#GRATITUDECHALLENGE: DAY FIVE - MY VISION

By July, 1997, I knew I would not be returning to my job as a Senior Bank Examiner in the Field Examination Department of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). I had been on secondment from NDIC since September, 1995, as an appointee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on the Management Board of Merchant Bank of Africa (MBA) as the Executive Director in charge of Operations and Corporate Services. Even while in that position, the Executive Management of NDIC had assigned me to lead the Routine Examination of Citizens Bank and the Special Investigation of Gateway Bank in addition to my role in MBA.

It was while I was on the Gateway Bank engagement that the idea of starting a Bank Consulting Company came to me. I figured that if I was being called upon to carry out bank examinations even while away on secondment, I could as well pioneer a business that would serve the CBN and NDIC as an independent Bank Examination Company as envisaged by the CBN Act and the NDIC Act. I articulated a concept paper and thought of selling the idea to Andersen Consulting. I spoke with the American guy who was then leading the firm's audit practice. I think his name was Steve Riddick. Steve knew me because the Management of NDIC had requested for Arthur Andersen (AA) to provide two of their staff to join the investigation team which I led to Gateway Bank because of the political sensitivity of the assignment. Steve spoke with Pastor Bode Ososami who was heading their Human Resource practice and a written test was arranged for me.

At that time, I had 10 years post-graduate experience and I had just been promoted in NDIC to the level of a Senior Manager for exceptional performance as a "High Flyer" as they called it. I did not think giving me an entry level aptitude test was the best way to appraise me. Till this day, I do not know what I scored in the test. I was later told that AA did not bother with telling those who failed their test what they scored! LOL! You can imagine how insulted I felt! Little did I know that God was the One at work: He did not want me to remain an employee.

Interestingly, before I left my office in MBA for AA the morning of the test, I was reading the Book of Genesis and the story of how Tamar gave birth to Pharez and Zarah in Chapter 38 made a strong impression on me. Judah unknowingly had a one-night-stand with Tamar, the daughter-in-law whose two previous husbands had been killed by God for their wickedness, and she got pregnant. When she was to deliver, the midwife discovered there were twins and she presumed the one who had brought out a hand was the first and hurriedly tied a red thread on his hand. Miraculously, the one whom she thought was the second came out first and she exclaimed "How have you broken forth for yourself!". So the child was called Pharez which means to "make a breach and BREAK-FORTH!". Jesus Christ is a Descendant of Pharez!!

As I was being driven back to my office, it dawned on me that I should not sell the idea of the independent Bank Examination Company to any one. It hit me that I should start a company for that purpose and call it Pharez!!

So I resigned from NDIC in September, 1997. Mr. John Ebhodaghe and Mr. Ballama Manu, the Managing Director and Executive Director, Operations, of NDIC, respectively, were surprised as were my colleagues. Was I OK? How can you be enjoying such acclaim and dump a very promising career. God had spoken to me!

It's been 17 years since I left a very well-paid job to become an employer. Being a values-driven entrepreneur in Nigeria is very challenging. Making money and making it big is easy here...... if you have no qualms paying bribes and fronting for those giving out the jobs!

But God has been Faithful. Despite the enormous challenges, God has made Pharez a brand which is respected in the banking sector in Nigeria. We have since grown to have three subsidiaries: Pharez Ratings Ltd., Pharez HCD Ltd., and Pharez Consulting. Our alumni (our ex-staff) are over 100. I am grateful to God for all the people connected to our employees and former employees whom God has used Pharez to feed, house, clothe, educate etc.

I have not yet seen all that God told me He would do through Pharez back in 1997, but we are on course. The Vision always speaks in the end.

Today, I am grateful for Pharez. I thank God for the Vision. I thank God for my 38 shareholders. I thank God for my Directors; past and present. I thank God for our staff; past and present. I thank God for our clients.

Praise God! The Breaker has gone ahead of us and PHAREZ IS BREAKING FORTH! Halleluyah!

#GRATITUDECHALLENGE: DAY FOUR - MY HEALTH

All I remember is that I was being helped off the floor by some of my classmates. Apparently, I had fainted during the Assembly. It was sometime in 1979/1980 and I was in Form Two. I was taken to the Sick Bay but they could not tell why I had fainted. My Dad later took me to the Military Hospital on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, and they ran some tests on me. We were told I had Sickle Cell Anaemia! My Dad was shocked; I was 12 years old and he was just... being told I was a sickler. I remember vividly how I cried all the way home from the hospital. I am a sickler! I am going to die! I won't live to be 25 years old! I was inconsolable. With a lump in his throat, my Dad assured me that whatever he and my Mum had to do they would ensure that I did not die.


