Adapting To Sudden Wealth

I met a lady who worked in the bookshop of a church I once worked at several years ago. The lady was single, and she lived with her parents in their house in Shangisha. She was a graduate of OOU. She is of a very short height and moderate beauty, she also has a very warm heart, and she is of a very generous nature.
One day, the pastor of the church heard that this lady had bought a car, a Toyota Avalon that at the time was sold for about 1.2 million Naira. The pastor was shocked. This lady came from a poor background. She was earning eighty thousand Naira a month. She was not in any notable relationship. How could she afford such a car? Where did she get the money from? The pastor's wife laughed and told the pastor that it was likely the lady was making money off the books she was selling in the bookshop. It was the only logical conclusion. She was not the kind of lady a man would just buy a car for out of the blue. The pastor ordered an audit of the bookshop. He was very sure the lady was doing something illegal, and he was determined to catch her. The auditors worked meticulously for a week, but they found all the books in order. The pastor summoned the lady and stylishly interrogated her, but she saw through it and refused to explain herself to the pastor. She said, "God did it".

A week later, the pastor announced that the church would need to employ a new bookshop manager as he intended to transfer the lady to another department in the church. The lady came to my office at this point and said, "Brother Gbenga, why is the pastor doing this?" I explained to her that the pastor was not comfortable with her explanation as to how she got the money to buy her car Many church members were equally shocked that she could afford to buy a car. The salary paid to church workers was barely enough for them to be able to feed themselves throughout the month, and somehow, the bookshop attendant bought a brand new car. It was too suspicious to ignore, and when you cannot get a logical answer to a puzzle, you are required to shake things up as a leader. The lady kept quiet.

The following month, she was transferred to the church administration office as an admin assistant. That month, she bought a Toyota RAV 4, while she still kept the Toyota Avalon. She invited the pastor and all the other church staff to the car dedication, and the pastor was the one who was given the honour of dedicating the car. The pastor asked her what she intended to do with the Avalon. She said she had employed a driver who would be using the car to drive her parents whenever they needed to go anywhere. It was too much for the pastor to bear on a salary of eighty thousand Naira; she bought two cars in two months and employed a driver for her parents. How? The pastor called me to his office and said, "Something is fishy, and if sister D does not explain herself logically this time, I might have no option but to sack her. I don't want to be in a scandal. I don't want to be preaching one Sunday, and EFCC or NDLEA will arrive here with guns and start arresting people. I will not be the pastor of a criminal. Is she moving with fraudsters or dating a fraudster? If she cannot explain this wealth, I cannot keep her as a staff." I agree with the pastor. Many church members were curious too. Three of us, the Chief Security Officer of the church, the head of the church administration, went to see this sister in her office. We told her the pastor has been put in a very tenuous situation, and he might have to sack her if she does not give a reason for her sudden wealth outside of "Jesus did it." The sister said, "I attended OOU. While I was there, I shared a three-bedroom flat with five other ladies. My roommate was a very beautiful lady, and she caught the attention of some seriously rich people. One of them was a former president of Nigeria. The man took her as his lover, and he showered her with many gifts, including cars and houses. In our final year, the lady was travelling to see him when the plane she boarded crashed. She died. I was her roommate, and I had access to all her property documents and everything else she left behind. Her parents didn't know she was in such a relationship, and neither did our other friends. In all, she had five houses and three cars, and five buses that she was using to run an interstate transport business. I waited a year, gathered up all her documents, and I went to see this man. My intention was to hand over all the properties to him so that he could help sort them out, especially the money in some bank accounts which she had but nobody knew about. The income from her houses and the cars were trapped in one bank, and I had no idea what to do. This man made some calls and handed me over to another man, who helped to sort out everything. It took a year, but at the end of the day, the funds were all repatriated, and an account was set up with me as the signatory so that I could move the funds at will. When we were done, I went back to give him the report, and he told me to keep the properties and the proceeds. Everything. We sorted this out just two months ago. I have all the documents with me. Money is not my issue." She showed us the documents, and we were satisfied. I was of the opinion that she should resign and do something better with her life. Travel abroad, see the world, live a full life, and enjoy the windfall. She said she did not want to flaunt money while she was still unmarried. I asked her why she bought the cars if she didn't want to flaunt the money. She said they changed the transportation policy within Magodo Phase 2 at the time, which led to the ban on motorcycles. This made it difficult for her to get to the office daily. She said it was for the same reason that she bought the second car for her parents. Her one heart's cry was for God to give her a husband. She said all the men she had met never stayed, and the reason was quite obvious in my opinion. I felt that if she flaunted the wealth a bit, travelled, and repositioned herself, it could bring her into new circles and a fresh network of people, and perhaps she could find a husband that way.
PS: When I resigned from that church, she was still working there. The pastor posted her back to the bookshop as the manager. I shared this story to buttress a conversation I was having earlier about women and their ability to sit on money without allowing it to change their nature or course in life. Most men will react to money in a different way. As soon as it comes in, it changes everything from their clothing to their status to friends and lifestyle. I have seen ladies selling charcoal, looking ragged and poor, while their business empire is worth millions.