Yoke Of Love

Kicked Out of Work

When Folarin Asakula, the Accountant received a Memo from the Managing Director that he should prepare a pay off Bank cheque for the purchasing Manager, he quickly dashed to the General Manager’s office with the Memo from the MD in his shaking hand; and he asked: “GM, what could this young man have done to warrant such treatment?”

The Accountant sat down and gave the Memo from the MD to the GM; the General Manager shook his head in amazement, and said; “The MD refused to give me any reason, he told me that it was his decision as the Managing Director of the company to terminate the appointment of the purchasing Manager with immediate effect; he actually signed the letter of dismissal few minutes ago, you better go and prepare the young Manager’s pay off Bank cheque; and bring it to me when it is signed.”

The Accountant left the GM’s office still wondering why the MD would just wake up in the morning and sacked a senior Manager without any reason to justify the sack.

Kolawole wanted to see the MD that morning, but his confidential secretary said the MD was not available which was what the MD earlier told his secretary; “Bunmi, I don’t want to see the purchasing Manager; if he comes looking for me, I am not available; alright?”

The secretary did not know what was brewing in the office; even the letter of dismissal for Kolawole was personally typed by the General Manager; and when the MD gave her the instruction not to allow the purchasing Manager to see him; she was shocked beyond words; beside the strange instruction, the MD acted as if he was acting under a spiritual control.

In actual fact, the old wizard was watching the MD through his witchcraft mirror; intructing the MD; “Gbolahan, son of Ebunoluwa; I command you by the powers of legion of darkness to sack Kolawole Adegbola with immediate effect today; and if anyone or your mother beg you not to do it, you must obey my voice; otherwise, your whole family shall perish!”

This was the strange loud voice the MD started hearing since he woke up that Monday morning. The General Manager summoned the purchasing Manager to his office around eleven O’clock in the morning, and he handed the letter of termination and the severance Bank pay off cheque to him and asked; “PM, what happened between you and the MD before he traveled to Spain on vacation with his family?”

Kolawole collected the two envelopes from the GM, he did not know what was in the two envelopes, and before he answered the GM; he quickly opened the two envelopes and read his letter of dismissal with his hands shaking, and he asked; “What did I do wrong sir?” The GM shrugged his shoulders and said; “That is the big question that is begging for an answer from the lips of many of us in this company; and the MD refused to tell us what you did wrong to him or to the company.”

Kolawole looked at the severance pay off Bank cheque, and he signed for the receipt of the two envelopes; and left the GM’s office without a word. Kolawole wanted to see the MD just to know what he had done wrong to warrant the termination of his appointment with immediate effect; but when he remembered the way his secretary acted when she had refused to let him see the MD; he decided not to go because the MD was in his office at that time and he had left an instruction with his secretary not to allow the purchasing Manager comes into the MD’s office; and he cried silently.

Kolawole made up his mind to leave the company that very moment, he could not understand why the MD would just dismissed him without any reason to justify his action; ‘this is the reason why some professionals don’t like to work in a one-man’s business, the owner of the company can just take a decision without asking for approval from the Management; in other words, the owner is the sole Management of the company,’ Kolawole reasoned within himself.

Later when Kolawole was at home in the evening, he gave the letter of his dismissal to Mojisayo his wife, she collected the letter and read it, and she asked with scorn in her voice; “Why were you sacked? When I advised you to use your position and build a house for your family about a year ago; you said you cannot steal from your employer. Now that you have lost the opportunity; what are you going to do next? You better wake-up from your slumber Mr. honest man because I am not ready to suffer with you; have you not heard the sayings of our elders which says; ‘a honest person gathers no wealth,’ hardly can you see a honest salary earner to build a four flats house!”

Kolawole did not regret his honest principles, even though he was sacked without any reason; his conscience was very clear that he had done nothing wrong in the company to be treated and be dismissed from his managerial position like a common daily paid laborer; he could have sued the company to court for the unreasonable termination of his appointment in the company; but he jettisoned the idea because what happened to him had the tone of spiritual influence; someone in that company wanted him out of that place fast for a reason best known to the person; and he believed him and the MD were the victims of that evil manipulation.

Kolawole thought deeply on how he could keep his wife to himself, and he finally said calmly; “I have decided to learn how to produce laundry Bar-soaps at the moment, while searching for another job in the manufacturing Industries.”

Mojisayo looked at her husband sharply and retorted; “In all the lucrative businesses in the whole wide world; what you can only come up with is to go into a small scale business of soap making; soap making is a small business for woman with little capital.” Kolawole looked pleadingly at Mojisayo and said; “That is the only business that readily came into my mind at the moment, but if you have a better idea; I am all ears to hear you.” Mojisayo thought about the matter for about five minutes, and she said; “Why not go into building materials business, supply of cement bags to building construction companies, or the production of concrete blocks for houses; these are for real men.”

Kolawole accepted Mojisayo’s suggestion just to make her happy with him; but when she left for school the following morning; he quickly left his house to register for the three days training in making Bar-soaps.

The construction company eventually appointed Lati Olowolagba as a purchasing and store officer under the supervision of the General Manager. Lati stole some building materials from the store, and to hide his stealing activities, he added his stolen building materials to other materials loaded for the company’s building sites.

The GM was not observant enough to detect the added materials on the Delivery Notes billed for the construction sites; the GM should have checked all the materials loaded in the truck; the materials must correspond with what was stated in the Delivery Note. For instance, twenty bags of cement may be written on the Delivery Note, but the truck may have been loaded with twenty five bags of cement!

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR