If you truly want success, stop sitting and start searching. Move. Pay. Travel. Study. Grow. Let it cost you.
“There is no far place for a sick person.”
When I heard Dr. David Oyedepo say those words over 25 years ago, it struck a deep chord in my soul. What he meant was simple but profound: when you truly value something, distance becomes irrelevant. If it means healing, wisdom, greatness, or destiny, then no journey is too far, no price too high.
Since 1997, I’ve been in relentless pursuit of wisdom and success. That same year, I picked up my first transformational book: Success Systems by Bishop Oyedepo, then followed it up with Success Strategies, Commanding the Supernatural, and Towards Excellence in Life and Ministry. I was ignited—and I’ve never been the same again.
As an undergraduate, I made deliberate choices. While others were investing in pleasure, I was starving my body to feed my spirit. My mates were eating at restaurants; I was buying books. Some traveled for leisure, I journeyed 8 hours by road to Lagos to sit at the feet of Bishop Oyedepo for 60 days. I didn’t stop there. I later traveled 13 hours to Kaduna to glean from Bishop Abioye. Because if success must come, you must go where wisdom flows.
This is the mindset we instill at Faithhouse Leadership Church, leaders are raised through pressure, pursuit, and price. We don’t breed comfort-seeking believers. We raise reformers, thinkers, nation builders, men and women who are not afraid to pay heavy prices for great futures.
I have paid millions over the years investing in myself. Not for show, not for applause, but for transformation. I’ve travelled across Nigeria and West Africa, not for tourism, but for truth. I have sat with sages, served in silence, and sacrificed pleasures. I’ve studied intensely across fields: Public Health, Business, Criminology, International Law, Political Economy, Agro Economics, and more.
Let me show you what it costs:
Undergraduate education in Nigeria: ₦500,000 – ₦3 million (private universities)
Master’s degree in Nigeria: ₦1.2 million – ₦3.5 million
PhD in Nigeria: ₦2 million – ₦5 million
Master’s abroad (UK/USA): £12,000 – £30,000 or $15,000 – $45,000 (₦20 million – ₦45 million)
PhD abroad (UK/USA): ₦30 million – ₦70 million depending on field and school
Now imagine someone who can't pay ₦250,000 for a training or mentorship class but can spend ₦6 million on burial, ₦15 million on wedding, or ₦10 million on a luxury car. That’s the paradox of our time.
Success isn’t mystical. It’s a reward for those who pay the price of pursuit. You don’t stumble into greatness. You sacrifice for it. You invest. You cry. You stretch.
Some people envy your crown but ignore your scars. They see the light but not the fire that birthed it. Don’t be deceived: the path to greatness is expensive, and worth every drop of sweat.
I have raised hundreds of leaders across sectors by teaching them this one truth: “You rise by what you search, not what you wish.” I am a living witness. From my law firm to the pulpit, from my leadership school to the university I founded, it has been deliberate search, painful sowing, and consistent growth.
If you truly want success, stop sitting and start searching.
Move. Pay. Travel. Study. Grow.
Let it cost you.
Because when success finally shows up, it will look like grace, but it was always the result of a costly search.
Let it rise. Let it speak. Let it rule.
Barrister Ikenna Emmanuel
Pastor | Lawyer | Nation Builder | Leadership Mentor
Team Leader – Faithhouse Leadership Church
Email: ikennaemmanuel1977@gmail.com
Website: www.faithhouseleadership.org
Phone: +2348035003594
