With TONY OKOROJI
I have said it over and over again that I am an unbelievably lucky guy. I thank the Almighty for the incredible protection He has given me during many trying times and under conditions that would have broken many men.
Believe me, I have repeatedly seen the treachery and betrayal of men and how we rationalize our duplicity and all the nonsense we do. When a guy you thought was your guy begins to manufacture a dispute between the two of you when there is really nothing to quarrel about, your antenna should go up. Nine times out of ten, your guy is fabricating a justification for treachery which he is hatching. Take it from me, it will soon manifest. Then the guy you used to eat and drink with will tell everybody how horrible you really are and why he must perch somewhere else. It is all cock and bull! He was never your friend. The truth is that he has not been able to use you as he wishes. He is looking for a new chopping center!
The average human being is selfish and is out for where he thinks his bread is buttered, and a good number of such people live in our part of the world. Do not be surprised to find out that the person who has behaved like he would go to the grave with you is in fact praying that you should die quickly so that he can grab something that belongs to you. All the while, your guy has only been using you as his ladder. If he gets to wherever he has been climbing to, or finds a better ladder, he will create a scene and dump you like rotten ‘okoro’ soup.
I have learnt to be weary of praise singers. If a guy begins to tell me that I am the best thing he has seen since man discovered sliced bread, my antenna goes up! I know that I am mortal and no mortal being is perfect. The guy is setting me up for the kill. Have you ever got a telephone call from a guy you do not know from Adam who begins by sweet-talking you and telling you how the two of you met at an event you never went to? From there, he will tell you about the huge demand for a special stone in some place that only he knows and which you can obtain and be stinking rich? Or there is an NNPC contract that he wants to execute with you and only you as his partner? Please, run! Run!
I have seen betrayal upon betrayal and evil men in every colour. I seriously have to restrain myself from believing that there is still good men left in the world and there is still a reason to do good to anyone. Fortunately, you interact with some good people and your faith is rekindled. Truly, there are still good men and there is still good reason to do good. Come to think of it, If I cannot do good to the children of God, then what am I alive for?
There is hunger in the land – biting hunger! Almost everyone is desperate for where to connect his pipe and get some succor. I have found out that there are people who think that if they connect their pipes to me, their days of hunger will be over. Wrong investment! The truth is that I am hungry too. The difference is that some of us wear our hunger well, with a smile. I rarely eat three times a day. If the good Lord gives me a slice of bread, I eat it with joy, whether there is butter or not and I drink some water. I pray to God Almighty for better days and I don’t attack or quarrel with anyone for my situation.
In my work, I hear all kinds of things from people who have made themselves believe that I owe them a livelihood. They think that I have a duty to take what belongs to others and hand it over to them because they are my ‘friends’. Does it mean that I have to be a thief to justify my friendship with some? May God forgive them.
I do not consider my position as Chairman of the Management Board of the Organization I serve to be to sit and beautify a chair or to wear ‘agbada’ at big occasions and make meaningless speeches. I am the team leader. I am a servant. My job is to make sure that work is going on and we are executing to the benefit of our members and affiliates who hold us in trust. I am the general in front of the army and not behind. I do not ask others to work while I drink pepper soup. I dirty my hands and get the work done.
Take it from me: most people do not say what they mean. You have to develop the talent to read lips. I have had to learn to understand what people truly mean and not what they say. Some will in one breath tell you that Okoroji is “Executive Chairman” and is doing everything himself. Next minute, the same people will tell you that Okoroji did not do anything, “we are the ones who did all the work”! Does it matter? Let the work be done!
I have always asked the Almighty to give me an opportunity to give. I have written in this column before that if had become a janitor or a security man, I would have dedicated myself as much to serving the organization I lead. I want to remain a doer and not a talker.
See you next week.
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