Yoke Of Love

Evil Manipulation in Office

Kolawole was not a saint as a purchasing Manager; but he was faithful to his Employers; and his Motto: “Never defraud your Employer for any reason.” On many occasions, whenever he made huge purchases from any Manufacturer, he would collect ten percent discount for his Employer Company; and convinced the Marketing Manager of the Manufacturer to give him two and a half percent Buyer’s discount for himself; and some satisfied local suppliers also gifted him money when he assisted them to get their money easily from the account Department.

His conscience would not allow him to steal from the company, and above all other things; he was afraid of going to jail for any criminal offence; he valued his freedom a lot and he could not endure any confinement in the prison; this attitude kept him out of trouble; Kolawole was not religious but he had a good conscience and he was well brought up by his religious mother.

Lati Olowolagba the store keeper contracted a witchdoctor to kill Kolawole through motor accident so that no one would know that he was killed by evil manipulation. The witchdoctor said; “Lati, if you want to kill your immediate boss when he is asleep is better than killing him through motor accident, because dying from a motor accident is not guaranteed; but he could be fatally wounded; moreover, your victim is surrounded by a bright light; meaning your immediate boss has not done any harm to you personally.”

Lati shook his head and said; “If we kill him in his sleep, some of his family members may suspect a foul play; but if he died in a fatal accident, no one will suspect me.” The old witchdoctor told the wicked store keeper to bring a picture of his victim to him as soon as possible.

Lati remembered he snapped Kolawole’s picture with a Polaroid Instant camera when the young Manager celebrated his birthday with his staff about two years before then in the company’s cafeteria, and when he got home, he searched frantically for the picture, and he later found the picture in one white envelope in his photo collection basket.

The following Saturday, Lati took Kolawole’s picture to the witchdoctor; the old wizard examined Kolawole’s picture closely for about two minutes before he said; “Lati, no power under the sun can kill your boss; because he was born with the influence of a very powerful star; and his guardian Angel will divert any evil arrow that is fired against him back to the sender; however, the only way by which we can get him out of your way is to use my witchcraft and influence the Managing Director to sack your boss from the company unconsciously.”

Lati jumped out of his seat and cried out; “Ha baba! That is impossible, the Managing Director of our company cannot sack a man who has been loyal and extremely honest in his work with the company, and above all; the MD loves the young Manager like his own son.”

The old wizard chuckled and said; “When it is time for the excreta to come out, the anus must open; you leave the rest to me; just get me the name of your MD and his mother’s maiden name, and Kolawole will become history in your company.” Lati left the old wizard disappointed; he wondered how he could get the MD’s mother maiden name.

He knew the MD’s mother was still alive; she was eighty-five years old, living in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State of Nigeria; and she celebrated her eighty years birthday five years before then at Saint John Anglican Church in Ilishan-Remo, and the store keeper also attended the birthday Church service that year with other staff of the company.

Lati made up his mind to travel to Ilishan-Remo the following Sunday and worship in that Church even though he was not a Christian. That Sunday after the Church service, Lati approached the Minister in charge of that Church and introduced himself as Kolawole Adegbola in order to hide his true identity.

Venerable James Anuoluwapo took Lati to his office, and after they both settled down; Venerable James asked; “What can we do for you son?” Lati was shocked when the man of God addressed him like a child; the man of God could not be more than forty-five years in age, and Lati was forty-three years old; Lati wondered why the man of God was treating him as if he was old enough to be his father.

Venerable James noticed Lati’s confusion; but the store keeper actually lost confidence in himself at that moment when his age mate called him his son. “Do you have any financial problem brother Kolawole?” The man of God asked. Lati became more confused when the man also called him a brother, ha! He lamented in his mind.

Lati finally blotted out; “Please pray for me sir, this is my first time in a Church; I already listened to your sermon during the service, but what I need right now is your prayer sir.” Venerable James prayed for him but he mentioned Kolawole Adegbola in prayer for ‘God to protect him always and for him to come to the knowledge of Christ and for him to be saved in Jesus name.’ Lati shamefully said amen to all the prayers which were not meant for him, and he regretted using Kolawole’s name.

Lati left Venerable James’s office; and as he stepped into the foyer outside the Venerable James’ office, he saw a big black marble on the wall with names of all living senior citizens of that Church crafted in white gloss paint on the black marble; the names were listed from the age of seventy years. Lati quickly searched for the name of his MD’s mother on the black marble, and discovered her name listed as Madam Ebunoluwa Odulade; lati memorized the simple name and walked out of the foyer a happy man and left the Church premises to the bus station for Lagos.

Venerable James saw the strange man who had just left his office reading the names of the Church’s living senior citizens and searching for a particular name on the marble; the man of God could have challenged the strange man; there was something sinister about the strange man’s manner, but the man of God kept his peace when the strange man did not write any of the names down in the big note pad he was holding in his hand.

The man of God wondered what could have made the strange man smiled happily as he walked out of the Church Premises, he thought about it for a while and dismissed the strange man from his mind when a member of his Church entered his office and asked for prayer.

The following Saturday, lati came to the old wizard with the name of his Managing Director’s mother; he handed a paper containing the name to the old wizard; but the old wizard cannot read or write; and the old man gave the paper back to Lati and asked; “Just tell me what is the name of the mother of your big boss, and the rest is simple.”

Lati who was very pleased with his success; his original plan was to ask the priest for the old woman’s name at that Church; but the Priest’s calm behavior rattled him a lot; and he even ended up directing blessings to his enemy. “Lati stop smiling like a foolish man and tell me the name of the old woman!” The wizard shouted at the smiling store keeper. Lati snapped out of his day dreaming and said; “Ebunoluwa Odulade.”

The old wizard repeated that name three times before he finally said; “The woman’s soul is very pure, no one can do her any harm; but we can invoke her maiden name to influence her son spiritually to dismiss Kolawole without realizing what he was doing; but the witchcraft influence on him shall expire in seven calendar months; the implication is that, if the MD should meet Kolawole again after the time frame; he will not know why or how Kolawole left his company without his knowledge or who sacked him from the company.”

The store keeper was very shocked, and he asked; “Ha baba! You mean the big boss would sack Kolawole without knowing what he was doing? What happens if the big boss’ wife or any other senior Manager in the company tries to stop him?” The old wizard laughed heartily, and said jovially; “Even his mother cannot stop your big boss from sacking your young boss; we can even influence him to send Kolawole to jail, but that will boomerang because there would be no evidence to convict him in a court of Law.”

Lati danced happily and the wizard busted his bobble when he said; “Lati, remember you are hurting an innocent man, but as soon as you finish building your own house; you must resign your appointment from the company before they discover your fraudulent acts.”

Twenty-one days later, the MD who just returned from Spain over the weekend; from where he usually spent his annual vacation with his wife and children; he came to the office that fateful Monday morning acting like a man under a spell; he summoned the General Manager to his office, and declared; “I want you to terminate the appointment of the Purchasing Manager today; better still bring me his letter of termination and I will personally signed it; there is no further discussion on the issue, just do it; and it is my decision.”

The General Manager left the MD’s office as if he was in a trance! Kolawole Adegbola, the purchasing Manager was an honest and loyal senior Manager in the company; sacking the young Manager with immediate effect without any visible reason was not a fair decision; moreover, there was no fraudulent acts leveled against the young Manager; and what happened to all the love the MD had for the young man?

The MD’s decision to dismiss the Manager was a bad omen to the company. ‘How sad and sudden could the life of an honest employee be ruined by a bad and baseless action of the Executives with a letter of dismissal,’ he said to himself.

Kicked Out of Work