By DADA AYOKHAI
Nicholas Felix, is one of the presidential aspirants who took part in the All presidential congress,APC,2022 presidential primary .
The United States based pastor recently opened up on his humble beginning.
Nicholas, who stepped down for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during the primary that saw former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, emerging winner, said he was hawking water and ice cream on the streets of Auchi, Edo State, before his breakthrough through United States visa lottery.
Speaking in an interview with the Punch, he said : “I grew up in Auchi, Edo State in the 1980s and 1990s. My mum was a fashion designer and my dad was a civil servant working with the Ministry of Agriculture. While growing up, there was a time things became extremely difficult for us. It took the grace of God for some of us to be where we are today. As a young man, I started hawking on the street. Some of those experiences moulded me into who I am today. I sold pure water, egg rolls, puff puff, bread, melon and everything sellable at that time. As a matter of time, I was producing yoghurts in my own local way and selling to supermarkets before I finally got admission to study Electronics Engineering.
“I won the American lottery in 2003. I just jokingly played it. For three years, my friends and I kept playing but we didn’t win. The last one, my friends swore that they won’t go near it again in 2002. Everybody was discouraged. But I hardly get discouraged especially when it is something good. So, I played and won the lottery. In 2003, I got the papers and by January 2004, I came to America. Of course, people always assume that you can just come into America and start picking money. I worked hard and started going to school. I also started some businesses on the side and that’s where I am today.”
Asked about his parents, the young APC chieftain said :” I still have a father. My dad retired as a civil servant but I didn’t pay any particular attention to whatever peanuts he was receiving as a pension because I made up my mind that I was going to take care of him. I lost mum on July 1, 2020. A few weeks ago, my dad who was residing here in America with me requested that he wanted to go home for pension screening. I was worried and told him that he had just arrived, adding that his going again might cost me another ticket. Curiously, I asked how much his pension was and he told me N9,000. I find it quite heartbreaking and disappointing. How can people work for over 30 years and retire only to be paid this amount? I thought about retired civil servants without financially-strong kids to take care of them. How will people like this survive with that kind of money? It is sad, I must admit.”
On the decision to step down for Osinbajo, he said :” When it became obvious I can’t get the ticket due to limited resources and little time to properly campaign. I had a one-on-one meeting with the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo. But I knew he was the right one for the job at this time.
