The day passed without event and my friend came through with the funds needed to tidy our books. No one else knew about what had transpired the day before and there was no way of finding out except Mrs. Foxy said anything about what happened. I believed that it was all behind me and that Mrs Foxy had my back,on that front, as she was the one that proposed the cover up in the first place.
There was no financial loss to the bank and the branch auditor would return in two days time. Our books were fine and there was absolutely no trace of what had occurred. I was much relieved to say the least but not for too long.
Within this period I had a nagging impression to pray against hidden agenda (that's the best way I can explain what I felt). I prayed for a couple of weeks and soon went on with my life.
About a month after, my reference letter had been received and my confirmation was being processed. I was so glad that finally it was all behind me and I was soon going to be paid.
I got a shocking mail!
It was a mail , a query rather, from my immediate supervisor asking me what part I played with regards to our books being out for one day. He also asked about issues of dry-posting (a term that spoke of asking for transfer of funds without making the money available immediately) in the branch. This mail was a rude shock to me and I was scared to my marrow. I called him to inquire as to why he sent me the mail but he did not say anything to me but to instruct me to answer the mail.
I dropped the phone more confused about what he knew, and immediately called Mrs. Foxy to know if she knew anything about the mail. she denied any knowledge of the mails or who might have informed him.
Anyway to cut the Long story short, I later found out that Mrs. Foxy and Mrs Pity were the brains behind all that. Mrs Foxy,with Mrs Pity collaborating her story, had told the Auditor, who had informed his boss and I was being investigated without knowing it or rather I was just the last to know about it.
I initially denied it, cause I was scared of admitting what I had done and I trusted that Mrs Foxy did not sell me out. I found out that she did actual sell me out, when I needed to work with her computer and by chance clicked on an email she sent to my supervisor. That email told me that she had told the auditor after he returned of what happened in his absence and that she felt it was her professional responsibility to do so. That she needed to 'blow the whistle' on me as she said in her mail. Her account was supported by Mrs. Pity. I couldn't finish reading the email as I saw that my coffin had longed been nailed shut and the query I received was not out of the blues but based on several mails that had gone on behind my back.
I wrote a mail to my boss detailing everything that had happened and ended by blaming everything on me cause I could not be the cause for which Mrs Foxy or Mrs Pity lost their jobs. My supervisor promised to help me but when I think about it now, I remember he never stood up for me when anything went bad during the normal course of business in the branch, he always left me to face any heat from the Head office. That should have told me, not to trust his statements.
I worked in the branch for a further 3 months in which they sent auditors to review our books to determine if I had stolen any money from the bank or any customer while being told to await a call from Lagos to face a disciplinary committee. I was redeployed to marketing and my supervisor assured me that I would not be sacked but sent to another branch.
This 3 months period was a difficult time and I lost a lot of weight within that time. I had to work every day with the very people who I felt betrayed me (well looking back, I wouldn't have done what they did, I think she should not have covered even for a day but I can't blame them). It was within this time, I learnt to let go the bitterness in my heart and forgive even when neither Mrs Foxy nor Mrs Pity asked for my forgiveness.
Finally my pride was gone and I had a lot of secret tears. Going to work was a huge burden and tested my endurance. I thought of resigning but no one would accept a resignation in the middle of an investigation. I endured it if only to clear my name that I had not stolen from the bank.
After all the investigations, It was determined that I had not taken any money from the bank but I was sacked for compelling my subordinates to go outside of the banks policy.
I had no inclination that I had been sacked a day after I was sacked. I just went to work one morning and was unable log on to my system. I informed the auditor of this development when he came and he checked his system and found my sack letter dated 13th October 2010. I dropped my identity card, my lapel pin and worked out of the branch with my head bowed on Thursday, 14th of October 2010.
My dream had turned into a nightmare....
Thursday 28 March 2013
Tuesday 26 March 2013
My Testimony Part 3- Easy Solutions-the Stumble and the Fall
I went about my duties at the branch and was happy with the new career choice I had made. For a six month period it seemed like everything was looking up for me.
I also decided that I would be the best I could be as a Christian, I made out time to pray more and study my bible more. I had very few friends in my new location and I could spend time at home on my own. Not only was my life better but I was shaping up in my Christian life.
