Three UNILAG Friends: How Greed Destroyed Two Lives While Patience Built One Empire

At the University of Lagos (UNILAG), three friends were inseparable: Dele, Kunle, and Bola. They entered the university together, shared hostels, attended the same classes, and dreamed of a better life beyond campus. But while they shared the same beginning, their choices led them to very different endings.

Kunle and Dele were obsessed with one thing—quick money. They were desperate to get rich fast, believing that education was too slow and stress-filled. To them, success meant flashy clothes, expensive phones, and respect on campus. They wanted results without patience.

Bola, however, was different. He believed in studying hard and building a future step by step. While Kunle and Dele chased shortcuts, Bola faced his books. He attended lectures, did his assignments, and prepared seriously for tests and exams.

Kunle and Dele laughed at him.

Whenever Bola told them there was a test or an important exam coming, they brushed it off. Instead of studying, they looked for ways to bribe lecturers, pay people to write exams for them, or engage in online scams to raise money. While Bola stayed indoors reading, Kunle and Dele were out scamming unsuspecting people, convincing themselves that everyone was doing it.

For a while, campus life covered their tracks.

They graduated—but reality hit hard.

After school, the money they had made through scams wasn’t enough to sustain the lifestyle they had built. Jobs were hard to find, and the fast money had stopped coming. Desperate and unwilling to start small or learn a skill, Kunle and Dele crossed the final line.

They turned to armed robbery.

It didn’t last long.

During one operation, they were caught by security forces. The life they chased so recklessly ended in violence and tragedy. The same hunger for quick success that pushed them away from their books destroyed their future and their lives.

Meanwhile, Bola’s story moved quietly but steadily.

After graduation, he struggled too but he didn’t give up. He started small, worked in factories, learned production processes, and saved money. Over time, Bola built an idea that grew into a plastic manufacturing company. Years of discipline, patience, and integrity paid off.

Today, Bola is the CEO of a major plastic-producing company, employing hundreds of people some of them graduates like Kunle and Dele once were.

On the UNILAG campus, their story is still told.

Three friends.

Same school.

Same opportunities.

But choices made the difference.

👉 One chose patience and became a leader.

👉 Two chose shortcuts and lost everything.

Success doesn’t answer desperation. It answers discipline.