Photo Credit: Kristina Flour
With that victory that shut the mouth of the boaster, tension increased within the team. The campaign from local government to local government was successful and a good distraction for me. I went about my work but with no contributions from any of them. It was a two week campaign and their participation on the job continued to decline. At the beginning their behavior was a major cause for concern to me. But I couldn’t let it drain my own energy instead it made me work twice as hard.
I remember one time, in the middle of the civil service reform campaign, during our sessions with my boss, my boss talked about the positive engagement he was getting on his twitter timeline because of the designs of that particular week. Then he turns to me and says, “who is the graphic artist you’re using to create those memes?” And slowly I raised my hand and replied, “I sir, I do the designs….” He was so pleasantly surprised and immediately announced that would be rewarded at once. It was a cash prize of N50,000. Of course after that incidence I heard a lot of bickering about how it was team effort and we were working as a team.
On the other hand what that did for me was more than encourage me, it was a great boost of energy. It told me my hardwork wasn’t going unnoticed and that I mustn’t quit trying to stay above the menace. Under different circumstances, their laxity could have caused great damages assuming I was a block head for instance. Thank God that wasn’t the case. I actually do know my job and possess a variety of skills that made it completely impossible for them to sabotage my efforts. Also, don’t forget the civil servants on the team, they the ones who became my saving grace; were available for brainstorming and provided me with sufficient content to work with.
This was how I stayed above water level. Like I said, everyday I mustered new strength from above to move on.
Then the town hall meeting campaigns came to an end. One night, I saw a message on our WhatsApp group about a meeting. The convener was not my boss but a level 15 officer in the ministry who headed the civil service unit that worked with me. He was a man of like passions as the guys. He had grown envious of the funds I was given and therefore became suspicious of how the funds were disbursed. He’d also imagined that my boss had given me funds enough to buy mobile phones for everyone on my team and wanted to know why he didn’t get a new mobile phone.
I knew all these without being told. I could sense the dark clouds gathering. This meeting was a trap. It was about 11pm that night when I saw the message on WhatsApp and my sleep fled from my eyes. I sat up and beseeched the Lord.
I remained silent for a long time not knowing how to phrase my prayer or what to say. I just sat there gaping at my Bible not knowing where to begin. “Lord, I don’t know how to pray this prayer, please show me how. Give me a scripture…there is a scripture I need but I cannot seem to recall it… Help me Lord…” I needed a word to stand upon, an anchor, a pillar to rest my frail weight. I was afraid. I didn’t know what to expect at that meeting. I could sense their animosity from a thousand miles. As I meditated, brooding in the Holy Ghost, an answer came. It was loud and clear and it sliced through the quiet of the night and reached my ears. ‘David’s prayer concerning Ahitophel!’ And immediately I shouted, “YES!!! YES LORD! That is the scripture. Oh, Holy Spirit thank You!!”
Immediately, I began to chant, “Lord, turn the counsel of Ahitophel to naught!” I must have read out loud a hundred translations of that scripture on Biblehub.com. The prayer lasted less than a minute. It was however so potent, I was confident that all I needed was a reminder that God’s word was the same yesterday, today and forever. If He showed up for David my ancestor, He would show up for me. I concluded the prayer and went back to bed. I slept like a baby.
The following day, the meeting didn’t hold as scheduled. Other events got in the way and then finally I was called upon about 1pm. It was holding at H.O.D’s office. I remember trying to steady my nerves as I approached the door. I whispered a prayer asking the Lord to hold me. My heart was racing a million miles per sec. And my hands shook slightly. I got in and sat down. The small office was crammed with all my accusers.
And the air was thick with the breath of leviathan. I sat down, crossed my legs and waited.
Psalm 103:5 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
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