Restraining the Kreken

She came to him in the middle of 
the night 
He was already asleep 
She woke him up and started crying 
"I feel so unloved in this marriage 
How can i be married to a man who 
has a skill that my own elder brother 
has a need of and my husband will 
refuse to support my own brother's
business 
You'd rather help strangers 
You'd rather use the same skill to 
build the business of someone who 
is not family 
Is that how much you hate and disdain 
my family
 Is that how terrible my people are in 
your eyes? 
She cried and cried 
He had tried to explain his reasons to 
her in very simple terms 
He had a contract with another company 
and her brother's business is a rival 
to that company 
The company doesn't pay so much but 
it pays while her brother was just 
leveraging family ties and "Let's see 
how it goes" 
Her brother's reassurances couldn't put 
food on the table and he needed to 
make more money to meet the needs 
of the family 
He had wished her brother well the 
previous weekend when he pitched 
the idea of "work for me to build my 
dream" to him 
Apart from the fact that he needed 
the money, he didn't want to suffer 
the indignity that comes with working 
for her brother 
Her brother was six months younger
than him in age
It usually doesn't end well when family 
ties and sentiments get mixed up in 
business 
He didn't understand why she didn't 
see that he was only trying to sidestep 
a banana peel 
The problem was, from the moment he 
turned her brother down, she had 
been on his case 
She started with the long spells of 
silence and gradually moved towards 
talking him into changing his mind 
At a point, he had to tell her off it was 
as if her family members were putting 
pressure on her to change his mind and 
she was determined to deliver
The middle of the night crying thing 
was her last attempt at manipulating him 
He knew that but she still persisted 
She cried and cried until he said he 
would help her brother out for a short 
time and see as things go 
As soon as it was daybreak, he called 
her brother and gave him the good news 
Her brother sent him the brief for 
that week and he got to work 
The work went on for a month 
Her brother was silent about remuneration 
at the end of the month 
It was not a surprise because there 
was no formal letter of engagement 
between them 
He used his own resources to chase 
down clients and chase contracts for 
her brother's business
One of the contracts for the supply of 
stationery paid off and her brother made 
a lot of money from it and yet... 
When he told his wife about the lack of 
reimbursement and compensation for 
his efforts, her brother told her to ask
him if he wanted to be treated like a 
paid employee... 
She delivered the message and he 
kept his peace 
Perhaps there was a great payday 
ahead or a huge plan for him 
somewhere down the road 
He continued to market her brother's 
business and even went for 
presentations and proposal defense 
when necessary 
He hated every day of it but he did it 
because he wanted peace in his 
marriage 
He woke up in the morning and drove 
almost ten hours everyday marketing 
his employer's business and her 
brother's business all over 
They were both engineering firms and 
they have specialized clients 
They also did general office supplies
What he did was very risky 
because it could cost him his job but 
he kept at it 
Sometimes he would get home at 11 pm 
only to start writing his reports and 
preparing his briefs or proposals for 
the next day's work 
He sometimes slept for only three or 
four hours every night 
His wife was happy but he hated her 
for it 
He hated himself for putting himself 
in a position where he was questioning 
his own sanity 
Why would anyone willingly put himself 
into modern slavery because his wife 
couldn't be reasonable? 
Why couldn't he insist and
damn the consequences? 
After six months in which her brother 
sent him twenty-five thousand naira 
to reimburse him for fueling his car 
only once, he couldn't take it anymore 
One evening, on their way to evening 
service, he told his wife he would no 
longer be working for her brother
His health couldn't bear the work 
anymore 
On a good day, he should be on the 
road for five to six hours but because 
of her brother's business, he had to 
reach out to prospective clients and 
factories that were beyond the scope 
of his employers 
His employers didn't mind because it
seemed to them like he was driving 
himself to open more territories for 
business                                                                                                                            He sometimes got his 
employers an unexpected business deal 
from his forays but the businesses 
he got were mainly for his wife's brother 
His wife kept quiet 
When they got back from church, she 
came to the room crying 
He steeled himself for whatever it 
was she was going to say but she 
didn't say anything 
She just fell on her knees and sobbed 
as if the rapture happened and she 
had been left behind 
It was emotional blackmail like no other 
He caved again he told her he has 
decided to hold on a little bit more 
She jumped to her feet rejoicing 
instantly 
All the crying and wailing had been 
a sham all along 
She just wanted to keep him in servitude 
She didn't consider his health or his 
wellbeing 
As far as she was concerned, he must 
do her bidding or have no joy
That night, as he thought of a way out 
of his dilemma, an idea came to him 
All the engineering firms scattered 
all over his state had to do business 
with firms like the one he was working 
with or the one his wife's brother was 
trying to set up 
Marketers had to go to the factories
and workshop looking for who needs
what and who wants what 
How about building a website where 
the supply and demand could meet 
and orders made? 
He sprang up from the bed and made 
