The Quest for Greatness Sample

The Quest For
Greatness
By:
Valentine C. Okonkwo

Copyright © 2019 Valentine C. Okonkwo
All right reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by
any means without prior consent of the author and publisher, except brief quotes
used in reviews.
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The Quest For Greatness
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This novel is dedicated to my entire family. I also wish to express my
profound gratitude to the publisher of this piece of work. I am thankful to the
peop1e that encouraged me 'in my endeavors.
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
iv

PREFACE
This is a fictitious and magnificent novel that motivates
people to aspire highly. It is a novel about a man who became an
eminent person in society with tremendous accomplishments due
to his determination, diligence and persistence in working to
meet his goals. This novel reminds us that professional sports is
very lucrative in United States of America and is a path to
economic empowerment. The main subject of discussion
achieved his objective of being a professional basketball player
after his graduation from a University. Later, he became an
investor, a community activist, a political aspirant and a senator
in United States of America.

CHAPTER 1
Tim was born in a small town in California called Hanford.
This town and some other neighboring towns such as Corcoran,
Visalia and Porterville usually have enormous amount of pollens
in the atmosphere and were highly polluted.
One out of every four kids in Hanford and its environs had the
tendency to be asthmatic at that time. Numerous individuals also
had the propensity to be allergic due to lots of pollens in the air
and other factors. Many people experienced seasonal or perennial
allergies in Tim's town due to pollens, environmental factors and
other causative factors.
Majority of people were prescribed an inhaler called albuterol
(brand name, Ventolin or ProAir) which is used for treatment of
breathing problem or shortness of breath and fluticasone inhaler
(brand name, Flonase) for prevention of shortness of breath,
wheezing, sneezing and nasal congestion.
Non-prescription antihistamine medications such as
chlorpheniramine (brand name, clor-trimeton), loratadine (brand
name, Claritin) and diphenhydramine (brand name, Benadryl)
which are often used to alleviate allergic symptoms such as
sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose and itching were commonly
purchased over-the-counter in various pharmacies and were in
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
high demand.
Packets of a nasal decongestant called pseudoephedrine
(brand name, Sudafed) were frequently purchased.
Eventually, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency
regulated its purchase to one packet a month per person based on
milligrams per weight.
Many farms existed in Hanford and its surrounding towns.
Weed killers, fertilizers and pesticides were commonly used in
the farms. The purpose of using weed killer products is to remove
unwanted weeds, fertilizers help for rapid growth of crops and
pesticides are important for pest control. The utilization of weed
killers, fertilizers and pesticides apparently created health
hazards. It was speculated that chemicals and substances in the
air might have the propensity to cause cancer.
It is reasonable to infer that environmental factors played a
role in causing cancer in residents of those areas. Animals like
cows, pigs and chickens were fed with growth hormones which
could be carcinogenic in humans. There was high mortality rate
in these areas due to individuals that suffered from cancer. The
appearance of severe fog and smog in the atmosphere in this part
of California at certain time of the year is rampant.
Sometimes, it gets very foggy with zero visibility which
makes it difficult to drive on the road.
The name of Tim's father was Shawn and his mother' s name
was Destiny. Tim's father was born in his parents' house at his
country of origin. A nurse assisted his mother to deliver him
during labor. There was no nearby hospital at that time and
people had to travel about one hundred miles to get to the only
city with a hospital.
Tim's mother was born in the countryside at a local
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government clinic of her country of origin. His parents had a
rough and hard life. It was extremely difficult for his
grandparents to provide three square meals daily for their
children. His paternal grandfather was a farmer and he did low
scale farming by tedious manual labor.
There were no technological innovation and advancement at
that time. Mechanized farming was nonexistent during that
period.
His paternal grandfather, Stephen married three wives
because polygamy was acceptable in their society and not a
crime. He had several children. The number of children and
farms a person had were the criteria used to assess how wealthy
the person was during the uncivilized days.
His paternal grandfather was a very strong man and a wrestler
that made residents of his town gave him a nickname, "The Under
taker". Wrestling matches were periodically organized between
different villages in his town. His grandpa was an unbeatable
champion. He was very famous and many people considered it
an honor to be his friend.
He was an atheist and he worshipped three deities. He had a
superstition that the gods he worshipped brought him fortune,
wealth and good health.
Many people did not believe in the existence of God during
that period so they were not Christians until Irish priests and other
foreign priests introduced Christianity in that country.
Subsequently, people's perceptions and beliefs broadened.
Many people were converted to be Christians. They came to the
realization that they should worship only one God.
Tim's maternal grandfather was a wine tapper and a hunter.
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He climbed many palm trees daily to extract palm wine which he
sold at a market. Due to lack of technology at that time, he used
strings of ropes he put together to climb the palm trees. He was
very creative in doing what he had to do to survive.
He hunted for deers. He sold some of the deers at a local
market and took the rest home to be used in cooking foods for his
family.
He had three wives with several children. Tim 's grandparents
knew the value of education and encouraged their children to
attend schools. They believed that knowledge is power and
encouraged them to study hard. They had a strong desire to see
their children do better than them.
Tim's father, Shawn studied Accountancy at a University in
his country and graduated with honors. There was massive
unemployment in his country during the time of his graduation
so he was unable to be employed as an Accountant for seven
months. Eventually he got a job at his State Department of
Commerce as an accountant, but his monthly salary was not
reasonable and there were no incentives to boost his morale.
He resolved to travel to the United States of America if the
opportunity arose.
Tim's parents, Shawn and Destiny were high school
sweethearts. Their friendship began when they were senior
students in high school. Both were eighteen years old at the time.
Destiny studied Sociology at a University in her country and
obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. She got an admission
for an advanced study in Sociology at the time of her graduation.
She was awarded a Master’s degree in her field of specialization
at the completion of her academic program.
She got an employment in her State Department of Social
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The Quest For Greatness
Welfare nine months after her postgraduate study. Tim's parents
were African American Immigrants who travelled to the United
States of America in search of a better life. Tim's dad, Shawn was
helped by his paternal uncle, Godwin to migrate to United States
of America. His uncle who was a resident of United States of
America applied for his visa through a Visa Lottery drawn by
United States of America Immigration Office for the people of
Africa.
Luckily, Shawn was one of the successful candidates that were
selected from his country. He promised to marry Destiny and
got engaged to her before he migrated to United States of
America. He was an affable and kind man. He was a man of
integrity and transparent honesty.
On his arrival to United States of America, he worked
diligently to have economic emancipation. Making transition in
a foreign country was not easy for him but as soon as he became
a little comfortable, he went back to his country and married his
high school sweetheart, Destiny as promised.
He applied to United States Immigration Office to bring her
to America. The application process took about one year before
Destiny was granted a visa. Shawn paid one thousand eight
hundred and fifty dollars for Destiny's round trip flight ticket
from Lagos, Nigeria to Sacramento, California.
Destiny's parents and siblings organized a sendoff party for
her a week before her departure. There were plenty of foods and
drinks. Everyone ate to his or her satisfaction. Friends and wellwishers
gave her words of advice at her party.
On the day of her departure to America, her siblings, friends
and co-workers escorted her to the airport to board a flight. She
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
was scared of flying in an airplane because this was her first time.
Her first flight was from a local airport in her state to a big
city in her country called Lagos where she boarded an
International flight to United States of America after three hours
of layover. She was terrified when her plane ran at a very high
speed on the runway to take off. She felt as if her heart ran
through her mouth to vanish but she gradually overcame her fear.
Shawn did a couple of menial jobs in United States in order to
survive and put food on the table. He worked as a security guard
in a parking lot for a while and also as a cashier in a convenience
store. The challenges of making a transition in a foreign country
were enormous and overwhelming for Shawn.
He and his wife had to deal with cultural differences and
diversity in America. They spoke with a foreign accent and
pronounced English words differently and many Americans
found it hard to understand them. Some Americans disliked and
disrespected them because of their accent. They came to the
realization that United States of America is a conglomeration of
people from all over the world and that these individuals have
diverse beliefs and culture.
It took quite a long time for Destiny to get her first job in
United States of America. She got her first job to work as a
waitress in a restaurant six months after her arrival to America.
She was very excited to earn the American dollars for the first
time which had much greater value than the currency in her
country of origin. She was paid five dollars and fifty cents hourly
for a forty hour shift per week. Fortunately, she made extra
money on tips and made up to fifty dollars on tips each week.
She worked at this restaurant for a year before her husband got
her pregnant. Their first baby, Tim was born at Hanford
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The Quest For Greatness
Community Hospital and he weighed seven pounds at birth.
Destiny took a six week maternity leave before she went back to
work. She drove Tim to a daycare daily before going to work.
His parents started teaching him how to read and write at the
age of three. When he was five years old, his parents enrolled him
in preschool. He started kindergarten at the age of six. He was a
good and likable child. He showed high level of intelligence in
school.
Tim's father made him develop interest in basketball at a very
young age. He started teaching him how to play basketball at the
age of five which became very beneficial in Tim's life. He
purchased a small basketball hoop for him.
His dad never wanted him to play American football because
he felt that it was a dangerous sport at that time. He never gave
him the exposure to play football. When Tim was ten years old,
his dad taught him how to play soccer and tennis. He liked both
sports but not as much as he liked basketball. Tim's parents had
a baby girl when he was two years old. His parents gave her the
name Emily. He was very excited to have a sister who he played
with most of the time.
7

