Michael’s story – A determination to thrive against all odds.

30-year-old Michael is a secondary school dropout who was working as an assistant on a poultry farm somewhere in Ikaro Ifon community of Ondo state, when he first heard of the Livestock Empowerment Model Project on radio early 2019. Michael drove 2 hours to attend the LEM first phase seminar in Akure (Capital of Ondo state).

Michael had believed that he needed a huge amount of money to startup a poultry business because his boss told him so. He said, “when I attended the FLEP seminar, I understood that I can start a poultry business with N5000 Naira or less”. For Michael, the seminar was an eye-opener and he wanted to be a part of the beneficiaries but considering the project location and where Michael lives, the team was not sure of including him as one of the participants, however, because of Michael’s determination to start up his own business, he eventually was selected.

During this period, Michael was asked to resign from his position as the Poultry farm assistant, at where he worked for 2 years. This did not cause him to lose hope but rather he sees it as an opportunity to begin his life’s journey as an entrepreneur.

Michael received 15 birds and lost 4 out of the birds, leaving him with 11 birds. He sold 5 of his birds at the rate of N 2,500 (6.93 USD) and sold 6 at the rate of N2000 (5.55 USD)

He steadily portrays virtues of a leader and it was to no surprise when he was appointed to be a marketer for the birds, during the outburst of the sudden death syndrome on the birds.

This young man became the “center man” in all marketing, he went to neighbouring communities and even volunteered to go outside Akure to sell the birds and he never complained, but rather displayed honesty and perseverance through it all.

Michael is also the first to receive from the savings and loans scheme established to support the participants. He used the amount he received to support his ‘growing’ pepper business. Despite his distance from the heart of the project, this young man has shown an unquenchable will to attend meetings and seminars promptly.

Seeing himself as a game-changer and a leader, Michael did not see this opportunity as for himself alone, he encouraged 7 young people in his community to participate in the second phase of the project. Michael Alade is definitely an Achiever.