Some more tests were done later and they all confirmed that my genotype was SS.
There is nothing as agonising as the pains of a sickle cell crisis. The pain arises when the red blood cells lose oxygen and take on a sickle-like shape which then clog up the flow of blood. The pains are excruciating.


I am now 47 years and five months old. My God delivered me from Sickle Cell Anaemia several years ago. I am not on any sort of medication despite my hectic work life. I went for a full medical check-up sometime ago and the doctor said that I was in "perfect health" and that he would not even have believed that my genotype was SS had he not known my medical history.


Today, I am grateful for my healing and my heath. My God, JEHOVAH RAPHA, my Healer, has done me well. The stripes Jesus bore on His Body availed for me. He made me WHOLE!


Praise God! Halleluyah!!

#GRATITUDECHALLENGE: DAY THREE - MY BEST FRIEND

I imagine that some people get irritated when someone comes on social media and writes flowery things in praise of his/her spouse on their Wedding Anniversary or Birthdays. No one ever says how bad his/her spouse is. I can imagine a reader rolling his/her eyes in disbelief and cynically saying: "Really?!". Every marriage is blissful, happy, "made in Heaven".....on Facebook. Every spouse is loving, thoughtful, kind, faithful, wonderful.....on Facebook. Those who know the couple in real life are usually appalled by the hypocrisy of such posts. They are familiar with their frequent quarrels; they know about the battery and abuse; they know how fragile the union really is. They are not deceived and they are not impressed.


I have also been effusive with praise for my wife on her Birthdays and our Wedding Anniversaries. Our 22nd Wedding Anniversary was just a few days ago and, once again, I let the world know how blessed I am to have Awesiri as my wife. What is different in our case is that those who know us personally do actually bear witness that we have something truly special.


Those who have interacted with me know I am not the nicest of people. LOL! Yeah, I know: I am opinionated, too blunt, undiplomatic, forward, arrogant.....maybe even worse. We are growing and God is helping us.


So Awesiri must be truly exceptional to have coped with me all these years. Our story is really the stuff of love novels: we met as teenagers (we were both 17 years+ when we met on Christmas Day in 1984); we got engaged while just 20 years old; courted for 5 years; got married at 25; waited 19 years to have our son, Omoseona Isaiah Chukwuyenumkekanma Tobore Onyekachi; been in the valleys together; been on the mountain-tops together; and still deeply in love after all these years. Ours is not a fairy tale; it is real.


I am grateful to God for giving me Awesiri. I am thankful that I have a help-mate, a help-meet, who really is a helper. I am blessed that I have my Best Friend as my wife. I am glad that my marriage is indeed a foretaste of Heaven.


My wife inspires, energises, motivates and challenges me. Her spirituality is uncommon. My prayer life owes much to the example my wife's is. She is a genuine intercessor with an amazing Prophetic Anointing. I have often wondered why God speaks to my wife first on many issues. LOL! As God told Abraham, I have since learnt the wisdom of listening to my wife.


This third day of the #GratitudeChallenge, whom I am filled with gratitude to God for is AWESIRI NWAJI BOSE EYIEYIEN, MY WIFE. Thank you, LORD.


Praise God! Halleluyah!!

#GRATITUDECHALLENGE: DAY TWO - MY SALVATION

The thing that has most influenced my life is my Faith. My Faith underpins my beliefs, my marriage, my values, my relationships, my world-view, my lifestyle, my business, and my politics. What Would Jesus Do? What has God said? What is the Will of God? My life is God-centric.


So, I am grateful for Saturday, 16th April, 1983. It was about 11am when Rev. Dr. Kaiser Etta, who was then a student of Medicine at the University of Calabar, came to visit his younger brother (my friend and classmate), Kevin Etta, in our Fifth Form at King's College, Lagos. We were boarders and I recall that about 15 of us congregated around him in Hyde Johnson's House to greet him. After the usual pleasantries, he started preaching to us about Jesus Christ. Now, this was 1983, and the idea of being "born-again" was not a popular subject in those days. In truth, if I knew that would happen, I probably would have dodged. It was about 2 weeks before our University Matriculation Examination and most of us were looking forward to entering the University and becoming "free".


I do not remember all Dr. Etta said. But his words made an indelible impression on me. Though I had heard the salvation message before, it hit me afresh and I just knew what he shared was the Truth. He asked us to bow our heads and requested those of us who wanted to give our lives to Christ to repeat a prayer after him. I did. And, truly, my life has never been the same since that day.


I am thankful to God for Dr. Kaiser Etta's obedience to Him. I am thankful to God that I am born-again. I am thankful to God that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I am thankful that I have Eternal Life. I am thankful to God that He delivered me from the kingdom of darkness and translated me into the Kingdom of His Dear Son, Jesus Christ. I am thankful that my life has meaning and that I am Purpose-driven. I am thankful for my Salvation.