As I drew closer to God, I was confronted with my pride and attitude of putting down my colleagues, I must confess I cant say exactly how I reacted but I thought I was making some corrections in that direction.
As I neared the conclusion of my probation period, upon which I was due to be confirmed as a permanent staff and was expecting a huge allowance with a promotion.
Almost everything was ready, I had received information that my school had written a reference letter confirming my results, my personal reference had responded. The only reference left was from my former employers and with this last reference I could be appraised and my appointment confirmed. I had gotten very good verbal appraisals from my immediate supervisors and was seemed on my way to receive a huge ''settlement''.
I contacted my former bank's HR and was informed that I would not be getting my reference letter until I paid back the amount given to me as upfront (You see banks give you a substantial portion of your annual salary in advance so that you would remain with the organization, you are required to pay back the unearned portion if you leave the bank and require their reference).
So here I was, saddled with a debt I needed to pay that was the only stumbling block to my promotion and allowance. I needed this issue settled immediately so I could move to a new level. So I took a loan from a 30 day period from a friend A to make up the money needed for the loan payment. This solution was easy but proved costly later on.
When the time came to pay back the loan, I didn't have it because the bank had calculated that I owed more than I had already paid and needed to pay more. I paid using my salary and had a promise from a friend B to give me the money needed to pay up the first loan collected. I was digging one hole to fill another hole.
On the strength of the above promise and in my impatience, I gave an instruction for money to be paid to my friend with the hope that I would have the money to pay back before the end of the day as promised.
As the day drew to a close, friend B said he could not pay in the money I needed and that it would be have to be the next day.
At that point I was now in trouble.
I had just given an instruction for money to be transferred without making the money available, my account was not funded to pay for what was transferred. This would stick out of the branch's books for at least one day if friend B is to be taken at his word and the amount was a sizable sum that could not easily be replaced.
I made every effort to see if I could pay back the money but failed. As the Teller who was Mrs Pity (remember her from the last blog) started asking for the money which she needed to tidy up for the day. I had to swallow my pride and in my desperation told Mrs Foxy the situation I had put myself in.
Mrs Foxy who was a custodian of the cash books suggested that she could cover for me for one day since the branch auditor was not around to inspect the books. To this I agreed and was much relieved, looking back now I know that was a very big mistake and a poor choice I made.
Here began my downfall.....
I also decided that I would be the best I could be as a Christian, I made out time to pray more and study my bible more. I had very few friends in my new location and I could spend time at home on my own. Not only was my life better but I was shaping up in my Christian life.
As I drew closer to God, I was confronted with my pride and attitude of putting down my colleagues, I must confess I cant say exactly how I reacted but I thought I was making some corrections in that direction.
As I neared the conclusion of my probation period, upon which I was due to be confirmed as a permanent staff and was expecting a huge allowance with a promotion.
Almost everything was ready, I had received information that my school had written a reference letter confirming my results, my personal reference had responded. The only reference left was from my former employers and with this last reference I could be appraised and my appointment confirmed. I had gotten very good verbal appraisals from my immediate supervisors and was seemed on my way to receive a huge ''settlement''.
I contacted my former bank's HR and was informed that I would not be getting my reference letter until I paid back the amount given to me as upfront (You see banks give you a substantial portion of your annual salary in advance so that you would remain with the organization, you are required to pay back the unearned portion if you leave the bank and require their reference).
So here I was, saddled with a debt I needed to pay that was the only stumbling block to my promotion and allowance. I needed this issue settled immediately so I could move to a new level. So I took a loan from a 30 day period from a friend A to make up the money needed for the loan payment. This solution was easy but proved costly later on.
When the time came to pay back the loan, I didn't have it because the bank had calculated that I owed more than I had already paid and needed to pay more. I paid using my salary and had a promise from a friend B to give me the money needed to pay up the first loan collected. I was digging one hole to fill another hole.
On the strength of the above promise and in my impatience, I gave an instruction for money to be paid to my friend with the hope that I would have the money to pay back before the end of the day as promised.
As the day drew to a close, friend B said he could not pay in the money I needed and that it would be have to be the next day.
At that point I was now in trouble.
