After submitting all of the bank's property in my possession, I got home that day, pulled off my tie and sank to my knees.
All the way home I kept thinking of a way to react to the news I had just received,.I would have thought it was all a dream if not for the very real copy of the letter of termination of appointment in my hand.
I honestly didn't know what to do. The scripture of what Job did after he had lost everything he owned came to my mind and I decided I would just do the same even though I did not feel like doing that.
I started by telling God I was grateful for the job and the opportunity I was given,.I thanked Him for keeping me, His strength through these tough times, prayed that He help me not to hold a grudge against Mrs Foxy or Mrs Pity and see me through the months ahead...I did not know when tears started flowing and my heart seemed to break. This experience was a very painful one ( I found out firsthand that it isn't easy to praise God in your pain).
After this, I was able to gain some control and soon fell asleep.
I woke up to the sound of a knock on my door, a few of my colleagues who had heard what happened came to empathize with me. I would like to say that some of these people were neither Christians or from my tribe a typical example was the Chief driver of the branch. I have kept in touch with him through the years because he kept calling and asking after my welfare all through my ordeal. A lot of people I considered friends, never called me again ( its funny but as i sit by my computer writing this piece, I just discovered one of them on linkedIn and sent him an invite).
After I lost my job, I stayed in Yola till the month ended. Sold the house hold furnishings I had, after my house rent had expired and traveled to Lagos where I started staying with my brothers and sister (I will spare you the details of my experience with my relations).I soon settled to my new life and after a while I started job hunting. Explaining the circumstances under which I lost my job during job interviews did not endear me to any new employers and it was a very difficult time.
I was advised by friends and family who meant well, to alter my resume and not mention Fidelity Bank at all. They suggested and even offered stories that could cover up for the one year plus that would be unaccounted for on my CV if I followed their advise. I thanked them for their concern but did not feel at liberty to do that, I had tried to get myself out of a mess by my own design in the past and see where it had got me. I decided to trust God and not alter anything on my resume. I resolved that if God could not help me secure a job without my compromising or lying then let me be without a job.
I spent almost four months in Lagos before i started attending any particular church. I connected again with a lady friend of mine whom I had proposed to in the past but we had been apart because some issues (by the way,I am happily married to her today).
We started our relationship from were we had left off, though she was in Abuja and I was in Lagos. After a while, I restated my intentions to marry her as soon as I found my feet again. She came to Lagos and stayed with a Pastor she had known for a long time. He was pastoring a church just close to where I lived with my brother, so I decided to attend. I enjoyed the service and decided to get committed there. I decided I was going to draw closer to God and build my relationship with God.
Within this period I learnt a lot lessons that I initially sent out to my friends by email. I was later advised to start a blog,so that all my write-ups would be in one location. This gave birth to this blog.
I also had to fight the temptation of falling into a pit of depression or discouragement.
I would like to end this piece with a scripture:
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us-
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 New Living translation version
to be continued....
