I WASN'T PROMOTED

There had been rumors going round in my bank about a promotion list coming out. I had heard it for so long that I even got tired of waiting for the list to come out. Last week Friday, the much awaited list finally came out and it was sent to everyone. Management was cunning and sent it after most people had gone home. I was at home when my colleague started chatting with me to tell me that he heard the list was out. I was excited and asked if anyone in our branch was promoted. He said he and our former Head of Operations  were the only ones he had heard about. I was doubly excited because these two were my friends and they deserved it.

I could just imagine the anxiety in the minds of most of my colleagues as they wondered if they were promoted. I wondered if I was too, but decided not to bother my pretty head too much. My weekend was busy, one activity after the other, so there was no time for me to dwell on the promotion list. It was finally Monday morning, and off to work again. As soon as I entered my office, I noticed that almost everyone was sober or had a plastic forced smile on.

Their eyes were all glued on their systems as if they were doing some serious work. A glance here and there, and I realized that everyone was going through the promotion list to know who got promoted and who didn't. I jejeli went to an empty cubicle to finish up my make-up. While doing that, I noticed that the TV was not yet on. That was strange to me because I have a colleague that is a CNN addict and he would always ensure that the TV is switched on as soon as he gets to the office. He is really passionate about politics. A quick glance towards his seat to know if he had gotten to the office and I noticed that he too like the others was solemnly going through the promotion list. I chuckled to myself.

I wasn't promoted, even though I prayed and hoped I would be, but hey, life is still beautiful. I feel kind of sad about it especially because I have been in the same grade for three years now, so I understand how some of my colleagues feel. Over the next few days, I heard of how some of my colleagues in their anger blamed the MD for not promoting more people, and also swore at them for discarding half of the names on the promotion list. Many people seem to have lost the passion to do their work and comments like "abeg, i wasn't promoted, so don't stress me too much with this work" was made every now and then.

I feel their anger and pain, and like I told some of my friends, this is one of those wake up calls. People should better dust their CV's, rearrange them and start applying for other jobs (that is if they have not been doing that already). I rejoice with all those that were promoted and I believe that better things are on the way for me.

THE RITUAL OF WHAT TO WEAR

I am constantly in a dilemma on what to wear to work. Well, except on Mondays and Fridays which the bank has helped me sort out by way of a dress code. On Mondays, its either navy blue or black suit on white and on Fridays, we wear the bank's tee shirt on a pair of jeans. It should be easy to figure out what to wear in the remaining three days right, WRONG.

I come home from work and open my wardrobe widely while I sort out other things. The idea is that once in a while, when I glance towards that direction, I will get an inspiration on what to wear. Most times however, nothing comes to mind, so when I start feeling sleepy, I go and stand in front of my clothes chanting: "What to wear", "What to wear" like a crazy girl. My siblings just look at me, shake their heads and laugh. After trying on different combinations, I finally decide on what to wear and by this time, I'm half asleep.

I envy people that can wear practically anything to work. Banks that allow their staff to wear any colors and styles are cool too. My bank dey try sha, but it still feels so restricted. :-(. Maybe it's because I'm tired of recycling the clothes I can wear and wish I could just wear anything as long as it looks formal. I have heard of some banks that have dress codes for their staff for each day. Mondays- black and white, Tuesdays- blue and white, Wednesdays- black and white, Thursdays- blue and white. Abeggiiii, na primary school dem dey? Even primary schools sef have colorful school uniforms. I also hear of banks that don't allow their female staff to wear peep-toe shoes, only fully covered work shoes. Na wa o.

Why not allow us to express our creativity in our clothes and footwear as long as they are formal, decent and we represent the bank well.

It All Belongs To You - Damita Haddon

I heard a song at work yesterday and it blew my mind. It has since been on repeat on my phone and my work system. The song reminded me that everything belongs to God and I should just let Him have it. My will, emotions, the stress, thoughts, life, ALL belongs to God. Everything Lord, I surrender it over to you. I decided to share it on my blog to bless someone.

DOING THINGS RIGHT

Okadas constitute part of my transportation to and from work, and I have learnt to be wise in choosing the ones I enter. I prefer mature looking bike men that I feel have a sense of responsibility and drive carefully. One Monday morning, I was rushing off to work because I overslept; no thanks to the chilly weather. It was difficult to see a bike going towards my route, so you can imagine how glad I was when I eventually got one and it was also driven by an elderly man.

We took off and about 10 mins later, we were flagged down by some policemen. Our offence: "Passenger not wearing a helmet'. What annoyed me was that I had asked the okada driver to give me the helmet to wear as soon as I boarded his bike. He refused to answer me. It's not as if I enjoy wearing the helmet but I just didn't want to be delayed unnecessarily by policemen. The following conversation ensued between the policemen and the okada driver:

Policeman: Baba, why is your passenger not wearing helmet?

Baba: My brother dey work with una

Policeman: Ehnnnnn, wetin you talk? So because your brother dey work with us, you think say you go just disobey law like that. Even if your brother na Goodluck sef. mschewwww. Oya clear well and park your okada.

Chai, I didn't believe the okada man was silly enough to say that. Didn't he realize that if he had apologized to the policemen (because he was obviously wrong) and probably greased their palms with some change (I'm not in support of bribery o), they would have let him go.