CHAPTER 2
When Tim was in Seventh grade, his parents relocated to
Fresno, California because his dad got a new job to work in
Accounting Department of a County in Fresno with better salary
and benefits.
Tim had mixed feelings about the relocation because of the
friends he would miss. He had his best friend Joseph who he hung
out with and played with in his school. Joseph was sad that Tim
would be gone. He usually played basketball with Tim and Tim
frequently dominated most of their basketball competitions.
There was one sport that Tim could not beat him in and that
was running 100 meters. Joseph was a fabulous athlete and he ran
very fast. Later, he ran 100 meters and 4 X 100 meter relay for
his high school and university.
Joseph also played basketball for his high school and
University but was not drafted by the American National Basket
Ball Association Franchise to play professional basketball. He
was an intelligent person and he realized his ambition of
becoming a famous lawyer. He was a very good swimmer
because his parents taught him how to swim at a very young age.
He taught Tim different styles of swimming in a pool and
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The Quest For Greatness
helped him to be a better swimmer. Tim's family was happy that
his dad got a job with a more rewarding salary than his previous
job. They liked living in Fresno, California because of more
availability of amenities like entertainment centers, shopping
centers and schools. Fresno was more developed than Hanford.
Two advantages that Hanford had over Fresno were that it had
less crimes and less car traffics because of its population as a
small town. Tim's parents enrolled him in a new public
Elementary School in Fresno. He gradually made new friends at
his school and in his neighborhood.
A couple of months after their relocation, his mom got a job
to work as a Social Worker for the State of California. She was
very happy and excited for getting a professional job that had
better benefits and financial remuneration than her former job as
a waitress in a restaurant. Tim's family prayed and expressed their
gratitude to Him Above for His blessings. His family usually
prayed together every night and they had a firm belief that a
family that prays together stays together.
She commenced work as a State of California Social Worker
and she was lucky to have awesome co-workers who interacted
with each other professionally and respectfully. Her colleagues
got along pretty well. Her supervisor was caring, nice and
professional.
Tim's dad liked his job because majority of his co-workers and
boss were professional and courteous to each other. There were
only two employees he didn't like because of their ugly attitudes
of showing discrimination and xenophobia at work. He still
endeavored to get along with these two employees that had
unacceptable behaviors.
His supervisor was a good listener who had good
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
communication skills and managerial abilities. This nice and
likable boss retired and a new boss was hired from outside their
department. This new supervisor was entirely different in
character compared to the retired one. He was fastidious,
eccentric and vindictive. He lacked managerial and
communication skills. He didn't seem to care about employees
and treated them unfairly. He did not get along with employees
and they were unhappy to work with him.
Shawn felt that it was time to look for a new job and discussed
this issue with his family. They unanimously agreed that he
should look for a new job and encouraged him to do so. Within a
short period, he got a job at the Accounting Department of
California State Department of Transportation in Sacramento.
Tim's family relocated to Sacramento, California. His parents
rented a three bedroom apartment in the northside of Sacramento
for a year and bought a four bedroom house thereafter.
Tim's mom was fortunate to get a lateral transfer of her job to
Sacramento so she was still able to work as a California State
Social Worker.
They noticed that city of Sacramento had an advantage of
having lesser pollen in the air and lesser number of residents that
experienced allergies than the other places they lived. Another
important fact was that an earthquake had never occurred in
Sacramento for the past two centuries during that time so people
regarded Sacramento as one of the safest cities in California.
This fact was probably taken into consideration before
selecting Sacramento as the capital of California. Earthquake is a
natural disaster that is prevalent in California.
Tim had an excellent and commendable academic
performance in high school. He was an honor student. He also
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played basketball for his high school and played at an incredible
high level. He averaged thirty points, ten assists and eight
rebounds per game.
He made friends with people who had good character and
avoided mischievous people that would have negative influence
in his life.
He had good will power and self-control. He never succumbed
to peer pressure. He was a hardworking individual with high
aspirations.
Tim was also a member of his high school athletic team. He
participated in 100 and 200 meter events in high schoo1 state
competitions. He won a couple of state trophies in 100 meter
events.
Tim was a member of the boys scout. He had a rapid upward
mobility as a member of the boys scout because of his diligence
and devotion to duty.
Once upon a time, his scout members went on a camping trip.
They went to a nearby lake around the camping area and
unfortunately one of the scout members got attacked by an eight
foot alligator. The alligator bit and held the boy on his right foot.
The alligator was in the process of bitting off the boy's foot
and Tim intervened. Tim stuck a long nail inside the alligator' s
nose which made it hard for it to breathe and the alligator took
off the grip on the boy, let him go and ran into the lake. Tim
learned how to defend himself against an alligator when he went
on a trip to Gator Land Entertainment Park with his classmates
when he was in Elementary school. He thanked God for
remembering what he learned.
The local newspaper in his city wrote about this accident and
it was also broadcasted on the television. The media gave Tim a
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
lot of publicity and he was regarded as a hero.
When he was in the Eighth grade, there was a classmate of his
called Augustine who was a bully. Augustine was known for
abusing his classmates physically by beating them up. During
break time, he hit Tim on the head due to an argument between
them. He fought Augustine, threw some punches at him and
threw him on the ground. Augustine was astonished with Tim's
physical strength. He became scared of Tim and avoided
encountering him from that time on.
Tim and his family lived a good and enjoyable life in
Sacramento. They liked having parties and inviting family
friends and co-workers. They liked to barbecue, eat and have
merriment. They were social and their residence was a beehive
of activities. Tim enjoyed the comfort and company of his
family.
Sometimes, Emily, Tim and their parents would play tennis
together. At their leisure on weekends, they would go swimming
or boating. Tim's dad was a very good swimmer just like an
aquatic animal. He bought a nice boat and some weekends he
would take his family to a lake to fish and have fun. They usually
caught different types of fishes which their family used for meals.
Fishing had economic benefit for them because it helped them
save money that should had been spent on buying fish at the
grocery store.
Sacramento weather is awesome and snow does not fall in any
part of California except on the mountains. Outdoor temperature
sometimes gets to triple digits in Summer time but the weather is
usually not humid.
Tim's parents chronic problem of communication persisted
because of their accent and some Americans found it hard to
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The Quest For Greatness
understand them. Usually, it is almost impossible for immigrants
who migrated to another part of the world at adult ages to lose
their native accent and this was the case with Tim's parents.
The inability to communicate clearly in order to be
understood caused frustration to them. They had high level of
proficiency in English but their enunciation of words was
different from that of Americans.
Tim and his sister, Emily didn't have problem of
communication because they were African Americans that were
born in America.
Their parents did not have much knowledge of American
culture because they were born oversea and they grew up there
so they had to learn the new culture. They had awareness of their
cultural differences and were willing to adjust.
Tim's father was very outgoing and fun to be with. He liked to
drive his family periodically to a casino in Reno which is in
Nevada State to have fun and gamble. Sometimes, they would
drive to a casino in Carson city, Nevada or Lake Tahoe which is
in California to gamble. They preferred going to other cities than
Lake Tahoe in spite of the fact that Lake Tahoe was the closest
city where they gambled and the reason was because the road
from their residence to Lake Tahoe was very steepy. They did not
care about the proximity of Lake Tahoe to their residence
because it was scary to drive on the road that led to it.
The primary compelling reason while they liked going to a
casino was to have fun and the financial benefit was secondary.
On a Saturday, during a Summer time, Tim and his family
went to a casino in Reno. They lost a total of one hundred dollars
at the casino while playing a game called wheel of fortune and
another game with a money slot machine. When they were about
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
leaving the casino to drive home, Tim decided to make a last
gamble with twenty five cents which he inserted into the money
slot machine. Contrary to their expectations, Tim won three
thousand dollars and this was a manifestation that he was a very
lucky person. They were full of joy and excitement and they felt
that Tim was a blessed person. They drove home happily. It was
one of the happiest moments in their lives.
People perceived what happened as a divine incident. One
Spring time, Tim's family drove to the casino in Reno again to
have fun and gamble. It always snows heavily in Reno during
that time of the year. People usually drive with chains on their
car tires whenever snow falls in Reno because roads are sloppy,
slippery and dangerous to drive on Nevada was a fun and liberal
State at that time and it was not unlawful for people to walk on
the streets with uncovered bottles of beer. The road that leads to
Reno from Sacramento is surrounded by a deep valley which is
about 300 feet.
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CHAPTER 3
There was a massive storm when Tim's family was driving
home and snow was severely falling. A sign was placed on the
highways by Nevada State Department of Transportation that all
roads had been closed. Tim's family decided to take the next exit
on the highway to look for a motel and suspend their trip till all
