One of the clearest things in my heart has been the indisputability of God’s concrete interventions in the affairs of men. It was clearly the divine arrangement that I got saved as a believer six months before the roof caved in. While the tribulations soared, I was the arrowhead of faith; believing that the just shall triumph…it was just a matter of time.
Hard work, selfless determination and practical ambition can and often push individuals to the brink of great success; but we all need a dose of grace (what self-made men call luck or chance). When all the brouhaha died down, and we were freed from incessant detentions; leaving the lawyers to battle it in the courts, we settled to our game. The real battle to survive began, Before now, we had been running on adrenalin gas on account o the spectacle and drama our lives had become.
We learnt few lessons in human psychology. Many people who had no idea what was going took sides, on either sides. I realize that, sometimes there was no honour amongst thieves. One publication carried a banner headline, Editors in the Docks, recounting the allegations against us; without the benefit of getting our side of the issue. Yet, the publisher was an egbon to us. Efforts by the paper to amend their unprofessional and incestuous antic were rebuffed in anger (now, I can say that was a foolish response on our part).
There was another incident of a relation of mine who appeared to get the full dose of the “true” story from somewhere, and let it be known that she was sure that I was in the guilty party; yet she did not consider it worthwhile to ask me how I got involved in such a mess. I was astounded and distressed at such barefaced betrayal. But it was lesson that in this unpredictable world, even members of your family can arise against you, when you are down, simple for no reasonable cause. When such happens, and it will happen, steel yourself; ignore the need to react and “tell them some home-truth”… it is useless! Simply pick yourself up, and use them as catalyst to excel after the fall. Just get up, and go up.
Between 1998 and 2000, all was going well in Encomium. We were able to offset our debys and other obligations. With steely determination and self-sacrifice, the business began to stabilize. We set up praying teams: my wife (Iretunde), Kunle’s wife (Desola) and I were directors, alongside our in-house pastor and factotum, Harrison Baiyagbon. We were praying and fasting, and doing all we could to get God’s backing. Kunle was a Muslim, so he was a conscientious objector but willing supporter of our religious warfare. Because we had a reason to bond, and an enemy to fight, it was advantageous to my spiritual growth. Usually, when you come into faith, after a less than inspiring lifestyle, you tend to appear over-religious, seeing most things through the prism of good or bad, evil or holy, God or Satan, friends or enemies – and often nothing in between. It is not in itself a bad thing; as such tendencies will be tempered by challenges and adversity over a period of time. You will either come of it with a fine and mature faith, assailing the world with compassion and understanding; or emerge a sullied and frightened bigot, with a self-limiting blinker in the hopeless pursuit of happiness.
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