All this while, I was still sitting on the okada and looking at my wristwatch ticking away. When he was told to "clear well and park", I didn't need anyone to tell me to find my way. Thankfully, I got another okada close by and continued my trip to the office. And i still made it to work on time. The scene that just played out got me thinking though: Why do Nigerians like doing the wrong things? Instances of doing the wrong things include:

Pedestrians crossing the express right under the pedestrian bridge. I will never understand this. If I ever have to cross an express, I look out for any pedestrian bridge close by, because I don't like the idea of running across the road and wondering how close a car or okada is. I once saw a mother with her child strapped on her back and carrying a bag of goodies, running as fast as she could under Cele pedestrian bridge. I wondered to myself, what if one of those fast and furious bus drivers knocks her down? Sympathizers will gather and blame the driver. Forgetting that the woman should have just used the bridge right overhead.

Not obeying traffic lights: I know most of the time, we are in a hurry to get to our destinations, especially in Lagos. But traffic lights were put in place to ensure order on the roads and also prevent accidents. Yet, some of us will look around and if there are no LASTMA officials where traffic lights are, we zoom past.

Not wearing helmets while on bikes: I am sometimes guilty of this. I agree that most of us will not want to wear the helmets because it is dirty and sometimes wet; but there is a law in place and it is for our own good that we obey it. We could mimic some people and put a handkerchief on our head before wearing the helmet, as long as we wear it.

It pays to do things right. It saves us from unnecessary wahala. 

CLOSE CALL

I work in a cash center in Kirikiri and because of the terrible traffic along my route, I prefer to follow my dispatch man on his bike back to my main branch in Apapa. One sunny day, we took off as usual, both of us wearing our huge sunglasses. There I was, enjoying the scenery and taking in the fumes from the tankers and trailers, when a bike carrying a fine guy passed us. We were stuck in traffic for a while, but it eventually eased up a little and bikes could move on. The bike with the fine guy moved on and we followed. Suddenly, a bus driver on our right side opened his driver's door without looking in the mirror and hit the bike carrying the fine guy down right in front of a trailer loaded with two containers. Thank God for everyone that screamed. Thank God the trailer had a functional brake. Thank God for the driver of the trailer that was level headed and sharp. He stepped on the brake and stopped immediately.

The okada man and fine guy got up immediately and moved to the sidewalk. The fine guy jumped the crossing that demarcates both lanes of the road, quickly crossed to the other side of the road and continued walking as if nothing had happened. It was a bit comical to me, but I am sure the guy was still in shock and couldn't believe what he just went through. God must have been on the lookout for him that day. My dispatch guy and I continued our journey whilst giving thanks to God for the near fatal accident that was averted. I don't know what happened to the bus driver. He must have received a lot of abuses from people around, but hopefully no beating. I wondered to myself what he opened his door to do at that instance. Did he want to urinate in the broad daylight in the middle of the road? Did he want to see how far the traffic was and maybe develop wings for his bus? Whatever his reason was, that was a wrong move he made. It could have been me knocked down right in front of that trailer, because I was directly behind the fine guy. Thank God for His mercies.

SLEEP AND I (BEST OF FRIENDS)

I have always hated mornings for as long as I can remember. No, let me rephrase it, mornings when i have to wake up early are such a drag for me. At night, I put a kettle of water on the cooker before going to bed. When my alarm goes off in the morning, I grudgingly get out of bed, turn on the nob of the cooker and quickly crawl back into bed for a few extra minutes of sleep. It's a wonder that I make it to the office on time (well most of the time). I stay in Surulere and work in Apapa and I always give thanks to God that I don't work on the Island. Friends that work there say, after a while, you will get used to waking up very early to beat the traffic. Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I still haven't even gotten used to waking up and leaving for work at 7am.

I have joked about my wedding being in the evening so I can enjoy my morning sleep and also because I do not like the sun. I have often wondered how I'm going to cope when I get married and start having kids. Guess I will cross that bridge when I get there and maybe then, I will get used to it by force, by fire, because I will have more responsibilities.

I hear people say that they have gotten so used to waking up early even on weekends, and they no longer need their alarms. I hail such people o. I watched a commercial once on Dstv about a singing alarm on wheels. When it goes off, it rolls to an obscure part of your room while still singing. You will be forced to wake up and search for it before you can turn it off. Hmmmm, maybe this is the kind of alarm clock I need, that is if I don't smash it against the wall one day.

I get so excited as Fridays approach. When I say TGIF, it's not because I have any wonderful things to do over the weekend. Nope, no weddings or outings. I'm just super excited that I get to sleep in for as late as I want to and without an alarm going off and disrupting my lovely sleep.

TRIBUTE TO MY MUM

I dedicate this blog to my mum. She was one of the people I used to gist about my escapades at work. I couldn't wait to get home each day to tell her about any major events that occurred at work. She would say things like "Chukwu agaghi ekwe ka ihe obuna mey gi" (God will not let any evil befall you).
Mum, exactly today, two years ago, you went to be with the Lord because you needed to rest. We all miss your extra large heart and super woman strength, but it warms my heart to know you are in a better place. I know you are grooving and smiling down on us as we make progress in life. I celebrate today and always, the beautiful life you lived.
Love you loads Mum. Muaaahhhhhhhh.