Malefic

I once worked with a media outfit 
I didn't apply for the job 
I woke up one morning and saw a 
text message declaring that i had 
been scheduled for an interview 
with the management of the company 
I assumed my wife or someone who 
knew me personally must have 
dropped my name for the organization 
I went for the test 
I got my offer letter on November 13, 2013 
I celebrated the new job by taking my 
wife and my brother-in-law (Also a 
journalist at the time) to an eatery 
close to my house 
The days of earning 30,000 naira salary 
with another media outfit were over
The salary this new outfit offered was 
100,000 Naira 
It was a step in the right direction 
We were asked to resume immediately 
for training 
I met a lot of great guys who would be 
our presenters, cameramen, news 
anchors etc during the training 
After the first month, the MD said he
couldn't pay salaries because "He paid 
for our training and we all ate lunch 
during the training" (I kid you not) 
He gave us a quarter bag of rice and 
one liter of vegetable oil for Christmas 
We worked from sunrise till sundown 
I was good, so good that I was the 
producer in charge of the 3 hours 
news show from 7-10am, and the 10pm 
News 
I was also in charge of the social media 
and I was also training other producers 
(If you type my name on youtube, you 
will see the programmes i produced) 
December came and the MD said we 
must all get new account numbers
before he could pay salaries 
He insisted on a bank and then he 
changed his mind and brought another 
bank, by this time January was almost 
over 
The first salary was paid in February 
We all settled in, believing that the 
teething problem was over and we 
can now meet our needs at home 
With the payment of the first salary 
came this change of attitude from 
the MD 
He became abusive in words and in deed 
i remembered that we had a programmes 
conference where producers explained 
the concept of their programmes and 
how the set will be used 
This guy just kept bad-mouthing everybody 
His command of the English language was 
so poor and yet he keeps talking and 
yapping! 
It was from his mouth i first heard 
"Why do you rude?" Instead of "Why were 
you rude" Nobody could correct him 
He was the rich MD and everyone must 
worship him and do his bidding 
One day he called for a meeting and 
everybody had to be there even though 
it was slated for 7pm and those on the 
morning shift had gone home 
He asked that they all must be there 
Someone like me practically had no 
other life 
I was not allowed to be on the roster 
because I had to produce the morning 
belt and oversee the flagship news 
After February, he didn't pay in March 
and April 
He started talking about the huge wage 
bill and how the marketing department 
dropped the ball and how the company 
was not making money 
He was proposing a 50% salary cut 
A lady joined us at this time for the 
position of a news anchor 
I knew her before she joined the 
organization 
@CokerWemimo introduced her to me 
and said she is a very good hand 
My news show was supposed to start 
with newspaper review, the anchor that 
was supposed to do the review was 
not on ground 
It is either i improvised or the programme 
will fail 
I put this young lady on set 
She did a wonderful job 
I got summoned by the MD "Why did 
you put someone I had not ordered 
you to put on set on my set?" 
"She did a very good job sir" I replied 
He looked straight at me and said 
"You are thinking as if you are a 
management staff, you carry yourself 
like that and talk like that. 
You're just an ordinary staff and you 
have to know your place!" 
I said yes sir 
An hour later, i got a letter saying 
I have to face a disciplinary committee
By this time he had started the suspension 
without pay rule for every staff 
Once you made a mistake, you get 
suspended without pay but in my case, 
he decided a panel must sit and he 
will give the final verdict 
The other staff members started 
laughing at the ridiculousness of it all 
I faced the panel 
The panel members said "Your action 
was good but we do not encourage 
the use of initiative or discretion here! 
You should have called the MD before 
putting her on or let the show fail" 
I said ok. 
He couldn't suspend me because of 
all the things I do for the
organization, so his veridct was 
"two weeks working suspension 
without pay" 
I heard it from the ED indirectly and 
then from the Head of News 
I had not been given a letter 
I was aware like the other staff 
members that he was sleeping with 
the HR manager (A married woman 
and mother of three. Her last child 
at the time was eleven months old. 
She was brought to the organization 
by one of the MD's babes and she 
was also servicing the MD by the 
side.
I walked into her office and i said 
"If I get suspended, I will resign" 
She called him and told him I was not to
be suspended 
He quickly dropped the idea because of 
the nature of the job, i had even forgotten
 i was a Christian 
The first few days I would look for a 
corner and pray but when the workload 
got so staggering, i was overwhelmed 
I worked every day, including Sundays 
and I barely had time for my family 
I remember taking my family to Ibadan 
to see my younger sister when she 
delivered her first baby and returning 
to the office by 5 pm only to find the 
MD cursing and throwing tantrums 
over the programme produced by the 
guy who stood in for me because of 
some things the politician that was 
invited to feature on the show said (this 
was towards the Ekiti Election of that 
year) 
When he saw me he almost exploded 
"You will be running about like a headless 
chicken, strutting about aimlessly. 
Why were you not at work today? 
Who gave you an off day? 
You're this and that, Getoutofhere!
When I got home that day, I laid 
down on my bed and said aloud 
"God, I didn't ask for this job! 
You brought it to me. 
When I was earning 30K a month, 
i had more than enough and my 
family had me. 
Now I earn 100K and I had gotten 
paid for only one month out of six 
months! Why?" The Holy Spirit 
responded to my cry at 4:05 AM 
the next morning by saying 
"This job is not from me" 
I heard it clearly 
I cried all the way to the office 
Like Joshua did with the Gibeonites, 
I had fallen for an offer that I thought 
was good to be true but was not 
from God! 
I didn't even talk to the Holy Spirit 
about it 
The opportunity came at a time I felt I 
desperately needed a change of jobs 
and I assumed God made it happen. 
I began to consider all that I had suffered 
in that six months all in the name of 
having a job and developing a career 
in my field of study!
By the time I got to the office that day, 
my enthusiasm was gone 
I packed out my locker and cleared out 
my desk I did the morning shift and 
closed by 6 pm 
I would naturally wait until the 10 pm News 
and then its postmortem before driving 
home by midnight 
But not anymore! 
I got home by 7 pm 
My phone rang 
It was the MD 
He said "I was told you had gone home 
after the morning shift, don't bother 
coming back" 
I said "Okay sir" 
The Head of News called me a few 
minutes later MD is angry, you better 
return to work now 
I laughed 
I never returned there for anything!
A few days after i resigned, one of
the news anchors called me to find
out what why I stopped coming
I told her it was a total misadventure
on my part
I had gotten into a vehicle that was
not heading in my direction
She started to cry
She said she studied English but had
always been drawn towards make-up
and other fashion-related businesses
but she jumped in on the opportunity
to be a newsreader
She said the MD drove her to his house
the day before I resigned under the 
guise of getting his driver to drop her at 
the airport early because she was 
attending a media meeting in South Africa
She said the MD almost raped her
When she resisted, he threw her out
of his house with her luggage at 1 AM
She said she took Uber to the Airport and
slept there all night until her flight took
off at 5 AM
She said she didn't see me after returning
to Nigeria and decided to call me
After our conversation, she resigned too
He implemented the pay cut two weeks
after I resigned and many of my colleagues
took the cue to exit
I am happy i met some great people
during my time with the organization
I became lifelong friends with some of
them
The last time i saw the MD
He was driving himself, as was I
We were caught in a traffic side by
side on CMD road, Lagos
We were practically looking into each
other's eyes
I picked up my phone and started
replying some messages
He did the same
Eventually, we drove past each other
Like two strangers walking past each 
other in a busy market
I spent a month at home
Recovering from the emotional
and mental abuse I had subjected
myself to
It was tough and great at the same
time
I didn't know I had been hovering on
the brink of a total breakdown
I was shaken a bit but within a week
I was back to my Holy Ghost filled life
A friend suddenly called me out of
the blue a month after i resigned
He was working as a customer care
representative with one of the telecoms
company
The contract of the company he was
working for was not renewed
He lost his job
He called me for prayers
Suddenly i remembered a church where
I had my school of Disciples programme 
had a notice board on which job 
vacancies and other announcements 
were posted
I told him about it
We drove to the church together and saw
a vacancy for the job of a Personal Assistant
to the Pastor of the church
We both applied
A week later, the same post opened up
at his own church somewhere in Ogba
We both got the job
I became a PA to the pastor of the
church where I had my school of
Disciples programme and He became
PA to the Pastor of the church he was
attending
A year after I became PA to the Pastor
of the church, I began to volunteer as
the Social Media Manager for the 
church covering all their services
I also acted as a public relations person
that organized events involving the press
for the church
On the side, I ran two online newspapers
and was employed as the Social media 
manager for an international organization 
located on Victoria Island
In 2018 January, I was shown a flowing
river by the Holy Spirit
He said "That is your river"
I said Amen!
That was how PSSBC and GSWMI came
into being
The rest as they say is History

