day, I was in deep thoughts

about what dreams really are and why most
people give up on their dreams. I looked
around the street and saw cars, houses, books,
phones in the hands of people. I thought of the
airplane, the electric bulbs, computers, CT
Scan machines, X-ray tubes, stethoscopes,
syringes, medications, etc. Then I began to
think about doctors, Lawyers, engineers,
accountants, inventors, journalists, economists,
teachers and all other professions. I began to
see the entire world in the light of dreams and
I said to my hearing ‚how would our world be
without dreams? How would life on earth be
had humans not had the ability to dream!
9
Imagine A World Without Dreams
10
Can you take a minute or two and imagine

how a world without dreams would look like?
Imagine a world in which people do not
dream at all. What would you see? Nothing!
Such a world would be void. It would be
empty and no life would be able to survive in
such a world. Why did I say that? I said that
because everything we see in the world today
is a product of dreams. Our world itself is a
product of dreams. Without dreams nothing
would exist. The iPhone you are holding in
your hand is a product of someone’s dream.
The computer you use to write a book, do
banking and business transactions or watch
movies and sports is a product of someone’s
dream. The car you drive, the train you sit on
to go to work, the airplanes you fly to travel
between continents are all products of dreams.
The books you read the clothes you wear, the
cosmetics you use and the designers shoes you
wear all exist thanks to human ability to
dream. Without dreams, there would be no
doctors, no engineers, no lawyers, no
inventors, no teachers etc. Dreams make life
11
on earth worthwhile. Without dreams, life

would be meaningless.
Had Thomas Edison not dreamt, we would
not have the electric bulb today. Had the
wright brothers not dreamt, we would not
have the airplanes today. Had Bill Gates not
dreamt, we would not have computers and
Microsoft as we have them today. Had Steve
Jobs not dreamt, there would be no iPhones.
Had Edward Jenner not dreamt, there would
not have been the smallpox vaccine. It was
because these men dreamt that they were able
to produce products and solved some of the
problems plaguing humanity. I could go on
listing the things that would be lacking in our
world today, and the problems that would not
have been solved if there was no such thing as
the ability to dream.
12
However, I would not do that since that is not

my intention of writing this book. I would
rather focus on the need to consciously dream
and never give up on your dreams. I would
spend the next few chapters of this book
challenging you to dream and daring you to
hold on to your dreams no matter the
difficulties you meet on the way to fulfilling
those dreams. My goal is to prove to you that
dreams do not die, people give up on them.
13
Why You Must Consciously Have A

Dream
Although we have established earlier that all
men have the ability to dream, I must say here
that it is unfortunate that most people do not
consciously dream. It is not that they do not
have the ability to consciously dream, it is just
that they have refused to consciously dream.
Although they dream unconsciously at night
or while asleep, they have failed to consciously
dream. All men may unconsciously dream at
night, but only those who consciously dream
change the world for good. The people who
achieve their dreams and positively impact the
world with them are those who consciously
dream. These are the people I call dreamers of
day. They do not daydream but they
consciously dream and do everything possible
to turn their dreams into reality.
14
All men dream: but not equally. Those who

dream by night in the dusty recesses of their
minds wake in the day to find that it was
vanity: but the dreamers of the day are
dangerous men, for they may act their dreams
with open eyes, to make it possible.
-Thomas Edward Lawrence
Are you a night dreamer, a daydreamer or a
dreamer of day?
As much as it is important to dream, we must
understand what it means to be a night
dreamer, a daydreamer and a dreamer of day.
15
A night dreamer is anyone who dreams at

night or anyone who dreams while sleeping.
That means that even if a person slept in the
afternoon and had a dream, such a person
could be called a night dreamer. Night
dreamers dream unconsciously and have no
control over their dreams. They may see
themselves eating in the dream, making love
in the dream or being chased by someone who
wants to kill them. They wake up from their
dream only to realize that it was all vanity and
unreal. We all as humans at some point in our
lives have night dreams. Most night dreams
are a mirage; we can’t lay hold on them and
turn them into realities. Night dreamers
therefore, do not have any positive impacts on
society or the world at large.
A daydreamer on the other hand is anybody
who daydreams. Daydreaming is the act of
having daydreams; that is a set of pleasant
thoughts about something that you would like
to do or achieve, but which is not likely.1
16
From this definition, we see that daydreams

are just thoughts or imaginations of pleasant
things or occurrences which are either
impossible to happen or unlikely to occur.
Daydreamers have no intentions of working
hard to bring to fruition the beautiful
imaginations that flood their minds; they only
live in the realms of wish and imaginations.
They too do not make any meaningful
contributions to the betterment of human life
on earth. They keep wishing, wishing, and
never achieving anything of worth. All their
dreams are vanity in the end.
17
Most importantly are those I call the dreamers

of day or the conscious dreamers. These are
they who consciously with open eyes see the
future and what they want to make out of it.
They are those who create visions, goals and
plans for themselves on how they would
become better individuals and positively
impact the world. The dreamers of day are not
mere wishers but men and women who are
ready to pay the price and overcome the
obstacles that stand on their way as they walk
towards the destiny that they have created for
themselves. The dreamers of day are conscious
and intentional about whatever they do as it
regards their dream. They have chosen a path
for their lives and they would fight to walk
that path until their dreams are fulfilled.
18
Everything we enjoy in the world today from

airplanes, to phones, to computers, to books,
to medical care, to clothes, shoes or anything
else that you could possibly name, exist
because of people who consciously dreamt.
Our world enjoys electricity, water supply,
quality education, justice in the court of law,
internet, music, etc. as a result of people who
decided to become dreamers of day.
You are free to have night dreams, you may
daydream sometimes but if you want to be
useful to your society and the world at large
you must become a dreamer of day and you
must be ready to work out your dream to
bring it to fruition. Those who change the
world are those who have great dreams and
who consciously and passionately go in the
direction of their dreams.
Every great dream begins with a dreamer.
Always remember, you have within you the
strength, the patience, and the passion to
reach for the stars to change the world.
Harriet Tubman
19
Having understood the difference between the

types of dreams as explained above, I would
like to make it clear that the subject of this
book is to address conscious dreams; not night
dreams or daydreams. Dreams that are
conceived by the dreamers of day do not die.
Men may die, but their dreams live on either
fulfilled or unfulfilled. You and I must
consciously dream, we must aspire to become
something in life, we must aspire to contribute
something positive to this world. The starting
point is choosing a path for your life and
passionately following that path until you
arrive at your destination.
20
The Path I chose in Life

Growing up as a child, I loved the sciences and
wanted to become a medical doctor when I
grew up. I could tell with certainty in my high
school days what I would study when I get
into the university. I knew it would be
medicine and surgery. Everyone in my house
knew that I wanted to become a medical
doctor. My results also attested to the fact that
I had passion for the sciences and wanted to
become a medical doctor. My best grades in
school were always in the sciences especially
integrated science and later on, biology,
chemistry and physics.
21
By the time I was in senior secondary school

class 2, I was already the president of the
Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists
(JETS) club. I taught physics, chemistry, and
biology to junior students and even my
classmates during and after JETS CLUB
meetings.
22
By the time I was entering my final year of

secondary school, I had become the senior
prefect of my school. I thus functioned as the
senior prefect and president of Jets club. My
goal was to become the best student in my
school and also to after graduating apply to
study medicine at the university. After writing
my West African Examination Council
{WAEC} exams, I got all my grades and
graduated as one of the best students in my
set. That was in the year 2004. Although, I was
glad I got good grades and have left secondary
school, I knew that it was only the beginning
of the journey to achieving my dreams. I have
chosen a path for my life; to become a medical
doctor and positively impact the world. I was
confident that I would achieve my dreams in
not more than 6years to come. I decided to
walk in the direction of my dreams.
Go confidently in the direction of your
dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
-Henry David Thoreau
23
The next 15years of my life was a journey

towards my dream of becoming a medical
doctor. It was a rough journey, full of winding
turns, high mountains and low valleys. Along
the path to get here, I gave up on the dream,
abandoned it and completely forgot about it. I
had thought that dreams die and that mine
was dead too. However, today, I can boldly
say that dreams do not die, people give up on
them. I will take you through my journey and
how I came to the conclusion that dreams do
not die. I do hope that before you finish
reading this book, you would agree with me
that dreams do not die.
Have you ever given up on a dream and
concluded that it was dead? I dare and
challenge you to go pick up that dream for it is
not dead. You gave up on it.
24
In the following chapters of this book, I am

going to share the story of great men and
women who did not give up on their dreams
and how they were able to overcome the
obstacles and hurdles that stood on their way
to achieving their dreams. If you ever have a
dream or have abandoned your dreams, get
ready to be provoked to activate them again.
What you are about to read in the following
chapters of this book will blow your mind. Get
ready for a mind shift! If you can dream it,
then you can achieve it!
25
Nuggets One
1. Dreams make life on earth worthwhile.
Without dreams, life would be
meaningless.
2. You are free to have night dreams, you
may daydream sometimes but if you
want to be useful to your society and the
world at large you must become a
dreamer of day and you must be ready to
work out your dream to bring it to
fruition.
3. Those who change the world are those
who have great dreams and who
consciously and passionately go in the
4. Dreams that are conceived by the
dreamers of day do not die. Men may die,
but their dreams live on either fulfilled or
unfulfilled.
26
5. You and I must consciously dream, we

must aspire to become something in life,
we must aspire to contribute something
positive to this world. The starting point
is choosing a path for your life and
passionately following that path until
you arrive at your destination.
27
Chapter 2
Difficult
Roads,
Beautiful
Destinations
28
Chapter Two
Difficult Roads, Beautiful Destinations
One reason people give up too easily on their

dreams is that they have a preconceived idea
that because they have beautiful dreams, the
road to achieving those dreams would also be
beautiful and smooth. What they however, do
not know and are not prepared for is the fact
that beautiful destinations are often reached
by travelling difficult roads. They do not
envisage that the road to greatness is full of
thorns.
Difficult roads often lead to beautiful
destinations. The best is yet to come
-Zig Ziglar
29
The Road To Greatness Is Full Of

Thorns
People often forget that between a dream and
the achievement of that dream, there is a
journey to travel. Dreams do not just
materialize at conception; one has to walk a
distance to reach the actualization of that
dream. The road to the realization of dreams is
often not an easy road; it is a checkered road
with many obstacles, hurdles and hindrances.
One must be ready to withstand and overcome
those hurdles if one desires to fulfill his or her
dreams.
There are perhaps no great people who did
not have to walk through the thorns, obstacles
and hurdles on their way to greatness. There
are no true dreamers of day who achieved
their great dreams without first travelling
difficult roads. To achieve beautiful dreams
one must be prepared to travel difficult roads.
30
Abraham Lincoln had dreamt of becoming a

great politician, one who would greatly
influence the destiny of the nation called
United States of America. He had dreamt of
holding the highest political office in the land.
His journey to the beautiful white house was
not however without difficulties. If there is
any one whose life’s journey attests to the fact
that difficult roads often lead to beautiful
destinations, then it would be Abraham
Lincoln’s.
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the
United States of America. He was one of the
greatest leaders in the history of America. His
road to greatness was full of thorns, yet he
kept walking through the thorns to achieve his
dreams. His life story teaches us that no matter
the thorns on the road to reaching our dreams,
we must walk through these thorns, bear the
pains that plague our feet and reach for those
dreams. For the joy and glory of fulfilling our
dreams is greater than the pain that the thorns
bring along the way to reaching those dreams.
31
His life story is perhaps the greatest example

of how each one of us should follow our
dreams till they are fulfilled, irrespective of the
difficulties we face on the way.
He was born into a poor family, lived a life
plagued with numerous setbacks, lost eight
elections, did not succeed in business and
suffered a nervous breakdown. Everyone
expected him to give up on his dreams and
conclude that they were not achievable, yet he
believed in the beauty of his dreams and knew
that the future would come when those
dreams would be actualized.
The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Lincoln knew that his destination was a
beautiful one, the white house. He knew what
it would mean to sit in the white house as the
president of the United States of America.
Setting his eyes on the beautiful destination,
he defied all hurdles and obstacles to get there.
32
Below is the difficult and curvy road Abraham

Lincoln took to get to his dream of sitting as
the President in the White House:
1809 Born February 12
1816 His family was forced out of their home.
He had to work to support them.
1818 His mother died.
1828 His sister died
1831 Failed in business.
1832 Ran for state legislature – lost.
1832 Also lost his job – wanted to go to law
school but couldn’t get in.
1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to
begin a business and by the end of the year he
was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of
his life paying off this debt.
1834 Ran for state legislature again – won.
1835 Was engaged to be married, his
sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was
in bed for six months.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state
legislature – defeated.
1840 Sought to become elector – defeated.
33
1843 Ran for Congress – lost.

