Professor

Poverty has a way of altering one's
path in life, it does this subtly.
The poor develop a mentality of
helplessness, hopelessness and
despair
This reflects in their lifestyle.
Often very scheming, selfish and
entitled, the poor find himself
or herself unable to live to his or her
full potential
He was born poor
It was neither his wish or choice
He woke up one morning and discovered
he was living in a household where
hunger was normal and begging
was a lifestyle
Nobody asked anybody where 
anybody brought anything from
Getting into problem with the
law was natural in their community
Had their community been in a fancy
place like America or Britain, it 
would be the headquarters of crime
and drugs
They stole and cheated and lied
it was their way
They were adapting themselves to
their environment like Carmeleons
It was the only way
His father was a thief
One of those thieves who stole based
on contract
All his father does was to sit at the 
beer parlour close to the house or
with a friend who was a Juju musician
and talk all day
The Juju musician had twelve wives
and many children
Ladies in their community saw him
as a star and wanted to have children
with him so that they can share of
his wealth when he eventually became
rich
The best thing that has happened to
the musician was a tour of West Africa
he made some money and was a local
champion but that was it
He gave each wife 200 Naira daily
for their upkeep
Even at that, he was never able to keep
up with all twelve wives, not because
he didn't want to but because he never
had enough
It was always a first-come, first-serve
affair
The wives knew this and so they would
queue up by his door as early as 6AM
every morning
Even with that, there was a problem
He had favourites and had to keep
some of the money he had for them
Naturally, the favourites wont come
to his room early in the morning
They knew their status and the other
wives also knew this
The drama was unending
Gyroma as he was popularly called
provided the drama and entertainment
for the community both on the stage
and off it
Despite all the drama, he still had many
concubines
There is something about poverty that
keeps the poor the way they are
The poor were not taught how to look 
within
They are always waiting for a hand from 
somewhere that would lift them out
of poverty
This was one of their greatest undoings
The inability to rise from within
Young ladies keep throwing themselves
at his feet
They wanted to be part of his fame
They wanted to be able to say
"I had a child for Gyroma the juju singer"
They wanted to amount to something
They wanted to matter
But they couldn't see it from within
They had to source for greatness from
someone who was already swamped 
in misery and tattered with squalour
Gyroma's band was made up of
marijuana addicts who ate out of
the local food vendor's pot and
smoked all day unless they have a 
practice or a show
This was the crew his father hung
out with everyday
His father was Gyroma's friend but
not part of Gyroma's crew
Those who want things stolen for
them would come his father and
tell him what they needed
"I am starting a barbing saloon and
my equipment is not complete sir.
They sell the Generator for 200,000
but I have been able to raise only 
50,000."
His father would collect the money
and a few days later a generator
shall be delivered to the "client"
Everybody knew His father was a
thief
He does not rob in their community
and his service was of benefit to
their community, so he was seen
and treated as the local Robin Hood
Poverty also gave room to a lot of fetish
practices
They never had enough to eat but
his father ensured they were all fortified
from imaginary enemies
They were soaked in all manner of
talisman and demonic concoctions
Sometimes they were awakened at
1 AM to swallow something that
must not touch their teeth
Sometimes they were awakened
at midnight to eat horrible tasting
concoctions
He hunted rodents and drained
swamps for frogs and fish
He learned how to plant crops like
maize, cassava and so on
He was a thief too, though there
wasn't much to steal, he stole a lot
in his mind
He didn't steal small things, he stole
so much that he became so rich
That was all he thought about
How to take from all the "Rich people"
His father and Gyroma talked about
and make what they had his
That was his childhood
When he was 12 years old his uncle
came to the village and had a talk
with his father
His uncle was working with the 
Civil Defence Corps at the time
He was married but was yet to
have a child
Someone told him he needed to
get the child of a relative in his home
and train such
The lot fell on his family and specifically
