Benji

He took the brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt to his room 
He said with pride “Sir, I am planning 
to get married in a few months, 
I have just completed my ICAN and my
 girlfriend of so many years simply 
can’t wait anymore. We have been 
through a lot together, 
I want you to bless my “House”. 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt walked 
into the room 
There was a medium-sized mattress on 
the floor, an office sized fridge, a small 
television set with Startime decoder, 
a wall hanger on the wall which doubled 
as a shoe rack at the top, and a space for 
two travel bags by the door
“You want to marry your wife into this room?” 
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked him 
“Yes sir” my babe had come to see it 
yesterday, although we both saved and 
searched for it but after collecting my last 
salary I furnished it and I totally surprised 
her yesterday when she came around to 
see it. 
I really tried to make sure we will have 
everything we needed to be happy. 
God has been so good 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt looked at 
him and smiled. 
He said, Brother Benjamin, you shouldn’t 
marry into this one room, you are setting 
up a nest exactly the way your father did, 
if you don’t see a bigger picture of your life 
in your mind, you will always be small! 
Brother Benjamin’s countenance changed! 
He said “Sir, are you saying this place is not 
good enough? 
My parents have come to see it and they 
really praised me! 
Sir, I am telling you the truth 
My father said he started with less than 
this and look at him today I believe we have 
everything we need and we love each other 
Please just bless the house sir. 
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt could 
sense the animosity in Brother Benjamin’s 
voice! 
He smiled and blessed the room! 
Brother Benjamin returned to his happy go
lucky self and saw the brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt off. 
That was 2009 The brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt was a youth Pastor at the time and 
brother Benjamin was one of his members 
They were both about the same age
Brother Benjamin was a born again Christian, 
he had a 2’1 in economics and he was a 
chartered accountant. 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt has high 
hopes that Brother Benjamin would be the 
one to bring his family out of poverty! 
Brother Benjamin’s father was an accountant 
too
Brother Benjamin’s father lives in a one-room 
apartment with his wife and sixteen children 
The entire family minus three girls attend 
the church the brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
pastored! 
The three girls aged between 16 and 20 are 
all professional prostitutes! 
This was a known fact in the neighbourhood! 
The older daughters had gone through their 
prostitution stages and returned home to 
learn a trade. 
Brother Benjamin was the fourth child and 
the first son He had six younger brothers 
All the other children were female 
Of all the children, brother Benjamin was 
the most serious-minded! 
He was witty and very intelligent 
He was a mathematics prodigy and his 
potentials were limitless 
He was also very close to his father and 
responsible 
He worked at a printing press while he 
pursued his degree and ICAN 
He was a typical grass to grace testimony. 
But he couldn’t see beyond his father’s
 limitations 
His father had a great potential once but
 he squandered it 
His mother was married to his father from 
their village and all she knew how to do 
was turn fufu and deliver babies 
Brother Benjamin was inadvertently going 
to relive that same reality too
Immediately the brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt left Brother Benjamin’s house, he went 
straight to the football viewing center where 
he knew brother Benjamin’s father would be 
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt met him and 
called him aside. 
They had twenty minutes before the match
They talked The brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
wanted Benjamin’s father to stop his son from 
getting married until he got a better job and 
aspired for more in life! 
Brother Benji’s father told a long story of how 
he too would have been a pastor if he didn’t 
left the church for some time due to a 
disgreement between him and the pastor
and how he hated pastors meddling in 
people’s affairs
 He was very offended 
The following week, he left the church with 
his entire family 
Many people tried to reason with him 
He said he was returning to the church many 
people from his tribe attended in Lagos 
He didn’t like being offended or misunderstood! 
Two months later, brother Benji got married 
Time didn’t sleep 
In 2019, the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt went 
to visit a pastor at Shangisha area, as he was 
parking his car, he saw an Okada rider waiting 
to pick a passenger 
It was Brother Benji
They saw each other 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt has gotten 
married and moved on from that church 
They embraced 
Brother Benjamin looked at the Brother 
in Jeans and T-shirt and said “I wanted to 
be a pastor o, if I had become a pastor I
 would have hammered like you! 
Wow! 
You are a big boy now “SIR” 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt looked 
at him 
"You have ICAN and you had a job, why 
are you riding Okada?" 
Brother Benji became uncomfortable, he said 
"I have to face reality sir. 
I have seven children now and I kept 
looking for a better job to no avail!
I have to feed my family and pay the rent. 
Times are hard! 
Only Pastors and Doctors are making 
money now. 
I see your wife on TV! O’boy, your level has 
changed! 
I wish I didn’t leave church, I would have 
been a pastor now. 
I would have hammered like you! 
Wow! My brother, big boy"
They exchanged phone numbers and parted 
ways 
During the Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020, 
Brother Benji has an accident while hustling 
to feed his family 
His left leg was broken 
The family did all they could to raise the 
money for his treatment to no avail 
Brother Benjamin called the brother in 
Jeans and T-shirt 
The call was timely 
Help came for him 
When the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt got 
to the hospital, he met brother Benjamin’s
 pregnant wife and his parents 
His father was still lamenting while his wife 
was crying '
After the hospital bills had been settled
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt dropped 
Brother Benji’s wife at home 
It was the same “room” but it had become 
overcrowded with children and other time 
and life trophies 
From every indication, Brother Benji's life 
is turning out to be a poor replica of his 
father's life
It is worth some tears

Ps: Vision is key to success in life! 
Brother Benjamin had none 
All he saw was his father’s life and he 
proceeded to replicate it We need to see 
as God sees and be determined to mould 
our realities according to the heavenly 
vision! 
We can never become what we cannot 
see!