roads were safe to drive on.
Unfortunately, they did not find an exit before they got to a
particular dangerous spot on the highway which was very
slippery. Some accidents occurred at this bad spot because a
couple of drivers lost control of their cars.
All drivers had to put chains on the tires of their cars to avoid
slipping off.
Individuals who considered it difficult to install chains on
their car tires by themselves paid professional people who were
on the road side soliciting for business and charging people a
certain amount of money to do the installation because they
specialized in doing it.
Tim's dad stopped his car and came out of it to put chains on
his car tires by himself. He was not aware how risky that spot on
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
the highway was. While he was trying to install chains on his car
tires, an oncoming Toyota Four Runner SUV model skidded off
the road and lost control due to the slippery condition of the road.
The Toyota SUV narrowly missed smashing Shawn's head- on
the car wheel as he was putting chains on a tire. This could have
caused a fatal accident.
The Toyota SUV hit a man who was installing his own chains
on his car tires in front of Shawn and knocked him down. The
man was unconscious and his wife was crying hysterically while
a compassionate spectator dialed 911 for an emergency rescue.
Paramedics rushed to the scene of the accident with an
Ambulance van and rushed him to a nearby hospital. The couple
was coming back from a casino in Reno to their residence in
Roseville, California.
Tim's dad abandoned installation of chains on his tires after
that accident. It dawned on him that it was very dangerous to be
on the side of that road at that moment putting chains on car tires.
He paid specialists who installed the chains for him.
He and his family walked away from the side of the road and
stayed by the bush until the completion of the chain installation.
They continued driving home after the chains were safely
installed on his car tires.
When they drove for a short time, Shawn' s car skidded off the
road despite the fact that he was driving with chains on his car
tires. There was possibility of his car plunging into the deep
valley but fortunately it hit big snowballs between the roadside
and the valley and veered towards the left side. The snowballs
miraculously blocked his car from falling into the deep valley.
There was an oncoming truck during this accident but Shawn
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quickly swerved his car and avoided collision with the truck.
They were lucky to avoid an accident that could have been
severe and fatal. Shawn took the next exit on the highway and
they rested for a couple of hours. They continued their trip as
soon as the road became clear.
When Tim was in junior high school, he fell in love with a
classmate of his called Samantha. She was pretty, attractive and
affectionate. She was a good friend of Tim and they had no sexual
relationship. She was still a virgin at that time.
Samantha's parents relocated to San Francisco after her junior
year in high school because her father accepted a new job offer
as a Hospital Administrator of a Health Maintenance
Organization (HMO) hospital. This was a more profitable job
than his former job.
Samantha relocated with her parents and three siblings. Tim
and Samantha could not maintain a long distance relationship
while in high school so their friendship met its doom.
Shawn was very committed and loyal to his wife. He was
dedicated to their marriage and they were a happy couple. A coworker
of Shawn called Sandra had a strong admiration for
Shawn and an irresistible desire to have a sexual relationship with
him. He resisted the temptation and never succumbed to Sandra's
desire. She was a beautiful and an attractive woman. She was a
single parent of a ten year old girl.
She invited Shawn a couple of times to visit her at her
residence but he declined to do so. She also invited him to eat out
with her in a restaurant but he refused because he did not want to
be involved in an extramarital affair. He felt that having a sexual
relationship with another woman while married is inappropriate
and it is an indication of moral decadence. He decided not to let
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
his co-workers know about Sandra's attempts to be with him
because he did not want to damage her reputation and jeopardize
her job. He was able to keep what transpired between them secret.
Tim's family was actively involved in a church. His mom was
a member of their church choir and she had a fantastic melodious
voice. His sister was determined not to have a baby outside a
wedlock and did not have a boyfriend in high school.
Emily, Tim and their parents lived a decent and humble life.
He had a good family that was worthy of emulation. His parents
taught him and his sister their native language early in their lives.
They involuntarily assimilated the information given to them and
learned their native language when they were young. They also
learned English language. They were very proficient in English
because their parents taught them the importance of reading and
looking up words in a dictionary. They were rich in their
vocabularies and this was of tremendous benefit in their
academic advancement.
Tim and Emily liked their native language despite the fact that
it was complicated and hard to learn. They studied it
conscientiously and diligently until they thoroughly had a
mastery of it.
Tim's dad was a long distance runner . He trained hard and
participated in a marathon competition at Boston in State of
Massachusetts . He had become an American citizen at that time
so he represented United States of America and got the fourth
position. He was beaten in the race by two competitors from
Kenya and one competitor from Ethiopia which are countries in
East Africa.
Long distance athletes from East Africa have been dominating
marathon competitions in United States of America and at the
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Olympics for decades. It is speculated that the reason for their
dominance is due to the fact that they live in high altitudes.
People are not sure whether there are other causative factors
that make people from East African countries excel in marathon
competitions.
During a certain time, Tim's family planned to have a vacation
in their country of origin. Tim and Emily would visit their
country for the first time during this vacation. They were thrilled
and full of joy about this journey because it would afford them
the opportunity to meet their grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts
and other relatives. Additionally, it would enable them to learn
more about their country of origin. Tim was fifteen years old at
the time of the trip.
His parents made a lot of preparations and shopping in
anticipation of their memorable summer vacation. They bought
new clothes for themselves and their relatives. Their luggage
exceeded permitted standard weight that they had to pay extra
fees in penalty in compliance with United States Aviation
requirement.
There was no direct flight from their residential state to their
destination during that time. They boarded Northwest Airline
from Sacramento International Airport to St Paul Minneapolis
where they changed to another airplane called KLM Dutch
Airline that flew internationally to Amsterdam.
The KLM airplane was big and had a capacity of
accommodating two hundred passengers. It was a very long flight
that seemed endless. They watched movies on televisions that
were installed in the plane and also listened to music. They slept
most of the time to get a much needed rest and to have time pass
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Valentine C. Okonkwo
by. The flight from St. Paul Minneapolis to Amsterdam took
about ten hours while the one from Sacramento to St Paul
Minneapolis took only three hours.
Amsterdam International Airport is one of the largest
International Airport in the world and flights to various parts of
the world are connected from there. Tim's family met people that
were waiting for connecting flights to places like London,
Nigeria, Liberia, India, Tokyo, China and Taiwan. They had a
layover for about four hours at Amsterdam International Airport
before boarding a flight to their country of origin.
The delay at Amsterdam for a connecting flight was the aspect
of their trip that they disliked. The restaurants at the airport did
not sell good nutritious and tasty foods. They ate burgers at
McDonald's restaurant. They were hungry at the time their plane
took off for its destination to Nigeria.
Within a short time of taking off at Amsterdam International
Airport , it began to fly across the Atlantic ocean which is not far
away from Amsterdam. When the plane was running on the
runway to take off, it seemed as if it would not be able to lift itself
up in the air because of its large size. Within few minutes the
plane was airborne and flew at a high speed.
Massive turbulence occurred persistently for about twenty
minutes as the plane flew through Atlantic ocean. The pilot was
very experienced and he maneuvered the plane by descending to
a lower altitude for a while and ascending to a higher altitude
afterwards. Tim and his sister were extremely scared because this
was their first time of flying in an airplane. The turbulence
vanished after some time and the plane then continued to fly
calmly and smoothly.
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They flew at an altitude of about 32,000 feet and watched
movies, rugby and soccer sports. Rugby and soccer are common
sports in Europe and are usually shown on the television of the
KLM Dutch Airline.
They arrived at the International Airport of their destination
within six hours. They walked through the port of entry and
showed the required passports to the Immigration Officers of that
country.
They proceeded to the section of the airport where baggage
was being collected. They experienced an incredible hardship at
the baggage collection section because it was very hot and
passengers were sweating profusely. The air conditioners seemed
to be ineffective and malfunctioning. They felt that officials who
ran the affairs of the airport of that developing country were
nonchalant about human suffering and cared less about the
comfort and health of their citizens. Tim and Emily observed that
the people of that country did not care to follow rules and were
very disorderly. They violated rules with impunity because Law
Enforcement Agents did not enforce laws most of the time.
Corruption was very rampant in that developing country and Law
Enforcement Agents took bribes and freed violators of laws.
They took a taxicab to drive them from the International
Airport to a Local Airport where they would board a flight to
their state. They noticed that car drivers were impatient and so
much in a hurry.
They drove recklessly, overtaking each other through wrong
lanes during a traffic jam. They made traffic situation worse by
not obeying traffic rules.
Commercial Van Conductors were shouting on top of their
voices, the names of the cities they would transport passengers to
21

