No Excuse is Enough for Your Failure

Enjoy self motivation words and interview with Mr. Godwin Owonam: A retired Chattered Account and Financial Analyst, Total Nigeria. He expresses in specific terms the failures he has encountered in his career path and how he overcame them. His story proves to the downtrodden that no excuse is enough for your failure. Don’t settle for anything, but success. Everything is possible.

My name is Godwin Owonam: A Chattered Accountant. I am from Akwa Ibom State. During my primary school level, I was dull, and always struggling to pass my examination.  My younger brother was always ahead of me, thereby causing a comparism in the family which almost brought me ridicule. In primary six, I had serious issues with the subject of mathematics, but was good in other subject. It was normal for me to score zero, and as such stopped submitting the corrections for my failed assignments until I was caught by my teacher. My academics woes multiplied with the poor condition of my parent.

I spent four years in the house after my primary school before I started my secondary school. In fact, my younger brother started secondary school ahead of me due to his excellent academic performance. This four years of staying at home was the deciding moment of my life. In this period of stay-at-home, I took a very strategic step that changed the whole course of my academics. When my brother came back from his secondary school (that is during his break period, I took his Mathematics text books to study. I exercised my brain by seriously practicing the assignments in these texts to improve my lots. This positioned me as one the brightest students when I eventually started my secondary school. At some point, my teacher could not teach any new topic until I am in the class. This was due to my performance and passion for the subject of Mathematics.

This makes a very serious lesson for me and others. Nobody is born dull. Some of the setbacks we have in life can be overcome by hard work and diligence. They can as well be great inspiration for our future rising. Our attitude and response to our setbacks could make a difference in our life and career. The end of the story does not depend on the roughness of journey.

I did not proceed to the university immediately after my secondary school, yet I didn’t stop there. I started work as an auxiliary teacher for six months. Thereafter, I proceeded to Warri in my quest for a better life. Life was not easy. At some point, when my expected job was not forth coming, I resorted to making a living from cutting grass. On the first day of my grass cutting job, I received a job offer from Gulf Oil which is nor Chevron to work as a ware house officer. While I was doing my job and reading the daily newspaper, I saw an advert from present day Total Elf Oil company. I was called for interview. After some delay, I received my appointment letter. That was the beginning of my beautiful story. I was sent for immediate training, and furthermore absorbed.

Another challenging point in my life was when I wanted to switch roles in our company from a technical staff to an Accounting cadre. It was difficult getting someone to recommend me for the exams. After a while I though it wise to begin a university degree in Accounting. I started in University of Port Harcourt, though was difficult due to my work. I dropped and picked another from from University of Lagos, Distant school. By the Grace of God, I graduated. This gave me the priviledge to get a recommendation for my much desired ICAN exams. write my ICAN exams. I am not ashamed to say that failed my final ICAN exams five times, before I succeeded. Failure doesn’t mean you will not succeed. Today I am a Chartered Accountant, a Retired Oil industry and the Principal Partner/Managing Director of Godwin J. Owonam & Co., Financial and Management Consultant, which offices in Port Harcourt and Uyo. Glory be to God.