By Johnson Babalola
“Hello my son, how are you?”
“Very well Pastor. Thank you for allowing me to speak with you”
“Not a problem. We are all here to support one another. I might be the one needing your support tomorrow”
“Certainly sir. I am here to talk about my father”
“What about him?”
“The Witches are dealing with him badly”
“We will spiritually banish them to where they belong. But how are they dealing with him?”
“He said the business entrusted in his hands by the people to manage is broke because of their involvement”
“Witches wreck havocs wherever they step into. We must deal with them”
“I pray that you step in as soon as possible sir”
“Is your father born again?”
“He gives generously in case that counts”
“That may count”
“But he can be selective about it and often gets his priorities wrong too”
“What do you mean?”
“The other day, he awarded a contract to a company to supply Christmas turkeys to members of our church for N10 Million”
“That’s great. You must have a lot of members in your church”
“About 100”
“Must be turkeys that lay golden eggs’
“He said they were to support the people”
“The beneficiaries must be special”
“He had a contract award ceremony and invited his friends from other businesses to launch the award of the contract”
“Your father must be a people person”
“He chartered private flights for them to attend, put them in 5-star hotels, provided food, entertainment and had ten television stations beam it live for a total cost of N250 Million”
“He must care very much about his friends, image and legacy”
“Then a week later, the headmaster of the primary school he attended in our village came to visit him”
“He must be elated to meet with the head of the school that started the construction of the road to his academic journey and success”
“He was very happy. He gave him food and Champagne which we have at home in abundance”
“Blessed are those that feed others”
“Then the headmaster asked for some help with the school”
“Assistance?”
“Yes. The school lacks infrastructure. No electricity. No water. The classrooms have no windows or ceilings. Some of them have no roofs and they lack teaching materials and subject matter teachers. Most of the pupils have never seen computers”
“The story of many schools”
“I know. He had a long list. He said he only wanted assistance from my father to provide water for the school as soon as possible”
“Cost?”
“N500,000”
“And?”
“My father said the people’s business was broke. He said both local and foreign loans obtained on behalf of the business were gone. He said Witches had been depleting the resources of the business. He told the headmaster he needed help to deliver the business from their grips. The headmaster left disappointed. I come for your help sir”
“Have you spoken with your dad about this?”
“Yes. He said we (myself, my mom, my uncle, his best friend, and others) have no leadership skills to advise him. He labels us as too young, old, uneducated, and so on. He believes he is the only wise one”
“I can certainly assist through spiritual interventions. I will call my team of Prayer Warriors to help deliver your dad and the people’s business from the grips of Witches who are attacking the business through some unwanted spirits that include greed, lack of strategic thinking, pride, controlling, lack of financial prudence, lack of transparency, lack of accountability, poor listening skills, rigidity and many more. We must pray them out of him as soon as possible”
“Thank you, sir. I hope you can achieve this given that I learnt my grandfather, great-grandfather and those before them that managed the business were like that too”
“My team and I will do our best to deliver your father from the grips of these Witches and without a doubt, we will be successful. The future of people’s business is good. Your generation will tell a positive story about the business. Amen”
“Amen Pastor”
“”Continue to stay engaged and involved. Don’t give up until you achieve a positive change in the business”
“Okay sir. We are just getting tired!”
“Don’t be tired. By the way, what’s the name of the people’s business?”
“Naija Unincorporated sir”
*Johnson Babalola, a Canada based lawyer and management consultant, is a public affairs analyst.