First order

*The Receipt for Nothing*

Chinedu sold phone chargers at Computer Village, Ikeja. Fake ones, real ones, whatever the customer asked for.

His rule was simple: “If it breaks in 7 days, bring it back. No receipt, no wahala.”

One afternoon, a boy of maybe 14 came back with a charger. Melted at the tip.
“Baba, e burst for my phone. Phone no dey charge again.”

Chinedu checked. The charger was one of the 200 naira ones he sold for 500. He knew it was trash. But the boy was crying. His phone was the only one in the house. WAEC was next month.

Chinedu had two choices:
1. Say “Na you spoil am, no refund.”
2. Give the boy a new charger and eat the loss.

He gave the boy a new charger. The 1,500 naira original type. Told him, “Use this one. If e spoil, come back.”

The boy left, confused. “But I no get money.”

“Na free. Go read.”

Chinedu lost money that day. His wife vexed when he got home. “You dey do charity with our rent money?”

Two years later, a man walked into his shop. Suit, laptop bag, looking like he worked at MTN HQ.

“Baba, you remember me?”

Chinedu shook his head.

“I’m the boy with the melted charger. WAEC year. You gave me free charger.”

Chinedu still didn’t remember.

The man smiled. “I finish school, go learn coding. Now I work for a company that supplies phones to banks. We need 2,000 chargers every quarter.”

He dropped a contract on the table. 4.2 million naira for the first order.

“I asked for suppliers. Everyone wanted 30% upfront bribe. I remembered you. The man who gave me charger for free when I had nothing. If you can’t do it, I’ll understand.”

Chinedu did the deal.

He still doesn’t give receipts for small losses.

Says, “Some receipts you don’t see until two years later. And they pay better than cash.”