I and my friend Kenneth were standing at the entrance of our usual spot, a sports betting shop, in the busy streets of Idowina when we stumbled upon an unexpected encounter with our former high school Math teacher, Mr Samson. We intercepted him as he was about to enter a nearby computer school.
“Mr. Samson! It has been a while,” I exclaimed.
We exchanged pleasantries and told him about our recent graduation from the computer school.
“Any job opportunities for us, Sir?” Kenneth asked.
Mr. Samson was deep in thoughts for a while and then he disclosed a job opportunity at Omega Restaurant.
“Just come for the job interview tomorrow at about 12 noon, and bring a passport photograph”
“Just like that? No application letter?”, I eagerly inquired.
“No, just a passport photograph will do, call me when you guys get there.”
“Can we come with our other friends?”
“Sure”
After a few more questions, we bid him farewell and excitedly ran back to the betting shop to inform Ebuka and Michael of the good news.
“Just like that? We don't even know what the job is, and you agreed to go for the interview?” Ebuka asked, his attention still fixed on the game on his phone
“It's even weird that he said all of us can come for the interview. I mean, is Omega restaurant now desperately hiring people?” Michael inquired.
“Again, who even interviews without receiving an application letter from the candidates?”
“Guys calm down, I think we can find out what this is all about when we get there tomorrow”, I replied, a trace of impatience evident in my voice. The prospects of getting employed far overshadowed the uncertainties
“Just imagine if we get there tomorrow and we get robbed or kidnapped”, Kenneth said, chuckling intermittently.
We all turned to look at him. “Dude, Omega restaurant is a public place in a very busy environment. Of course, Mr Samson will round us up, throw us into his car and drive off while everyone cheers him on”, I remarked, rolling my eyes.
In surrender, Kenneth raised both hands and shrugged his shoulder “I'm just saying.”
The next day, we all headed for Omega restaurant and as we approached, scepticism crept in. There was a large canopy beside the restaurant with over 50 people. “Are they all here for the interview?” I muttered to myself.
Confused, we all stood there wondering what was going on, and then I remembered that Mr Samson instructed us to call him when we arrived. I quickly dialled his number and after a few minutes, he emerged from the crowd.
“That's definitely not a good sign”, Kenneth retorted.
Mr. Samson waved us over and gave us reserved seats close to the front. As we sat down, anticipation hung in the air, and I couldn't shake the anxiety. "Will they employ all of us, or are they only selecting the best?" I wondered, uncertainty clouding my thoughts.
After some minutes, a young man stepped forward and shouted, “GOLDEN NEO-LIFE DIAMITE!"
“A BETTER WAY OF LIFE!”, everyone but the four of us responded.
Ebuka leaned towards me and whispered, “Dude, what have you gotten us into?”
Kenneth took the initiative as well and joined the impromptu meeting, “why does it feel like we are about to be initiated into a cult?” he mused.
“I also don't know what is happening, didn't we all come here together? It's too early to judge, let's just see what is going on.”
After several hours of testimonials and life-changing narratives, it finally dawned on us that we had been lured to an affiliate marketing campaign. The coordinator of the campaign came on stage and delivered the final blow.
“so you have finally heard about the benefits you can gain from joining GNLD. Please for the New members, kindly fill out the form that is currently being shared. And remember, you need to pay the sum of 15,000 naira to complete your registration.”
We all looked at each other in disbelief after hearing that last part.
“Also, you will need to bring in 4 new members before you can advance to the next level. When you eventually get to level 10, you will be eligible to travel to Canada twice a year”, the coordinator continued.
“That guy takes people to Canada? Look at his shoes,” Kenneth whispered.
Glancing at the footwear, I struggled to suppress the laughter bubbling up inside me. In the end, we all filled the forms they gave us with fabricated details and also told Mr Samson that we forgot to bring our passport photographs - a blatant lie.
We assured him that we would come with them the next day, along with the registration fee - another blatant lie
We all got home at around 7 PM, enduring an earful of “I told you so” from Ebuka. The desperation for a job pushed us to go for an interview that turned out to be nothing more than a sham.
Thanks for reading
Connect with me on:
Twitter: @kushyzeena
Readcash: @kushyzee
Edited with Canva
I laughed out loud 😅😅
Immediately I read to the slogan part, I knew it's a 'bring people to bring people' thing.
I'm very sensitive to such things....but I've fallen a victim too
I can never forget that experience, very terrible people. They always deceive people to come for their seminars 😅 thanks for stopping by bro
I doubt if these tricks of theirs still work these days 😅
😂😂😂😂 Omooo these people chaai, anytime I remember my experience with them I get angry and laugh at myself. I believe it pays but you see those refer to earn, I don't put my hand in it.
It pays but they should stop using fake job opportunities to lure people, not everyone wants to be an affiliate marketer 😀
I'm crying right now. Omg, this is so funny. I was chuckling all alone in the dark. I imagined everything as it unfolded. You should sha go and get your 4 initiates. Mr Samson is waiting for the passports oo. Hehe!
This was wholesome. Thanks for sharing.
He should keep waiting 😂 deceiving people with job opportunities just to get referrals should be a criminal office. Thanks for stopping by
You just brought back old memories, I was just laughing after reading this. So you also fell into the hands of those NEOLIFE Guys? My friends tricked me twice into their trap but thank God I didn't pay any money, it was even cheaper in your time, when I got to know about them, registration was already 19,000 naira. The guy who took me there was just on my neck asking me to sell my phone and register. God saved me though🤣🤣
You were tricked twice? Guy 😂 these days I have known their tactics and once I see anybody from NEO-LIFE, before they even talk I already know. My experience happened back in 2015, probably why it was cheaper
LoL. The second one it was someone very close to me that invited me. I never expected it to be NEOLIFE until i entered the classroom 😂😁
Ahaha! It is one of such things you experience when you hunt for a job in Lagos. I fell into the hands of these guys but I didn't pay a dime. So funny!
They are all over the country and it's obvious that many people have fallen for their tricks, quite terrible. Thanks for stopping by
@kushyzee this is a brilliant CNF about life and times in Nigeria. Corruption and exploitation perfectly explored.
Thank you for sharing a story in The Ink Well.
Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed my story 😊
Nigeria is filled with exploiters hahahahah, Canadian man with bonga shoes maybe he will buy shoes if he collects your money hahahahah, the one that pains me most is the one of bring two person.
That's the most annoying part, they tell you to bring 4 people before you start earning money.
This is a great story. Good thing you were able to spot the scam right away. I imagine that some people may not be so astute. Great to see it all turned out well, and you all had a good laugh.
So many people have experienced something similar and unfortunately, some of them fell for it. I'm just glad it ended the well as it did for me