Valentine C. Okonkwo
in order to draw their attention and picked up passengers on the
roadside.
Sometimes, Agents of State Department of Transportation
fined commercial vehicle drivers for unruly acts but they still
condoned the rules.
They usually sped off when they saw a Government Agent or
they would give a bribe to him in order to prevent him from
performing his duty of enforcing the law.
Tim and Emily were flabbergasted with the magnitude of
corruption, chaos and disorderliness in their country of origin.
They wondered whether these problems were similar in other
developing countries all over the world.
22

CHAPTER 4
Hawkers were selling snacks and fruits on the roadside,
sometimes obstructing traffic when cars were driving slowly due
to traffic jam. They were shouting the names of the fruits they
were selling such as groundnut, cashew nut, banana and mango.
Tim and his sister were baffled with the way policemen were
abusing their positions by harassing, intimidating and taking
bribes from citizens. These law Enforcement Officers were paid
low salaries so they depended solely on monetary bribes to make
ends meet. They noticed that uniformed police officers were
stopping oncoming vehicles with guns drawn and pointed to
drivers just to ask for their driving documents. This was
ridiculous and a creation of an unnecessary scene. They
intimidated drivers, took monetary bribes from them and let them
go without caring to examine the driving documents.
Few good things that caught their curiosity were the quality of
fruits and meats in that country. They noticed that some fruits
like banana, mango and guava which they ate had a better taste
and were sweeter than the ones in United States of America. They
thought that this might be due to two reasons. The first reason
might be because the fruits were not plucked off their trees until
23

