Let’s leave a good name for our inheritance

Name

By Correspondent 

WILL YOUR NAME OPEN DOORS FOR YOUR CHILDREN WHEN YOU ARE GONE?”

I boarded a bus last week to go get a few things from the market, and an interesting conversation broke out on the bus. I overheard a passenger telling another passenger a story of how a dead father recently recommended his son for a job and helped him get the job.

I wondered how a dead man could help his living son to secure a job. It just didn’t make sense.

I’m not someone who believes such stories easily, but from the way he sounded, I could tell he meant every word he was saying. The other passenger read my mind (or so I thought at that moment) and asked him to explain further.

The passenger smiled and began telling the full story of how it happened. I had my ears fully open at that point. According to his story, the dead man’s son had been jobless for over 6 years after graduation from the university. He had submitted applications in several organizations but was never lucky. The young man fed from hand to mouth and lived in a one-room apartment without even a mattress.

That fateful Monday morning, he showed up where he had been shortlisted for an interview. On arriving there, he met other job seekers who had even better qualifications than him.

He wasn’t even sure he would get the job. He met people who had gotten their master’s degrees from universities in the UK and the United States. All he had was a second-class lower degree from a local University. He stood no chance.

He went in for the interview. A look at his file and his face, the interviewer was quick to ask him questions to know more about him. He was asked who his father was and the young man told his interviewer all about his late father. “That’ll be all for your interview session. We’ll get back to you,” the interviewer told him.

The young man left feeling so sad and disappointed because he was never asked the relevant questions he thought would land him the job. He thought maybe his qualification had disqualified him. Three days later, he got a mail on his phone.

He opened it and saw that he had been given the job. He couldn’t explain it, he wasn’t so sure what emotion to express. His six years job hunting journey had come to an end, and he had no idea how that happened. Not only did he get the job, but he also got an official car and an apartment.

He resumed work two weeks later and his employer who had interviewed him called him to his office. “Do you know why you got this job?” he asked the young man. “No sir, I don’t know why I got the job,” he replied.

His boss smiled and replied “your father recommended you for this job. He made it possible.” The young man was confused and went ahead to remind his employer that his father had died 8 years ago while he was still an undergraduate in the university.

With another smile, his boss went on to narrate how years back, the young man’s father had saved his life by paying for his hospital bills when he took ill with acute typhoid which almost cost him his life. He went further to tell him how his father had to borrow to support him with half the money he needed for his school fees that session.

“The moment you told me who your father was, you got the job. You didn’t get it by your certificates, but by your late father’s good deeds.” Those were his employer’s words to him. “You got this job because your father’s good name recommended you. Congratulations and welcome on board.” The young man at this moment had tears flowing freely down his cheeks.

Before leaving his employer’s office, he was asked a question. “Thirty years from now, will the mention of your name open doors for your children?”

I was speechless on the bus. I asked the driver to stop the vehicle because I had reached my destination. As I paid him and made way to alight from the bus, the man who had done the storytelling said to me, “brother” live your life well so that your name go unlock opportunities for your children tomorrow.” I had no reply.

I’m home right now, typing this. I’ve asked myself over and over again, “if I leave this world tomorrow, will my name open doors for my children or shut doors against them?” Again, I’m asking myself “will the mention of my name give my children opportunities or deny them opportunities?”
I still do not have an answer.

Maybe you could ask yourself the same question and see if you have an answer.

What kind of life are you currently living? What deeds are you serving out there? Will the mention of your name be the reason your children get to cry tears of joy tomorrow or the reason they get to regret you had to birth them?

Let’s leave a good name for our inheritance.