The Life of a Job Seeker: Episode 13

EPISODE 13: THE CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR GIFT

Its new year!

Kobi walked to his junction to bring home his friend, Joewie who travelled to celebrate new year with him.

On their way home, they spotted a small gathering of excited people around a van that was filled with expensive gadgets. Curiously, they diverted to see what was happening.

A man from the gathering informed them; “na promo dem dey do. With N10,000 you fit win very big something”. As they were conversing, another man interrupted in excitement; “I just won a big plasma with N10,000”. “How does it work”, Joewie inquired. The man replied, all you need to do is stake N10,000, then pick a paper from that basket, whatever is written in the paper is what you would get.

The Conviction

In their presence, a man staked N10,000 and won a Refrigerator. Another woman staked N10,000 and won a laptop.

“This is amazing, lets give it a try” Joewie said. But Kobi was hesitant. “I can’t afford to lose 10k at the moment, because I don’t have much money”. As they were discussing, someone interrupted them; “It’s a safe game, because you aren’t losing anything. Nothing you win is going to be worth less than the amount you stake as all the gadget here worth over N10,000”.

As they contemplated on whether to stake or not, another man staked and won a big microwave. Kobi became convinced that it was legit, so they joined the queue to stake. They said, “we can as well sell the item and get cool cash”.

The Trial

Joewie staked first and won a 42 Inch TV. Amazing! He exclaimed. Kobi staked and won an iPad. Instantly, Joewie placed a call to his sister to send some money to his account, and he staked one more time. This time, he won a laptop. They were so excited and wished they had more to stake with.

But the promoters were not even willing to wait more, they left in a hurry stating they had other places to go.

With N1,000 naira, Kobi and Joewie shuttled a taxi to help them transport the finely packed fragile items to Kobi’s house.  Kobi’s family were delighted when they learnt of their wins.

Unveiling the Boxes

Finally, it was time to unveil the gadgets. With care, Kobi opened the iPad pack and everyone was shocked by the content. Instead of a finely packed iPad, the pack contained a Happy New Year card. Immediately, Joewie unpacked his boxes, and in them were slabs bearing the message, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”

They couldn’t believe their eyes. As they wailed, Mr Salami, a poor farmer who lived in an isolated hut watched them. Soon he grabbed them by their hands and walked them to a mango tree to discuss with them.

He said, I am going to share my unbelievable life story with you, and hopefully, you would learn from it.

Mr Salami’s Story.

Gambling you see is not a nice game, for in the end, even if you win, you may end up losing what you might have gained from it and more.

Once upon a time, I used to be wealthy. I worked with a bank that earned me N500,000 on a monthly basis. As a bachelor, I lived happily in a comfortable 2-bedroom apartment. How sweet life was!

One day, a friend introduced me to gambling. I thought that was not a very good idea, but looking at how extravagant Toba was living and how happy he flaunts his wins, I was tempted to give it a try. But the truth is, every gambler who wants to initiate someone will always want to impress by flaunting their wins and never talk about their loses.

In the beginning, I only gambled with what I could afford to lose. Soon I realized that the higher I staked, the bigger I am likely to win, so I started staking more. I was cashing out and the loss was minimal. Within 5 months, I made up to 2 Million Naira from gambling. The more I won, the greedier I became for more.

With my earnings, I built a luxurious apartment in the city centre; I got married to pretty Nana. How beautiful life was, he sighed!

The Peril

Soon, my job at the bank appeared as stress to me. Since on several occasions, I won over 3 times my monthly salary without stress by gambling, I decided to quit my job to focus on the real deal. That was when I started losing it; I deliberately lost my job!

Within 4 months of my marriage, I started losing big in my game than I was winning. At first, I tagged the bad luck to my newly wedded bride; I said she must be jinxed.

But, rather than quitting, I gambled more and lost more. When I exhausted my cash, I borrowed from friends and lost. I gambled with my car and lost. My wife pleaded that I quit gambling but I told her, life itself is a gamble, I won’t quit until I recover my losses. The more I lost, the more I gambled again to recover my loses.

I gambled with my house and lost it! I was given 3 months to leave my house, and I couldn’t bear to tell my wife about it.

Since I couldn’t afford to lose it all, and yet I had nothing to gamble with anymore, I took the chance and gambled with my wife without her consent and I lost. Mr Thompson whom I lost Nana to was supposed to return her to me after housing her for a period of 1 week, but today, they are happily married with 3 children. Nana refused to return to me.

Lost Hope

Ego did not allow me take up any average job, for, I had enjoyed better life. Soon I was thrown out of my house; my very own house! With shame, I had to relocate to this village where nobody knew me and started a life as a poor farmer. Until, I die, I don’t think I would ever step my feet in Lagos to avoid the wrath of over 15 people that I loaned money from to gamble, and I am yet to repay.

I have lost hope in life for I don’t think any job can help me recover my loses. If I had my way, I would have committed suicide out of depression but I am afraid of dying. Therefore, I have chosen to live quietly as a poor farmer until death comes to take me away in peace.

Lesson 8: Gambling isn’t such a nice idea. It is addictive; the more you win, the greedier you become, and the more you lose, the more you would want to gamble to recover your loses. In the end, you might lose what you gained from it and more.

Therefore, I encourage all readers to avoid gambling in this new year, 2022 and focus on legit businesses.

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