1846 Ran for Congress again – this time he
won – went to Washington and did a good job.
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress – lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home
state – rejected.
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States – lost.
1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination
at his party’s national convention – get less
than 100 votes.
1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again – again he lost.
In 1860 he became the elected president of the
United States of America.1
34
What an inspiration! What a dream chaser!

What a proof that dreams do not die! Every
one of us can achieve our dreams if we are
ready to keep on trying and never surrender
those dreams. Where are your dreams? Have
you allowed the difficulties of life to convince
you that they are not achievable? Have you
been deceived by the thorns on your way that
those dreams are dead and will never
materialize? I challenge you to have a rethink.
I dare you to pick up those dreams and try
again. It is not enough to try once or twice and
conclude that your dreams are not achievable.
Dreams are not achieved that way. One must
be ready to walk through thorns, difficulties,
hurdles and obstacles as often as one meets
them, if one must achieve dreams.
Before anyone can become an achiever, he or
she would first resolve to persevere and
resolve to be determined enough to keep
going in the direction of his dreams
irrespective of the difficulties that he would
meet.
35
He lacks determination and perseverance

who, tries a thing once and concludes that it is
impossible to achieve. Such a man would
never achieve anything of worth in his life.
Ask anyone who ever attained greatness or
fulfilled a great dream, they would tell you
that it did not come easy. The great achievers
of our world would tell you that great dreams
are not achieved on a silver platter but with
great effort, perseverance and faith. The road
to achieving dreams is often a tough one, the
weak abandon their dreams on the way but
those who are tough keep going in the
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy
strength is small.
{Proverbs 24:10}
36
The reason most people do not actualize their

dreams is that they faint in times of
difficulties; they give up as soon as they meet
an obstacle. If you could take a list of all your
dreams that you have abandoned, you would
perhaps find that you gave up because you
met an obstacle or a difficulty. You probably
stopped pursuing your dream because you
tried a few times and met hurdles. That is
what most people do. They are not used to
challenges and difficulties; and hence faint or
give up at the slightest difficulty they
encounter. However, to achieve great dreams,
we must learn to be relentless even in the face
of adversities, we must keep trying.
37
When the Going Gets Tough!
38
For me, the journey to achieving my dream

was a tough one. It was full of difficulties and
impossibilities. Having graduated from
secondary school with good grades in my
exams in 2004, I decided to apply for the Joint
Admission and Matriculation board (JAMB)
exams that same year. I chose my dream
course; medicine and surgery as first and
second choice at the university of Port-
Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria. When the
examination results were published later that
year, I realized that I scored a little above the
average score required to get admission in any
Nigerian university as at that time. However,
due to the high competitiveness and the
corruption is the educational sector, my
university chose a cut off mark that was much
higher than the score, which I got. That meant
that I would not be admitted into medical
school and as expected, when the admission
list was released, my name was not there. That
was how my first attempt to fulfill my dream
of becoming a medical doctor was truncated.
39
I was devastated and brutally depressed. I

could not believe I would have to wait until
the following year to reapply. Not wanting to
wait a year longer, I decided to tell my father
about a possible option to get into the
university that year. The university of Port-
Harcourt ran a pre-degree program in those
days that allows students who did not get
admission into the degree program still come
to the university to study for one year before
taking an exam by the school to get admission
into the first year of the degree program. The
program was named BASIC PROGRAM. It
was such a program that one did not need a
JAMB result to be admitted into; just good
grades in WAEC results were required. After
telling my father about the program, he agreed
and I applied for medicine and surgery.
Unfortunately, when the list of admitted
students was released, my name was again
missing. It was a shock to all of us at home,
because it was unlikely to not be listed for
admission after applying for the basic
program. Everyone who applies and has the
40
required grades from secondary school is

usually admitted. I had the required grades
yet my name was not listed for admission. It
was not as if we needed to write any entrance
exam, we only needed to get the form, apply
with our WAEC results and get admitted.
Only God knows why I was not admitted for
the program. That was how my second
attempt to study medicine and surgery was
crushed. Had I gotten that admission, I would
not have needed to write JAMB again the
following year. All I would have done was to
take the crossover exams from Basic to first
year after completing the Basic program.
However, with what had happened, I would
have no choice than to wait till the following
year to write JAMB.
It was a tough journey for me, yet I had to wait
till the following year. Although, it was
painful, I held on to my dreams and would not
let go. I must become a medical doctor by all
possible means.
41
In life, we all go through times of dashed

hopes and unachieved dreams. We all
experience setbacks and frustrations at times
and are tempted to call it quit; however, if we
do not listen to the voice of doubts and
discouragement, we would all achieve our
dreams.
Consult not your fears but your hopes and
your dreams. Think not about your
frustrations, but about your unfulfilled
potential. Concern yourself not with what you
tried and failed in, but with what it is still
possible for you to do.
-Pope John XXIII
42
There Are No Shortcuts

Although we know that there are obstacles
and hurdles on the way to achieving dreams,
yet most people do not achieve their dreams
for the singular reason that they are not ready
to go through the process required for
achieving those dreams. They want effortless
realization of their dreams. They want their
dreams to materialize but are not ready to
work hard for that to happen. They hope on
luck and wish to follow short cuts. Others fold
their arms and wait on God to do for them
what they could and should do for
themselves. Hence, their dreams do not get
fulfilled.
If you want your dreams fulfilled, you must
first realize that there are no shortcuts to any
place worth going. You must be ready to walk
the difficult road to your destination.
There are no shortcuts to any place worth
going.
-Beverly Sills
43
Most people leave their dreams to chance.

They do not do anything to realize their
dreams other than expecting luck or waiting
on God to fulfill the dreams for them. If you
have a dream of becoming a world best
footballer and does not join a football team
and train harder than everyone else, but
instead you just hope and pray that one day
your dream would materialize; you will be
shocked at the end of the day to find out that
that dream will never be realized. If you have
a dream of becoming financially wealthy and
instead of going to learn about the secrets of
wealth creation, you just sit at home every day
praying to God to make you a billionaire, you
would pray till Jesus returns, you would never
achieve that dream. Dreams do not become
reality through prayer and luck; it takes
commensurate actions and practical steps to
bring them to fruition. To depend on God for
any kind of miracle without first doing what
you need to do to achieve your dreams, is to
seek a shortcut, an effortless route to reaching
your dreams. People who depend on luck,
44
miracle or magic instead of working hard to

actualize their dreams are only daydreaming.
The result would be vanity.
If we must get to our destination and lay hold
of the dreams that we’ve long desired, we
must stop depending on shortcuts, magic and
luck. We must be ready to go through due
process even if it will require a lot of hard
work.
A dream doesn't become reality through
magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard
work. -Colin Powell
45
We must be ready to sweat, to work hard and

to persevere in the face of difficulties if we are
going to make our dreams come true. Most
people conclude that their dreams are dead
when they lack the willingness to work hard,
sweat and persevere in hard times to achieve
those dreams. When people cannot work hard
enough to make their dreams come true, they
abandon them and conclude that their dreams
are dead. No! Your dream did not die; you
abandoned it for lack of determination,
diligence and doggedness. Dreams do not die,
people give up on them. You will be shocked
how many of your dreams would come to
fulfillment if you stop leaving them to chance,
depending on magic or looking for the easy
way out. You would astound yourself if you
build enough determination and enough
willingness to work hard to achieve your
dream. You can become an achiever, you can
achieve as many dreams as you want, but you
must first be aware that difficult roads often
lead to beautiful destinations. You must
remember that there are no shortcuts to any
46
place worth going and if the journey gets

tough, you must be ready to keep going in the
direction of your dreams.
Are you ready to walk the difficult roads?
47
Nuggets Two
1. People often forget that between a dream
and the achievement of that dream, there
is a journey to travel. Dreams do not just
materialize at conception; one has to walk
a distance to reach the actualization of
that dream.
2. The road to the realization of dreams is
often not an easy road; it is a checkered
road with many obstacles, hurdles and
hindrances. One must be ready to
withstand and overcome those hurdles if
one desires to fulfill his or her dreams.
3. There are perhaps no great people who
did not have to walk through thorns,
obstacles and hurdles on their way to
greatness.
4. There are no true dreamers of day who
achieved their great dreams without first
travelling difficult roads. To achieve
48
beautiful dreams one must be prepared

to travel difficult roads.
5. It is not enough to try once or twice and
conclude that your dreams are not
achievable. Dreams are not achieved that
way. One must be ready to walk through
thorns, difficulties, hurdles and obstacles
as often as one meets them, if one must
achieve dreams.
6. Before anyone can become an achiever,
he or she would first resolve to persevere
and resolve to be determined enough to
keep going in the direction of his dreams
irrespective of the difficulties that he
would meet.
7. He lacks determination and perseverance
who, tries a thing once and concludes
that it is impossible to achieve. Such a
man would never achieve anything of
worth in his life.
49
8. Great dreams are not achieved on a silver

platter but with great effort, perseverance
and faith.
9. The road to achieving dreams is often a
tough one, the weak abandon their
dreams on the way but those who are
tough keep going in the direction of their
dreams.
10. Dreams do not become reality
through prayer and luck; it takes
commensurate actions and practical steps
to bring them to fruition.
11. If we must get to our destination
and lay hold of the dreams that we’ve
long desired, we must stop depending on
shortcuts, magic and luck. We must be
ready to go through due process even if it
will require a lot of hard work.
50
51
Chapter 3
Dreams
Don’t Die
But People
Give Up
52
Chapter Three
Dreams Don’t Die But People Give Up
In the previous chapters, we were able to

establish the fact that all dreams are achievable
and that although the road to achieving our
dreams may be full of difficulties and hurdles,
if we however, persevere and keep moving in
the direction of our dreams, we would achieve
them all.
In this chapter, we shall see that dreams do not
die; they may take long to be realized, but if
we do not give up on them, they would
eventually be fulfilled.
53
Dreams Are Always Alive Until

Fulfilled
On the 26th of August 1963, Martin Luther
King Jnr stood before untold number of people
in Washington DC to deliver one of the most
powerful speeches in the history of America.
He had seen how his fellow black Americans
were molested, oppressed and racially
discriminated against. He desired that it all
came to an end. His dream was to see an
America in which all humans are treated
equally irrespective of skin color. He however,
communicated his dreams in a speech, one
that would change the history of America and
by extension that of the world for good. The
speech is popularly referred to as ‚I have a
dream‛
Below are excerpts from the speech:
54
‚There are those who are asking the devotees

of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"
We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro
is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of
police brutality. We can never be satisfied as
long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of
travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the
highways and the hotels of the cities. We
cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic
mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger
one. We can never be satisfied as long as our
children are stripped of their self-hood and
robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For
Whites only." We cannot be satisfied as long as
a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a
Negro in New York believes he has nothing
for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied,
and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls
down like waters, and righteousness like a
mighty stream."
55
I am not unmindful that some of you have

come here out of great trials and tribulations.
Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail
cells. And some of you have come from areas
where your quest -- quest for freedom left you
battered by the storms of persecution and
staggered by the winds of police brutality. You
have been the veterans of creative suffering.
Continue to work with the faith that unearned
suffering is redemptive. Go back to
Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to
South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to
Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of
our northern cities, knowing that somehow
this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I
say to you today, my friends. And so even
though we face the difficulties of today and
tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream
deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will
rise up and live out the true meaning of its
creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal."
56
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of

Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slave owners will be able to sit
down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of
Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of
injustice, sweltering with the heat of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis
of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will
one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in
Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its
governor having his lips dripping with the
words of "interposition" and "nullification" --
one day right there in Alabama little black
boys and black girls will be able to join hands
with little white boys and white girls as sisters
and brothers.
I have a dream today!
57
I have a dream that one day every valley shall

be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall
be made low, the rough places will be made
plain, and the crooked places will be made
straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go
back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of
the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With
this faith, we will be able to transform the
jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we
will be able to work together, to pray together,
to struggle together, to go to jail together, to
stand up for freedom together, knowing that
we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day
when all of God's children will be able to sing
with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,
of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died,
land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every
mountainside, let freedom ring!
58
And if America is to be a great nation, this

must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious
hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains
of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening
Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped
Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes
of California. But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of
Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of
Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill
of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
59
And when this happens, and when we allow

freedom ring, when we let it ring from every
village and every hamlet, from every state and
every city, we will be able to speed up that day
when all of God's children, black men and
white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and
Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing
in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! 1
60
After Martin Luther King Jnr rendered his

speech, the whole world was left in awe of
such a powerful and prophetic speech. The
hopes of many black Americans were raised
and their faith strengthened that one day,
freedom would come to the black people in
America. They all looked forward to the time
when Luther’s dream would be fulfilled.
However, after the death of Martin Luther
King Jnr on the 4th of April 1968, Negroes all
over the world entered into a state of
mourning and despair and wondering what
would become of his dreams. Will his dreams
die with him or will they be fulfilled?
The above question is valid not only for
Martin Luther King’s dream but also for ours.
What becomes of our dreams before and after
we die? Do dreams die while the dreamer lives
or do they die when the dreamer dies?
To answer these questions, I would like us to
examine first of all Martin Luther King’s
dreams and see if they died with him.
61
When he conceived his dreams, white Kids

and black kids could not attend the same
school but today kids can go to school together
regardless of their skin color. His dream did
not die with him, it got fulfilled. Back in his
days, black and white were not allowed to
interact with each other, today, the reverse is
the case. Interracial marriages are rampant in
our world today. His dream did not die with
him, it got fulfilled. Most of the dreams that he
had are still very much alive; some already
fulfilled, others yet to be fulfilled. From the
foregoing, we see that dreams do not die. They
are always alive either in a fulfilled state or in
an unfulfilled state.
62
So, do dreams die when the dreamers die? No

they do not; they either exist in a fulfilled state
or in an unfulfilled state. Men may die, but
dreams do not die. As long as there is
someone to fulfill that dream, it can still be
fulfilled even after the dreamer is dead. If a
dream could be sold to another person or an
upcoming generation, though the dreamer
may die, yet the dream remains alive and can
be fulfilled by those to whom it was
committed. Should there be no one to fulfill it,
it remains alive but unfulfilled until someone
is found who could fulfill it. It does not matter
as much how long a dream takes to be fulfilled
as it matters that men who are able to run with
it are found to bring it to fruition.
How we communicate our dream to others
determine whether or not they will do
whatever is required to bring it to pass even
after we are gone from the earth. Many years
have come and gone after Steve Job died, yet
new brands of iPhone are being released every
year. The man is dead but his dream lives on.
63
When President Barack Obama, the first black

president of the United States of America was
elected as the 44th president of the United
States on November 4th 2008, the whole world
was moved with awe and wonder that such an
almost impossible event could occur in the
history of the United States. On the day that
the election results were announced everyone
looked backward in the direction of history
and all they could see was a dead human right
activist by the name Martin Luther King
Junior. The whole world could see the
dreamer, Martin Luther King Jnr standing in
Washington DC and speaking passionately the
words ‚I have A Dream‛. It was as if all of
heaven joined in the jubilation of the fact that a
dream had come true. Although the dreamer
was dead in his grave, yet the dream was alive
and got fulfilled on that day. Men may die, but
dreams live on waiting to be fulfilled or
already fulfilled.
64
If we could all understand that our dreams

are still alive although we abandoned them, it
would be easier for us to have the courage to
chase them again and bring them to fruition.
Unfortunately, most people easily conclude
that their dreams are dead when they cannot
wait long enough to achieve them or when
they do not have the diligence to work them
out. If you ever abandoned a dream and
conclude that it is dead, well you may need to
pick it up again. Dreams do not die, people
give up on them. Whenever you pick up your
abandoned dreams and work towards
fulfilling them, you would realize that they
did not die. They were just waiting for you to
fulfill them. If the dreams of dead men are still
alive and get fulfilled, why do you conclude
that your dreams are dead even though you
are still alive? Your dreams are not dead, you
gave up on them. If you pursue them again,
you would fulfill them and then you would
realize that dreams are always alive until
fulfilled.
65
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a

broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
-Langston Hughes
Success is Sure for the Never–Give-

Ups
Never give up, for that is just the place and
time that the tide will turn.
-Harriet Beecher Stowe
Many people have great dreams but only a
few follow their dreams till the end. The rest
give up on the way. Everybody wants their
dreams to materialize but only those who do
not give up on their dreams eventually
succeed in the end. For the quick-to-give-ups,
they never really achieve anything great in life
but for the never-give-ups, the world is theirs
for the taking. They achieve all that they set
their hearts to achieve. As long as they can
dream it, they would achieve it.
66
To be a part of the few who achieve their

dreams, you need to cultivate the never-give-
up spirit that sets apart the achievers from the
mere dreamers. Those who merely dream but
lack the readiness to pursue their dreams till
the end would always stand by and watch the
men of relentless spirits climb to the zenith of
success. Such men of relentless spirits do not
take no for an answer, they keep trying until
their yes comes. They do not see failure as a
final destination, but an inspiration to keep
striving until success is reached.
Perhaps the best example of a man with such a
relentless spirit would be Thomas Edison; one
of America’s most famous inventors of all-
time. When we talk about refusing to give up
to failure and using failure as an inspiration to
press forward in pursuit of success, there is no
better name to mention than Thomas Edison.
Edison had a dream of inventing the first
commercially viable electric bulb and set out
to begin experiments in that regard.
67
Success, however, did not come to Thomas

Edison on a silver platter. His dreams proved
difficult and almost impossible to achieve.
History has it that Edison carried out about
10,000 failed experiments before he finally got
the right filament that worked.
While searching for the right filament for the
light bulb, he tried thousands of materials
before he finally succeeded. Once, his assistant
complained, ‚All our hard work is in vain. We
have gained nothing.‛ Thomas Edison replied
calmly, ‚We have come a long way and we
have learned a lot. We know that there are
2,000 elements that cannot make a good light
bulb.‛2
In fact, when asked about his journey, he says
his most famous quote: ‚I have not failed
10,000 times – I’ve successfully found 10,000
ways that will not work.‛ What’s striking
about Edison was that he didn’t see giving up
as an option, but instead saw failure as an
opportunity to learn and do better.
68
It was only in 1879 when Thomas Edison

finally hit home run with his version of the
light bulb. At that time, light bulbs have been
already invented, but Edison is the one who
made it available for everyone on a mass scale
because of its affordability and practicality. He
was able to create a product that was useful
for everyone, while at the same time was
produced at minimum cost because the
filament he used was sustainable but
inexpensive. It was only after 6,000 tests of
possible materials that Edison’s team was able
to find one that fit: carbonized bamboo.
Undoubtedly, Thomas Edison is one of the
greatest minds and inventors in recent history.
But he did not do this overnight – or in a
decade, for that matter. He did it through
sheer hard work, and a spirit that was
impervious to failure.3
69
Today, thanks to Thomas Edison’s version of

the light bulb, we can freely enjoy electricity
and illumination at night without having to
use unsustainable materials like candles and
oil. This however, would not have become a
reality had Thomas Edison given up on his
dreams.
Dear friend, you must cultivate such a never-
give-up attitude as you pursue your dreams in
life. If you give up after one or two attempts
and conclude that your dream is not
achievable, you would never achieve that
dream. But if you persevere and keep trying,
keep working hard towards the achievement
of your dreams, you would eventually succeed
in realizing them. While you walk towards
your dream, fix your focus on the destination
and not on the little failures that you
encounter on the way. Fixing your gaze on the
dream, which is your final destination, gives
you the strength and courage to keep keeping
on. Do not give up on your dreams when you
meet setbacks, success may just be closer than
you think.
70
Many of life’s failures are people who did not

realize how close they were to success when
they gave up.
– Thomas Edison
Fix Your Eyes on the Dreams

On the journey to success, most people remove
their eyes from their dreams and rather focus
them on the hurdles and setbacks they
encounter on the way. One sure way to make
dreams come true is to fix your gaze on the
dream. Constantly beholding your dreams
gives you the courage to strive to get to them.
On my journey to becoming a medical doctor,
I had series of setbacks, obstacles, distractions
and difficulties, yet I tried not to lose focus on
my dream. My eyes were constantly fixed on
my dreams.
71
The path from dreams to success does exist.

May you have the vision to find it, the courage
to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow
it. -Kalpana Chawla
After I had been denied admission to study
medicine having attempted twice, I had no
choice than to try again a third time. Although
I had to wait till the following year, it meant
more to me that I did not lose sight of my
dream than the duration of time I waited to try
again.
72
In the year 2015, a year after I graduated

secondary school, I applied for the Joint
Admission and Matriculation Boards {JAMB}
Exams again. This time around, I applied for
Human Anatomy as first choice at the
University of Port Harcourt with Medicine
and surgery as second choice at the Delta State
University, my state university. The reason I
took Human Anatomy as first choice was
because the cut off mark for medicine at the
university of Port-Harcourt, being a federal
university was usually abnormally high. My
hopes were that, if I could get admitted into
human anatomy department, I would switch
to medicine and surgery after my first year of
study.
73
When the results were published later that

year, I got a little above the average pass
marks to qualify for admission in any
university of my choice. However, I knew that
my score would not match the abnormally
high cut off marks of the universities I had
chosen. That was how my third attempt to
study medicine ended. Not ready to give up
on my dreams, I took a 4th attempt to get
admitted for medicine and surgery. The
Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife was
at that time running a pre-degree program
that allows students study for a year after
which they get admitted in first course degree
program. That year, I applied for the program
to study medicine and surgery and had to
travel to the university at Ife, to write the pre-
degree entrance exams. After writing the
exams, we were to expect the results in a week
or two’s time.
74
While I was yet waiting for the results to be

published, a miracle happened. The federal
government introduced another examination
that allows universities conduct entrance
exams into first year for the students that had
the average marks and beyond in the JAMB
exams. The exam was called Post UME
(University Matriculation Exams}. It was the
first of its kind in the country. On hearing that
good news, I hurriedly travelled from Ife,
Osun State to Port Harcourt, Rivers state that
same week. I could not wait for the results of
the pre-degree entrance exam I had written at
the Obafemi Awolowo University Ife. I
needed to meet up with the scheduled exam
date in Port Harcourt for the post UME.
After writing the exam, I got the highest score
among all the students that applied for
Human Anatomy. I was so happy. Although,
it was medicine and surgery, yet I was happy
that I got admission to start first course.
75
I could have also gone to Delta State

University to write the post UME exams for
medicine and surgery, but I refused to go. The
reason I did not go there was that, the
university did not have accreditation for
medicine as at that time. So I had to give up
that choice which would have been my 5th
attempt to study medicine and surgery.
Although all my attempts to study medicine
had failed, my eyes were still on my dream. I
did not lose sight of my dreams. I had
accepted Human Anatomy but only as a
means to an end and not the end itself. My
dream was to become a medical doctor, not a
human anatomist. The university allowed
students who got good grades at the end of
first year to switch from anatomy to Medicine.
The next one year of my life would determine
if I would fulfill my dream of becoming a
medical doctor or eventually end up as a
Human Anatomist.
76
Nuggets Three
1. Men may die, but dreams do not die. As
long as there is someone to fulfill that
dream, it can still be fulfilled even after
the dreamer is dead.
2. If a dream could be sold to another
person or an upcoming generation,
though the dreamer may die, yet the
dream remains alive and can be fulfilled
by those to whom it was committed.
3. It does not matter as much how long a
dream takes to be fulfilled as it matters
that men who are able to run with it are
found to bring it to fruition.
4. How we communicate our dream to
others determine whether or not they will
do whatever is required to bring it to pass
even after we are gone from the earth.
5. If we could all understand that our
dreams are still alive although we
77
abandoned them, it would be easier for

us to have the courage to chase them
again and bring them to fruition.
6. For the quick-to-give-ups, they never
really achieve anything great in life but
for the never-give-ups, the world is theirs
for the taking. They achieve all that they
set their hearts to achieve. As long as they
can dream it, they would achieve it.
7. To be a part of the few who achieve their
dreams, you need to cultivate the never-
give-up spirit that sets apart the achievers
from the mere dreamers.
8. Those who merely dream but lack the
readiness to pursue their dreams till the
end would always stand by and watch
the men of relentless spirits climb to the
zenith of success.
9. Men of relentless spirits do not take no
for an answer, they keep trying until their
yes comes. They do not see failure as a
78
final destination, but an inspiration to

keep striving until success is reached.
10. While you walk towards your
dream, fix your focus on the destination
and not on the little failures that you
encounter on the way. Fixing your gaze
on the dream, which is your final
destination, gives you the strength and
courage to keep keeping on.
79
Chapter 4
The
Journey of
Life
80
Chapter Four
The Journey Of Life
The journey of life is meaningless without

dreams. To just be alive and not have a dream
to pursue or a goal to achieve is to roam the
earth aimlessly without direction. We would
be tossed back and forth and life would just be
a repeated cycle of eating, sleeping, and
waking if we do not dream and walk in the
direction of our dreams. We must dream and
believe that our dreams would come true,
otherwise life would not have meaning.
‚It's the possibility of having a dream come
true that makes life interesting.‛
― Paulo Coelho,
81
To move aimlessly through life is a waste of

life. Each one of us must decide what path we
want to follow in life and courageously walk
that path. We must find our destiny and walk
in that direction. When our dream is in line
with our destinies, no matter how long it
takes, we would definitely arrive there to
fulfill it. So, while we dream, we must also
find out what our destiny in life is; we must
find out what we were born to do with our
lives.
82
Destiny Calls if You Can Hear
83
In the journey of life, most people are

confused as to which direction to take. They
take one step northward today and another
step southward the following day. The reason
for this is that most people are not sure about
what they should be doing with their lives per
time. They have no clear picture of where they
should be heading. If you are in such a state, it
would be difficult for you to dream and
pursue your dreams till they are fulfilled.
Because while you are chasing one dream to
the north, you are soon distracted by what
seems to be a better opportunity at the south.
In such a state of obscurity, you get confused
and do not know whether to go all out to
fulfill your dreams or abandon them for the
seemingly better opportunities beckoning on
you in opposite direction to your dreams. It is
therefore important that one understands
one’s destiny and make sure that one’s dreams
are in line with what one’s destiny is in life to
do. What is your life’s destiny? What are you
destined to become in life?
84
For most people, such questions are the

most confusing questions they would ever
be asked in their lives. Confusing because,
not too many people know exactly what
their destiny in life is. However, for those
who can hear, destiny calls them in its
direction. Destiny is a force that pulls
people in the direction that they should go.
The voice of destiny can come to us in the
form of strong passion or desire to achieve a
dream or fulfill a life’s goal. Destiny speaks
through our most passionate dreams and
visions. Destiny speaks as an irresistible
desire to become something that you have
always wanted to be. What is it that you
desire to do with your life above all else?
What is that dream that you cannot wait to
fulfill? That is destiny calling you. When
you unwaveringly want something or
desire to become something, one of the
ways to know if it is your destiny to have it
or become it, is that the whole universe will
work in your favor to achieve it.
85
‚And, when you want something, all the

universe conspires in helping you to achieve
it.‛ ― Paulo Coelho
This however does not always come easily.