some phone calls 
He started writing out the names and 
contacts of all the factories and 
businesses he had been dealing with
in the last five years 
Within a week, the website was ready 
He called all the businesses on his list 
and asked them to check it out 
It was an instant success 
Orders were made and despatch riders 
were sent to deliver 
Payments were made into his personal 
bank account and he credited the 
suppliers while keeping a profit 
After a week, he realized he was moving 
more supplies than he did while driving 
trucks all over the city 
The website became the industry's go-to 
for everything and he didn't even have 
to promote it or market it 
He made his first million in three weeks 
After making his first million he registered 
the business and resigned from his job
When he got home he shared the 
good news with his wife 
His wife said "Does that mean you will 
no longer be able to support my brother?" 
He didn't bother to answer her
The business was growing so fast that 
he was on the phone taking orders 
and placing calls to clients all-day 
Eventually, he had to employ trained 
customer care representatives to 
help him out 
His wife started complaining that he 
was working too hard and had no 
time for her or the family 
He couldn't believe it 
When he was working for her brother 
it was okay to sleep off behind the 
laptop at 2am but the moment he 
started working for himself and 
making money 
He was working too hard 
He bought motorcycles and trucks 
for his business, his wife said it was 
a waste of money
The more successful he became the 
more unhappy his wife became 
His wife reported him to everyone 
she could                                                                                                                          She claimed he was making 
life hell for her 
Whenever they got to the "Elders" 
and "Pastors" she reported to, she 
would start crying and will not be 
able to provide a shred of
evidence to support her claim 
Eventually, she said "Why did he 
steal my brother's idea? 
My brother was working on the 
website thing and before he could launch                                                                            It, my husband rushed to launch his own
She said her husband has to stop the                                                                      business before they can have any peace                                                                            in the marriage 
"My family members are not happy 
and I am not happy with how my husband                                                                            came about owning his business
The Pastor and Pastor's wife who were
counseling them when she said what
she said told her never to say such a
thing again
It is unheard of that a wife would want
to sabotage her husband's business
to satisfy her family members
What sort of rubbish was that?
The following week, she walked into his
office and sacked his three staff members
She said she had a dream that they
were doing something diabolic against
her
He had traveled to China on business
earlier that week and asked her to oversee 
activities while he was away
The company lost three weeks of business
and generated a lot of negative PR
throughout that duration
When he returned home, he deleted her
from the board of directors of his company
and all the WhatsApp groups pertaining
to his business
She asked him why he did what he
did
He told her he knew she was hell-bent
on sabotaging his business and had
to keep her out of it at all cost
She became combative and demanded
that he restore her or she would
divorce him
He refused to restore her
She sued for divorce
Many people tried to help them settle
the case out of court
She placed her demands on the table
He either stops the business or 
restore her to the board of directors
He said no
They got a divorce
He got to keep the children because
she didn't have anywhere to put them
She returned home to her family
One year later, she ran to the Pastor
of her husband's church
"Please Sir, help me appeal to my
husband, I don't want a divorce again
My family members are mocking me,
I cannot take living with my mother
anymore
She speaks to me derogatorily and
so does my older brother
I have never seen that much insult 
in my life before
I want to stay with my children and
grow with them"
The pastor called for a meeting
Her husband said NO!
He said he would rather live a
peaceful life and go to hell for
divorcing her than live in hell
while keeping her in his home 
and end up going to hell for
anger, bitterness, hatred and
other things that she evokes
in him.                                                                                                                                He said since the divorce, it                                                                                              felt as if the Kreken of his destiny                                                                                    had been restrained                                                                                      

PS: This event happened in Lagos
(Magodo Phase 1)
There are some people apostle
Paul referred to as wicked and 
unreasonable
Such is this woman
Her husband did a lot of things to
please and placate her but she
just wasn't comfortable with his
success
Please, don't be like this, please!
When you leave your parent's 
house, cleave to your partner
Let his joy be your joy and be
sensitive to his or her feelings 

GSW's notes: I am a witness to this
true-life event.
I wrote a prayer on Twitter earlier
today and I captured one of the 
responses to it
The response was our cover photo
I am praying for
you by the mercies of God
You will not marry an unreasonable
person in Jesus name and if you
have, a divine encounter is on the
way by the power of the Holy Spirit!