In February 2014 I traveled to Lagos, funny enough for the first time. it was largely a nice trip. met most of the friends I wanted to see. got around the city, got all the special treatment my host could afford. and above all, made news friends and encouraged others about giving their all to Jehovah and satisfied that i did not do anything to soil his name.
It was Monday morning, I had already been advised by my host that they usually start the day as early as 5:30 am. so I was dressed and set to return to the branch office in Benin. Seating behind with his wife in front we drove off biding farewell to a city that is unquestionably the largest in Nigeria. The traffic was much and we got to the park at about 7:15 a.m. 'Safe trip' he said and zoomed off. I carefully scanned for the most comfortable bus around that was almost filled and requested for a ticket. The bus conductor was eager to issue one to me and with all zeal, I reached for my wallet behind my trouser bucket and behold it has vanished!!! My ATM card and other documents were gone.
Without panicking, I simply moved out of the line to a nearby bus that was empty and checked through my luggage for the wallet. In this sea of people where could I begin? at this point i began to recollect all the conductor's who came to me when I came off the car to assist in locating a bus going to my destination. SURELY one of them most have taken my wallet I said to myself. at this point I became angry and disappointed in this place called 'Lagos'. Then some of the park workers approached me, one of them was a driver and the following conversation issued:
Driver: Sir do you need a ticket to Benin?
Me: Yes please, but my wallet was stolen a few minutes ago by one of your park conductor's.
Driver: Sorry about that he said as his face changed since to him this is not a potential passenger to Benin anymore. The suspicious looking conductor quickly tried to leave the scene when he heard that a wallet was missing. I almost confronted him to specifically demand for my wallet because i could identify him among those who came to me when I came off the vehicle.
After about 20 minutes, I was left with no choice but to call my host and tell him about my predicaments. in a show of immense self-sacrifice he drove back to the scene with his wife who was already late for work! an act that I would eternally remain grateful. 'Sorry my brother, this is Lagos' he said consolingly. in no time i was on a bus back to Benin. I left Lagos with mixed feelings of both joy and anger. angry because I did not stand up to demand for my wallet from someone i was so CONVINCED had stolen it.
After two weeks of getting over the incident, I received a call from my host with the following words:'You will be happy to know that we found your wallet in the guest room where you slept!' I was speechless but full of thanks to him. my wallet and its contents were intact and was sent to me within two days.
At this point I paused and reminisced on what had happened at the park. I realized that I had accused the conductor at the park wrongly. he was certainly INNOCENT regarding my missing wallet. I shuddered to think about what could have happened if I had confronted him to demand for a wallet he knew nothing about. I earnestly thanked Jehovah that I did not!
For me the lesson was immense. I learned never to judge people by what I perceive to be true. In life we sometimes blame people assuming that they may or may not have done something that affected us. but some times without clear evidence, we could just have passed an undeserved judgement to an innocent person. So when next you begin to convince yourself that someone may have done something bad to you, if you do not have clear evidence please give them the benefit of the doubt and move on. Jehovah will never allow us to face problems that we cannot handle. so always rely on him in times where their seems to be no tangible reason not to believe in our own flawed reasoning. I LEARNED NEVER TO MISJUDGE PEOPLE.
It was Monday morning, I had already been advised by my host that they usually start the day as early as 5:30 am. so I was dressed and set to return to the branch office in Benin. Seating behind with his wife in front we drove off biding farewell to a city that is unquestionably the largest in Nigeria. The traffic was much and we got to the park at about 7:15 a.m. 'Safe trip' he said and zoomed off. I carefully scanned for the most comfortable bus around that was almost filled and requested for a ticket. The bus conductor was eager to issue one to me and with all zeal, I reached for my wallet behind my trouser bucket and behold it has vanished!!! My ATM card and other documents were gone.
Without panicking, I simply moved out of the line to a nearby bus that was empty and checked through my luggage for the wallet. In this sea of people where could I begin? at this point i began to recollect all the conductor's who came to me when I came off the car to assist in locating a bus going to my destination. SURELY one of them most have taken my wallet I said to myself. at this point I became angry and disappointed in this place called 'Lagos'. Then some of the park workers approached me, one of them was a driver and the following conversation issued:
Driver: Sir do you need a ticket to Benin?
Me: Yes please, but my wallet was stolen a few minutes ago by one of your park conductor's.
Driver: Sorry about that he said as his face changed since to him this is not a potential passenger to Benin anymore. The suspicious looking conductor quickly tried to leave the scene when he heard that a wallet was missing. I almost confronted him to specifically demand for my wallet because i could identify him among those who came to me when I came off the vehicle.
After about 20 minutes, I was left with no choice but to call my host and tell him about my predicaments. in a show of immense self-sacrifice he drove back to the scene with his wife who was already late for work! an act that I would eternally remain grateful. 'Sorry my brother, this is Lagos' he said consolingly. in no time i was on a bus back to Benin. I left Lagos with mixed feelings of both joy and anger. angry because I did not stand up to demand for my wallet from someone i was so CONVINCED had stolen it.
After two weeks of getting over the incident, I received a call from my host with the following words:'You will be happy to know that we found your wallet in the guest room where you slept!' I was speechless but full of thanks to him. my wallet and its contents were intact and was sent to me within two days.
At this point I paused and reminisced on what had happened at the park. I realized that I had accused the conductor at the park wrongly. he was certainly INNOCENT regarding my missing wallet. I shuddered to think about what could have happened if I had confronted him to demand for a wallet he knew nothing about. I earnestly thanked Jehovah that I did not!
For me the lesson was immense. I learned never to judge people by what I perceive to be true. In life we sometimes blame people assuming that they may or may not have done something that affected us. but some times without clear evidence, we could just have passed an undeserved judgement to an innocent person. So when next you begin to convince yourself that someone may have done something bad to you, if you do not have clear evidence please give them the benefit of the doubt and move on. Jehovah will never allow us to face problems that we cannot handle. so always rely on him in times where their seems to be no tangible reason not to believe in our own flawed reasoning. I LEARNED NEVER TO MISJUDGE PEOPLE.
