I[b][/b]t was a public holiday. You can understand why it was easy to get George’s attention. He said, "I was advised by a friend that Lagos would offer better job opportunities. I had to spend the last 2 years of the 6 in Lagos walking the streets in search of jobs. My shoes felt the brunt of this experience; they had chopped so much that they looked like sliced plantain. My psyche took some pummeling from the ravaging experience. I felt worthless like a man who no woman wants his hand in marriage. You know that kind of feeling when other drivers were allowed to drive the wrong way only for the road Marshall to flag you down the moment you drove through. That would feel as if the world was against you.”

George continued, “It got to a point that I became tired of Lagos and decided to travel to Onitsha to see my parents. I got to Onitsha on a Friday evening. While I was moving my luggage out of the taxi, I bumped into a friend and we got talking. He told me that one of the commercial banks in the city was having a test the next day. I was equally informed that the shortlisting of candidates had been concluded and advised not to bother about taking a chance. But on the morning of the test, I thought about my situation and realized that there was nothing to lose if I ended up showing up at the venue; something inside of me urged me to gatecrash the test and I did just that. The venue was filled by all categories of job seekers. I noticed that people were updating a register as they arrived. I was told that it was for shortlisted candidates but I went ahead and captured my name in the register. I knew I had to take my chances. ‘If I don't take my chances, someone else might’, I thought.”

He went on talking. "Candidates were called-in in batches. Batch after batch was invited into the hall but my name remained elusive. I was getting pensive as minutes turned to hours. At about 5pm, the coordinator came out with a list and announced that it was going to be the batch before the final one. My heartbeat raced like a Ferrari in a Grand Prix tour as the names were bellowed out- yet again my name was missing in the list. I became so worried when I appraised my situation- it dawned on me that I had one lifeline left. And that one lifeline is The final list. When it was time to announce those on the last list, my mind drifted away. Honestly, I started thinking about going home unfulfilled when I heard a friend sitting nearby screaming my name. This startled me. I realized that my name was the last on the list. We wrote the test with the hall heavily lit because it was already getting dark. The following week, a friend who went to look up the test result called to inform me that I made it- but this time, my name was sitting at number 4 on the list. I realized that day that there are times you have to trust your gut feelings"



REFLECTION

Our journey through a destined part could be slowed but it can never be denied. Georges’ was delayed but he got to the desired destination. George told me that he had always wanted a banking job(that was before reforms messed up the system for employees). He said he loved the suits and the air conditioned environment. Banking jobs had more security than the White House those days but the Nigerian banking reform of 2019 and the economic situation changed it all. The turning point for George was gatecrashing the job test. He said that it was one of those decisions that turned his life and made it stand on its feet once again.

We have to be brave and positive about our decisions. Even when the chances appear slim, we have to keep trying. You can never tell how it is going to end up. The decisions that hurt so much in life are not the ones that we took but failed- they are the ones that we never took. Looking back at the story, you will realize that having his name called was not within George’s control. But it happened because he acted on the part within his control; by showing up regardless of the doubts.


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