It may take some days, months or years
before the universe comes to your aid. Often
times, life allows us to wander, make
multiple failed attempts, and even walk in
directions opposite to our destiny before
our help comes. We may dabble into
unnecessary endeavors, walk through
obscure roads and pursue many
meaningless dreams but in the long run,
destiny pulls us in its direction. We get to a
point when only one dream matters most to
us and the voice of destiny compels us to
choose that one dream that matters most to
our life’s destined path. When this happens,
our focus turns towards this destiny and
how to achieve it.
86
‚Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a

matter of choice. It is not a thing to be
waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.‛
― William Jennings Bryan
When I had struggled through 4 failed

attempts to get admission to study medicine
and surgery and eventually got Human
Anatomy, I came to the conclusion that it was
my destiny to follow that path. I could not
understand how easy it was to just apply for
Human Anatomy once and get admitted at my
first attempt with the highest score in the Post
UME exams, when all my four attempts to get
medicine and surgery turned out futile. I did
not know how else to explain that than to
conclude that it was my destiny to follow the
route of Human Anatomy.
However, what was not so clear to me was
whether I would eventually become the
medical Doctor I have dreamt to be or end up
an Anatomist.
87
When I started my first year in the university,

my hope was to switch from Anatomy to
medicine. My university allowed students
who got a CGPA of 4points and above at the
end of their first year of study, to switch from
any of the medical sciences like Anatomy and
Physiology to medicine and surgery. That
became my target. I was ready to work myself
out and pay the price to have my dream come
true. In view of this, I spent the bulk of my
time studying both day and night to make
sure I got the best grades. I would be in class
as early as 7am, when I was done with classes
in the afternoon; I would go to the library to
study till evening. I usually find some time to
sleep when I get home in the evening but
wakes up around 10pm to go read all-night at
the university complex called OFRIMA. I
would study till about 5am before I return
home to prepare to be in class by 7am again.
That was my daily routine in addition to the
few times I spent in fellowship with my
Christian brothers and sisters. After all my
hard work, I had a GPA of 3.55 at the end of
88
my first semester. I knew I needed to worker

harder in the second semester if my hopes of
switching to medicine would come true. I
increased my hard work and study time. I was
so studious that at the end of the second
semester, my grades justified my sacrifice and
hard work. I got a GPA of 4.29. My troubles
began after calculating my CGPA and found
out that it was 3.92. Remember that I could
only switch to medicine if I got a CGPA of 4
points? Yes! But there I was with a 3.92. I met
the dean of my Department and asked him if
my 3.92 could be rounded off to 4.0point. His
answer was a No! He said that only if I had
gotten a 3.99 could he consider rounding it off
to 4.0 to allow me switch to medicine. That
was the end of my passion. I resumed second
year still studying Human Anatomy instead of
my dream medicine. I was devastated and lost
all zeal to study hard as I had done in my first
year. I was depressed especially when I saw
people whom had believed so much in me and
would bet their lives that I would get more
than a 4.0point and switch to medicine. Maybe
89
I was not destined to be a medical doctor after

all. Perhaps, my destiny was to become a
human anatomist and not a medical doctor.
However, I knew deep within me that my
soul’s desire was to become a medical doctor.
The dream for which I would give up
everything else to pursue was medicine and
surgery, yet the odds were always against me
in that regard. All my four attempts to get
medicine were futile and now my fifth attempt
which I thought would be the last has failed
also. How would I spend the next three years
of my life studying a course I never dreamt of!
Without passion and a lost zeal coupled with
depression, I managed to hope again. This
time I had one more chance (my sixth attempt
to study medicine) to switch to medicine. That
was only if I could get a CGPA of 3.5 and
above at the end of my 4th year (final year).
90
When all had been said and done, all my

efforts although without enough zeal and
passion like before yielded a CGPA of ≈3.2 at
the end of my final year. That was how I
graduated from the university in the year 2009
as a Human Anatomist with no possibility of
switching to medicine. I could not believe that
my dream of becoming a medical doctor had
been truncated. My father was disappointed
and felt like he wasted his money. He has been
a die-hard supporter of my dream of
becoming a medical doctor. Everyone at home
felt the pain and depression that befell me. We
all came to one conclusion and that was
‚maybe I was not destined to be a medical
doctor‛.
91
Experience has taught me that the journey of

life is full of winding turns, high mountains
and low valleys and as long as we keep our
eyes on the dream and do not lose focus of our
vision, we would one day get to our
destination. However, before we get to our
destinations, we are often forced to ask
‚should I continue this journey or abandon
this dream?‛
Dream Again If Need Be

The beauty of life is that we have the ability to
dream as many times as we want. We could
either reactivate abandoned dreams or dream
an entirely new dream.
Dreams are renewable. No matter what our
age or condition, there are still untapped
possibilities within us and new beauty
waiting to be born.
-Dale Turner
92
Having graduated from the university as a

human anatomist, a career with no possible
place to work, I knew that could not be the
end of the road for me. Destiny may have
taken me through this route, but it is certainly
not my destination. In life we must be careful
not to confuse our paths to destiny as the final
destination itself. Many people have built a
permanent residence on the path that should
lead them to their destiny. When you have
walked for too long on the road to your
destiny and are still not sure how far you are
from your destination and if you would
eventually get there, do not build a permanent
settlement on the road; it is only a road, it’s
not your destination. Do not abandon your
dreams and settle for less on the road to
destiny, until you arrive, you must keep on
moving in the direction of your dreams.
"If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run,
then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. but
whatever you do, you have to keep moving
forward."
Martin Luther King Jr
93
Our world is full of people who have settled

down at places they would have passed. Many
have turned their path into their parlor and
their process into their destination. You
probably have given up on your dreams and
settled for less, or are currently working on a
job permanently that should have just been a
temporary job to give you the experience you
need for your dream Job. It is very important
that we learn to discern between destiny and
the path to get there. Otherwise we would
spend the rest of our lives on the path thinking
that it was the destination.
As a human anatomist, I knew that I could not
accept my path as my destination. It was
difficult for me to accept being known as a
human anatomist when I knew I should be a
medical doctor. In view of this, I had to dream
again. This time around, it was still that old
dream of becoming a medical doctor. I never
relented on it.
94
In the year 2010, I applied to a direct entry

program at the University of Benin to study
medicine. This program allows graduates to
study their dream course but from 2nd year or
3rd year. That meant that I could start studying
medicine and surgery but not from first year,
since I was already a graduate of human
anatomy. I applied to the program and
unfortunately, I was not admitted. That was
my 7th attempt to study medicine and yet it
was still crushed.
95
That same year, I went for my youth service

with the national youth service corps (NYSC).
I had my orientation at the Karaye Local
government NYSC camp, Kano State, Nigeria.
While in that camp, I dreamt again and as you
would rightly guess; my dream had not
changed. It was still that old dream of
becoming a medical doctor. This time around,
I decided to write the JAMB exams again with
the hopes of getting admission into the
university again to study medicine from first
year. It was a crazy decision and one that most
people would find abnormal; that a graduate
with a B.sc degree in human anatomy would
write JAMB exams again. Well, I did not care
what anybody thought about my decision.
What mattered to me was to pursue my dream
until I reached my destination. Dreams do not
die, people give up on them. I was not ready
to give up. I knew that if I was courageous
enough to try again, I may eventually win.
All our dreams can come true, if we have the

courage to pursue them.-Walt Disney
96
I travelled from Kano State to Asaba, Delta

State to write the 2010 JAMB exam. I chose
university of Benin (Uniben) as my first and
second choice and of course medicine and
surgery as first and second choice. When the
results were released, I got 264, a score that
was far above the required cut off marks to
qualify for the POST UME exams. Some few
months later, I was at the University of Benin
to write the post UME exams and my score
was again above the cut off mark to get
admission. Uniben usually admits students
into their faculty of choice if they got scores
above two hundred in the post UME exams. I
got higher than that required score and was so
sure I would be admitted into medical faculty.
Shockingly for me, the admission list that was
posted had my name but not under medical
faculty; I was admitted into the faculty of
animal science. At that point, I knew that was
it for me, it was the end of my medicine and
surgery pursuit. I knew it was time to give up
on that dream. I have tried 8th times all to no
avail. My father and siblings concluded that
97
perhaps there were some spiritual forces

fighting against me and trying to stop my
family from producing a medical doctor. They
said that these spiritual forces are dream
killers.
Maybe it was not my destiny after all. I
ignored their admission, went on to complete
my youth service program in 2011 and moved
on with my life. It was time to find something
else to do with my life. I needed to dream
differently this time.
98
It’s Never Too Late to Achieve Your

Dreams
When the odds of life are perpetually against
us, we get to a point when all that seems right
to us is to give up and stop dreaming. At such
points in our lives, we settle for the next
available thing that comes our way. It is at this
point where people stop dreaming that they
pursue unnecessary and irrelevant endeavors,
at this point, what never appealed to us before
begins to beckon on us and our attention is
divided and focused only on that which is not
our destiny. We begin at this point to settle for
less and to completely abandon our greatest
dreams.
99
For me, having got done with my youth

service and had no Job opportunities, I
decided to consider joining the military. The
Nigerian army was recruiting and my father
had to tell a friend of his who works in the
army to secure a space for me. At least, if I got
into the army with a B.sc degree, I would be
ranked from a second lieutenant. Although, I
had no love or desire for the military, although
it was never my dream to become an army
officer, yet the circumstances of life brought
me to this point where I was to settle for less.
Thankfully, I was not recruited. It was not my
destiny to walk that road at all. The next two
years of my life was void of any thoughts of
medical school or the dream of becoming a
medical doctor. I had given up on that and
completely erased the thoughts from my
mind. I became a secondary school teacher in a
private school in Abuja teaching physics,
chemistry and biology.
100
Being a fervent Christian and a God-lover, I

was deeply committed in church and even ran
a theology program for three months. My plan
was to go into ministry while I continued my
teaching job, eventually own a school of my
own and get married. It was the year 2013 and
I was 27years old already.
Although I had my plans as stated above,
destiny came, calling and this time, not only
calling but pulling me in its direction. The
universe was about to conspire to bring me to
my dream. Which dream? The same old
dream I thought had died. That dream of
becoming a medical doctor that I thought had
expired and would never materialize again.
101
One day, I received a call from a friend of

mine Tein Ockiya, who also studied human
anatomy with me at the University of Port
Harcourt. She told me that some new
universities in some parts of Nigeria would be
admitting students into their medical faculty if
we could chose them as first choice in the
JAMB exams of that year, 2013. That sounded
to me like good news. However, I told her that
I was already 27years, had taken my mind off
medicine and was planning on doing ministry
and getting married. Besides, I didn’t trust any
Nigerian University again with admissions
after what Uniben did to me in 2010. She
insisted that we give it a try and that since
these were new universities, they would
definitely give us admission.
With those words, my hope began to rise
again; my dream became activated in my soul.
God had sent me a motivation to dream again
and that was my friend Tein whom I owe a lot
of thanks for being a destiny helper. It was
thanks to her that I began to dream again.
102
I called my father and told him that I wanted

to write JAMB exam again. He was shocked
that I would want to write that exam again
about ten years after I first wrote it. Even more
shocking for him was the fact that even after
Uniben had given me animal science two
years prior, I still wanted to take the risk.
When he saw my passion and relentless
attitude to my dream of becoming a medical
doctor, he suggested that I look for options
outside of Nigeria where I could study
medicine without having to start from first
year. I suggested Canada and Ukraine and he
asked me to go find the cost for each of them.
I could not believe my eyes. Where would my
father get money to send me abroad? I knew
what his monthly salary was like and I never
imagined that he would even suggest me
travelling abroad to study medicine. I sensed
that heaven was working on my behalf and
pushing me in the direction of my destiny.
103
After doing my findings, we eventually chose

Ukraine and applied for the admission. The
first university I applied to in Ukraine said
that I was above the age limit and would not
admit me. I was already 27 years old and
people who should be applying should be
between 17 and 18years old. That was my 9th
attempt to study medicine. I applied again to
another university, thankfully I got admitted. I
was so happy that at last my dream would
come true. The dream I thought had expired
was perhaps going to come true.
Your dream doesn’t have an expiration date.