PS: From Oyebola Oluwaseyi @Teemercy15
on Twitter

Wow, I'm happy you left and  youu are 
able to find your feet. 
I had a similar experience while out of 
job in 2016. 
Got employed as a project supervisor, i 
had jettisoned a sales job for this.
The first 2 months was probation, no 
pay no stipend. 
I knew my drive, I was so sure contracts 
were gonna come. 
When the first contract came, he became 
abusive and irrational. 
We were building a school for the Osun 
State Government. (SDG). 
I was threatened. 
For close 2 five months, no pay
Just tips, 5k 7k. 
I almost got slapped, i only managed 
to dodge it. 
That was when i called it quit. 
I walked out and didnt come back. 
The secretary called me day after day. 
Seyi you need to come back. 
I was jobless but enjoying my freedom. 
Imagine catching cruise.
It's been 3 years now, he still stalks 
me on social media. 
I have moved on. 
Some things are not just meant for us, 
irrespective of our condition. 
Just like an abusive relationship, the 
signs are there
Just leave.

GSW's notes: 
We pass through many
turns on our way to His plan for us
When we go by our senses, we miss
the way and sometimes delay ourselves
The best thing to do at all times is
to yield to him
If he says this is not my plan, please
walk away
Nothing can substitute for walking the
preordained paths he has prepared
for us.