Stuck

It was a day he will remember forever, 
the day Adedibu died in Ibadan 
He had received a call a day before that 
day from his school 
He was a fresh graduate 
He was the best graduating male student 
in his department 
He had been posted to Kano for his NYSC 
Everything was going according to plan 
Then somebody from his school called 
his mother 
The person told his mother that he or she 
had been trying to call him but had not 
succeeded because his phone was 
switched off 
The person told his mother to tell him that 
he had a case to answer before the School's
Disciplinary Committee! 
His mother panicked and started calling his 
phone number frantically 
His mother was in Ibadan while he 
was in Lagos 
His mother called his elder sister and 
told her what was going on 
He was sleeping when his elder sister 
came into the room with the news 
His head started ringing! 
He knew he did some terrible things 
while in school 
Nobody really knew what they were 
but they were terrible 
He was good at covering his tracks and 
usually got away with his crimes 
The problem was locating the complainant 
and what the complaint was 
He had quite a long list
The last scam he pulled was an investment 
plan and the guys he targeted were Internet 
fraudsters who would never report to the 
school authority because they shy away 
from such attention 
He remembered a lady that heard about 
the “investment plan” and approached him 
by herself with some money. 
He did everything he could to discourage 
her from investing her money in his scam 
but the lady insisted! 
The lady didn't invest much but it would
have aroused suspicion if he didn't give
her the form just as he did with the 
"yahoo boys"
He called the lady and asked her if she 
was the one who reported him
The lady said she had nothing to do
with any report to the school authority, 
he remembered others and he called 
them one by one but they all denied it. 
After almost four hours on the phone, 
a former roommate called him and told
 him to call his best friend! 
The one with whom he wore uniform 
clothes and all 
The one that spent holidays with him 
The one he shared the same bunk with
The one that was there when his older 
sister was having her introduction! 
That special friend that people call his 
twin
That one!!
He had run out of options by that time
He called his best friend 
His friend started stammering 
His friend said “you know I am studying 
Agricultural Science and you are graduating, 
this scam you pulled, when it backfires, 
who do you think the school authorities 
will arrest. 
I have to protect myself before you run”
What? 
It wasn’t one of the victims 
It was his best friend
He knew he was done for 
His friend knew everything, even the 
smaller crimes that they joked over 
in the hostel! 
He got on a bus to Ibadan by 10 pm 
His friend was living in Ibadan 
He had to get his neck out of the noose!
He got to Ibadan at midnight 
His mother was wide awake
What he heard that night from his
mother's mouth and the anguish he
knew he had caused her wearied him 
sorely
He tried as much as possible to calm his 
mother down but his mother was troubled 
The next morning, as early as 5am they 
got on the road 
His mother insisted on following him 
When they got to the road, they discovered 
there was no movement of vehicles because 
Adedibu had died! 
The devil was determined to finish him 
His mother told him they could trek the 
distance and they did 
He and his mother trekked for six hours 
They left their house by 5 AM and got to his 
friend’s house by 11 AM
They were both tired and hungry 
They met his friend and his mother at home 
He began to beg his friend to go to school 
and withdraw the case 
His friend said No! 
His mother went on her knees and promised 
to write an undertaking and commit to a 
gradual payment of the cash to all his
victims. 
His friend said his mother should do the 
undertaking for the school authority after 
the SDC case 
They were there for the two hours and 
nothing they said worked 
Eventually, his friend’s mother told them 
not to worry 
His friend's mother promised that his 
friend would withdraw the case and
wouldn’t show up as a witness against him 
during the SDC case 
Once his friend’s mother said this they 
were encouraged to leave. 
They left his friend’s house by 3pm 
The next day he left home early to face 
the SDC 
As soon as he got on the bus, he saw his 
friend seated on the front seat 
He tried to say hello 
His friend ignored him 
At that point he knew he was in soup 
When they got to the SDC, his friend 
was the chief witness 
The SDC decided he must refund the 
money 
They also decide he will not graduate 
from their esteemed university 
His chicken came home to roost! 
When he told his mother the news it 
was as if her world crashed 
She had suffered to make sure her son 
got an education but her song of 
