THE BOSS FOR ALL SEASONS

“My friend DDD called me yesterday. He told me that he was going through applications for employment sent to his firm and he came across one from one of my lawyers, one Zontong…”

My heart sank as my Boss said those words. I froze. So many questions raced through my mind that second ‘Why didn’t I tell my Boss before I applied for that job?’ ‘What was his response to Mr DDD?’ ‘What if he doesn’t really want me to leave?’ 

Ahhhhh he will sack me! It’s me that did myself o! 

“...I told him I knew about your application and he should give you the job… and that you have my blessings… I even told him I will come to Abuja to see him next week…” – these were the major things I picked from what Boss said afterwards.

Eh? I was numb and didn’t know what to say. Should I apologise for not telling him about this application? Should I just say thank you and leave? That was my dilemma that Wednesday afternoon in September. I was on leave (yes, lawyers too go on leave) and I came around the office to say hi to my colleagues.

I first met my Boss, a brilliant, excellent yet extremely humble lawyer in 2014 when I got an internship position in his firm, perhaps the busiest and best litigation firm in Jos. Very quiet and unassuming, he immediately became a model and all I wanted from that moment was to be like him. Fast forward to sometime in 2016, I was back to the firm after my Bar Part II at the Nigerian Law School and there he confirmed and encouraged what was then, just a desire – he showed me that I can be more than what Jos could offer. He showed me that to beat the competition ahead, I need to think bigger, aim higher, be better. 

My starting point was supposed to be my NYSC service year. I was posted to Gombe State and for a young ambitious lawyer, you could imagine the disappointment. Well, I didn’t seek redeployment. My Boss to the rescue, he ensured I didn’t waste away on the benches of the Ministry of Justice like most Corpers and got me a place in a good firm in Gombe. I concluded my service in December 2017, and before then, like every career driven person, I had packaged my job application and sent to a number of law firms, mostly in Lagos and Abuja. As usual, very few did anything more than the computer generated response to my application.

So there I was, back to the office in Jos in January 2018 to seek employment. Well, it was not as if I had any option. I couldn’t just pack my bags up and leave for Lagos or Abuja as was suggested by some friends. Those were extremely difficult times for me. The doubt, the fear, the cluelessness and confusion. I still get a shiver every time I think of me this time last year.  

Well, like a father receiving a son whose dreams were short-lived, he took me in but not without first reminding me of my conviction before I left. I never forgot, but until then, I knew my new conviction must be to keep working and remain faithful where God is nursing me right now while I wait for him to take me to where he’s planning to plant me. My Boss runs a mid-sized law firm and gets to work with everyone directly. Somehow, God granted me favour and I got access to every job, every task, and every brief. A junior couldn’t ask for more. And I loved and committed myself to every bit of it.

This led us to that conversation in September 2018. One of my application is finally yielding fruit at a time when my Boss has become my mentor and father. True to that father status, he followed up on my application until I was called and sat for the firm’s test and interview. I got to know at my last interview session with Mr DDD that although I passed the interview, I was not among the 10 highly qualified lawyers interviewed for the position. But I had what the rest did not - a glowing personal recommendation from my Boss on my person, my work ethic and prospects. I GOT THE JOB and I have since had an exciting 7 weeks with the firm before the December holidays.

As I meditate on my wins and losses for 2018, I cannot help but to thank God for the gift of bosses that have turned mentors, fathers and now destiny helpers. Beyond giving thanks, this has taught me perhaps the two biggest lessons I wish to take into 2019 going forward.

First, at the risk of being repetitive, I must keep working and remain faithful where God is nursing me right now while I wait for him to take me to where he’s planning to plant me. God used my experience and commitment during this waiting period to be the basis for the glowing recommendation I received. Imagine I was lazy and care-free about my work while bombarding God with prayers and firms with applications. That alone would have shut this door of opportunity when it opened. So no matter how small a thing I shall lay my hands to do, no matter how transient a responsibility is, I shall do it with the right attitude, giving it my all, knowing that God’s plans for me and maybe the whole world, is dependent on each step I take on that task.  

Secondly, we all look forward to that destiny helper that will swoop into our lives riding perhaps a G-Wagon or wearing some angelic drape, to bring that transformation we need in our lives and career. But the truth is, that destiny helper may just be someone we have been living with all our lives or since we started that job or internship or business. It may be our colleague or even employee or junior in the office. Just one word, one recommendation, one statement and our career or that goal is either made or marred. On the other hand, we may be that destiny helper to someone whose dream is dependent on that recommendation or goodwill from us. Will I, like my Boss be willing to give that recommendation, that help, that extra touch even if it doesn’t appear to serve my interest? 

I look forward to 2019 knowing the opportunity it’ll present to shape my future and that of many others day by day. 

For now, happy cheers to Mr SSO, the Boss for All Seasons and to the few out there like him, for the opportunity to be better, do greater and earn bigger. 