I had just given an instruction for money to be transferred without making the money available, my account was not funded to pay for what was transferred. This would stick out of the branch's books for at least one day if friend B is to be taken at his word and the amount was a sizable sum that could not easily be replaced.
I made every effort to see if I could pay back the money but failed. As the Teller who was Mrs Pity (remember her from the last blog) started asking for the money which she needed to tidy up for the day. I had to swallow my pride and in my desperation told Mrs Foxy the situation I had put myself in.
Mrs Foxy who was a custodian of the cash books suggested that she could cover for me for one day since the branch auditor was not around to inspect the books. To this I agreed and was much relieved, looking back now I know that was a very big mistake and a poor choice I made.
Here began my downfall.....
Monday 25 March 2013
My Testimony Part 2- Introducing the Acts
As I went about my duties, proud of my place and influence in the branch, I would like to introduce two individuals who had a huge part to play in my life. I would also give a few snapshots of the good I did for them this would in a small way help you to understand the emotions I later felt for their betrayal.
Lets start with Mrs. Foxy (Not her real name), she was newly married and as at the time I took over at the branch she was on vacation. She visited the branch a couple of times when I was still being briefed as to my duties at the branch. She was a Funds transfer officer and was accused of a few of knowledge gap issues and mistakes at the Funds transfer desk (though I didn't believe any of that at first). She was the next most experienced staff in terms of years spent in banking and was a candidate to replace the Cash officer(who deputized for the Head of Operations) who would shortly be transferred to Kano .
However because she was on vacation, I choose to recommend the staff (a guy) that had in my opinion the best experience for the job and when she resumed I moved her into the position since she had the most experience. This upset my relationship with the guy as he felt had been demoted after being given the power he had enjoyed. i explained my decision to him and tried to get him to concentrate on his job giving him less work to see if his attitude would improve. I was later left with no choice than to recommend that he be transferred as a Cash Officer to another branch. This seemed to solve the problem and Mrs. Foxy had no contender for her position.
Mrs Foxy was passionate, to some extent I would say emotional, dedicated to her job and seemed to enjoy her new position but when she resumed she made so many mistakes that I began to doubt her credentials of having previous bank operations experience. For instance imagine paying an unsigned cheque by a customer? The customer filled every information but did not sign the cheque. This cheque was received by a teller who did not notice that the signature, which was the authorization to pay, was not there and verified an imaginary signature (I kid you not). This teller then sent this to Mrs Foxy who was to give a second and final level authorization for payment while spotting any thing that was missed by the teller. She gave her approval and the cheque was paid. This was spotted upon review the next day and we had to seek out the customer and ask that he sign.
Next she paid a cheque of N250,000 to a third party (not the owner of the account) for an account that had only N10,000 as its balance.
These were some of the mistakes she made that kept recurring even after several talks, training, threats of escalation of these mistakes (not following through with these threats though hoping it would soon end) and covering for her mistakes sometimes putting my neck on the chopping board for her. I think that is enough about Mrs Foxy.
The next act, I will call Mrs Pity. hers was a peculiar case. She was offered employment by my new bank but did not resume because she had recently given birth. she also failed to inform her interviewers that she was pregnant and did not apply to defer the offer of employment extended to her. So when she came to resume at the branch, having resigned her former job at a bank, there was no information from Human resources about her. i wrote to the HR representative and he informed me that the bank assumed that since she did not resume at the date specified on her offer letter that the offer had expired and she needed a re-validation of the offer if a space was open for her in the branch.
So there she was at the branch, having left the job she had before, rejected at the new job she was going to for a mistake on her part, with a new baby to take care of and a husband,who I thought, may not have been doing so well financially.
I spoke with the former head of operations about her case but he didn't seem bothered saying to send her home as advised by Human Resources Department as it was her fault for not resuming when she should have. I did send her home because I had no document of employment to keep her at the branch, i wrote an extensive mail to my superiors explaining her situation and appealing for their recommendation as the branch still had space available to take her in.
I felt pity for her and took up her case so passionately that at a time my regional manager accused me of sleeping with her hence my interest in her case.
Well after all said and done, I was able to convince them to re-validate her offer letter and she resumed at the branch one day before an embargo on employment was placed by the MD of the bank!
I never knew the huge part these two women would play in my fall from grace.......