Take a deep breath, and try again.
~ Kt Witten
104
We began to make preparations for the Visa,

look for money for the school fees,
accommodation, flight ticket and
miscellaneous. I applied for Visa and waited
prayerfully to receive it unhindered. I said to
myself, ‚if I get the visa, then God is behind
my dreams. If I am denied visa, then God
doesn’t want me to be a medical doctor.‛
105
Nuggets Four
1. The journey of life is meaningless
without dreams. To just be alive and
not have a dream to pursue or a goal to
achieve is to roam the earth aimlessly
without direction.
2. We would be tossed back and forth
and life would just be a repeated cycle
of eating, sleeping, and waking if we
do not dream and walk in the direction
of our dreams.
3. Often times, life allows us to wander,
make multiple failed attempts, and
even walk in directions opposite to our
destiny before our help comes.
4. We may dabble into unnecessary
endeavors, walk through obscure
roads and pursue many meaningless
dreams but in the long run, destiny
pulls us in its direction.
106
5. The beauty of life is that we have the

ability to dream as many times as we
want. We could either reactivate
abandoned dreams or dream an
entirely new dream.
6. . In life we must be careful not to
confuse our paths to destiny as the
final destination itself. Many people
have built a permanent residence on
the path that should lead them to their
destiny.
7. When you have walked for too long on
the road to your destiny and are still
not sure how far you are from your
destination and if you would
eventually get there, do not build a
permanent settlement on the road; it is
only a road, it’s not your destination.
107
Chapter 5
Overcoming
The
Bottlenecks to
Destiny
108
Chapter Five
Overcoming The Bottlenecks To
Destiny
On the way to achieving dreams, we are often
met with hindrances, setbacks and bottlenecks.
Not too many people are able to overcome this
stage of the process to reach their final
destination. Many abandon their dreams only
at the verge of success. They do not know how
close they are to their dreams when they gave
up. There are certain things that could act as
hindrances and bottlenecks to our dreams. We
shall discuss few of them in this chapter.
109
Love versus Destiny
110
Most of the people who have abandoned their

dreams and destiny have done so not because
of any external obstacles and hindrances but
on the basis of trying to please people whom
they think they love. People truncate their
destinies and abandon their dreams just to
prove their love for others. I have seen
children abandon their dreams just to please
their parents. They claim to love their parents
so much to do whatever they say. I personally
know a guy who is so talented with music and
who dreams of becoming a world renowned
musician but who however quit that pursuit to
study medicine so as to please his father
whom he loves so much. I have seen young
men abandon their life’s purpose and dreams
just to please the girl they are in love with.
This kind of love between dates or intending
couples has more power to make people
abandon their dreams than that which exist
between parents and children. Children more
often than not abandon their dreams to please
their parents out of respect than out of love.
However, young adults abandon their dreams
111
more frequently for the sake of love than for

the sake of respect. Such kind of love is that
erratic love that burns within the soul of two
individuals who are madly attracted to each
other and can almost impossibly be separated
by anything. When people are madly in love,
they would not allow anything come in
between them to separate them; not even
dreams, life’s purpose or destiny! Such kind of
love is one that shuts down logical reasoning
and allows emotions have a free day. To such
individuals, ‚to hell with destiny, to hell with
dreams and who cares about life’s purpose‛
Every one of us must have at one time in our
lives being in such a ‘madly-in –love’ position
where nothing else matters except the person
we think we so dearly love. I have been there
too. I almost gave up my destiny on the altar
of love. I was at a crossroads where I needed
to choose between love and destiny.
112
After spending almost ten years of my life

seeking admission to study medicine and
finally getting an admission from a Ukrainian
university in 2013, I almost gave up the
pursuit of medicine because I was ‘in love’.
113
Back in the year 2012, I had fallen in love with

a beautiful and charming young lady with
whom I was planning to spend the rest of my
life. Like I said earlier, my plan was to do
ministry, get married and have a school of my
own since it was not my destiny to become a
medical doctor. I was madly in love with this
queen, my fiancée before I got admission from
the Ukrainian university. While I waited for
my visa to be processed and finally travel out
of Nigeria, I began to think about what would
become of our love and our relationship. I
could not imagine that I would leave my
source of joy and happiness behind while I
travel to a far country to study. I thought
about it for days but unfortunately, we can
barely think and reason logically when we are
overwhelmed by emotions. My emotions
chose love above destiny. My emotions told
me that it was ok to abandon the dream that I
had travelled so long and so far to reach.
When I spoke to my fiancée about it, I could
see in her eyes that her love was burning and
that she would do everything to hold me close
114
to her forever, yet she encouraged me to

pursue my dreams. She believed that if we
were meant to be together forever, destiny
would find a way to bring us together again.
While I understood what she said, emotions
kept telling me to abandon my dreams and
choose love above destiny.
I began to think about all the possible reasons
why I should stay back in Nigeria and forget
about my dreams. So, I got an idea, one I
thought would work perfectly.
115
My father had a piece of land on which I had

planned to erect a structure and register a
private school. That plan was on hold for lack
of funds. I quickly took advantage of that plan
to try to convince my father that it was better
to build a school in Nigeria that could fetch me
income than spend about ten thousand dollars
$10000 to start studying medicine in Ukraine.
So, I called my father and told him that I
would not go to Ukraine anymore. I tried to
convince him that he didn’t have enough
money to send me to Ukraine and train me
through till I graduate. I reminded him of how
small his salary was and the reasons why we
should be investing it instead of spending it on
me to travel abroad. I told him that he had
tried sponsoring me through my B.sc program
for four years and that I would not want him
to spend further on me since we were a family
of average means.
116
After saying all that my emotions convinced

me to say, my father asked me a question. He
said ‚is it because of your fiancée that you no
longer want to travel and pursue your
dreams?‛ I lied and said No! I told him that I
was just considering his financial capability
knowing that he was not a stupendously rich
father.
To my surprise, my father told me not to
worry about his financial capability and that
he would try his best to raise the money that I
needed to travel abroad and finish my studies.
117
Considering my father’s words and

juxtaposing it with what my fiancée had said
earlier, I realized that I was been led by
emotions and not true love. Although I
genuinely loved my fiancée, I allowed the
emotions of falling in love get the best of me.
When I finally returned to my senses, my
fiancée and I had to sit down to plan the
future. We agreed to call of marriage plans
and chose to rather put my dreams and
destiny above all else. We decided that I
would first travel to Ukraine and after a year,
we would look for a way to bring her over to
join me there. Our love allowed us to choose
destiny first. We agreed that the pursuit of
dreams and the fulfillment of destiny is
priority. Many years after we made that
decision we realized that what we felt for each
other was true love. True love does not hinder
destiny but emotions and erratic love does. If
love prevents a man from pursuing his life’s
purpose and fulfilling his dreams, then such a
love could hardly be regarded as true. If it is
true love, it would give priority to purpose,
118
destiny and dreams. In the words of the

author of the book ‘the Alchemist’ I would
love to say:
‚You must understand that love never keeps a
man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons
that pursuit, it's because it wasn't true love.‛
― Paulo Coelho
119
So, friend, the next time your dreams and

destiny are threatened by love, you must ask
yourself what kind of love it is. Do not forget
that true love is patient and would wait for
dreams and destiny to lead the way. If we
could allow our love to give way for dreams to
go first, those dreams would eventually lead
us to our destiny and when we arrive at our
destiny we would realize that we did not leave
love behind, love came with us. True love
always follows dreams to its destination.
Although not always immediately, but it
eventually comes along. We must also learn to
follow our dreams instead of our emotions.
Dreams often lead us to our destiny but
emotions more often than not in the opposite
direction to our destiny. Follow your dreams
and you would hardly miss the way to your
destiny.
Follow your dreams, they know the way.
-Kobe Yamada
120
Let No One Belittle Your Dreams

Follow your passion, be prepared to work
hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don't let
anyone limit your dreams.
-Donovan Bailey
121
Another reason people abandon their

ambitions and do not fulfill their dreams is
because they allow people talk them out of
their dreams. It is important who you share
your dreams with if you want your dreams to
be fulfilled. Some people are natural
pessimists who discourage others from
achieving their dreams. If you tell your
dreams to such people, they would discourage
you from pursuing it. A pessimist sees
impossibilities in everything and doubts the
feasibility of your dreams. Often times a
pessimist would tell you that your dreams are
too big and that they would never be realized.
They would tell you that you do not have
what it takes to fulfill such dreams and
encourage you to dream small dreams instead
of big dreams. If you listen to such people, you
would never achieve anything of worth in life.
Before you tell your dreams to anyone and
seek their opinion, you must first realize that it
is your dream and not theirs. You should have
the final say about your dreams and not
anyone else. With such a mindset that it is
122
your dream and no one else’s, you would be

free to dream big dreams because you know
that you would not need to lower your plans
to suit anyone.
Dream no small dreams for they have no
power to move the hearts of men.
-Goethe
It takes no greater energy to dream big dreams
than it takes to dream small ones. Why not
dream big dreams instead!
Share your dreams with people who would
inspire you to achieve them. Share your
dreams with people who would encourage
you to ‘go for it’. Do not keep company with
negative people, those who see no possibilities
of your dreams coming true. Those who allow
pessimists have the final say about their
dreams never amount to anything in life. They
abandon their dreams and spend the rest of
their lives in regret.
123
When the Wright Brothers decided to build

the airplane, the American populace tried to
discourage them and explain to them why
their dream was impossible to achieve. A few
years later, they silenced the pessimists and
proved them wrong by actually creating an
airplane that could fly. Their dreams came
true and the whole world stood up to celebrate
their feats. They are a name in history today,
because they did not listen to negative
opinions. They pursued their dreams until it
was fulfilled.
When Jack Ma wanted to start his internet
business, he gathered 24 of his friends and
sold his dream to them.1
124
23 out of the 24 told him to abandon the dream

and that he did not have what it takes to
achieve such big dreams. They gave him all
the possible reasons why the dream would not
materialize and why he should dream of
something smaller and more feasible.
Thankfully, he did not listen to them; he did
not allow the opinion of negative people
truncate his destiny. He decided he had the
final say and courageously pursued his
dreams. Today Jack Ma, the founder of
Alibaba is one of the richest men in china with
a net worth of $35.6 billion. Had he allowed
pessimistic people discourage him from
pursuing his dreams, he would probably not
be known worldwide today and his dreams
would never have materialized. If you want to
be an achiever, stay positive and beware of
negative people. Keep your dreams to yourself
and to those whom you know would help you
fulfill them. Dreams do not die, people give up
on them.
125
Be careful what you water your dreams with.

