SMART GENIUS
(II)
After Seun had been successfully interviewed,
he waited behind all through the day till the team was done for the day so he
could have a one-on-one conversation with Adamu.
Though Adamu couldn’t graduate
with him alongside his set but he (Seun) never had any intuition that he came
into the company in disguise; rather, he was of the thought that he might had
attended another higher institution after he left the University of Ibadan (U.I).
He was preoccupied with the
notion that if he familiarized himself with Adamu, it would serve as an aid
towards his job hunt. Since he completed his National Youth Service programme
in 1991, he had been managing with one of the small scale firms in the
neighbourhood until he got an invitation on February 17, 1995 to come for an
interview with Capricon Nigeria Limited where he had earlier applied for an
employment.
“Good day, sir!” Seun greeted the moment Mr. Adamu Danjuma eventually
walked out of the complex room in the company of his co-interviewers.
It was about some minutes past five in the afternoon. At the time, all
the job seekers had already left the arena. Seun had been seated at the entrance
to the room amidst some of the company’s staff; he had explained to them his
motive.
Prior to his greeting, he
hurriedly stood up and stepped toward Adamu as soon as they walked out from the
room.
“Good day young man.” responded
Adamu as his colleagues departed for their respective offices. “Were you not
one of the applicants?”
“Yes I am, sir.” replied Seun
who was putting on corporate attire.
Both of them were standing
opposite to each other.
“So, how may I help you?” Adamu enquired. “Mister Olatunji, right?” He
recollected in a jiffy.
He was able to remember
Seun’s name because he performed marvelously when he was interviewed.
“Yes sir, you are right.” quoth Seun. “Olatunji Seun.” He added.
“I am all ears.” Adamu
reminded, anxiously waiting for the response to his first question – ‘how may I
help you?’
“Please sir,” said Seun. “Don’t be offended, did you pass through UI?”
It was unarguably a shocking question to Adamu. He couldn’t believe his
ears.
“UI…?” He asked under false pretence.
“Yes, University of Ibadan.” responded Seun. “Public Administration department to be precise.” He added, looking
at his eyes submissively.
“No.” he answered. “Are you
mistaking me for someone else?”
“Yes,” Seun replied. “Your face
looks very familiar.”
“I am sorry,” quoth Adamu. “I am not the one.” He added, quickly walked
towards his office leaving Seun behind.
Seun couldn’t believe it; it was not unlike a dream to him, though he
never sensed any foul play. Consequently, he left the company’s premises within
a couple of minutes disappointedly.
As a result of the above
scenario, Adamu being the leader of the assessment team ensured that Seun
wasn’t employed by the company in order to avoid any future havoc. He foresaw
that bringing Seun into the company would be at the detriment of his person.
Adamu who was in his early forties and was happily married with three
kids wouldn’t want any iota of saga to befall him especially at that point he
had succeeded in proving his unalloyed competence and integrity to the company;
hence, he saw Seun as a serpent.
After the incident, Seun
employed every tactics towards ascertaining the full detail about Adamu. In
consequence to the quest, the former who hardly knew the latter’s name
succeeded in coming up with his full name, position in the company as well as
when he was employed.
In the long run, Seun insinuated that Adamu must had forged his
certificate for him to had gotten to the rank of Human Resources Manager (HRM).
And, considering the time frame, there was no how he could have risen to that
enviable height if he was not employed as a graduate or with a degree/HND
certificate or any equivalent certificate.
Two months on, the company’s Management received the unthinkable report
on Mr. Adamu Danjuma via Seun who had patiently waited to receive his employment
letter from the firm in regard to his remarkable performance during the
interview to no avail.
Two weeks after the report was
received and it was confirmed that Adamu came into the company with the aid of
a criminal mechanism having conducted all the needed investigations, the
company’s Board of Directors (BOD) set up a 7-man panel to query Adamu.
* *
* * *
“Mister Danjuma,” The leader of the panel
called unfriendly after all the consequential introductions were made having
read out the sole agendum for the gathering. “Give us one reason you shouldn’t
be fired.”
They were seated in a round
table in the company’s conference room.
It appeared such striking statement – ‘give one reason you shouldn’t be
fired’ – was one of the standard and acceptable ways of querying any of the
firm’s staff found wanting. That was exactly the language same Adamu used for
Ken prior to his (Ken’s) dismissal.
Adamu who was taken unawares
hastily stood up confidently as if he anticipated the meeting as well as the question.
“Greetings to you all” he said. “I shouldn’t be fired because…” the dark, plump
and about 5.5-foot tall young man who was clad in ash suit and ash plain
trousers proceeded in a meek but confident manner.
All eyes were at this time on him. Every member of the panel was
strongly looking up to his fierce-looking eye sockets.
“One, I forged the certificate out of
frustration and because I was financially handicapped, and not because I was a
criminal.” he asserted, paused. “Two, I forged what I could defend…” He
enthused frankly, looked around.
They were all seated firmly at
this point as the ‘culpable’ employee defended himself in strong terms.
“Three, as I speak to you now,” he continued, took a breath. “I speak as
a Masters’ degree holder in Public Administration…” He boasted eventually.
Everyone was marvelled on
hearing the revelation. They felt like clapping for him. Each of them wondered
what kind of man he could be.
It’s noteworthy that Mr. Adamu had enrolled for a part-time degree
programme in a nearby university the moment he secured the employment. And he
proceeded for his Masters’ Degree programme as soon as he obtained his Bachelor
of Science (B.Sc).
“And finally,” he rode on. “Because I have given Capricon Nigeria
Limited far more than what it expected from my person.” He concluded
succinctly, though tentatively.
“You may have your seat.” The
panel chairman urged.
“Thank you, sir.” Adamu replied, sat down.
After all said and done within
an hour’s time, the meeting rose without any tangible conclusion or decision
taken against the seeming-guilty staff.
Subsequently, Mr. Adamu Danjuma was filled with mixed feelings accompanied
with premonitory anxiety, not knowing what would become his fate soonest.
One week later, rather than laying him off from the company or demoting
him, surprisingly the smart genius was promoted to the rank of the General
Manager (GM) of Capricon Limited owing to his academic accomplishments as
revealed by him coupled with his outstanding qualities.
The rest is history, please.
Comrade Fred Nwaozor
Executive Director, Docfred Resource Hub (DRH) - Owerri
_____________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com+2348028608056
Twitter: @mediambassador
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