Lets start with Mrs. Foxy (Not her real name), she was newly married and as at the time I took over at the branch she was on vacation. She visited the branch a couple of times when I was still being briefed as to my duties at the branch. She was a Funds transfer officer and was accused of a few of knowledge gap issues and mistakes at the Funds transfer desk (though I didn't believe any of that at first). She was the next most experienced staff in terms of years spent in banking and was a candidate to replace the Cash officer(who deputized for the Head of Operations) who would shortly be transferred to Kano .
However because she was on vacation, I choose to recommend the staff (a guy) that had in my opinion the best experience for the job and when she resumed I moved her into the position since she had the most experience. This upset my relationship with the guy as he felt had been demoted after being given the power he had enjoyed. i explained my decision to him and tried to get him to concentrate on his job giving him less work to see if his attitude would improve. I was later left with no choice than to recommend that he be transferred as a Cash Officer to another branch. This seemed to solve the problem and Mrs. Foxy had no contender for her position.
Mrs Foxy was passionate, to some extent I would say emotional, dedicated to her job and seemed to enjoy her new position but when she resumed she made so many mistakes that I began to doubt her credentials of having previous bank operations experience. For instance imagine paying an unsigned cheque by a customer? The customer filled every information but did not sign the cheque. This cheque was received by a teller who did not notice that the signature, which was the authorization to pay, was not there and verified an imaginary signature (I kid you not). This teller then sent this to Mrs Foxy who was to give a second and final level authorization for payment while spotting any thing that was missed by the teller. She gave her approval and the cheque was paid. This was spotted upon review the next day and we had to seek out the customer and ask that he sign.
Next she paid a cheque of N250,000 to a third party (not the owner of the account) for an account that had only N10,000 as its balance.
These were some of the mistakes she made that kept recurring even after several talks, training, threats of escalation of these mistakes (not following through with these threats though hoping it would soon end) and covering for her mistakes sometimes putting my neck on the chopping board for her. I think that is enough about Mrs Foxy.
The next act, I will call Mrs Pity. hers was a peculiar case. She was offered employment by my new bank but did not resume because she had recently given birth. she also failed to inform her interviewers that she was pregnant and did not apply to defer the offer of employment extended to her. So when she came to resume at the branch, having resigned her former job at a bank, there was no information from Human resources about her. i wrote to the HR representative and he informed me that the bank assumed that since she did not resume at the date specified on her offer letter that the offer had expired and she needed a re-validation of the offer if a space was open for her in the branch.
So there she was at the branch, having left the job she had before, rejected at the new job she was going to for a mistake on her part, with a new baby to take care of and a husband,who I thought, may not have been doing so well financially.
I spoke with the former head of operations about her case but he didn't seem bothered saying to send her home as advised by Human Resources Department as it was her fault for not resuming when she should have. I did send her home because I had no document of employment to keep her at the branch, i wrote an extensive mail to my superiors explaining her situation and appealing for their recommendation as the branch still had space available to take her in.
I felt pity for her and took up her case so passionately that at a time my regional manager accused me of sleeping with her hence my interest in her case.
Well after all said and done, I was able to convince them to re-validate her offer letter and she resumed at the branch one day before an embargo on employment was placed by the MD of the bank!
I never knew the huge part these two women would play in my fall from grace.......
Thursday 21 March 2013
My Testimony part 1- A Proud Beginning
Friends in these posts I have shared with you messages that affected my life in a great way.
Some I still struggle to have them formed in my life but in the coming days i hope to share with you the journey,I believe, that started this all. I hope to tell it as a story and capture as much details as possible.
I hope that this testimony series would help you believe that God remains faithful even through our storms and trials.
Our story ends only when we appear in eternity bearing his nature.
So keep changing!
Here Goes My Story.....
I had just made a career move that seemed to have all the makings of a great future ahead.
I resigned my position as a Relationship manager in a bank, with all the attendant stress of meeting targets, marketing etc and had got a job as an Operations Manager with another bank. While I know that some people love the challenge that the marketing job poses, I seemed to have run out of zeal for it; considering the constant threat that hung over our heads as we did our job. It was an unending circle of which the finish line always was extended beyond our reach it seemed. You meet one target only to have new ones assigned.