Water them with worry and fear and you will
produce weeds that choke the life from your
dream. Water them with optimism and
solutions and you will cultivate success.
Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a
problem into an opportunity for success.
Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture
your dream.
Lao Tzu
126
There Are No Dream Killers in Life

I know that most people who would read this
book would have a hard time believing that
there is no such thing as dream killers. The
word dream killers is a very popular word in
our world today especially amongst people of
African descent. When an average American
or European pursues a dream and cannot
actualize it, he goes back to the drawing board
to ascertain why he failed. By so doing, he is
able to re-strategize, study harder, work
harder and seek mentoring if need be so that
he could pursue his dream one more time. For
the highly optimistic ones, this cycle repeats
until they finally achieve their dreams.
127
However, for the average African, if his

dreams do not come true, he is often tempted
to believe that someone somewhere or some
spiritual forces are behind his failures. His first
response would perhaps be to pray against
what is generally called dream killers. By
dream killers, he means anyone whether
spiritual or physical who tries to kill his
dreams. He believes that since he could not
achieve his dream, then the dream is dead and
it was killed by supposed dream killers.
I will however, say here, that there is no such
thing as a dream killer. Dreams do not die and
hence there are no dream killers. It is
impossible to kill dreams. People may
discourage you from pursuing your dreams
and make you give up on them, but as for the
dreams they are not dead, they are only
unfulfilled. The dreamers may die, others may
abandon their dreams but the dreams live on
until someone fulfills them.
128
When all my attempts to study medicine in

Nigeria proved abortive and I forgot about my
dreams, it was easy for me to conclude that
my dream was dead and of course killed by
some imaginary dream killers somewhere.
However, when I refused to give up and
decided to pursue my dreams, I realized that
my dreams were not dead; I only gave up on
them. If we must achieve all our dreams, we
must erase the idea that there are some dream
killers somewhere who are trying to kill our
dreams from our mind. We must rather
resolve to try again, study harder, work harder
and re-strategize as we pursue our dreams
relentlessly. Only then would we realize that
dreams do not die, there are no dream killers,
and that we could either pursue our dreams
till they are fulfilled or give up on them. There
are no dream killers in life, only people who
encourage you to give up on your dreams.
129
When you have a dream that you can't let go

of, trust your instincts and pursue it. But
remember: Real dreams take work, They take
patience, and sometimes they require you to
dig down very deep. Be sure you're willing to
do that.
-Harvey Mackay
130
Nuggets Five
1. . If love prevents a man from pursuing
his life’s purpose and fulfilling his
dreams, then such a love could hardly be
regarded as true. If it is true love, it
would give priority to purpose, destiny
and dreams.
2. True love is patient and would wait for
dreams and destiny to lead the way.
3. If we could allow our love to give way
for dreams to go first, those dreams
would eventually lead us to our destiny
and when we arrive at our destiny we
would realize that we did not leave love
behind, love came with us
4. Dreams often lead us to our destiny but
emotions more often than not in the
opposite direction to our destiny. Follow
131
your dreams and you would hardly miss

the way to your destiny.
5. It takes no greater energy to dream big
dreams than it takes to dream small ones.
Why not dream big dreams instead!
132
133
Chapter 6
Believing
The
Beauty of
Your
Dream
134
Chapter Six
Believing The Beauty Of Your Dream
135
When I had waited for my visa for some

months and it was delaying, I began to nurse
some doubts in my heart as to whether the
Ukrainian embassy would grant me the visa or
not. That also meant that I doubted if my
dream would eventually come true or be
hindered again. While I waited, I was still
actively involved in church activities and
doubled as the youth president and choir
director of my church. I attended God’s
Masterpiece Assembly International Church,
Gwarinpa Estate Abuja. As part of our yearly
program, the youth department organized a
three day fasting and prayer camp meeting in
June 2013. The program was a glorious one as
God’s presence saturated the church building
in which we tarried and prayed before the
Lord, seeking His face and worshiping Him
extravagantly. On the last day of the program
which was a general Sunday service,
something spectacular happened. The service
took an unusual turn as the presence of God
was heavily available like never before.
136
At the end of the service, a lady by the name

Pastor Moriah requested to see me. It would
be the first time we would be talking since she
seldom visits my church. She told me that
while we were having the camp meeting in
church; God told her a lot of things about me
at her house. She asked me if I knew who I am,
I said yes. She asked a second time and I
repeated the same answer. Then she asked me
what I did for a living, I told her I was a
teacher. She then said that God told her that I
would not work with my certificate and that
God had a different purpose for my life. She
said that God told her that I was travelling
abroad and that she saw me in a foreign
country doing ministry. She said that God told
her that He has given me a ministry that
would cut across nations and that the words
from my mouth would heal many. She said
many other things concerning me and my
eldest sister who lives in Delta State and
whom she has never seen or heard anything
about.
137
When we got done talking, I told her thank

you and walked away. Although I had seen
the prophetic gift in operation before, I had
not seen it with such precision as I saw that
day. I knew somewhere within me that God
had a special purpose for my life but I did not
have any concrete confirmation as I had that
day. The senior pastor of my Church,
Reverend Tony Omiunu had told me about a
month earlier that God told him that I should
get ready for ministry, and so I knew that I
would do ministry, but I did not know to what
extent God had planned it for my life.
After the encounter with pastor Moriah, all my
doubts as to whether I would get the visa or
not disappeared. My faith became stronger
and believed that I would eventually travel
abroad to study medicine even though the
prophecy said nothing about medicine but
ministry.
138
See Yourself in the Future

I shared the secret with my fiancée and we
both prayed together and hoped that the
prophecy came to pass. Our faith grew
stronger and stronger as we saw God making
financial provision for the trip and everything
I needed was made available. Two months
later I was called to come and make deposit
payment for the visa and after another month I
was called to come and pick up my visa. In the
month of September 2013, I got my visa and
booked my flight ticket for October of the
same year.
As at that point my faith was 100%, I believed
that there would be nothing to stop me from
achieving my dreams. I began to see myself in
Europe and as a medical doctor. I could
picture the university, the students, the
lecturers, the hospitals all in my mind. I saw
the future because I believed in the beauty of
my dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt had said:
The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams.
139
It is true, if you could believe in the future of

your dreams, then the future is yours. The
reason most people give up on their dreams is
their inability to believe in the beauty of
dreams. And since they do not believe in the
beauty of their dreams they hardly see
themselves in the future. Only those who
believe that their dreams are achievable
actually see themselves in the future living
that dream. The rest are blinded by their
unbelief.
140
One secret to achieving dreams is to always

believe in those dreams and seeing you in the
future fulfilling those dreams. The picture of
the future you see goes a long way to build
your courage, determination and
perseverance. When hindrances, obstacles and
hurdles try to stop you on your way to
destiny, the beautiful picture of the future you
see gives you strength to hold on and not give
up. If there is nothing to look up to in the
future, there is nothing to fight for and risk
one’s life for. But if you could picture yourself
in the future fulfilling your beautiful dream,
you would have every reason to scale through
hurdles and obstacles to reach for your dream.
141
When I had seen the future and believed 100%

in the beauty of my dreams, I headed for the
airport alongside my fiancée who
accompanied me. It was on the 23rd of
September 2013 that I departed Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and
headed for Lagos. As we flew higher into the
sky, I began to be very emotional and my
heart was full of both sorrowful and happy
thoughts. I had sorrowful thoughts because I
was leaving my fiancée, behind who had
sacrificed her love for me to allow my dreams
come first. I knew I would miss her so much
who had proven to me that her love is true by
not allowing that love get in the way of my
destiny. I remembered the beautiful moments
we’ve shared together and how she was
always fun to be around. I could only wish we
were on the flight travelling together. At the
same time my happy thoughts expressed
themselves in the fact that I had taken the first
flight on the journey to destiny and that the
long awaited day had finally arrived. I looked
forward to arriving Lagos and finally leaving
142
Nigeria for good.

Having arrived Lagos, I lodged two days in
the hotel and on the 25th of September 2013, we
took off from the Murtala Mohammed
international airport Lagos and headed for
Istanbul International Airport, Turkey. We left
Turkey on the 26th of September by 6:15pm
and arrived Donetsk International Airport
8:20pm the same day.
All through the journey, I thought about all
the times I had travelled to different places to
write JAMB and Post UME exams. I thought
about all the rejections I had faced in my chase
for my dream of becoming a medical doctor. I
thought of how I had given up on the dream
and concluded that it was dead. I remembered
the day, that my friend Tein called me to tell
me about the possibilities of getting admission
in those new universities. I thought about my
youth service year and how getting a Job with
a B.sc certificate in Human Anatomy was an
impossible thing.
143
It was only after I arrived in Donetsk that I

understood why all my nine attempts to study
medicine in Nigeria failed. Although I never
dreamt of studying abroad, God had planned
my destiny in such a way that I would do
ministry abroad. He thus allowed me to study
Anatomy in Nigeria instead of medicine so
that He would later bring me abroad to study
medicine and prepare me in Ukraine for an
international ministry. It was only recently
that it dawned on me that all the rejections I
faced in Nigeria were stepping stones pushing
me towards my destiny. I thought that the
setbacks, hurdles and hindrances I
encountered on my life’s journey were against
me, I never knew they were working in my
favor to bring me to my destined purpose.
144
In the month of October 2013, I started first

year as a medical student in Donetsk National
Medical University Ukraine at the age of 27. It
took my 9years to arrive at my destiny but I
am glad I waited and did not give up on my
dream. I thank God for not allowing me study
medicine in Nigeria because if I did, I would
never have come to Europe to study.
The next six years of my life would be a
journey towards earning the prestigious
degree ‚Doctor of Medicine‛- The ultimate
fulfillment of my dream and living the future
that I had seen.
145
Patience and Passion Keep Dreams

Alive
Have you ever wondered why people give up
easily on their dreams and conclude that they
are dead? There could be many reasons for
that some of which I have already explained in
previous sessions. However, in this session, I
would like to talk about patience and passion.
It is the lack of passion and the patience to
walk the long road to our dreams that causes
us to hurriedly give up on our dreams and
conclude that they are dead. It is not that your
dream died but that you lack the patience and
passion to pursue it till the end. Without
patience and passion dreams are forgotten.
Without patience and passion people turn
back and walk in opposite direction to their
destination. Without patience and passion
people abandon their dreams and settle for the
quick fix. Without patience and passion,
people surrender their big dreams for smaller
ones. Without patience and passion people
settle for less than they deserve.
146
There is no passion to be found playing small -

in settling for a life that is less than the one
you are capable of living.
-Nelson Mandela
If there are any virtues with which men of
relentless spirit pursue their dreams till they
are fulfilled, it would be patience and passion.
While passion drives you in the direction of
your dreams, patience tells you not to give up
when you meet an obstacle on the way.
Dreams are alive and are fulfilled when we
cultivate the passion to pursue them and the
patience to hang on until they are fulfilled.
147
After I started studying Medicine and Surgery

at Donetsk National Medical University,
trouble broke out in the eastern part of
Ukraine as Russia and Ukraine began a war
for territories. Russia had claimed that some
parts of Ukraine; Crimea, Donetsk and
Lugansk belong to them. This led to no small
crisis, such that the whole world heard about
it and had their opinions. At the end of my
first year in medical school, the crisis had
intensified so much so that most foreign
students schooling in Ukraine had to travel
back to their countries during the holidays. I
thus returned to Nigeria in 2014 for a 3 months
holiday. And guess who was at the airport
waiting for me to arrive; my fiancée, the angel
who sacrificed her love for my dreams to be
realized. I had missed her for the past year and
seeing her face to face again was of great
pleasure to me.
148
Throughout my 3months holiday, we had

enough time to discuss and plan how she
would come and join me in Ukraine. She had
been patiently seeking admission in Nigeria
even before we first met in 2012. She
graduated secondary school in the year, 2009
and as at 2012 when I met her she had been
denied admission severally. When she shared
stories of her ordeals with me, I encouraged
her and told her not to worry that she would
not school in Nigeria. I told her that God had
planned for her to study abroad. I said those
words casually but I did not know that they
were prophetic words. It was 2012 and I never
dreamed in my wildest imagine that I myself
would school abroad. Had someone told me in
2012 that I would still continue my education
and more so in a foreign country, I would
have doubted! Yet I stood there that day
encouraging my fiancée and telling her that
she would school abroad.
149
While I was in Ukraine in 2013, she took

another try at her state university in Anambra
State, she was denied admission again even
though she got the highest score in her
department for that year’s Post UME exams. I
remembered speaking to her on phone and
encouraging her from Ukraine not to get
depressed and sorrowful. I reminded her that
God had planned for her to study abroad.
It was for this reason that one of the major
discussions we had when I arrived Nigeria for
holidays was about bringing her to Ukraine to
study her dream course; international
economics.
150
When my holidays were over, I returned to

Ukraine and started my second year of study
but this time at another university in the
western part of Ukraine; Ivano-Frankovsk
National Medical University. We had to
transfer from the eastern war-torn areas to the
peaceful western universities. My fiancée
having had enough passion and patience,
needed to fulfill her dreams and so we got
admission for her in 2015 to come over to
Ukraine for studies. It was like a miracle, she
could not believe that after many years of
rejection by Nigerian Universities, she would
eventually travel abroad to study as I had
casually prophesied.
When her visa was ready, she flew to Ukraine
and arrived in Kyiv, the capital city that same
year 2015. Unfortunately, her admission later
had expired before she got here. The difficulty
we passed through trying to look for money to
fund the trip led to the delay she experienced
in Nigeria before getting here.
151
All her, hopes, dreams and aspiration were

shattered when the immigration officials at the
airport in Kyiv told her that she would be
repatriated back to Nigeria. She could not
believe her eyes. All the money spent on visa,
on flight and miscellaneous were all gone just
like that? Her coming to Europe which was an
unbelievable miracle, considering the financial
status of her family was all to turn sour. I also
could not believe my eyes when she called me
to break the bad news. I called the agent who
got us the admission later to see if there was
anything they could do. All manner of calls
were made to see if there was anyone who
could intervene but it was all to no avail. I
knelt down in my bathroom, prayed,
worshipped and called on God to do a miracle
but it was not God’s divine timing. She was
kept in a confinement and the next morning
flown back to Nigeria. It was the following
day she called me and told me that she was in
Abuja. I was broken. Never in our lives had
we experienced such disappointment before.
All our joy turned sour within 24hours. I wept
152
bitterly that week and questioned God why he

allowed that happen. The only possible
conclusion I could reach was that every dream
has an appointed time. We cannot hasten
dreams to be fulfilled earlier than God had
planned them; neither can we delay them if
God wants them fulfilled now. God’s time
they say is the best. There is time for
everything under the sun and we must learn
to decipher the time of our dreams and
patiently and passionately wait for it.
Though it Tarries, Wait For it