Valentine C. Okonkwo
they were ripe. The banana changed its color from green to
yellow while on its tree indicating that it was ripe before it was
plucked. The mango and guava changed color from green to
yellow or red depending on the species showing that they were
ripe before being plucked off the trees.
The second reason might be because they were not grown with
fertilizers and growth hormones. The chicken in their original
country also had a better taste than American chicken. They were
naturally bred without the administration of antibiotics and
growth hormones. They did not have the tendency to cause
cancer.
The cow meat there also had a better taste than the one in
America. It took them fifty minutes to fly from the Local Airport
of the capital of their country to their state.
They spent a night in a motel, rented a Toyota Sienna Van and
drove to their village the next day.
They liked countryside because it was calm and cool. It was a
much needed place for relaxation and they had a good rest.
Everywhere at the village looked green with trees.
They met their grandparents with excitement. Their
grandparents told them a lot of stories. Tim's parents gave their
grandparents money and gifts. They also gave gifts to their
uncles, aunts, cousins and relatives. They attended some
traditional ceremonies which afforded Tim and his sibling the
opportunity to learn the culture of the people. The ceremonies
were very informative and exhibited their cultural heritage. They
attended a traditional marital ceremony of one of their cousins.
This traditional marriage ceremony was held on two separate
occasions in compliance with their tradition.
24