Anyway the Operations job suited me better, I even did not mind the fact it was in the Northern part of Nigeria, where there was the likelihood of religious crisis springing up and all.
So Having completed my training, I was sent to Head Operations of a Branch of my new Bank in Yola, Adamawa State(North-Eastern Part of Nigeria). This was a great opportunity and the pay package was better, Also upon confirmation of my appointment, i was to be promoted and paid a huge bonus. I had a car given me by the bank and I was in charge of all the operations in the branch. Just below the Branch Manager in the scheme of things. I had staff reporting to me and my work was quite interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. At last I had a Job I truly enjoyed and I was being paid well for doing it.
At my new Job, I was in charge of managing people and in some ways I felt I was good at my job and was soon proud about it. I have a skill for providing solutions when I noticed problems, worked well under pressure, learnt new things and taught my subordinates. To all i seemed invincible and I knew i was good at what I did.
My Archilles heel however was My pride!
May I interrupt this narrative to offer an advice.
Pride I have discovered or learnt by experience, can bring down a man from any height he may have attended in Life. Do not have an inappropriate opinion about yourself or your abilities. I don't advocate you have a low self esteem but I ask that you will be humble enough to acknowledge that God brought you to where you are in life and treat others with the respect they deserve. Be thankful to God for everything and don't snub others because of your position, power or possession in this life.
Going on. I had made it, I thought. I was in a position that I could exert influence and I soon lost my perspective on things, I was impatient with others when they didn't seem to understand or carry out my instructions, I was a perfectionist and a taskmaster of the worst kind. I soon became arrogant and constantly put down my colleagues when i pointed out their mistakes.
I seemed to have forgotten what it meant to be in their shoes
To be continued.......
Some I still struggle to have them formed in my life but in the coming days i hope to share with you the journey,I believe, that started this all. I hope to tell it as a story and capture as much details as possible.
I hope that this testimony series would help you believe that God remains faithful even through our storms and trials.
Our story ends only when we appear in eternity bearing his nature.
So keep changing!
Here Goes My Story.....
I had just made a career move that seemed to have all the makings of a great future ahead.
I resigned my position as a Relationship manager in a bank, with all the attendant stress of meeting targets, marketing etc and had got a job as an Operations Manager with another bank. While I know that some people love the challenge that the marketing job poses, I seemed to have run out of zeal for it; considering the constant threat that hung over our heads as we did our job. It was an unending circle of which the finish line always was extended beyond our reach it seemed. You meet one target only to have new ones assigned.
Anyway the Operations job suited me better, I even did not mind the fact it was in the Northern part of Nigeria, where there was the likelihood of religious crisis springing up and all.
So Having completed my training, I was sent to Head Operations of a Branch of my new Bank in Yola, Adamawa State(North-Eastern Part of Nigeria). This was a great opportunity and the pay package was better, Also upon confirmation of my appointment, i was to be promoted and paid a huge bonus. I had a car given me by the bank and I was in charge of all the operations in the branch. Just below the Branch Manager in the scheme of things. I had staff reporting to me and my work was quite interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. At last I had a Job I truly enjoyed and I was being paid well for doing it.
At my new Job, I was in charge of managing people and in some ways I felt I was good at my job and was soon proud about it. I have a skill for providing solutions when I noticed problems, worked well under pressure, learnt new things and taught my subordinates. To all i seemed invincible and I knew i was good at what I did.
My Archilles heel however was My pride!
May I interrupt this narrative to offer an advice.
Pride I have discovered or learnt by experience, can bring down a man from any height he may have attended in Life. Do not have an inappropriate opinion about yourself or your abilities. I don't advocate you have a low self esteem but I ask that you will be humble enough to acknowledge that God brought you to where you are in life and treat others with the respect they deserve. Be thankful to God for everything and don't snub others because of your position, power or possession in this life.
Going on. I had made it, I thought. I was in a position that I could exert influence and I soon lost my perspective on things, I was impatient with others when they didn't seem to understand or carry out my instructions, I was a perfectionist and a taskmaster of the worst kind. I soon became arrogant and constantly put down my colleagues when i pointed out their mistakes.
I seemed to have forgotten what it meant to be in their shoes
To be continued.......
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