For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will
surely come, it will not tarry. {Habakkuk 2:3}
153
Having arrived Nigeria, my fiancée dare not

return to her family house, else her mother
seeing her may faint if told that her daughter
whom they sent forth to Europe was back in
Nigeria after four days. Considering the
situation of things, I had to call my parents to
narrate what had happened to them and told
them that I would be glad if they would
welcome her to stay at my family house in
Delta State. My parents, being loving and
caring people agreed and my fiancée travelled
to my state to go stay with my family.
154
When I thought through everything that

happened, I realized that our dream of
bringing my fiancée over to Europe to study
had an appointed time in God’s agenda but
we had tried to hasten it. The only
encouragement I had was Habakkuk chapter
two verses three as stated above. I convinced
my fiancée that her dreams were not dead and
that they were for an appointed time. I told
her that God had said in His word that the
dream would surely come to pass and that
even if it tarries, we should wait for it, it
would finally materialize.
155
With such hope, we began to behold the

dreams again with faith and trust that it would
still be fulfilled no matter how long it takes.
Believing that the dream must surely come to
pass, we decided to apply for admission again
in the year 2016. Thankfully, she was granted
admission to Ukraine to come study
international economics. However, while we
waited for her visa to be ready, she travelled to
her family house in Abuja after I had called
her mother to tell her that she was coming to
process a new visa. The shock was not so
much since I explained to her that her
daughter would be back to Ukraine again once
the new visa was done processing.
156
While we waited for the visa, my fiancée who

had seen herself as a child singing before a
large crowd of people on stage was inspired to
finally pursue her musical dreams. She had
been a lover of music and a great singer in her
church choir and in other music groups. The
darkest moments of her life she had
experienced inspired her to write her first song
titled ‘Tomorrow Holds’ and before I could
say Jack, she had found a producer and her
first song was released. Within the next three
months while we waited for her new visa, she
released a total of five songs: ‘Kabiosi’, ‘I See
Changes’, I Love you, Mighty God and the most
popular ‘Tomorrow Holds’. Before we knew it
her songs were already playing on radio and
TV stations in Nigeria. She had been invited
for interviews with Independent Television
(ITV) and Silver Bird Television. She is
popularly known by her music name Topsy
Gift.
157
How does one explain releasing five musical

singles within three months of waiting for
visa? Had she not been repatriated, it would
have been impossible to produce those songs.
She would not even have remembered her
childhood dream and life’s purpose. Thank
God He allowed the deportation. It was so that
she could fulfill her life’s purpose and pursue
her academic dreams alongside.
So it was that in the process of waiting for one
dream to be realized another dream got
fulfilled. In the following month, her visa was
ready, God had provided better finances this
time around and my fiancée flew from Abuja
international airport to Turkey international
airport and then to Kiev international airport
Ukraine. She arrived in July 2016, this time
around not just as a lady who came to study
but also as a gospel artist. She had added a
crown of honor to her name. I was already
about to resume my 4th year of medical school
when she came.
158
Dear friend, dreams do not die, people give up

on them. If you could have enough passion
and patience, you would eventually fulfill
your dreams. If your dreams delay, wait for it.
Every dream has an appointed time of
fulfillment. Do not try to hasten it, just wait.
While you wait for the appointed time of your
dreams to be achieved, don’t just wait, pursue
other endeavors; work, learn a skill, express
your talents and get busy. You will achieve
more than just your dream when your time of
waiting is over. That was why my fiancée was
able to release five songs while waiting for her
visa. By the time she got the visa, she got more
than just a visa; she had gotten a name and an
album of five songs.
‚Everything comes to him who hustles while
he waits.‛― Henry Ford
159
If you could believe in the beauty of your

dreams, see yourself in the future living that
dream, cultivate enough passion and patience
to wait for your dreams, even if it delays, it
would surely materialize when its appointed
time comes. Dreams do not die, people give
up on them.
160
Nuggets Six
1. The reason most people give up on their
dreams is their inability to believe in the
beauty of dreams. And since they do not
believe in the beauty of their dreams they
hardly see themselves in the future.
2. Only those who believe that their dreams
are achievable actually see themselves in
the future living that dream. The rest are
blinded by their unbelief.
3. The picture of the future you see goes a
long way to build your courage,
determination and perseverance.
4. If you could picture yourself in the future
fulfilling your beautiful dream, you
would have every reason to scale through
hurdles and obstacles to reach for your
dream.
5. It is the lack of passion and the patience
to walk the long road to our dreams that
161
causes us to hurriedly give up on our

dreams and conclude that they are dead.
6. Without patience and passion dreams are
forgotten. Without patience and passion
people turn back and walk in opposite
direction to their destination.
7. Without patience and passion people
abandon their dreams and settle for the
quick fix. Without patience and passion,
people surrender their big dreams for
smaller ones. Without patience and
passion people settle for less than they
deserve.
162
Chapter 7
Beginning
is the
Hardest
Part
163
Chapter Seven
Beginning Is The Hardest Part

Dreams come true if we pursue them till the
end. Those who achieve their dreams can
testify that perhaps the hardest part to
fulfilling a dream is the beginning. Beginning
is almost always the most difficult task in the
journey to destiny. There are a thousand and
one people who have dreams but haven’t done
anything to commence the pursuit of their
dreams. They constantly think about their
dreams and keep dreaming about fulfilling
them, yet they do nothing to walk in the
direction of their dreams. There are several
reasons why that is the case. Perhaps the most
common one would be the fear of failure.
164
The Fear of Failure

The fear of failure is perhaps the most
dangerous of all fears. It is a major reason for a
life of mediocrity, a life of redundancy and
failure of dreams. Dreams fail most times not
because of any external obstacles but because
of the fear of failure. When people are afraid of
failure they never begin executing their
dreams. They are always procrastinating
dreams because they feel that the dream may
fail on the way. If you have very big and very
beautiful dreams and yet allow the fear of
failure hinder you, you would never achieve
that dream. All dreams are achievable but
until you conquer your fears you will never
achieve even the smallest dream.
Remember your dreams and fight for them.
You must know what you want from life.
There is just one thing that makes your dream
become impossible: the fear of failure.
-Paulo Coelho
165
The fear of failure is the difference between

achievers of great dreams and those who live a
life of mediocrity. If we must join the company
of those who fulfill their dreams, the first
enemy we must conquer would be the fear of
failure. Our dreams are not as impossible as
they seem, it is the fear of failure that
magnifies the impossibilities that we see. If
you could overcome your fears and summon
the courage to begin with your dreams, you
would realize that the dream is not that
difficult to achieve as you thought. Once you
begin the process to actualizing your dream,
every other thing you need to finish the
process would be made available. God often
waits for us to move so that he can move.
When we do not summon courage to begin a
process, there would be nothing God can do to
make our dreams come true. God loves it
when we trust Him to see us through our
dreams and that trust often provokes us to
take the first step and overcome our fears. If
you do not overcome your fears you would
never achieve your dreams. Your dreams
166
would only materialize when you first subdue

your fears and take the first step.
Just Take the First Step

The Journey of a thousand miles they say
begins with a step. No matter how beautiful
your dreams are, you must take the first step
towards their actualization before they would
be actualized. Do not be carried away with the
thoughts of your beautiful dreams that you
forget to take the first step towards their
actualization. No human being would be able
to walk unaided if he or she does not take the
first step. You can wish all you want about
where you want to be in life and how many
great dreams you would like to achieve, but
until you take the first step, you would keep
living in the realms of dreams and those
dreams would never become reality. Dreams
are good and are a necessary part of life,
however, we must come to a place where we
do not only dream but take practical steps to
actualize our dreams.
167
Can you imagine if the only thing that Steve

Jobs did was just dream and never take a step
to create the iPhone! There would be no
iPhone today if that were the case.
What do you think would happen if Bill Gate
was still dreaming about Microsoft as at now
and never took a step to invent it since the
time he first conceived the dream? There
would be no Microsoft today.
Had we not taken a step by applying for
admission to study in Ukraine, there would
have been no way our dreams would have
materialized. It does not matter how
impossible your dreams seem, just take the
first step.
168
Most people usually wait to get everything

they need to pursue their dreams.
Unfortunately, they do not end up getting
even half of what is required to achieve their
dreams. Hence, they keep waiting and waiting
until they eventually become complacent and
forget about their dreams. If you are waiting to
solve all your financial problems before you
pursue your dream; that dream might never
get fulfilled. If you are waiting for a perfect
time to act on your dream, that time may
never come. Start from where you are now
and use what you have now.
He who observes the wind will not sow, and
he who regards the clouds will not reap.
{Ecclesiastes 11:4}
169
If you are waiting for all inconveniences to

disappear before you take a move, you will
never achieve anything great in life. Failure to
take the first step is the major reason why
dreams fail. Your future depends on the
actions you take today. To get to your destiny,
you must start walking. The distance between
your destination and your current position
depends on how many steps you have taken
and are willing to take more in the direction of
your dreams. The distance between
actualizing your dreams and where you are
now is the steps you take or fail to take.
170
When we first conceived the dream of

bringing my fiancée over to Ukraine, we had
no money in our accounts and had no Jobs. I
was a student and my fiancée wasn’t walking
as well. Yet we took the first step. We applied
for the admission and she got it. By the time
she was returning to Ukraine the second time,
God had provided a source of finance for me.
God saw that we took all the necessary steps
to pursue our dreams and he made provision
to fuel the dream. Today, she is in her final
year as an international economic student. If
we were afraid of taking the first step and
waiting till everything we needed was
available, she would probably still be in
Nigeria today seeking admission.
Once you take the first step, God carries you
from there to your destination. He aids you
and walk side by side with you giving you all
the support you need until you arrive your
destination. Stop procrastinating. Stop giving
in to fear. Take that first step toward your
dreams today and you would realize that the
process is not as difficult as you envisaged.
171
Love Came at Last

If you could remember, I had said in a
previous chapter that true love always gives
way for dreams to go first and that dreams
know the way to our destiny and lead us
there. I said earlier that true love does not
prevent a man from pursuing his destiny and
that true love steps aside to allow him walk
towards his destiny. As I stated before, when
you arrive at your destination, you would
realize that love was not left behind, it came
also.
I guess you still remember that my fiancée and
I were planning to get married in 2013 before
she sacrificed her love for me to pursue my
dreams of coming to Ukraine.
172
Most of the people who heard that I was

travelling to Ukraine actually advised me to
call off the relationship before I left Nigeria.
They said that when I get to Ukraine I would
see more beautiful ladies and would regret
why I did not end my relationship with my
fiancée before travelling. I told all of them that
I loved my fiancée and was ready to spend the
rest of my life with her no matter what it takes.
I was ready to wait until she comes to Ukraine
to seal my love for her. She has shown me true
love by encouraging me to pursue my dreams.
It would be wickedness for me to pursue my
dreams and not spend the rest of my life with
her fulfilling that dream. It would be unjust of
me to push her aside and marry someone else.
My love for her was undying and nothing
would quench that love.
Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the
floods drown it.
If a man would give for love all the wealth of
his house, it would be utterly despised
{Song of Solomon 8:7}
173
So, I waited for my love and did everything

possible to make sure she came over. I was in
my 4th year of medical school when she came
and by the following year before I resumed
my 5th year, we sealed our love for each other
and did our white wedding in Ukraine after
the traditional rights had been done by both
families in Nigeria. It was on the 12th of
August 2017 that we said ‘yes I do’ to our
marriage vows. We were joined by Doctor
Sunday Adelaja in Kyiv Ukraine. She was
resuming her second year of study when we
got married.
The dream that we had in 2012 in Nigeria
when we started our courtship was finally
fulfilled in 2017 in Ukraine. Because love
waited, dreams brought us to our destination
and eventually love followed. Because we did
not give up on our dreams, we eventually
fulfilled them.
174
If you would take the first step towards your

dreams, if you would conquer your fears and
not give up on your dreams, they would all
come to pass no matter how many they are.
Dreams do not die, people give up on them.
Nuggets Seven
1. The fear of failure is perhaps the most
dangerous of all fears. It is a major
reason for a life of mediocrity, a life of
redundancy and failure of dreams.
2. Dreams fail most times not because of
any external obstacles but because of
the fear of failure. When people are
afraid of failure they never begin
executing their dreams.
3. All dreams are achievable but until
you conquer your fears you will never
achieve even the smallest dream.
175
4. . If we must join the company of those

who fulfill their dreams, the first
enemy we must conquer would be the
fear of failure.
5. Our dreams are not as impossible as
they seem, it is the fear of failure that
magnifies the impossibilities that we
see.
176
Chapter 8
Impossible
Then,
Inevitable
Now
177
Chapter Eight
Impossible Then, Inevitable Now
Great dreams always look impossible to
achieve at conception. Once we begin to
pursue them, we meet obstacles on the way
that further tempt us to believe that they
cannot be achieved. However, if we do not
allow ourselves to be tricked into surrendering
our dreams, we would get to a point when we
conclude that our dreams are inevitable.
178
It Always Seems Impossible until It Is

