I’ve always been a man of principles a man whose conscience is clean. Unfortunately, my job put those principles to test and pricked my conscience everyday. I worked as an assistant to a public office holder in the Nigerian public sector. For me to tell this story, I would have to remain anonymous. When it comes to politics in Nigeria, a lot of compromise comes into play and this was what I was faced with. As an assistant, I was always called on to close the deals in my case dirty deals which I never did like. My boss siphoned a lot of money from the government and offered me money for my silence. I never wanted to be part of his practices but he always said it was part of politics. He kept on embezzling money from the government but I never said a word because I knew no one would believe me even if I opened up I might as well be arrested so I kept my mouth shut. Funds were not apportioned appropriately to the right locations. Each time my integrity was on the line and I stood my ground didn’t budge as difficult as the temptation was. My boss was getting impatient at this point.
It got to a point I had to voice out to somebody how I felt about the situation at work so I decided to talk to my wife. My wife didn’t take it well. Like my boss, she said ‘that’s what politics is all about’ I was surprised at her judgment. Back at the office, there was a lucrative contract handed to us by the government and it was worth lots of millions. The government had invested a lot of money for an infrastructure to be put in place and I was handed the job. This was a major deal I didn’t want to mess it up but my boss had other thoughts in mind. My boss told me to put the money in his secret account and tell the government the funds were missing. I was confused cause my job was on the line on both ends. If I didn’t fulfill the contract the government were going to sanction me at the same time I was answerable to my boss. It was a difficult decision for me to make but I made a decision nevertheless. I decided to go ahead with the contract cause I was tired of my boss’ mode of operation. My conscience couldn’t hold up any longer so I decided to do the right thing.
This angered my boss that I had refused his orders. I kept on doing my job until something shocking happened. One morning I got to the office and a list of retirement workers was brought forward and my name appeared surprisingly. My boss figured that was the easiest way to take me out of the picture without chaos so he included my name among the retirees. I was in my early 40’s then, obviously I wasn’t ready for retirement. But I found myself forced into retirement and out of my job as a public servant because I refused to go by the supposed political norms. I am a man of integrity and today I don’t have regrets. This is my story.
Wow I’m amazed we still have honest people in Nigerian government today. This man is now into private practices and he’s doing well. Well my thoughts are reserved for this one. I’m sure you guys have a lot to say about this story. What do you think? You think he did the wrong thing? Or perhaps he should have obeyed his boss? Share your thoughts right here. You’re welcome to Danny world let’s talk.
DANNY WORLD 