The Quest For Greatness
On first occasion, the bridegroom paid a visit to the bride's
family on a weekend with required amount of money , wine, beer,
soda and bottles of water. The fiancé was accompanied by his
relatives and the fiancée invited her relatives to her parents'
residence in her village where the ceremony was scheduled to
take place.
The bride' s family and relatives cooked various kinds of foods
to entertain the bridegroom, his relatives and the bride' s relatives.
It was a very happy day full of social activities and merriment.
On next occasion, the bride went to the bridegroom's
residence with her relatives. The family of the bridegroom and
his relatives helped him to prepare different kinds of foods for
their guests and for themselves on this remarkable occasion.
Beer, liquor, soda and water were also served and people drank
to their satisfaction. Finally, a religious wedding was held at a
catholic church on another weekend because the bride and
bridegroom were Christians. A priest conducted a wedding
church service for a religious union of the bride and bridegroom.
A reception was subsequently, held at a big reception building
owned by the church with a capacity of three hundred people and
an estimate of one hundred and fifty people were in attendance.
The Master of ceremony (MC) for the event was introduced
and program of activities distributed. The MC introduced the
Chairman of the occasion and the DJ whose responsibility was to
play music for entertainment and dance. The Chairman of the
occasion made an impressive opening speech and welcomed
everybody. His speech drew a thunderous ovation. The bride and
bridegroom in company of a best man, chief bridesmaid,
bridesmaids and other people, walked slowly in procession from
outside of the reception building to inside.
25

Valentine C. Okonkwo
Foods and drinks were served in abundance. A couple of
people made speeches and advised the married couple to ensure
that peace, love, loyalty, forgiveness, reconciliation and
tolerance exist in their marital lives. The bridegroom was an
affluent and a famous real estate magnate. The bride was a high
school biology teacher. Guests gave them different kinds of gifts
in accordance with their societal tradition.
Tim and his family also attended a tribal annual Cultural Day
Festival of his people which was celebrated at the palace of the
King of their hometown. This cultural extravaganza was a
historic and memorable event. Different cultural exhibitions
took place on that day. This annual cultural festival is celebrated
in order to revive and commemorate their cultural heritage. On
that day, various cultural dancers and masquerades danced
gracefully and entertained spectators. Plenty of foods and drinks
were served which was a manifestation of ostentatious lifestyle
of the people. It was a day of joy and merriment for everyone.
They went to a graduation party of a relative who graduated
from a University. Tim and his sibling were impressed with
communal efforts, kind gesture and generous attitude of their
people. They talked to their relatives and learned from
conversations that Government never got involved in helping the
less privileged in that country. Relatives of poor people helped
them financially through communal efforts and this situation was
quite different in United States of America where the
Government provides financial assistance to the poor through
Government Assisted Programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
They went back to America at the end of their vacation. It was a
hassle to get to the International Airport which was about five
26

The Quest For Greatness
hundred miles from their hometown. They boarded a commercial
motortruck that drove them to a Local Airport in their state where
they took a fifty minute flight to the International Airport.
Their flight to United States of America commenced at 11.00
pm and they arrived at Amsterdam in the morning. They slept
most of the time as their plane flew through the Atlantic ocean.
They connected another flight from Amsterdam to St Paul
Minneapolis which was their longest flight. They boarded their
last flight at St Paul Minneapolis and the airplane landed in
Sacramento, California which was their final destination.
While residing in United States of America, they became more
appreciative of what they had. They appreciated the fact that they
had basic amenities like electricity and constant water supply
unlike in a developing country. There were constant power
interruption and scarcity of water during the vacation in their
country. Water and electricity were rationed and people used
generators.
They came to the realization that they had a better life in
America because they were fortunate to have a Government that
was functional. It was obvious that the American Government
had better accountability and transparency.
27

CHAPTER 5
Tim was offered an admission at Harvard University in
Boston, Massachusetts to study law prior to his high school
graduation. He was awarded a scholarship to play basketball for
his University. His parents had a sendoff party for him at their
home. Friends attended the party with gifts. Plenty of foods and
drinks were provided by his parents. Guests ate and drank to their
satisfaction. They gave words of advice to him.
He arrived at Harvard University in Fall season to begin
studies. He was impressed with the cleanliness and healthy
atmosphere of the city of Boston where Harvard University is
located.
One issue he was worried about was that it is usually very cold
in Boston during Winter time. Snow falls severely and
temperature can drop to minus thirty degrees or less.
Tim was a voracious reader, a diligent student and an athlete.
He devoted his time to his studies and sport of basketball. He had
a lot to study and he was overwhelmed with the voluminous law
courses.
He knew that the challenges of accomplishing his objectives
were enormous. He was aware that his goals could be attained
28

