Post by PATRIOTIC SOJA ($TSIR-MUNCHAN) (@Pressman2040)

"MY NAME WASN'T CALLED" – A Story of my Rejection, Resilience, and Redemption

Some years ago, I went through the rigorous zonal screening at Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment, Ojo, Ibadan. Out of thousands, 75 of us made the final list. The recruitment commander congratulated us and warned us to stay out of trouble because another medical check awaited us when we were called back in two weeks.

Two weeks later, we received text messages: report to our zonal screening barracks for onward movement to training centres. My centre was NASME Barracks, Makurdi, Benue State. I coordinated everything hiring vehicles, organising training materials, planning stopovers and food for the journey. I was the leader of our group.

We arrived at NASME Barracks. Candidates from different states were arranged at the entrance, called in one after another. "Congratulations, you've made it," echoed for those whose names were called.

Then came the day for my state. The names started rolling and my heart stopped. My name and nine other persons from my state were not on the list.

I was devastated. Demoralised. Destroyed. I had led everyone from Ibadan to Makurdi yet I was the one left behind. I tried everything to get in, but the door was shut.

I called my parents. My dad's response? "Come home. Maybe it's not your time." He sent me transport money, and I got on the next bus to Osun. I arrived quietly, spoke to no one, and stayed indoors for days.

Then, one day, my father walked into my room and spoke to me with a stern voice: "What if you had joined and d!£d in training? Or finished, been deployed, and lost your life? What then?" His words hit me where it mattered.

From that moment, I picked up the pieces of myself and moved on. I rebuilt myself. And three years later, I succeeded in the same path I chose three years earlier.

Today, I am grateful and happy to be a soldier in the Nigeria Army who has fought and bled for my country (Nigeria). Because maybe that rejection saved my life. Maybe that disappointment was a blessing in disguise.

EVERY CLOSED DOOR IS A REDIRECTION.
EVERY REJECTION IS A PROTECTION.

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