Praise God! Halleluyah!!

#GRATITUDECHALLENGE: DAY ONE - MY WEALTHY PLACE

I do not like to "go with the flow". If something is a fad, I am immediately put off. I am not a conformist. I am a Transformer!


It was my dear friend and brother, Steve Ideh, that first nominated me to take up the ‪#‎GratitudeChallenge‬ about two weeks ago. As some of you may know, the Gratitude Challenge has been trending on Facebook for some time now. Two other friends, Dr. Wilson Orhiunu and Phyoh Na, have been posting things (and the names of people) they are thankful to God for.


Yesterday, I had a second nomination from my sister, Olayemi Olaniyi.


And this evening I decided there are too many things (and people) I am grateful to God for that I should testify about God's Faithfulness in my life. For me, this is really not a challenge. There have been seasons in my life that I have struggled to be grateful. Those were times I got so caught up with my drive for "success" that I was deceived into thinking that I should have been farther ahead in my business, finances, ministry etc. It appeared then that I was a Prisoner of Hope. And the heart does get sick from hope deferred.


But that was then. This is now.


So, the very first thing I am grateful to God for is that He has brought me out into my Wealthy Place. I have gone through the fire and the flood. He caused men to ride over my head but, praise God, today He has caused me to find My Place and enter My Place. Halleluyah!


Interestingly, nay ironically, I am not actually better off materially and financially than the seasons I went through "hell and high worer" [as my mentor and friend, Pastor Paul Adefarasin would say]. The difference is that God has brought me into a Place of Settlement. It is a Place of Peace. It is a Place where I have ceased from my own labours. It is a Place wherein I soar with wings as an eagle; a Place where I run and I am not wearied. It is a Place of unspeakable joy which is full of glory.


Praise God, I am in My Place!

CORRUPTION: A LOOK INWARD

Most Nigerians love to complain about corruption and lament its negative effect in our nation. Corruption is bemoaned as the bane of Nigeria. We point to our poor public infrastructure and social services as the consequences of corruption. We fantasize about how great our country would be when we become corruption-free.

We even celebrate Governors who are "performing" even though there is proof that they properties and other assets which they own could not have been acquired from their public service salaries and allowances. We say we do not mind if they "chop" our money as long as they leave enough to patch our roads, clear garbage from our streets, plant flowers in select public spaces and provide services which, in other climes, are expected of the government.

We have been so let down by our governments over the last 54 years such that we have become too easy to impress. A Local Government Chairman who owes just three months salaries to the Local Government employees while he is building his third mansion and being driven around in a convoy of vehicles (including several choice ones like Range Rovers and Toyota Land Cruisers) on the untarred roads is applauded as "performing" as even by those who travel out of the country often and see how things are in better-governed places.

When a politically exposed person we like or to whom we are connected in some way (may be by religion, tribe, state of origin, geo-political zone, political party etc.) is accused of corruption and is put on trial, we are quick to rise to his/her defence. He/she is being persecuted we claim. After all, "Chief So and So" is also corrupt and has not been similarly charged. We never believe there is no ill motive for arraigning a public official accused of corruption. And we never have verifiable evidence against those we point to as being equally corrupt or probably more corrupt than "our man" (or woman).

And since every Nigerian loves to speak against corruption and corrupt people, who really are these corrupt Nigerians then?

Who then is taking bribes?
Who then is paying bribes?
Who then is inflating contracts?
Who then is that public servant that has companies with which he/she is awarding contracts to himself/herself contrary to the Public Service Rules and Regulations?
Who then is fronting for politically exposed persons?
Who then is opening the bank accounts for politically exposed persons and helping them launder their loot despite the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria's Know Your Customer Manual (KYC) and the regulations on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing?
Who are these corrupt Nigerians?
WHY ARE WE LIKE THIS?

Corruption is not about "You, "Him", "Her" or "Them". It is about ME.
Take a look at the person in the mirror. Yes, ME. And ask "Me" the following questions:
Do I take bribes?
Do I pay bribes?
Do I inflate contracts?
As a public servant, do I own a company or companies with which I award contracts to myself or my fronts contrary to the Public Service Rules and Regulations?
Am I fronting for politically exposed persons?
Have I been opening bank accounts for politically exposed persons and helping them launder their loot despite the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria's Know Your Customer Manual (KYC) and the regulations on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing?

Be honest now: AM I CORRUPT?

Nigeria will be no better than Nigerians.
LET US SACK CORRUPTION AND KLEPTOCRATS IN NIGERIA!
Join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stand.against.corruption.and.kleptocrats/

God bless Nigeria.

Nigeria di fure!