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 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 Disciplinary Committee!
His mother panicked & started calling him frantically
His mother was in Ibadan
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 & what the complain 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 to discourage her from investing her money in his scam but the lady insisted! He called the lady, the lady said she was not the one that went to report anything to the school authority, he remembered others and he called them 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 that was there when his older sister was having her introduction!
That one!!
He had run out of options
He called his friend
His friend started stammering
His friend said “you know I am studying Agric 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 10pm
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, the next morning
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 5am and got to his friend’s house by 11AM
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
She 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, hi 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
He applied himself as adviced
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 with the intention of starting 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 National Open Univeristy.
Then his friend came calling
The same friend he had history with
while in sch
His friend has applied online for the position of the GM 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
To ask if
the past would in anyway affect his being selected or not.
He told his friend they will apply based on official criteria only and again he had come to realize that his friend did him a lot of good by doing what was done!
A month later, his friend resumed as the GM of the radio
Station!
Two weeks later, the CEO arrived from America to see the progress made.
A month after this, the CEO summoned him to his office, when he got there his friend (GM) was there too
The CEO asked him why he didn’t disclose that he was a fraudster and 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 GM 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
Thee GM kept glaring at him maliciously as if to say “Inwill finish you on 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 GM and said “Youbare fires 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 judgement 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; Many of us need to learn how to truly forgive or we will always be stuck in a spot
You can follow @GbengaWemimo.
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