Banana Peel

Immediately he graduated from the university

He decided he wanted to specialize in sports journalism

He had always loved the way sports presenters do their thing and the kind of audience they command

Sport had always been his passion

He played football for his primary school team

He also played basketball and volleyball for his secondary school team

He played both football and volleyball during his undergraduate days

As an athlete he enjoyed several advantages while on campus

He never had to struggle for accommodation

The school authority also paid all the athletes’ allowances whenever they went for competitions

His was a pleasant university experience

He won many medals in sport and academically he was also a force to be reckoned with

The only weakness he had was with his fingers

He was very light fingered

He couldn’t help it

Once they went for a competition in Benin

His roommate, a chess player, got drunk to a state of stupor

He decided to teach the foolish boy a lesson

He stole all his money from his pocket

About twenty thousand naira

He was a disciplined sportsman and such a behavior ought to be severely punished

When his roommate recovered

He pretended he knew nothing about the missing money

Luckily for him, after stealing the money, he left his roommate in a pool of his own vomit and went to town

The person who came in after him and tried to help clean his roommate up was the one suspected of robbing the roommate

Everybody labelled the poor guy a thief

He kept himself far away from the whole affair

It wasn’t his first time

He had always been that way

Behind the innocent face and the over achiever’s façade lies a pilfering spirit

He was always careful not to get caught

It wasn’t as if he was a kleptomaniac

He wasn’t a compulsive thief

For him it was more of a sudden urge, a surge, an adrenalin rush

He would suddenly get the idea

“There is an advantage to be taken”

And h would take it

He wouldn’t let it slide

One time he went to the HOD’s office

He wanted to use the HOD’s secretary’s computer to type a document

He didn’t know how he saw the money in the secretary’s drawer

He didn’t even know how the money found its way to his pocket

Or how he was spending it

He never saw it as an issue

It was just being “guy”

Anybody would do the same in the dark

The funny thing was

He was never caught

He was so smart and sometimes lucky

That it was somebody else that would be fingered for his deeds

Or by the time the deed was discovered he would have become so far away from the scene of the crime that nobody would even suspect him

He was that good

Upon graduation he got a job with a television station as a sports journalist

It was exactly what he dreamt of

He learnt fast!

Within a year he became an on-air sports host

He was given his own sports show

WOW!

He did very well

Endorsements came

Opportunities came for him to travel all over the world

He was at the World cup

He was at the Olympics

His supervisors loved him

His colleagues envied him

He was a superstar

One of his supervisors recommended him for a trip abroad

He was fully sponsored by the organization

Upon his return to the organization after six months

He was offered a better contract

He was to be named the head of the sports desk

WOW!

December 2018

Two weeks after he returned to the company

The organization gave all the staff members some stuff for the Christmas break

A pack of noodles, a bottle of vegetable oil and a refill pack of milk

The Human Resources Department shared the gifts

A lady wasn’t around

Her friends collected her gift on her behalf

The following day

The refill pack of milk and the vegetable oil were missing

The ladies started asking around

Who took so and so out of Miss Such and Such’s pack

Nobody owned up

The security department was notified

The security department decided to check the CCTV camera

Staff members were informed

The security team went into the camera room

They played back the tape for the previous day

They saw a figure walk into the make-up room

Switch off the light and steal the refill pack of milk and a bottle of vegetable oil

They froze the picture

Printed it out

Passed it on to the Human resources department

Everybody was amazed

A guy earning close to 200,000 monthly!

WOW!

The stuff he stole was worth about 2,000

WOWZA!

He was invited into the Human Resources Manager’s office

The woman was too shocked to look him in the eyes

The woman gave him the image

“Please who is that?” the woman asked him

He started stammering

He had been caught red handed!

The woman gave him his sack letter

Staff members were notified

The superstar was a pilferer

He left the office with his head in a basket of shame

He didn’t deal with the impulse to steal

The impulse to steal dealt with him

Where would he start from?

What would he tell people?

How would he get references for other jobs?

What would become of him now?

Some Staff members conclude that “It is not ordinary eye”

Some others said “He must have been the one who stole other missing items in the office”

People shook their heads in shame

Some cried for him

To be undone by such a crazy weakness at the edge of promotion

PS: This event happened last week in Lagos, Nigeria

If you don’t deal with the monkey on your back

The monkey on your back will deal with you!

If you don’t deal with your negative impulses

They will expose you at the worst possible moment!

Anger, fury, rage, stealing, temper, lust

Deal with these monkey’s today

Self-discipline won’t do it

Only Jesus can do it!

Talk to Jesus now!

He is willing and listening to your heart

Say Lord Jesus, please take away this weakness….

Get rid of this banana peel now!