By Ade Iyamoye
He came to Abuja chasing the NYSC dream. He ended up in a batcha, hooked on drugs, hustling as a laborer on a construction site.
Today, Jethro Daboh is one of the most brilliant Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technicians at MOFIADO Conversion Centre, Gwarimpa; converting two cars a day and inspiring a generation.
The Kaduna State University Political Science graduate had once envisioned a future in parliament. After serving at the National Assembly in 2023, he waited endlessly for a white-collar miracle that never came.
“I thought I’d end up drafting policies. But life handed me spanners instead,” he said, laughing.
His unlikely breakthrough came not from a job board but from a stranger on a construction site. Mr. Folusho Sylvanus, CEO of MOFIADO, noticed his polished English and took a chance on the ‘Blacky’ labourer with a past.
He offered him shelter, mentorship, ₦70,000 monthly stipend and a spot in a free CNG training programme.
“Within a month, when I returned to check on his progress, Blacky was already converting two cars per day!
“He is now become one of the most brilliant and intelligent CNG technicians at the centre,” Mr Sylvanus said.
Daboh, now clean and confident, has no plans of turning back. “If the National Assembly comes calling today, I’d probably decline. This place has become like a home to me. We share everything, even meals. My boss, my colleagues; we are one.”
He credits President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and the PiCNG initiative for making such redemptive stories possible.
This is renewed hope, it is not just a slogan, but a reality for people like me,” he said.
From batcha to brilliance, from drugs to diagnostics, Daboh’s journey is a gripping reminder that hope, when renewed, can change more than minds. It can change lives.
