Summary: Exercises (page 163)

Mr. Abu left home this morning in a sad mood. He had told his wife he was going to work. Suddenly, he came across a big brown envelope. He picked it up, opened it and found several items inside. He brought out a passport belonging to Chu Lin, a Chinese national. He brought out an identity card: also Chu Lin’s – a staff of a multinational company which runs a chain of hotels in Lagos. There was a smaller envelope. He opened this as well. To his surprise, he discovered fifty thousand dollars in it.

                   Just this morning, Mr. Abu had been called a never-do-well. Their little boy, James, was very ill and there was no money to take him to a private hospital and the doctors in the state hospital were on strike. Mr. Abu’s wife had called him an irresponsible man who was incapable of adequately providing for his family. She assumed that he always squanders his salary. If only she knew the whole truth. In fact, Mr. Abu left home that morning as always to avoid his wife’s constant nagging. He lost his job a few months back when the company he worked for folded up. Moreover, the company had not fulfilled its promise to pay Mr. Abu and his retrenched colleagues their severance pay. Mr. Abu was at his wits’ end. He was also afraid that he might lose little James, his only child.

                   Mr. Abu’s mind raced. He thought of all that he could do with just one thousand dollars. Perhaps he could take just that and drop the envelope. “No! I will not do that”, he said to himself. He checked the address on Chu Lin’s identity card and headed for the company. It was a seven-kilometre trek.

                   On getting there, Mr. Abu asked to see Chu Lin. When he came out, Abu checked the identity card to ensure he was with the right person. Satisfied, he handed Chu Lin the envelope without saying a word. Chu Lin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He thought he had lost the envelope for good. He was full of gratitude. He wanted to give Mr. Abu some money but Mr. Abu was given a job as a front desk officer in one of the company’s hotels. “We need honest people like you in that position”, Chu Lin said. Not only that, he gave Mr. Abu fifty thousand naira to settle his immediate family problems. Honesty pays after all.