Dear lovely people,
It was Samson’s first day at work as a
newly appointed Director at the Ministry of Health. He was excited and
motivated to change things, to set a new pace and to get things happening. One
evening just six months later, a disconsolate Samson got home to his waiting
wife. His wife had noticed earlier that each passing month left the once
radiant Samson the more deflated. That evening, she decided she was going to
dig to the bottom of this sudden turn of things. Coincidentally, Samson had had
it to the brim and was ready to spill it out.
Samson met a disheartening showdown at
the Ministry than he could have ever imagined. He realized the Ministry was
filled up every day by health workers from all corners of the country who spent
a lot of time chasing advancement files than doing the work in the field for
which they are paid. The Ministry personnel on their part have made things
unbearable. For every action taken on a file, it must be monetized. People
shamelessly asked for payment to do the work for which they are already paid by
the state and so the level of corruption has gone deep into their bone marrows.
One day, Samson was completely thrown
out of himself. He found out that a file he would normally handle in less than
an hour, his colleague did in two months after extorting a heavy sum of money
from the file owner. Ministry staff where capable of keeping a worker’s file
for as long as a year without treating it if the benefactor did not bribe them
and they cared the least if the worker has to come to the Ministry every single
day for follow-up. This alone was a nightmare to Samson and drained his energy.
At one point, Samson had critical
financial difficulties and badly needed. So many bills to pay and other urgent
family issues to handle but he had nothing. He was in his office one afternoon when
a man walked in and proposed a huge sum of money in order for Samson to speed
up work on his file. It happened to be a file Samson was sure to complete
before close of business that day. In his own words he says, “I
was stunned. I looked him in the eyes and told him to leave my office then I rushed
into my office restroom. I looked at myself in the mirror, tears were coursing
down my cheeks, I spoke to the ‘me’ in the mirror 'you can be different', you
don't have to be like them'. I washed my face off and returned to the office. The
man was gone”
It made all the difference. It was an
epiphany that struck at a very ungodly moment. Samson took a decision never to
be involved in any act of corruption and to openly decry any corrupt act around
him. His unbending determination and widely acclaimed action made the Minister
of Health to appoint him to a prestigious position as Chair of an
Intra-Ministerial Anti-corruption Committee. He was equally to sit on the board
of the National Anti-Corruption Commission set up by the President of the
Republic.
Trust me, Samson became successful in
life and never felt the need to condone corrupt practices around him that were
damaging to other people. He could be himself. The rancor bubbling in the
eyes of some of his colleagues towards him for putting things straight was far
less than the pain in his soul back at the time when he would condone their
corrupt practices.
Samson says he will live to remember
that brief moment he spent in his office restroom and the powerful self-affirmation
he made - 'you can be different', you don't have to be like them'.
In all that you do and no matter the circumstances you find
yourself in, you can truly be
different.
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