Arinzechukwu’s story is a testament to the power of perseverance, determination and creative reinvention.
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Diala Henry Arinzechukwu is a talented entrepreneur who transformed his childhood passion for art and creativity into a successful business, WhiteDreamLights. Despite facing numerous challenges, including dropping out of university and struggling to establish himself, Arinzechukwu’s determination and innovative spirit led him to create unique, handmade lighting solutions. He beautifies with light, in a manner that communicates and illuminates, using woodcrafts, clocks, footwear and others.
How it started
Arinzechukwu said he has always known himself to be skilled at creativity. “I used to like artwork, craft, and the beauty of light, everything that illuminates.
“When I was in Primary Four, I realised I was given to drawings. I recall drawing the front and back of the N20 note with 4in1 colour Biro then. My parents saw it and totally thought it was real money. They encouraged me by getting drawing books for me.
“While still in primary school, my Fine Art Teacher drew something on the board and asked us to draw. I was not pleased with what she drew so I drew my own. After submitting, she was amazed and took me to the Headmaster. The headmaster announced it on assembly and that was how I started drawing for the school,” he recalled.
He added that when he left primary school for secondary school, reading and writing became a challenge to him and he had to fail a class because he was focusing more on art.
“I wasn’t doing well in academics. I could only carve with wood, and draw, and was interested in lightning and electrical devices.
“When I realised that I was not doing well in science class where I was, I told my parents that I didn’t like it but they discouraged me and told me that Artists don’t get rich, insisting that I remain in science class.
“During a promotional exam in my SS1, I failed and was told to repeat the class. It was shameful to me and disappointing to my parents. I told my mom that I couldn’t stand the shame. Within that period, a family friend visited us and when she saw my artwork, was amazed and asked my mom to send me to Technical School. She accepted and sent me to Government Technical College, Ikorodu, Lagos where I improved on my drawings and all,” he said.
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He said after he left secondary school for the University, he lost interest in those skills. “I saw those things I was doing before as child’s play when I left secondary school. University life took the whole mindset away from me.”
While studying Computer Science at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ogun State, Arinzechukwu lost his dad while in his 300 level. Financial difficulties that later ensued forced him to drop out of school because of the inability to pay his school fees.
“In 2012, the school fees were getting higher, and I could no longer manage with my little hustle of phone repairs complemented with the much from my parents. Along the line, my dad died and my mom’s business was going down so I had to stop schooling. But before I left, I wrote a letter to the school which they acknowledged,” he said.
Five years after, Arinze returned to school in 2017 to pick up from where he left. This was after so much hustles to raise money to keep himself going. “I could not get a payable job that could sustain me and my family. So, I went back to the street, doing the things I love doing. I would go to a friend’s shop in a phone store. When I got there, I would help customers buy phones in what they call ‘Oso Ahia’ and repair phones, battery, speaker etc. Phone was a big deal then. So, I was making some money from it. That was how I was able to go back to school and graduated in 2018.”
After graduating from the University, Arinzechukwu continued with his street hustles because he felt those technical things he was doing were his callings.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, business dropped for him as jobs that he used to charge for N60,000 went down to N30,000.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, SS3 students started accepting jobs that should be N60, 000 for N30, 000. They were happy because it was a big money to them, but a fall out for me because I was no longer getting as much as I used to and Nigeria started becoming tough,” he said.
When he could no longer get phones to repair which used to sustain him, he thought of how he could establish himself with his skill in phone repairs, but capital was a challenge.
The birth of WhiteDreamLight, WDL
While he kept on pairing with his friend at the phone store, he saw a registered engineer who always disposed of damaged phone screens in his waste bin. “His waste bin was usually full of damaged phone screens and I would ask myself if these couldn’t be recycled. When I asked people, they ignored me. One day I picked a screen from the waste bin, it wasn’t that damaged so I noticed it had light. I worked on it. Along the line, I noticed that the voltage of the light was good. I slept over it thinking of what I could do with it if I could get many of them from the waste bin to do something meaningful.”
Arinzechukwu said with more damaged phone screens in his hands, he started thinking about what he could do with them to solve a problem and also bring him money.
“I started fixing up light-on footwear, but it wasn’t perfect. I did signate, but it was not too perfect. Then, I remembered what my lecturer used to say that there is always room for improvement. When you get to a stage, improve again and again and always think outside the box.
“I employed those words and started thinking outside the box. I started thinking of what hadn’t been done, and what I could do to make mine different from others. I went back to the wooden craft I was doing while in primary school, trying to see what I could do with it. As I kept on researching online, I discovered that I could still get better lighting instead of using damaged phone screen lights. I had to focus more on lighting and adding wood craftwork. When I go online, I will look at the way others did theirs and try to make mine different. With some samples I made, people started admiring my jobs and were patronising me,” he said.
Excited about his discoveries, Arinzechukwu said he went off for a break to learn and get money to establish himself. “When I started, I went off because I needed money to buy tools and to learn more. I went to a place to learn and I observed that I could do better than them. They didn’t have much to teach. I wanted something more challenging than what I already knew. When I saw their jobs, I wasn’t impressed so I didn’t go back again. I just settled on my knowledge and kept doing research online. I made so many errors learning online before I finally became better and I am still learning, doing research online for improvement,” he said.
“My story is this; from discovering problems to finding solutions, doing research, using ideas to reduce problems and gaining easy life satisfaction,” Arinzechukwu added.
Sourcing capital
Arinzechukwu said he worked for a whole year in 2021 to save up money to start his project. “I started my business professionally in 2022 after working for a whole year in 2021 at BlueRidge Microfinance Bank, Lagos to save up money for my business. To the glory of God, the business has grown into millions and more ideas are still coming for me to expand,”
He said while struggling to establish his business, he got mocked and laughed at by so many people to the extent of giving up. “I was laughed over when I told someone that I could fix a light on his cup. I was mocked but I never gave up. Along the line, someone gave me a job of N1.2m for signage because he already saw one with a woodcraft on my page. I was not yet perfect with it at that time but I accepted it and went online for more research and in the end, I came up with a perfect job which he liked. That alone made me stay on. That contract alone gave me other jobs and made me known to people in that area,” he said.
Penetrating the Market
Arinzechukwu said penetrating the market took him 3-4 months when he was about to give up. He also acknowledged the help of social media platforms in playing a vital role and referrals to his breakthroughs. “Once I am done with each job, I will share them online and sample them within for people to see. My uniqueness paved the way for me because people will always say that mine was different. It took me three to four months to penetrate the market. I was about to give up because the discouragement was so much even though I had strong determination on it, but then, a client from the USA got attracted to my job on my page and said he had not seen such design elsewhere. He gave me the contract for a house he was building in Nigeria. When I gave him the price, he was shocked and said it was too small for it. He sent someone to be sure. In the end, it was a job well done. That was another contract that gingered me,” he said.
Challenges faced by Nigerian business owners
Arinzechukwu said the unstable price of materials is his major challenge. “The prices are not stable. In Nigeria, materials increase in the space of 12 hours. It is affecting us because we don’t have fixed prices again. And it is reducing our sales and making it difficult for some people to buy because they can’t afford it,” he said.
Japa
Arinzechukwu said he is not leaving his business to travel abroad in the name of Japa but would love to travel to China where illumination is known, just to learn more and then travel around to explore and set up outlets while his business remains here in Nigeria.
Arinzechukwu has trained many youths with his skills and presently has three people working for him.
Arinzechukwu’s story is a testament to the power of perseverance, determination and creative reinvention.