By Tony Okoroji
As you join me for breakfast this morning, let me say once more, that I am an unbelievably lucky guy. Every time people have counted me out, the Almighty has restored me. It has happened so many times, I have lost count. On social media, a guy once described me as a cat with nine lives. Believe me, this cat has lived more than nine lives!
I am humbled by the incredible energy the Almighty has given me. Whenever it appears like I am completely worn out, I look up to Him, and brand-new blood flows into my veins. For a guy who has failed to go to church as often as he should, I have had the grace of God beyond measure.
This gentleman has been fired with bazookas at close range. I have been suicide bombed! I have been left for dead. It just happens that whenever some people think they are going to my funeral, they meet me on the road laughing. Why are they always surprised? What is it that they do not understand? I drive on a full tank of faith.
Believe me when I tell you that I have repeatedly seen the treachery and betrayal of men and how they rationalize their duplicity and all the nonsense they 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. He is up to something. Nine times out of ten, your guy is fabricating a justification for treachery. Sooner or later, it will manifest.
It is then that the guy who used to eat and drink with you will tell everybody how horrible you really are and why he must perch somewhere else. It is all cock and bull! He has found a new chopping center and has decided to port.
The average human being is very selfish and is always out for where he thinks his bread is buttered. Do not be surprised that the person who has behaved like he would go to the grave with you is in fact praying that you should die quickly. Don’t be shocked when you find out that he has been eying your wife, your property or your position.
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 egusi soup. Have you noticed the game of musical chairs in our politics? In our politics, no friendship is real.
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, the red light in my system begins to flash! I very well know that I am a mortal being and no mortal being is perfect. The guy is setting me up for the kill.
Did your telephone once ring and it is a call from a person whose name is not quite clear to you? He is so nice on the phone. He asks you whether you have forgotten him. After all, the two of you met at one event. Once he believes he has your attention, he will tell you about the huge demand for a special stone in a remote village that only he knows. You are told that anyone who obtains a good quantity of this stone will be richer than Aliko Dangote. If you have not given up on him yet, he will whisper to you about a secret NNPC contract the profit of which will shock even Femi Otedola.
Our guy on the phone asks you to send him “just ten million Naira” so that he can add to what he has and quickly go and obtain the special stone, “the buyers of which are ready with cash”. He will assure you that within one week, you will get your ten million Naira back and the two of you will share the huge profit, “fifty- fifty”. You are further assured that immediately after, some of the new money you have both earned, will be deployed to ‘settle’ the big guys at the Ministry of Petroleum and the NNPC contract will be yours and so much money will flow. He assures you that soon, every bank manager will be looking for your telephone number!
Don’t be surprised that many fall for this kind of yarn. They will tell you that God has finally answered their prayers, instead of seeing that the devil wants to score a penalty goal against them.
I have written in Saturday Breakfast several times that I verily believe that the true worth of a man is not in what he takes but in what he gives.
I have dealt with many who have made money their god. They do not believe that a man can do anything without expecting something in return. They do not understand the concept of giving and of sacrifice.
I have met many who do not understand why I do not think like them. Some believe that I must be hiding something. Someone has asked me how I can write and publish an average of 1000 words in Saturday Breakfast, 52 times every year for 15 unbroken years, and without being paid by anybody. If you remember. I have written in Saturday Breakfast before that I dedicate about 80% of my time doing work for which I get little or no income, and 20% trying to make a living. There are many who believe that my philosophy is stupid. They believe that the fact that I own no house in Maitama or Banana Island is idiotic. Every day, they count me out. Each time, however, the Almighty brings me back in a new way.
I have repeatedly emphasized that I drive on a full tank of faith. I serve a living God. The work I do is to the glory of the Almighty. The power I use is not mine. I verily believe that God will not send me on an errand without providing the transport fare.
Have you made money your God? May I advise that you do not worship men or money. Worship the Almighty and take care of the needs of His children. Do not fret about how you will survive. You will.
Drive on a full tank of faith with your tires pumped with love and do not listen to anyone who tells you that your dreams are impossible. I assure you that if you drive on a full tank of faith, you will become a cat with more than nine lives!