thanksgiving had been turned to tears 
of sorrow by the “Enemy” 
His mother ran everywhere trying to find 
a solution to the problem
Eventually, her mother’s pastor sent for him 
The pastor led him to Christ 
He accepted Jesus desperately hoping it 
would make a difference 
He prayed that God will change the verdict 
but the verdict remained the same 
Then he met the brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt 
He narrated his story
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt told 
him if he applied himself, he will be so 
successful that those with “certificates” 
will envy and eventually work for him 
They prayed together and he stopped 
his criminal lifestyle completely 
He applied himself as advised
He got a job at a tax firm and began to 
grow 
Two years after he started working, he 
saved up enough money to repay everyone 
he scammed but the school insisted he 
cannot have his certificate 
He knew that dream was long dead but 
he paid back because of his conscience 
and as a testimony to his new life in Christ
A year after the restitution, a friend of his 
came in from the USA intending to start 
a radio station, the friend contacted him 
and he made enquirers. 
After four months, they were able to get 
a license (They bought the one already 
owned by someone) and his friend made
him the manager of the communications 
company that owned the radio station, 
an internet tv station and a PR firm. 
From nowhere he became the COO! 
He got married that same year to his 
lawyer girlfriend who was in OAU when 
things went sour and stood by him until 
everything turned.
By this time his mother had relocated to 
the UK to help one of his siblings babysit 
Life was very good 
At the insistence of his girlfriend, he 
started a degree programme with the 
National Open Univeristy. 
Then his friend came calling 
The same friend that "caught", reported
and stood as a witness against him to 
the school authority
His friend has applied online for the 
position of the General Manager of the 
radio station and had been selected for 
interview 
It was while his friend was making further 
enquirers about the organization that his 
friend realized he was the COO 
That was why his friend came to see him 
His friend came to ask if the past would 
in any way affect his being selected or not. 
He told his friend they will employ based on 
official criteria only and again he had come 
to realize that his friend did him a lot of 
good by reporting him to the authorities
He would have ended up a criminal if not
for that destiny altering event
Soon after, his friend resumed as the 
General Manager of the radio station
Then the CEO arrived from America to see 
the progress made on personnel hiring,
training and equipment/Technical testing
A month after this, the CEO summoned 
him to his office, when he got there his 
old friend (GM) was there too 
The CEO asked him why he didn’t disclose 
that he was a fraudster and a man of 
questionable character
He was shocked! 
He has reinvented himself and that past 
was gone forever 
He didn’t even include the University where 
it all happened in his CV. 
His legs started to shake 
From the tone of voice of the CEO, 
he would most likely be losing his job 
He kept starring at the General Manager
in awe
He wondered what else he was supposed 
to do 
He didn’t get his certificate and he had 
refunded the money he took illegally from 
people 
The General Manager kept glaring at him 
maliciously as if to say “I will finish you 
in this world. You are a criminal and I will 
make sure you die like that”
He looked at the CEO and said “That was 
in the past and I have made amends. 
Since you met me and we started running 
about establishing this business was I not 
upright in all my dealings with you?” 
The CEO looked at him, turned his chair to 
face the General Manager and said 
“You are fired, sir”
“What!” The GM screamed 
The CEO said “I dislike disloyalty and 
pettiness! 
I cannot allow that in my organization. 
I question the COO’s judgment for hiring 
you and you should have proved me wrong! 
Instead, you did exactly what I predicted 
you will do. 
Please leave my office” 
Hmm!
That was how the table turned and he was 
able to keep his job 
Since that time he distanced himself from 
those who knew his past and might want 
to use it to put him at a disadvantage 
in any way 

PS; This event happened in Ibadan and 
Lagos (Nigeria) 
Many of us need to learn how to truly 
forgive or we will always be stuck in a spot

GSW's Note: People can change!
You cannot be a good Christian unless
you genuinely believe this
If you don't believe this is possible, then
what does it mean to become born again?
Apostle Paul was once an enemy of Christ
and he later became one of the greatest
defenders of the gospel
Learn to forgive and let go
Otherwise, you will be ensnared