KIGAI MANDEY ZONTONG

Kigai is an Abuja based Legal Practitioner and Arbitrator. He can be reached through:

kigaizontong@gmail.com,       www.facebook.com/kigaiz, https://ng.linkedin.com/in/kigai-zontong-aciarb-uk-803626114

I'D NEVER MAKE IT TO 2019

It was that time of the year for me. Time to take stock. Sit by myself and reflect. And I didn't want to do it.  I did not have the mind. So I picked up my phone to go on William Uchemba's handle on IG or something. You know what we do to distract ourselves from life na. Anything but think about 2018. But before I could click on the instagram icon on my phone, I felt a tear trickling down my cheeks onto my phone screen.  I was too late.  I wiped them off immediately. But they continued strolling down my face. I lifted my chin upwards in a stupid attempt to have them return to the pit they came from. Still didn’t work. It was like the number, 2018, had triggered a water faucet in my body. It was just too much😫

 I knew the problem. Truth is I was too weak to admit it earlier. Maybe too ashamed to admit:
 I was tired... I am tired... Completely exhausted. 2018 took more than I had to give, more than I was ever willing to give. And I had not recovered.Was I Weak? Did it make sense that I just wanted to recover before facing the madness of a new year with its unreasonable expectations? I wanted to remain in 2018 small, just small Or would I be too late for 2019 by the time I recovered from the chaos of 2018? 2018 was just too much😫

How in God's name could a year not go according to any plan? I mean I didn’t have a lot of plans!  I was nowhere in the first 6months of the year. Absolutely nowhere. Instead, the faster I ran, the slower 2018 got. And when I couldn’t care less, it turned into an uncontrollable race car that almost gave me a heart attack. Everything I was pursuing in the first 7-8 months came in the space of days and I could barely breathe. I couldn’t handle it. I was always at extremes. Either laughing uncontrollably or crying so hard. Either very insecure or overly confident. Sometimes overwhelmed with peace but most times bedridden by anxiety.  Either too in love or completely fatigued by it. It was just too much 😫. . .

My back started to ache from sitting too long. I laid on my back with the tears now strolling into my ears. I remembered it all like yesterday. Only me got hired and resigned within 24 hours, lost serious documents--worth millions--that should have gotten me fired, and could not sleep for 3 days because of anxiety.  It was only when I took Habib yoghurt that I could sleep. I promise you it was not longer throat, it was a real medical condition😂  I remember the job applications and how my heart would sink from the rejections. I mean a girl can only take so many "Ls" in her life.  And then the confusion that followed. I remember the pain from losing money, from breaking my own heart. And yes I did, I really did break my own heart. 2018 was just too much 😫. And it took much more. But there were beautiful moments too. I remember mummy’s dance when the good news about our Opara came. Or watching my best friend kiss the love of her life. yuck. Or the exciting feeling of travelling thousands of miles pursuing my dreams and seeing my baby sister. Those moments, amongst many others, I can never forget. 

However, while I’m excited at the possibilities that simmer in 2019, I’m not in a hurry to say goodbye to 2018.  I’ll be foolish if I were. I made too many mistakes in 2018 and a new year does not automatically make me wiser. No new year new me nonsense this time. I tried it 2018, even posted slay debut picture on instagram 😂. It still did not work. Everything that happened in 2018 doesn’t vanish because of 2019. That’s not how life works.  2019 only exists because I went through 2018. And if I continue with this silly mentality of rushing into the new year a brand new person with 2000 resolutions I'll make the same mistakes over and over and over again. I'll be anxious about the same things over and over again. And though the years will change from 2018-2019-2020, I'll be stuck making the same mistakes--because I leave each year empty-handed, remembering the events but forgetting the lessons. I'd never make it to 2019.

So Ijeoma let's call a spade a spade. I wish you had more faith in 2018. Faith in yourself. Faith in God. I wished you prayed more and spoke to people less. You were always confused. I wish you were kinder to yourself. You are young and you will make mistakes. I wish you enjoyed the process, enjoyed the adventure rather than worry about things you couldn’t control. Worrying didn’t give you any more control.  I wish you weren’t so anxious and feeling you needed to help God do his part. You blew it. You pursued everything and got nothing. I wish you listened to God. You broke your own heart and you shouldn’t have. Most of the things you went through in 2018 were self-orchestrated. You felt you were more interested in your own success than God. You couldn't be more wrong.

In 2019, abeg let's agree not to do this again. There will be challenges. Accept it now. You will be uncertain about many things.  It's the truth. People will doubt you. but do not doubt yourself. Listen, do not be overwhelmed. Please don’t run mad like you did in 2018 😂. You are too old mbok! Pray and sleep. Trust God more.  I promise you your village people will leave you if you ignore them😂😂. And when your head begins to touch and you feel like your life is too slow, remember what Minika said, "Ijeoma, you are just right where you are supposed to be". So live a little.  Apply to become a cheerleader in school again. They have already rejected your first application 😂. 😂Keep applying, na them go tire last. This law you are studying is just a pot of beans with plantain back😂 My sister actually said, "Ijeoma, it is called plantain peel", it is plantain back joo, dont argue with a lawyer . Be happy.  Don’t walk around with the weight of the world on your shoulders. Do not usurp God's role. 

But I know you, you will not hear word. So just in case your village people are still on your matter 😂, let me tell you a secret for when the rollercoaster of 2019 begins. Let me tell you why you will still win like you always have. Why you still have an edge, even when 2019 will try like 2018 to take more than you have to give: if you went through 2018, 2017,2016,2015,2014… and did not die. Walahi, You cannot die again😂😂. HAPPY NEW YEAR!