Recently, I Iistened to Isaac Fayose’ interview on honest bunch podcast. Isaac is the younger brother of the former Ekiti Governor Peter Fayose. A lot he said guite bluntly without giving a hoot whose ox is gored. He spoke from a place of patriotism, sincerity of heart and condemnation of politicians’ life of hypocrisy and destructive attitude of many Nigerians to work. On this last one I would pay a bit of attention to.
He spoke from a grieving heart. A heart wounded, his disappointments, his being betrayed by those he sets out to help. One could hear the pains in his voice explaining how he had to close down two of his businesses, sold the survived part of the bussiness from the looted and pilfering hands of his employees as scraps.
An entrepreneur, whose passion is creatively creating wealth and pulling people off from the circle and deep of unemployment into a decent source of livelihood.
Built Amala joint, it was ran down by kleptomenic employees. Built another bussiness hub , previously managed by his wife, but crumbled too in the hands of insatiable and greedy employees when the wife left the management of the bussiness.
Just like Isaac Fayose, a lot of Nigerians have had or are still having their fair share of an average Nigerian’ lack of integrity, sincerity and dedication to duties.
They get employed, all that would be in their mind is to strike a goldmine within months from someone’ bussiness, a sweat of someone, may be their last hope of breaking even, set up either from a borrowed fund or from a life savings. These employees give no consideration to all these. Obsessed only with the idea of stealing from the company in a very conscienceless manner.
Many companies have gone down, many at verge of bankruptcy because of employees’ pilfering.
Ethical practices have become a scarce commodity among Nigerian workers both skilled and unskilled. Both those in government owned establishments and private sectors. Get rich quick syndrome has become a virus eating deep into work ethics and integrity.
Nigeria is what it is today, at the verge of collapse, wobbling at the precipice,and dancing on a frictionless slope of annihilation because of the job ethics and integrity at short supply.
The chunck of money that illegally finds itself into private pockets is in an exponential dimension, bigger than the ones used for development and masses use
A friend shared her experience with her domestic staff. She steals everything even when she knows she is being monitored through the CCTV. They don’t care how it would impact on their employer, all they desire is to take the advantage for their selfish goals. Though she was caught severally, she never sent her packing. She tried to correct, manage, reform and reset her mindset. She didn’t want to throw her out here, creating more problems and challenges. She rather took the pains through delibrate mentoring to reshape the already skewed mind of stealing to break even.
This approach opened my mind to how God treats us when he catches us in a state of misbehaviour. He doesn’t sack us from his presence. He doesn’t send us on suspension, he gives up on nobody however one tries to run down his principles, ordinances and commandments. With his rod of love he draws us nearer, bandages our wounds of adultery, idolatry, lies, fornication, ungodliness, covetousness etc even when we are stubborn and recalcitrant, he patiently waits for us to come back from our prodigal lifestyle into his loving warmth embrace.
The new testament God of course not the old testament God of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Am I suggesting linency without consequences? Am I suggesting one tolerates with an open ended disposition? Am I condemning sacking ones employees over an obvious misconduct? My point basically is, not every misconduct, misbehaviour, recalcitrant and dubious behaviour of ones employees should be meted out with commensurate measure of punishment. Oftentimes such measures do not correct rather they harden
and worsen situations. There is a place of correctional love. A place of delibrate mentoring, getting to the conscience dimension of ones mind and talking sense to it without doling out consequential punishment. This is where discerning and discretionary approach comes.
If God, the new testament God were to be firing or suspending us from his presence each time He catches us in misbehaviour cloak and garments, who would survive? How would God treat all these brazenly kleptomenic political office holders, stealing and looting Nigeria black and blue? How would God treat someone who through theft ran down their employee’s bussiness? How would God treat a domestic staff that keeps on stealing from their bosses?
Honestly I wouldn’t know, but looking at it from the lenses of who the new testament God is, perhaps mercy would prevail. Maybe!!
Close your eyes,virtualise the huge investment God made in your life and how on daily basis such investment is being pilfered on by our ungodly action and inactions, but for love and mercy, we would have been crushed by the justice of God and his wrath provoked by our most annoying behaviour. Mercy says no! With patience and love I would wait until you return to your senses and come back. Only God, the new testament God would do it. However, we can try too, by reflecting this virtue,though it might be challenging.
My take away: Not every misconduct calls for a sledge hammer
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