The American dream – a term so popular that it echoes in the ears of almost every corner of the world. So it does in the destitute African regions, who yearn for a better life standard. And so it did, in the ears of the Usman family. The dream, however, did take a turn for the worse, turning it into a nightmare.
From riches to apparent rags, and from the ashes of dreams, rose the phoenix, Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman. Kamaru’s career arc seems like a foreshadowing of avenging his father’s alleged wrongful imprisonment.
How did the American Dream turn into a nightmare for Kamaru Usman?
Kamaru’s father Muhammed NUsman shifted to Texas in hopes of providing them with a better life. Mr. Usman excelled in his work after moving to the USA in 1989 and eventually obtaining citizenship in 1996. He trod the path, quite often chosen by the immigrants. And to his credit, he did that like a trapeze artist tiptoes on a tightrope.
The senior Usman established a couple of medical commodity outlets in the form of ambulance companies. Royal Ambulance Company and First Choice EMS were his brainchildren, born respectively in 2003 and 2005.
Being a pharmacist back in Nigeria, Mr. Usman seemed to know his way around the medical system. Such was his success in his entrepreneurial endeavor, that he won the accolade of ‘Who’s who Businessman of the Year’, presented by the Republican national committee.
However, to mitigate his dearth of in-depth knowledge in this particular field, he bolstered his operations recruiting a team. Josie Horn, his brother David McNac and Shaun Outen spearheaded that team of more than 60 EMTs. That decision, according to Kamaru, came to bite Muhammed in the back.
Do not blindly trust, Usman
Muhammed gave them full authority and left the nitty gritty details of the operation to their discretion. The senior Usman, in the meantime, invested his time in car dealerships, handling health care for a community of handicapped children. And he started to use his well-earned leisure to visit Nigeria frequently.
Kamaru claims that his father did not know any better. And that trip took advantage of this scenario. They used Muhammed Usman’s negligence to their advantage. Eventually when Muhammed was indicted on the basis of fabricating fraudulent ‘run sheets’, the fog around the issue started to clear up for the young Usman.
Kamaru believed that his father’s absence was used against him. The trio from 2004-2007 ran the larger operations. So, they had the authority to doctor ‘run sheets’ – sheets comprising the records detailing a patient’s drop-off location, pick-up location, and time. The ambulance companies were bound to submit run sheets as they took care of the non-emergency patients. The trio took advantage of running the dialysis patients back and forth and forged the papers.
The despair of kamaru Usman: deprivation of father’s company
The forged documentation eventually led to all the charges hurled at Muhammed Usman. Kamaru believes that his father had been deprived of a fair life and fair trial, solely based on the fact that he was the owner.
On Joe Rogan’s podcast, Kamaru revealed how his father was imprisoned. A SWAT team knocked at their doors, eventually taking Muhammed Usman to prison. He was later slapped with fourteen federal charges, in 2010. To their dismay, the Usman family watched in horror as the father was sentenced to a mammoth prison time of 180 months.
Before being released in February 2020 from a Texas prison, he had to pay a restitution fee of around 1.3 million USD. Muhammed came out after serving 10 years out of the allotted 15 years.
But those 10 years were like ‘hell on earth’ for the Usman Family. Kamaru was hellbent on doing justice to his father by being the best at what he did. And boy he did that well! Upon his ascension to the throne, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ longed for the days when he could enjoy the zenith with his father.
One could sense the pride in his joyful tears when Kamaru cinched the belt around Muhammed’s waist after his fourth title defense against Jorge Masvidal.
Whether Muhammed Usman was wrongfully indicted or not, Kamaru took it to heart. And he still believes that they were deprived of their father’s company. To this day, the former Welterweight kingpin uses that tragedy as fuel for his success.