Done
There were dreams that the world thought
were impossible to achieve until someone
achieved them. There were things the world
never believed would happen until they
happened. Most times our dreams especially if
they are big dreams seem impossible until we
pursue them and achieve them. History is full
of people who achieved dreams that once
seemed impossible.
‚Eva Beatrice Dykes!‛
Hearing her name, she lifted her head and
walked briskly to the center of the stage. Polite
applause could not hide the spontaneous
murmur that spread throughout the all-white
audience.
‚Isn't that a colored girl?‛ Those in the back

rows stretched their necks to see, while those
in the front stared in unbelief. But all
whispered the same question, ‚Isn't that a
colored girl?‛1
179
The world had thought that it was impossible

for a black woman in America to earn a Ph.D.
degree but Eva Beatrice Dykes achieved that
feat and proved the world wrong. Eva Beatrice
Dykes (1893-1986) became the first black
American woman to fulfill the requirements
for a doctoral degree, and the third to be
awarded a Ph.D
for men to fly, but the Wright brothers proved
that wrong when they invented an airplane
that could fly.
for a woman to become a medical doctor but
Elizabeth Blackwell proved that wrong when
she became the first woman to receive a
medical degree in the United States and the
first woman on the Medical Register of the
General Medical Council.
There are no impossible dreams, only people
who think impossibly. That dream that seems
impossible can be achieved, you only need to
believe in yourself and pursue your dream.
180
It always seems impossible until it's done. -

Nelson Mandela
When my wife wanted to come to Europe,
almost everyone she met and told about her
plans said it was impossible. They said that
she was from a poor family and did not have
the financial capability to school abroad. Even
one of her pastors who should build her faith
discouraged her and told her how impossible
her dreams were. Today, all the people that
said her dreams were impossible are in shock
how those impossible dreams have
materialized. Today, she is in her final year of
study in the same Europe they told her was an
impossible place for her to study. It seems
always impossible until it is done. Do not
allow anybody tell you that your dreams are
impossible. Believe in your dreams and take
practical steps to achieve them. God knows
how to turn impossibilities to possibilities if
we would believe.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe,
all things are possible to him that believeth.
{ Mark 9:23}
181
You Can Be What You Want To Be

There is nothing you make up your mind to
become in life that is impossible. You can
become whatever you want to be. It does not
matter how long it takes you to become who
you really want to be. It is possible that the
winds of life have blown you in directions that
you didn’t really want to go. Perhaps you are
living a life that you didn’t really dream about
and dislikes. It is still possible to pursue your
original dreams. As long as we are still alive,
we can always become what we have always
wanted to be. Dreams do not age as we age,
they do not grow old and lose achievability.
As long as you still have breath, you can
always achieve your original dreams.
It is never too late to be what you might have
been.
-George Eliot
182
Maybe you wanted to be a pilot but it didn’t

work out. Maybe you wanted to be a medical
doctor but the odds were not in your favor.
Whatever it is you wanted to become, you can
still become it. It is not too late to pursue your
dreams.
Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, did not
become a professional chef until he was
40years of age; he did not franchise KFC until
he was 62 and did not become an icon until
after he sold his company at 75.2
Do not forget that I started my medical school
at the age of 27 while other started at 17. Do
not forget that my wife started her study of
international economics at 27 when others
started at 17. It is never too late to pursue your
dreams. If you have achieved all your dreams,
you can still dream again. Age is not a
limitation to dreams.
You are never too old to set another goal or to
dream a new dream. -C.S. Lewis
183
Dreams would always be achieved no matter

how old we are when we start pursuing them.
Even if we do not live long enough to fulfill
them, we can pass them over to the
generations after us to fulfill. Dreams do not
die; they can either remain fulfilled or
unfulfilled. You can pick up all your
abandoned dreams and pursue them again.
You can become what you have always
wanted to become.
184
After my wife and I had our marriage in the

year 2017, we continued pursuing our
academic dreams. On June 6th 2018, we had
our son Jackson (popularly known as John-
Jackson or J.J). We had looked forward to him
since 2013 while we were still having our
courtship. God had told us about him through
a dream that my vice president had while I
was still the youth president of my church in
Nigeria. She had seen my wife and me in a
dream in which my wife was pregnant and we
were looking for an apartment. In that dream,
my wife gave birth to a son whom we named
John. This happened in the year 2013 while we
were still in courtship. In the year 2015 in Kyiv
Ukraine, God again told me about our son
through a prophetic word from Dr. Sunday
Adelaja during History Makers’ Training
session for international students in Ukraine.
We had longed for this dream to be
materialized and eventually on 6th June 2018,
our prince Jackson was born.
Believe me when I say that dreams do not die,
people give up on them.
185
In September 2018, I resumed my final year of

medical school. I could not believe that it’s
been six years already since I started the
journey to becoming a medical doctor. Since
2004, my dream seemed impossible, but
entering the final lap of the race in 2018, I
knew that my dreams have become inevitable.
My six years in medical school was not so
much of a challenge to me considering the fact
that I had studied human anatomy for four
years in Nigeria before I came to Ukraine. I
did not have to overwork myself to
understand the pathogenesis of diseases and
how to treat them. The route I had taken to get
to my destination; studying human anatomy
first became an advantage to me. Going
through medical school was an adventure for
me and thankfully, I walked the road without
stress.
186
On the 24th of May 2019, we wrote our final

examination and in two weeks’ time the
results were published. As I expected, I got the
exact score that I had predicted. That was it;
that was the final victory to be won to finally
achieve the dream that I had pursued for the
past 15years of my life. I won the victory; I
achieved the dream at last. It took many years
but I succeeded at last. I have learnt that
success is sure for those who never give up on
their dreams. I have seen that dreams do not
die, people give up on them.
On the 20th of June 2019, family and friends
from far and near gathered in the graduation
hall as my colleagues and I ecstatically
awaited our names to be called in turns to
receive the prestigious degree ‘Doctor of
Medicine’. It was a fun-filled day for me as my
wife and son came to celebrate with me and
share in the joy of achieving my dreams.
187
Conclusion
As I bring this book to a conclusion, I want
you to know that one of the greatest gifts that
God has given to every one of us equally is the
ability to dream. We all have the freedom to
dream as much as we want and decide how
big we want our dreams to be. To live a
fulfilling life on this earth, you must dream
and dream big. You must not only dream but
believe in the beauty of your dreams. If you
work hard to pursue your dreams and never
give up on them, you would surely achieve
them no matter how many they are. I have
learnt that dreams do not die, people give up
on them.
If you have abandoned your dreams and
concluded that they are dead, I would dare
you to pick them up again and pursue them.
188
I believe that you have learnt from this book

the principles to achieving dreams. I do hope
that you would apply all that you have learnt
to your everyday life as you pursue your
dreams. Dreams do not die. People give up on
them. Dream as much as you want and follow
them through till the end. You are an achiever
and I believe you would not give up on your
dreams. I wish you success as you journey
through life. See you at the top.
Cheers!
189
Reference
Chapter One
Life is Meaningless without Dreams
1. Meaning of daydream in English,
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio
nary/english/daydream
Chapter Two
Difficult Roads, Beautiful Destinations
1. The success story of Abraham Lincoln,
https://successsearch.wordpress.com/2012
/10/28/the-success-story-of-abraham-
lincoln/
Chapter Three
Dreams Don’t Die but People Give Up
1. Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have a Dream,
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/spe
eches/mlkihaveadream.htm
2. Thomas Edison and his 2000 Failures – Do
You See What He Saw?,
https://screeble.com/2017/02/thomas-
edison-2000-failures/
190
3. Thomas Edison Never Gave Up,

https://inspiringstoriestoshare.com/tho
mas-edison-never-gave-up/
Chapter Five
Overcoming the Bottlenecks to Destiny
1. Jack Ma: If you’re still poor at 35, you
deserve it!,
https://vulcanpost.com/7702/jack-ma-
youre-still-poor-35-deserve/
Chapter Eight
Impossible Then, Inevitable Now
1. EVA BEATRICE DYKES: FIRST
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN TO
COMPLETE PHD REQUIREMENTS,
https://spectrummagazine.org/news/2
018/eva-beatrice-dykes-first-african-
american-woman-complete-phd-
requirements
2. KFC founder Colonel Sanders dint achieve
his remarkable rise to success until his
60,
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-
191
kfc-founder-colonel-sanders-achieved-
success-in-his-60s-2015-6
About The
Author
192
Dr. Clement Oboatarhe Ogedegbe is an

international motivational speaker, teacher,
leadership and life coach. He is the founder of
the leadership groups, Heroes Academy and
the Gracestand Leadership Academy. He is
passionate about raising the next generation of
leaders who will understand their purpose on
earth and who through the use of their
potentials bring solutions to the prevailing
economic and global problems that plague
mankind. He has impacted thousands of
people worldwide through his blog articles,
YouTube and Facebook live videos. He holds a
weekly leadership class in Ukraine to raise
young minds and prepare youths for national
and global impacts. Clement Ogedegbe holds
a B.sc degree in Human Anatomy from the
University of Port-Harcourt, Nigeria and an
M.D (Doctor of Medicine) degree from the
Ivano-Frankovsk National Medical University,
Ukraine. He is married to an author,
inspirational speaker, music minister and
leadership coach Mrs. Godgift Chinenye and
they both reside in Ukraine.
193
About The
Book
Our world and everything you see in it is a
product of dreams. Without dreams almost
nothing would exist; our world would be void.
Many people dream and abandon their
dreams. A few however, dream and go all the
way to achieve their dreams. These are they
who refused to give up on their dreams.
In this book you will learn:
 Why life is meaningless without dreams
and why you must have a dream.
 Why difficult roads lead to beautiful
destinations.
 Why dreams do not die but people give
up on them.
194
 How you can focus on your dreams until

they are achieved.
 How you can stay away from people who
belittle your dreams.
 How to build confidence in your ability
to achieve your dreams.
 Why taking the first step is very crucial to
the achievement of dreams.
 Why no dream is impossible to achieve
and all dreams are achievable.
 How to stretch yourself until you lay
hold on your fulfilled dreams.
 How to become an achiever.
Perhaps, you have given up on your

dreams and concluded that they are dead
and not achievable; however, this book
will prove to you that dreams do not die;
only people give up on them. If you can
pick up your dreams again and work
hard to achieve them, you would realize
that dreams do not actually die and that
all dreams are achievable.
195
196

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Dreams Don’t

Dreams Don’t Die, People Give Up On Them

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Copyright©2019 Clement Ogedegbe

Cover Design: Adeola Disu {United Kingdom}

 Success is Sure for The Never–Give-

 Patience and Passion Keep Dreams

In this book, I am going to prove to you that

As I stood on the podium waiting for my

While I struggled to get off the sad thoughts

Before I could finish refreshing my soul with

Throughout that day, I was in deep thoughts

Imagine A World Without Dreams

Can you take a minute or two and imagine

on earth worthwhile. Without dreams, life

However, I would not do that since that is not

Why You Must Consciously Have A

All men dream: but not equally. Those who

A night dreamer is anyone who dreams at

From this definition, we see that daydreams

Most importantly are those I call the dreamers

Everything we enjoy in the world today from

Having understood the difference between the

The Path I chose in Life

By the time I was in senior secondary school

By the time I was entering my final year of

The next 15years of my life was a journey

In the following chapters of this book, I am

5. You and I must consciously dream, we

One reason people give up too easily on their

The Road To Greatness Is Full Of

Abraham Lincoln had dreamt of becoming a

His life story is perhaps the greatest example

Below is the difficult and curvy road Abraham

1843 Ran for Congress – lost.

What an inspiration! What a dream chaser!

He lacks determination and perseverance

The reason most people do not actualize their

When the Going Gets Tough!

For me, the journey to achieving my dream

I was devastated and brutally depressed. I

required grades from secondary school is

In life, we all go through times of dashed

There Are No Shortcuts

Most people leave their dreams to chance.

miracle or magic instead of working hard to

We must be ready to sweat, to work hard and

place worth going and if the journey gets

beautiful dreams one must be prepared

8. Great dreams are not achieved on a silver

In the previous chapters, we were able to

Dreams Are Always Alive Until

‚There are those who are asking the devotees

I am not unmindful that some of you have

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of

I have a dream that one day every valley shall

And if America is to be a great nation, this

And when this happens, and when we allow

After Martin Luther King Jnr rendered his

When he conceived his dreams, white Kids

So, do dreams die when the dreamers die? No

When President Barack Obama, the first black

If we could all understand that our dreams