David Okeke is a father, husband and a trader in Oyingbo Market, Lagos. For years, he specialized in selling generators and spare parts in Oyingbo Market — a trade that was fulfilling but he scrambled to grow his business, take care of his family or care for his community.
In April 2016, we carried out a brand campaign — Making Life Possible to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Our Marketing Team brilliantly created the campaign to bring dreams to life by collecting people’s stories, sharing and helping them. David was one of the 100 people who entered the contest.
He needed assistance in helping his community by providing wheelbarrows for youths in Oyingbo market so they could earn an income by helping traders and their customers move their goods. His goal was to keep youths away from crime and improve the Oyingbo community. David’s dream was one of those that deserved to be shared and brought to life.
“I noticed that in our country Nigeria, poverty is prevalent, for example, there was this man that walked up to me one day in my to beg for assistance, he asked me to assist him in starting up “pure water” selling for as little as #300, that with this it will not only stop him from begging for alms but will open a money making source for him, I was greatly moved which I did and from time to time he comes around to thank me for the help I rendered to him”.
This dream was not an extra source of income for David but one that allowed him to be more accountable for his community. The amazing effort David was making to improve his community was evident and Paga shared his vision — to reduce crime rates and alleviate poverty to create a better micro-economy.
All David needed was a little sum of money to provide a few wheelbarrows and trucks for young people in the community. Not only did we share in David’s goal, we also took the Oyingbo community development even further by making financial services available through David.
“I have a relative who does Paga business and helps people on his street do money transfer and pay their Nepa bills. It is something I would like for my side of this market. There are no banks around and traders always go all the way to Yaba to pay in their income for the day or send money to relatives”.
This idea paved the way for David to expand his entrepreneurial skill from being a generator trader to a financial services provider. Now, while he still drives his generator business, he is able to provide financial services such as deposits to bank, money transfer, electricity bill payments, DStv, GOtv, Startimes subscription, Airtime recharge, cash out and more to people in his community and also work to get the youth off the streets.
“The first person who rented the wheelbarrow, paid N300 for the day. When he came back at the end of the day he was thankful because he made N2,500 on that day. Since then he has been patronizing and also introduced his friends to me. The program has been thrilling and I have made arrangement for more wheelbarrows and trucks to expand.”
In the last one year, David’s generator business has gained expansion through Paga.
“The first few months of being a Paga Agent were challenging but it was very okay and a good business, supporting my generator trade, family and community cause. Most of the people in this locality are businessmen who do not have time to go to banks, so what they do is come down here and say oga, make this payment to bank for me, I have a customer waiting for payment. So it has really helped people in my locality because we are all business men so people have been patronizing.”
David’s story shows one of the many ways we are bringing dreams to life and improving communities across Nigeria. This brings us more joy!
Since He joined the Paga family, his life has improved tremendously. From growing his income for his business to ensuring people in his community are cared for — as a result he is simply happier!
Curious to know how the Paga Agent Network is making life possible? Then head here!
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