The Quest For Greatness
through diligence and tenacity.
He studied hard and maintained good grades. He was a special
player and he distinguished himself playing for his University
basketball team. He was the best player in his team despite the
fact that he was a freshman. He played the guard position in
basketball and his ball handling with low number of turnovers
was fantastic and commendable, he averaged high number of
points and assists per game. Tim had high basketball intelligence
and he was fun to watch in a game.
In his sophomore year, he fell in love with a woman at his
University who became his girlfriend. The woman 's name was
Cassandra and she was studying psychology. She was a nice,
pretty and benevolent woman. She was reliable, loyal and
somebody Tim could confide in. She won Tim's heart and their
relationship continued to grow stronger and stronger.
Tim's journey to greatness blossomed and reached its peak
after his graduation from his University because he was drafted
by an American Franchise of National Basket Ball Association
(NBA) to play professional basketball.
His dreams and aspirations were realized and he was very
thankful to God. He considered himself very lucky to be one of
the few people drafted out of thousands of players.
The day of the draft was memorable and it was one of the
happiest days in his life. It is a well-known fact that professional
sports in United States of America are a guarantee to economic
empowerment and gigantic financial success. His girlfriend,
sister and parents accompanied him to the historic and
remarkable NBA Draft Ceremony.
They made adequate preparation for this important lifetime
event.
29

Valentine C. Okonkwo
His father bought a brand new suit for Tim and himself. He
also bought new clothes for Tim's mother and sister.
They were well dressed on the day of the draft ceremony and
Tim wore a nice gray suit with a blue bow tie. The coordinator of
the event announced Tim's name as the second player drafted. He
studied diligently for his State law License Examination after the
draft and passed before the NBA basketball season began. He
chose not to practice law for the meantime in spite of the fact that
he was licensed to be a lawyer in his residential state.
He rolled his sleeves and started work by playing professional
basketball which he had a passion for. He was aware that
professional sport was very lucrative and concentrated in playing
basketball. His Basket Ball Franchise signed him on with twenty
million dollars for a five year contract.
At the inception of his professional career, he bought
Mercedes 500XL Sedan for his parents and another one for
himself. He also bought Lexus 470XL SUV for his sister, Emily
and BMW 750XL sedan for his girlfriend, Cassandra. He paid
cash for all the cars purchased without obtaining any car loan.
He proposed to his girlfriend and married her within one year
of commencing his professional career. They had an ostentatious
and societal wedding.
He performed so well as a professional basketball player that
made him to be selected as a member of the American NBA All
Star Team in second year of his professional career. He was
selected as a member of the American NBA All Star Team for
ten consecutive times in his career which was an indication that
he was one of the best basketball players ever known in his era.
He signed a new contract with his franchise for thirty million
dollars for seven years after the expiration of his first contract.
30

The Quest For Greatness
Obviously, business was booming for him and things went well
as he wished. He also had another source of income from
commercial advertisements that were made with him. Nike and
Coca Cola companies used him for advertisements.
He diversified his investments in different businesses when he
was at the prime of professional sport and earned huge income.
He established a mortgage company, a wireless telephone
company and purchased many rental houses. He became a rare
gem business colossus and a big investor. He amassed
tremendous wealth and became very rich.
Tim retired from playing professional basketball after
eighteen years of professional career. He was inducted into the
American NBA Hall of Fame. He enjoyed the induction, and
everybody had lots of fun at the event. His family and friends
accompanied him to the induction ceremony.
He became a community activist and a political aspirant after
his retirement from professional sport. He ran for an elective
office to be a United States Senator in his district. He won the
Senatorial position with a landslide victory. His fame and
character played a vital role in his victory. He was an affable,
generous and kind gentleman. He participated actively as a
Senator to make the lives of Americans better. He was a man of
transparent honesty who was an advocate of judicious fund
spending and accountability by Government officials.
He won his Senatorial position four consecutive times before
he retired from politics and exited the United States White house
on a good note.
His sister graduated from College of Medicine at Boston
University. She did her residency to specialize in a particular
field of Medicine at New England Deaconess hospital in Boston,
31

Valentine C. Okonkwo
Massachusetts. She specialized in Gynecology and became a
renowned Gynecologist because of the good qualities she
possessed. She had the brilliance, patience and compassion to
deal with patients and these are essential qualities needed for
efficient delivery of health care.
She fell in love with a fellow physician she met at New
England Deaconess hospital while she was doing her specialist
course. They got married one year after they knew each other.
Her husband's name was Jeffrey and he specialized in Internal
Medicine. God blessed them with two children, a boy and a girl.
They decided not to have more children because it is a lot of
work to raise children and she devoted a lot of time to her
professional career.
Tim's dad passed away at the age of one hundred and four
years. His corpse was flown back to his original country and
buried there according to his wish. His burial ceremony was
performed in compliance with his native culture. Different
cultural exhibitions were displayed at his funeral.
Twenty rifle shots were fired in the air on the day of his burial
as a tribute to a great man like him. A rifle in his original country
called double barrel was used for firing the shots.
Two cultural dance groups also performed gracefully with
acrobatic displays at the funeral. Tim's uncle explained the
meaning of the cultural exhibitions to him and his sister.
Later, his mom passed away at the age of one hundred and six
years and her corpse was flown back to her country of origin in
accordance with her wish. Tim and Emily flew with her corpse
to their original country and they were welcomed by their uncles
aunts and relatives. They helped them prepare for their mother's
burial ceremony because they were not very familiar with their
32

The Quest For Greatness
cultural burial requirements. Their mom was given a befitting
burial.
Tim was inspirational to many people and he was a model to
his children. He and his wife had five children. Three of his
children were boys and two were girls. His wife delivered each
baby at the hospital naturally with no difficulty.
33

