Rejuvenation – Delumozie Sandra Uche

Every day, the workers remembered how Jonah treated them when he was the company’s manager.
Though Jonah was quiet and dull but he was passionate and considerate. He was also law abiding.
Whenever problem arise, he would call a meeting and they will tackle it together.
However, those days, they hated him because they thought he was too dull and weak. They wanted rejuvenation, they thought Barnabas would do better. So when Jonah’s tenure ended, they didn’t spare him a face, they pushed him aside and opted for Barnabas. Barnabas who they believed was experienced and bold. He would perhaps be the Moses of the company, to bring them out of dullness and bring them into liveliness.
Barnabas was the owner of the company when it was private owned, before he handed it over to the government and was duelly compensated. The name of the company then was ” BA and BA’s power holding company but currently, its called “National power holding company”.
From time immemorial, everybody knew Barnabas was a bossy leader, but they believed it was because the company was his private property then. So democracy happened. Barnabas promised them rejuvenation. The ugly duck you know, is preferable to the white pigeon you do not know, they said.
Barnabas was made the new manager of the national power holding Company. Contrary to what people thought, Barnabas never changed, his bossy attitude was still standing firm like an untouched breast, people’s condition in the office never got better, problems grew branches like an unstinted tree.
If Barnabas was only being bossy, ignoring the stipulated office ethics and rule of conduct given to them by the government, ignoring the due process and giving certain order, doing certain jobs himself, approving certain programs, and signing certain documents himself, his employees might have decided to let it go but the rat that will eat the yam will eat the yam no matter where you hide the yam.

As days turn to months, the company’s condition kept declining, new problems arised and shone.
Firstly, the issue of missing office properties and documents. When this started everybody took it as a joke until it continued. The matter was as expected reported to Barnabas but little or no effort was made to curb it. It was the employees’ business. He only made sure that any employee whose office property gets lost, the money for the replacement of such property will be automatically deducted from the person’s’s salary.
There were mummurs on this and few who tried to confront him didn’t get the chance as he moved around with his security men.
Months turned into years and a big amount of money got missing in one of the department in the office, suddenly that department’s office caught fire and every file there was totally burnt down. Nobody could explain how the fire started and Barnabas and his cabals claimed that the missing money was burnt altogether.
A lot of sarcastically funny things kept happening including the questionable disappearance of workers that came to work, and nepotism. Then the workers stopped receiving their salaries for no properly clarified and justifable reason.
The employees therefore wrote petitions to the government agencies in charge of discipling Barnabas but surprisely nothing was done about it, so they went on strike.
They were ignored for months before their requests were partially granted. They had to work, else hunger will kill them.
The workers were already tired of Barnabas’s governance, and since the government agencies ignored their petitions and complains, they decided to pressurize the government by staging a peaceful demonstration only to go back home and meet threats on their lives and that of their loved ones.
Those who had options, left the job, those who didn’t had to stay and enjoy their ironical rejuvenation. They clocked their hands in ambush for 2023, so that they would chose a new manager. They missed Jonah at every tick of the clock. Who could have told them that such autocratic governance will exist in the 21st century.

Bio – Delumozie Sandra Uche is an undergraduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
An activist, critic, poet,children story writer and essayist.
She is a Veteran writer, with many online and an offline published work.