Life is in Phases

• Life is in phases. There was a time in this Country when Secondary School Certificate was considered basic requirement for seeking employment in parastatals and business organizations, as a result of the level of the nation’s civilization. During the era, graduates were always in demand and valued. They command enormous preference, and were indeed assets to their respective families. Every father desired to be addressed as the daddy of Engineers, Medical Doctor, Accountant, Lawyer etc.

  The demand placed on the then graduates drove every parent to encourage his child to study in a higher Institution. Parents believe that as the child graduates from school, he/she would be employed as usual, and afterward better the lot of the family. Some go as far as augmenting their qualifications with professional certificates, believing that as they graduate from college, they would be employed as usual, and afterward better the lot of their individual families. What a dream! The nation’s present oversaturated labour market has proven this belief a mere flight of the imagination. A thorough assessment of the rate of employment in the past Fifteen years reveals a graphical situation of drastic decline, yet, tens of thousands of tertiary students are warming up to submit to fate.

  I know many employers of labour would disagree with this argument, on the basis of the number of business organizations in Nigeria recruiting fresh graduates to work with their firm. There is a clear difference between recruitment and employment; someone could be recruited to work and still not be employed. What many youths celebrate in Nigeria today is underemployment; a situation where graduates compete during job interviews to receive N15,000.00 as monthly take-home pay. Reliance on this income alone would be tantamount to waste of life, as there is literally little or nothing to save after transportation, feeding and other basic spending. If you imbibe this culture, you may end in penury.

  It is true that, like Joseph, God could use you to bless your company (Genesis 39:2). But of all you heap-up for your company, your only entitlements are your basic salary and other allowances which have been pre-determined. Also, there is no job guarantee anywhere these days, because a Pharaoh “which knew not Joseph” may assume leadership, scheme you out of limelight, and empower his loyalists (Exodus 1:8).

  Also, have you considered the routine involved in working in a company for someone else? Like Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo said, “you wake up in the morning, rush to work, come back home and have some food, watch television and go to bed. Another day you do the same thing; wake up in the morning, rush to work, come back home and have some food, watch television and go to bed.” Before you could say ‘jack’, the future has met you where you are. And there is nothing to show for your several years of being enslaved by ordinary men like yourself, but with extra-ordinary determination to succeed. That will not be your story in Jesus’ name.

  As much as I subscribe to starting life under a boss, I do not succumb to absolute dependence on the salary as the only source of income. You need to create streams of income for you to achieve an ocean of wealth. The blessings of God flowing from His inexhaustible fountain cannot be maximally drawn for all-inclusive financial fruitfulness through one source. This is scriptural. This I explained elaborately in one of my write-ups- the futility of a pay cheque

  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. – Gen 2:10-14

  One river would not have successfully watered the entire region in question: Havilah, Ethiopia, Assyria and the last land which was not mentioned. God in His infinite wisdom had to channel the blessings through four means, to make fruitful every area of the region. So, in a contemporary language, river Pison could connote your salary from a job you picked up with an organization, budgeted to cater for Accommodation and other assets, while river Gihon could connote your income from consulting services you render, budgeted to cater for food and clothing, river Hiddekel could connote income from sales of goods you produce, budgeted to cater for kingdom expansion, and river Euphrates could connote income from farming, budgeted to cater for family members.

  Many of us defend our lethargic lifestyle with Ecclesiastes 2:26 “To the sinner He giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God”. Yeah! I love unmerited favour, but it is for workers; not loafers! The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 that “if any would not work, neither should he eat.” Jesus expects us to do business till he comes. In Matthew 25: 14 – 30, he revealed the purpose for which we are endowed – to trade profitably. The Psalmist also communicated the need to be enterprising to us. In Psalm 1:3, it is written that whatsoever a child of God does shall prosper. Deuteronomy 30:9 says “And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand…” So, if you do nothing, what will God bless?

 

Yours Sincerely,

Emmanuel Idenyi-Shaibu ICEN, NIMN

The Millennium Entrepreneur

idenyi1@yahoo.com

08036151760

Federal Lowcost, Jos

Plateau State.