on him
His mother's elder brother had come
to take him to the big city
His father gladly said yes
He was one less mouth to feed
That was how he found himself
in Lagos
He was enrolled in an afternoon 
School because his uncle's wife
was into pap pudding (ogi) sale
He hawked for her in the morning
and resumes to school by 2 pm
until 6pm
Hawking gave him an advantage
He quickly became familiar with
the area
He made friends quickly too and
would sometimes go fishing or
swimming in the nearby river
with some boys after school
his uncle returned home around 8pm
and he was freee from 1pm until
he returned home from school 
which might be 7pm sometimes
He had perfected his art of stealing
by then
His uncle's wife was sloppy with
money
It made his stealing habit go unnoticed
He never took the obvious
He was very smart
He had a good head that understood
the consequences of foolishness
He was a very wise thief and would
often hide a thing for many weeks to
see if it would generate any heat
before disposing of such
He was academically brilliant too
At first, he assumed it was because
he was older than most of his 
classmates but over time it turned
out that he had a very sound mind
He was very good in calculations
and aptitude stuff
He was always several steps ahead
of his teachers and the adults around
him in life
He realized by the time he was
fifteen that he had gotten life
figured out
He was the best student in the school
by far when the result for their Junior
WAEC was released
When he was 17, he was admitted into
the university to Study Mathematics
He wrote the GCE examinations from
SS 2 and cleared all the papers
His Uncle's wife also got pregnant
that year after 17 years of waiting
It was the appropriate time to leave
His uncle went back to the community
to bring in another relative
This time a female to help his wife
as she prepares to become a 
mother for the first time
He resumed at the University with
nothing apart from His school fees
His uncle had planned to get him 
a job after secondary school so that
he can save for two years before
applying to further his education
He had bought the GCE form based
on the counsel of one of his secondary
school teachers who told him to 
try early so that he can know
where he was deficient and work
on that area
He didn't plan in any way to clear
the papers
Once he did that the next thing was
to write Jamb
He wanted to study Medicine but
he fell short and was offered
mathematics
He took it!
Once he got on campus, he had to
devise a way to survive
After paying his fees and other
dues all he had left was five thousand
Naira and he had been informed he
would still pay some money at the
departmental level
For the first three weeks he went
into the jungle close to the school
and hunted rodents and other
animals
He sometimes gathered fruits
or harvested just enough from
some unknown people's farms
just to eat
Once classes resumed, he couldn't
do all that again
Students came to him for help
right from their first class
It was quite easy to see that he
knew his onions
He had no option but to charge 
them a fee
It was unheard of
A student charging a fee to help
his fellow classmates?
They started calling him Shylock
He didn't know where the name
came from and he didn't care
He was not prepared to spend his
time playing nice guy to anybody
Students fell in line
Even those who were in 200 and
300 level who were in academic
jeopardy and needed someone with
a fresh perspective to help them
with their deficiencies came to him
He found himself studying their
courses in order to be of help to 
them
He helped a lot of people that way
Even those who were not from his 
department came to him with their
general studies challenges
He helped them all for a fee
Girls that couldn't pay him cash
tried other things
He took whatever was brought to
him as payment
He took it all
In his mind, he was getting back
at their fathers for all the monies
they stole that made them have
dunce children
He was mean in his words and
carried himself with pride
His girlfriend caught him with another
girl one day and protested
He told her she was with him
because she was dumb and 
not because of love
He said she was using him to
pass her courses and he was
using her for pleasure
Why the tears?
She called him an obnoxious person
When he checked it, he laughed
Indeed the dictionary had a word
for him
(An obnoxious person is essentially 
tone-deaf to the feelings of people 
around him. 
He doesn't read social cues. 
He's insensitive. 
He blurts out his opinions or remarks 
without regard for whether those 
remarks are appropriate to the 
situation, or will be well-received 
by others.)
