MY 2017
I read Ire Aderinokun’s My 2016 Year in Review on Medium in the first week of January 2017 at the office, in the restroom. I was so impressed with her achievements in the year. I was even jealous and challenged to make the best of my 2017. I resolved at that point that I would create a Medium account too and write about my 2017-hoping I would have a remarkable year.
Today is December 1, 2017 and I just created my Medium account. I have had a remarkable year so-far. I have had some moments that gave me assurances that I am being looked out for by forces greater than me. I have seen that God is looking out for me. I will tell the highlights of the year in the paragraphs that follow. The major point in all of it is that I did not exactly plan, or set-out to achieve what I got, apart from probably taking the first steps and doing my own bits. God simply made things happen. Even when I wanted to be hasty, he thwarted my awkward plans to achieve his.
I had applied for Masters Admission at the University of Lagos in 2016. I bought the application form for N22, 500 and two sets of Past Questions for N6,000. I was earning N40,000 monthly as a Direct Sales Agent (DSA) at the time and I was not really saving any money. My average daily expense was N800 (N600 for transport, N200 for lunch). When you do the Maths, I was spending N17,600 on transport and lunch only monthly. When you add other necessary expenses- recharge cards, personal needs etc. there was nothing left. The only way to get anything was to get it when the money was just paid or you borrow and pay back on the 24th.
So I applied for the admission, mainly so that when anyone asked me what I had achieved with my 40K salary, I’d mention that I applied for Masters, at the same time, I did not tell anyone about the Masters yet. This was an insurance against disappointment. The fewer people are aware about an attempt, the easier it is to manage the failure. So I kept it to myself and continued working.
I wrote the exam and forgot about it. January 6th, 2017, I was talking with my older nephew who also applied. He checked my result and I found that I had been recommended for admission. My name was first on the admission list by alphabet and fourth by performance. I received this news too with mixed feelings. I did not have N1 saved anywhere. And the mandatory fee was N136,500 for tuition and acceptance which was closing that month. The results had been out since November and the admission list, since December.
I told all my brothers, they were happy for me. But no one was expecting to be burdened with M.Sc. school fees. My immediate older brother Lekan, whom I live with, asked me how much I had. I said N50,000. (I needed to say something to encourage him and to also appear serious). Luckily, I had been proposing the idea of e-Susu to my 4 colleagues in the first week as way of saving in the New Year. We were contemplating doing esusu on the Diamond Bank app with N10,000 monthly which enables each person to receive N50,000 in turns. I opened an account with N1000 and encouraged those who didn’t have Diamond Bank account to do so.
I went back to my colleagues (Kingsley, Charles, Obichukwu, and Ola) with the news and told them my situation. They concluded that we should do the esusu even without the DBN app and that the first N50,000 should be given to me while lot was cast to determine other turns. I got the N50k and my brother transferred N86,500 to me. So I paid the mandatory fees.
All well-wishers had warned me not to quit my job as I would need the money to meet exigencies and normal cash requirements. More importantly, I had technically taken a loan of N40k from my friends which I needed to pay back N10k monthly till May. I would also need money for textbooks etc. How was I going to keep my DSA job and study for M.Sc. full time?
I spoke to my boss- Oga Yomi, who was a good boss and a friend. He said it was not possible and he tried to make me understand. I agreed. I wrote my resignation letter, dated it January 25th and time-stamped it with a month notice. But I needed inform my boss’ direct boss of my decision before he could accept the letter. So I mustered sufficient courage to speak to the Divisional Head. I explained to him that I had just been given admission and that I would have to resign. He asked which school and course, I told him. So he replied that I should not resign. He told me to try and see if I could manage the two roles together. I replied that I had seen the time-table for lectures and that I believed I could if only he and my immediate boss would permit me. He said “I would permit.” He told me his own story of how he juggled an MBA at University of Nigeria Enugu Campus with a Job in Lagos, and the need to keep the job we have however little the pay, till something better comes along.
That was how I did not resign. I began to do a complex route of Ipaja-Ikeja-Akoka-IKeja-Ipaja at least three times weekly. My transport fare alone on those days was N1,220 while my salary was now N30,000 after deducting N10,000 for loan repayment. I was always broke. Oga Yomi was usually there to bail me out either through soft loan or outright gift. One day I wrote out how much I needed for transport fare and feeding (mostly ewa agoin and bread, or anything that can fill my tummy under N200.) till the next pay day and came up with N24,000. I told Oga Yomi and he gave me N20,000, as a gift.
On 24th of February, 2017, which would have been my last day at work, if I had turned in my resignation letter, I received good news. I was going to be converted to a full staff! This is the back-story. In November 2016, the bank introduced a special deposit mobilization scheme with incentive. Part of it was that a DSA who meets 200% of their deposit target (that is those who grow their balance sheet by an average of N20M) would be converted to full staff. So, on the 24th of February, they sent out the names of everyone who qualified for the incentives. And my name was 72nd on the list of about 94 persons. Forty contract staff qualified for the incentive. Only 13 were converted to full staff, the rest were given consolation rewards. A quick lesson here is the need to be ready to take opportunities. The requirements for conversion was meeting the deposit target and also meeting the bank’s entry level requirements, which was having a B.sc. with at least second class lower; and not being older than 30.
Thus began another phase of struggle. It was a pretty tense period. A lot of things happened. I do not know how I got the faith to pull through that period. The things that happened at that time were mostly felt and experienced. They were abstract, at the same time palpable. Friends became fewer.
The cacophony of talks about me was deafening. There was a particular person who believed that the incentive was not due to me. That it was her effort. That it should have been her getting converted. In her defense, she deserved to be shortlisted for reward. She got the required deposit and more importantly she had been on the job for many years. She had missed two chances of being converted through examinations and that was like her best and last shot. But, like I always said at the time whenever people checked on me to know my fear-level, I DID NOT PUT MY NAME ON THE LIST, GOD DID!
Here is more information to understand the period. I had only been a contract staff for less than a year (April 2016 – February 2017); there were veterans who had been there for more than 10years. There were more than 20 DSAs in the division at the time and twice that number when you count the contract staff in operations. The Divisional Head was telling the BMs to let go of all DSAs who had spent more than 10 years in the bank saying they had gotten lazy, complacent, and unambitious, and could no longer be motivated. The BMs did. They openly embarrassed their people and heightened envy for me. I don’t know how many things went on behind. I heard a lot. Someone, I believe after they had done so much analysis of my situation, asked me who was praying for me. She asked which church I attended, I answered. She said if it is your mother, or whoever is praying for you, continue to appreciate the person.
More. The list came out on February 24th. I took aptitude test on March 1st and interview on March 2nd. And then nothing. Now news. March ended. April ended. About 60 days of no news. Speculations were wild. Theories and opinions were everywhere. People asked me how far, I told them no news. The closer ones who came with appearance of being concerned and probed my head, I simply told them that it was actually to my benefit that they were delaying it. I told them I feared that the training we might have to go for at the beginning might affect my Masters exam. And when they asked me if I didn’t fear my name might be removed, I simply said I WAS NOT THE ONE THAT PUT MY NAME ON THE LIST. Songs such as Intentional, He Made a Way, Mighty God by Travis Greene and my friend Ola-who also introduced me to the songs- helped me through this period.
Tuesday, May 2nd, I went for medical examination. Wednesday, I received a call from my HRPB that I should see the doctor again. Thursday, I went to see the doctor with Ola, who had become genuinely closer to me throughout the trying times. I was really scared and I told Ola. I saw the doctor. He explained to me that the test revealed I had an infection and they needed to do further evaluation which I had to pay for. The bill was about N100K. All I had at this time was debts. I went back to HR and asked if their decision depended on my taking the further evaluation. The person I spoke with was bound by the need to ensure I take the test for my own good and the need to also tell the truth. She settled somewhere in-between. I had gleaned from the doctor that people had been employed with similar condition. I later found that the doctors’ opinion on my health was satisfactory. I was nonetheless very shook at this period. It took a lot of faith and Ola’s support to keep it together.
Friday, May 19th, I went to pick my offer of employment letter which was dated May 15th with resumption date of June 1st, 2017. Thus ended all the speculations. We had a 2-day induction training on 5th & 6th June which almost clashed with my first semester exam but was managed. On 7th of June, I returned to the office with a new ID card as a full staff.
Thus again began new hustles. New rivalry. Subtle hostilities. I forgot to mention that Oga Yomi was sacked in April. April 10th. Ifeanyi became the acting BM. He has his own style. A different style. He gave me pep talks on the need to re-motivate myself. He sat me down with Kingsley and told me Kingsley was almost catching up with me. I was told he vowed to put the heat on me etc. Ifeanyi is a brilliant and intelligent guy, would be very good in a team, because he has a good heart and can take many bullets for the team. But care should still be taken around him. He boasts that he is the Devil, maybe because of his cunning. I have gained some technical knowledge through him cos he sabi. But I have been pressured to the point where I begin to doubt my own efficiency. This is not Ifeanyi’s fault purely. The atmosphere has equally changed in the bank and there is pressure everywhere.
At one point I was having abdominal pain and was always thinking I might die. I actually feared that I might die. I was partly scared. I did not want to die. I did not want people to have the last laugh. I knew I was going to be mocked, not mourned. This really bothered me. Plus I did not have any money. I wanted to leave money behind. I wanted to have money in my account and tell my brother my password. I shared all my fears with Ola. He was just laughing at the ridiculousness of my thoughts. But it was real to me. After about two months of thinking that I was going to die, I found that it was ulcer. I took Mistmag and began eating early.
Before I received my first salary, my budgeted expenditures for obligations and commitment was so high that it took me three months before I could start saving anything for myself.
My niece, Amazing Niniola was born on the 10th of September. I bought my first new Laptop on 23rd of September. Both events were big deal for me. I was really happy.
November 9th, new management yanked off all the DSAs that came in about the same time as me. I would have suddenly been out of job that day. It would not have been a big deal though. It was not a job worth keeping for long anyways.
23rd November, 2017, I finished my Masters examination. I still have to write my project but no more coursework, no lectures no exams.
My take-away from this year is that God is looking out for me. I have not been grateful enough. I have even committed sins. But he has been more faithful. Also, I found that there are two pictures. The Big Picture depicting my entire life and all I am going to be. The small pictures having my immediate situations. I sometimes may not see the link, but God is directing my steps to fit the small pictures into the big one. It’s a fantastic collage. The story is being written. 2017 has been a good piece of it.
I am very grateful. I feel confident to face 2018, cos I know God’s got me. I want to see the world in 2018. My passport, be ready for Entry and Exit stamps.