Rebirth 3

“Your earned gift is a job in my company, Regale Insurance Plc.”

Fadeke’s eyes widened upon hearing that and repeatedly said “Thank you sir; Thank you so much sir”, joined by her mother; until Mr Smith said to her, “You earned it.”

“Immediately I saw you step out to the podium to give your valedictory speech, I had the strong impression that it would be a beautiful thing to have you join our team at Regale. And the appointment takes effect immediately. If you don’t mind, we can request that you are posted to Lagos State so that you can work at the company during your National Youth Service Corp programme”

“Wow! It has been my dream to work in insurance. I have secretly eyed Regale Insurance and wished I could work there but then I kept wondering how I could ever get such rare opportunity, considering the state of corruption in the country and how you have to know people that really matter and who have really long legs before you can get into certain important government parastatals or companies like Regale. This is totally a dream come true, sir.”

“Just look at how God connected me to the right person at the right place who was at the right place to favour me,” she said facing her mother who in turn drew her close to herself; welcoming her into a very warm hug and said to her, “You have made me proud indeed.”

Mrs Olanrewaju then turned her eyes upward and said, “Indeed you are faithful; Husband of the widow and Father of the fatherless.”

All this continued while some of Fadeke’s friends and passers-by who recognized her as the recipient of the best graduating student’s award congratulated her and some people requested to have her take pictures with them.

“You must hold a very important position at the company for you to have offered me a job with a tone of certainty”, Fadeke said to Mr Smith as though she had a sudden feel of doubt about the possibility of truly getting the job.

Smiling, Mr Smith said, “You See, mine is a story of grace. God can indeed lift you up from the dunghill and set you up as a king.” Fadeke and her mum nodded in agreement.

“God was really gracious to me and that is reason I decided that I would be a voice for the voiceless and be a hand to lift as many people as I can; especially hardworkers who only need resources or an open door to boomerang into their full potentials. I graduated top of my class from University of Ife and got employed by a leading bank almost immediately after graduation because someone did exactly what I am doing for you today for me too. I had attended an interview at the bank but I was not given the appointment because a member of the panel wanted his nephew given instead, even though he was not qualified for the position.”

“I had given up hope on that opportunity as it was not my first interview that yielded to fruit. But as God would have it, a higher authority on the p requested for the papers of all the applicants even after the panel had given their recommendations. He

“Though I had always dreamt about being my own boss, that seemed like a dream farfetched because my father was not a rich man neither did I have any rich relatives. We stayed in a single room self-contained apartment with my uncle until I got a job and I rented my own apartment and my father moved in with me. Then God brought my destiny helper my way; my angel. He blessed me with a supportive wife. I didn’t think that I stood any chance with her because of the wide disparity in our social classes but she agreed to marry me. She trusted me with a huge portion of her inheritance after we got married and that was the seed with which Regale Insurance was sown. Of course the rest is history. Today, I am the Chairman of the board of directors of the small company that was established some years back with a leap of faith”

“Wow! So you founded Regale? That is amazing sir”, Fadeke said.

At that point, Mr Smith’s phone rang and he excused himself in order to answer the phone. “That was my driver,” he said. “He called to find out where I was. As a matter of fact, we should leave any moment from now because I have an appointment later this evening and you know how Lagos traffic can be.”

You are a strong woman, Mrs Olanrewaju, he blotted out. You are obviously a very beautiful woman with very strong arms. It really must have been a huge task for you to have been able raise an amazing young lady like Fadeke. Thank you for standing in for my friend so well. It is evident you have done a great job raising her.”

“I know you must be eager to find out what the second gift is going to be. I am sponsoring your Masters degree program in any University outside the shores of Nigeria. I will ask my P. A to contact the company that organized my son’s admission and travel. And if you have a particular institution of interest, you can let me know as soon as you can.”

Both women’s mouths flew open. Fadeke fell to her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks and then managed to get the “Thank you sir”, out in a shaky voice. Mrs Olanrewaju showered endless prayers in Mr Smith alongside multiple ‘thank yous’.

“Please, stand up,” he said to Fadeke. It’s your day of joy and it wouldn’t be nice to have your eyes swollen in your photographs”, he continued as he helped her to her feet.

He raised his hand up to beckon on someone who walked briskly towards them. Fadeke and her mum never noticed there was someone waiting for him somewhere around. “Frank is my Personal Assistant”, he said as the young man arrived where they stood.

“Give me my card holder”, he said to the guy who handed him a fancy card holder. “Here’s my card”, he said as he handed Fadeke a business card. “In the meantime, let me have your number”, he said to Fadeke. Frank quickly brought out an iPad but Mr Smith asked him not to bother.

“This goes into my personal phone. She is my daughter and I will call her with my direct line so that she can save that too”.

Fadeke called out her number and I’m a matter of seconds, Fadeke’s phone rang. “I got it sir”, she said.

“Thank you so much Sir,” Fadeke and her mum chorused.

“God be praised!” Mr Smith replied. “I’ll be on my way now.

I have a request to make before you leave sir” Fadeke said.

Go on”, he replied.

©OMOSEBI Mary Omolola, PhD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P. S. WATCH OUT FOR THE NEXT PART OF THIS STORY 

P. P. S. SCROLL DOWN TO SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG SO THAT YOU CAN GET EVERY NEW POST DIRECTLY IN YOUR EMAIL. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE PREVIOUS PART OF THE STORY