By the time he was in 300 level, he
his PR had gone way down
Nobody has anything good to say 
about him but those who needed
help still came
It was the nature of demand and
supply
You don't have to like the supplier
but you need him
He didn't see any sense in helping
anybody for free
He believed the poor couldn't afford
to be nice
He saw himself as disadvantaged 
and he was on a quest to level the
playing field
He graduated with a first-class and
was retained by the University as an
assistant lecturer
The school did everything to ensure
she spent his service year with them
He never went back to the community
Never gave his parents anything
He didn't even remember his uncle and
his uncle's wife
They didn't know he was making
money and he kept it that way
He concluded his Ph.D. within five
years after graduating
He was thirty-five years old but
within him, it all felt like a mirage
Like he could be stripped of everything
and sent back to the community
It just didn't feel real
His brilliance was a shining light
but he had mixed a lot of strange
things with it
His serious students were the only
ones he treated fairly
The dumb students get to pay dearly
He slept with the ladies for being
so dumb and unserious
It was the only thing he felt they were
useful for
The ladies who wouldn't sleep with
him get to pay him a lot of cash
before he would lift a finger to help
them
Helping them was illegal, he made that
clear and for him to do it, they had to
be ready to make it worth his while
The guys get to pay him cash too or
bring their girlfriends or sisters for him 
to sleep with
His mind was programmed like the
sword of vengeance
he felt the weak needed to be broken
and the strong need no help
He never got married
He felt it would be an unnecessary
hindrance to his lifestyle
As a single guy, he could always
claim he was dating any student
that reported that he was taking
advantage of her but if he was
married, things would get 
complicated
In 2016, he slept with a student
who was having some issues with
meeting up with her project 
requirement
The lady was the one who came
to him with the offer
They met on a Wednesday night
The lady had been in the hotel since
8 AM that day
She booked the room, moved in and
sent him a message
He was taking a drive with some 
friends and eventually found his
way to the hotel by 9 pm that night
He usually gave those who took that
option a long time to change their
minds
He got in and told her if she came
thinking she would close her eyes
and do whatever and leave, he doesn't
have that time
The attention she couldn't pay to
her project should be paid on the
art of satisfying him
He would grade her on her performance
and nothing else
She told him she was ready and
she did gave it her best
When they were done, he told her
she would get a C in the course
She thanked him and left
The next morning, just as he was
going through some documents on
his table, he heard a strange noise
blanked out
His colleagues reported that people
heard him screaming in the office
and rushed in to see what was going
on
By the time they got to him, he had lost
all contact with reality
He was talking incoherently and 
acting very violently
It took six strong men to hold him
down and tie him up
He was taken to the psychiatric hospital
Doctors did the best they could
Nobody could really pinpoint the cause
Some said it was one of the ladies
he was sleeping with
Another said it was one of the students 
he failed
Others said it was common with 
mathematicians
After a year of treatment without any
improvement
His family members opted for a more
traditional approach
They didn't have the funds to keep him
in the government hospital and nobody
had access to his bank accounts
The University did the best they could
for as long as they could
Eventually, he started roaming the
streets
Some called him "Professor", others
called him "Doctor"
He was thirty-seven years old when
he was released to roam the streets
and fend for himself
In 2018, five years after the affliction
came upon him, he suddenly came to
his senses while sleeping on a 
pedestrian at Ojota, Lagos
He heard a group praying and making
a lot of noise on a loudspeaker inside
the motor park to his right
It was as if he just found himself 
there
He looked at himself
He saw how he was dressed
He saw his surroundings
He realized what he was
He left the bridge that day, he walked
until he got to Ketu
He saw a religious centre he was
familiar with
That was the religion he was born into
He branched at the place and sought
for help
He told them he had come to himself
and needed to go home
They contributed some money for
him
He was going all the way back to Ilorin
He knew his father's community and
felt he needed to get there
They also gave him a change of clothes
and helped him shave his head
He spent the night in the religious
centre and left for Ilorin early the
next morning
When he got Home his family screamed
for joy
They said they had been told that if he
was left to roam the street he would
suddenly recover
That evening, they took him to a
herbalist who made a sacrifice on
behalf of his head
His father Killed a dog in appreciation
to their family deity
He stayed at home for two weeks
Things started coming back to him 
gradually
He remembered he had a job and 
house, which he was renting out in
Oyo. He remembered he had some 
lands and some money in the bank
He told himself he would start all over
His mother told him not to do anything
relating to lecturing or calculations
again
She believed that was the cause of
the affliction or at least a contributing
factor
He promised her he wouldn't
He just knew he needed to move to
another place and start all over
People would stigmatize him if he returned
to the same old places and that would
not be healthy for him
He travelled to his former base to 
reactivate his bank accounts and all
He got a hotel and booked a room
Just as he was about to fall alseep,
He saw a vision
He saw himself lying on the pedestrian
bridge that afternoon, and a light 
standing next to him on the right
side
The light burned for about five minutes
until a strange black dust started peeling
off his body, the dust were like the black
flakes being carried by the wind after
a forest had been cut down and burnt
The light continued to shine until the
black flakes were completely gone
The the light pointed at the people having
a crusade in the motor park and said "Go
to them, they will tell you why and
show you my way"
Wow!