CHAPTER 6
Tim was a good man who indulged in many philanthropic
ventures. He made numerous donations to the poor and charitable
organizations.
He had close calls to death a couple of times but God protected
him. During his fifteen year birthday, his parents took him and
his sister to Folsom lake to celebrate.
They rented a Kayak for Tim which he requested. A Kayak
is designed like a small canoe. Tim sailed on the lake with the
kayak by using a paddle to propel the kayak. The kayak capsized
about two hundred meters away from the shore. He was rescued
by a lifeguard who swam to the scene. The kayak was recovered
about forty meters away from where it capsized.
Once upon a time, he boarded an airplane to fly from San
Francisco California to Boston, Massachusetts in order to visit
his sister. San Francisco International Airport is very close to
Pacific Ocean that once an airplane completes its run on a runway
and becomes airborne, it will be flying immediately across the
Pacific Ocean.
The airplane he was flying on was already running at a high
34

The Quest For Greatness
speed on the runway to take off and the co-pilot’s window
suddenly broke and opened due to a mechanical problem
consequently allowing air to rush into the airplane. This was a
big commercial airplane with a capacity of about one hundred
passengers.
The pilot slammed his right foot on the plane' s brake and four
rear tires of the plane burst. There was a lot of smoke in the plane
and it ran uncontrollably into another runway as it was speeding.
Passengers didn’t have a clue what went wrong and were very
terrified. They screamed in despair with anticipation that they
would have a plane crash. Eventually the plane was brought
under control by the pilot and it came to an abrupt stop few
meters away from the Pacific Ocean.
The conventional procedure of handling an emergency
situation of this kind is not to obstruct the plane for a takeoff at
such a fast speed but to perform an emergency landing on top of
that nearby ocean.
The brave pilot chose not to adhere to the scary conventional
procedure rather he resorted to an unconventional procedure by
smashing his foot on the brake of the plane and still saved lives.
Every passenger was pleased with the pilot and very grateful to
God for saving their lives.
The plane engineers repaired the copilot's window and
changed the four flat rear tires. The plane took off with
passengers after one hour forty five minutes. One day, Tim had
an unimaginable incident of being held at a gunpoint by an armed
robber. It happened when he stopped at a gas station in south
Sacramento to buy gasoline for his Mercedes car. While he was
pumping gasoline into his car, a masked man in his twenties
rushed to him, pointing a pistol on his forehead, shouting at him
35

Valentine C. Okonkwo
to surrender his car key. He complied with the armed robber's
order and surrendered his car key without resistance.
The armed robber drove away his Mercedes car. Fortunately,
an individual who witnessed the robbery when it was taking place
expedited action in dialing a police station. He gave the license
plate number of the Mercedes car.
Policemen that were patrolling in that neighborhood were
alerted by their office. A pursuit ensued between two policemen
and the armed robber. He was caught and arrested within thirty
minutes. Tim's Mercedes car was intact and not wrecked.
Sometimes, a stolen car ends up in a bad wreck so Tim
considered himself very fortunate. He got his car back that day.
He told his family about the robbery and they prayed
collaboratively, thanking God for His mercy and divine
intervention.
Tim's first son Mark was not a talented basketball player. His
hobbies were tennis, soccer and reading. He was studious and an
erudite person. He gained admission into Harvard University to
study Medicine. He specialized in surgery after his graduation.
His specialty study was done at Massachusetts General Hospital
and he became a famous surgeon. He got married to a Nurse and
they had four male children.
Tim's second son, Kingsley was as talented as his dad in sport
of basketball. He was offered an admission to study Business
Administration at Stanford University in California and a
scholarship to play basketball.
He was drafted by an American NBA franchise to play
professional basketball after his graduation. He distinguished
himself in professional sport like his father which made people
believe that genetic inheritance might have played a vital role. He
36

The Quest For Greatness
was one of the finest NBA players of his era and he was selected
as one of the NBA All Star players for eight consecutive times.
He married an Associate Professor of Political Science and they
had three children, two boys And a girl.
Tim's third son, Phillip graduated from Ohio State University
in department of Law. He married a Dentist and they were
blessed with two children, a boy and a girl.
He became an Attorney and a politician. He had monumental
accomplishments in politics.
He won a legislative position in his State two consecutive
times and served for two terms. Furthermore, he won a
gubernatorial election and served his State as a Governor. He was
reelected for another term of office as a Governor when his tenure
of office elapsed.
Tim's oldest daughter, Tiffany graduated from Princeton
University Medical College in New York and became a
Pediatrician.
She married a Physician who specialized in Family Medicine
whom she met at her Medical College. They had four children,
two males and two females.
Tim's youngest daughter, Vanessa obtained a PhD in Clinical
Psychology from University of Central Florida, Orlando. She
became a Professor of Clinical Psychology. She got married to a
Law Professor.
All Tim's children graduated from a college which could be
attributed to good family upbringing.
One of Tim's accomplishments was the establishment of a
basketball training program in Sacramento, California where
children were taught how to play basketball efficiently. Some
37

Valentine C. Okonkwo
participants of this basketball training program turned out to be
professional basketball players.
Tim passed away at the age of one hundred and eight years.
He was buried in Sacramento, California which was his place of
residence. He left a legacy and his memory would live with his
people. Apparently, longevity existed in his family. His wife died
at the age of one hundred and ten years. She was also buried in
her residential city of Sacramento.
Suffice it to say that Tim made a transition from the status of
a nonentity to that of a famous and affluent person in society. He
utilized his fame and wealth to elevate his parents from a middle
class status to an upper class status. He made donations to
charitable organizations and his philanthropic contributions are
commendable and worthy of emulation. He awarded scholarships
to some poor students. He mentored a lot of people and helped
them have success in life.
38

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Author, Valentine Chike Okonkwo is a Pharmacist in the
United States of America. He is a prolific and freelance writer.
His marvelous novel is inspirational, thought provoking and
greatly entertaining.
39

Valentine C. Okonkwo
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