He hadn't remembered it for weeks
until that night
He got on a bus first thing in the morning
and traveled to Lagos
When he got to that pedestrian bridge,
he walked to the motor park and asked
about the people that had a crusade there
on the day he got healed
He was directed to the church
When he got to the church, he was told
about the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
The next day, he went to Magodo as early
as 8 AM
He met the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
He told his story
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told him
the Holy Spirit had mentioned that strange
afflictions would be healed at the crusade
and He had always taken the Holy Spirit
at His word rather than by sight
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told him
to return to Ilorin and wait for seven 
days before going anywhere else
He said the Holy Spirit would show him
where the affliction came from and what
to do
They prayed together until he got filled
with the Holy Spirit 
He returned to Ilorin
Three days later, while he was praying 
in tongues in his father's house in Ilorin
Somebody came in and said he had
a visitor
He went to the compound to see the
visitor and recognized her immediately
It was the lady he slept with the day
before he ran mad
She was with two other women
They just stood there, watching him
expressionlessly
He cautioned himself too and stood
by the entrance of his father's house
Then the lady said "You made many 
people cry and destroyed many lives
and now the seasons of your punishment
has suddenly been cut short!"
They turned and left.
He stood there for almost another
minutes before what they said made
any sense to him
He sat and wept bitterly with his
head in his hands
He remembered everything
It was as if he was watching himself
in a mirror
He called the Brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt the following day and told
him everything
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told
him the Holy Spirit does not only save
and heal a believer, He also teaches
the believer how to live a blameless
life.
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told
him his own story and how the Holy
Spirit and the Word transformed his
mind, character, and worldview
 The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt also
encouraged him to walk with the 
Holy Spirit deliberately and read the 
book of John as many times possible 
both silently and aloud

Ps: He got a job with a private university
some months later and now leads a 
thriving drama ministry to the Glory
of God

GSW Notes: I heard a Teacher of the
gospel once saying he went to preach
in a village and nobody came out for
altar call
The teacher said he left the village 
disappointed because he didn't win 
one soul
Twenty years later a young man
came to the Teacher's meeting and 
fell face-down before Him
The teacher said the young man told 
him that he was in his father's house 
and gave his heart to Jesus the day 
the Teacher came to preach in their 
village but he was afraid to respond
to the altar call because his father
would have disowned him or killed
Him for doing so.
The young man had grown in the
faith and did great exploits in 
the faith in many places before 
they finally met.
The teacher said he learned that day
to trust the Word of God rather than
His own senses!
This was what came to mind that
day when Dr. T. A. O came into my
office
It was a pleasant surprise to see that
the meeting in Ojota produced such
a miracle many months after
To God be the glory.
A sister of mine wrote a moving
testimony about me. I have used the
testimony as the picture for this
story
It proves the Holy Spirit changes us
and makes us better people for the
Kingdom of God and for humanity.
No man can change by himself,
he or she might try but it won't 
really be "change"
It will just be self at work
Only the Spirit is capable of changing 
us by the power in the Word of God