This Kind God!(A Surprising Return)

On that fateful day,inside the auditorium of the prestigious Evan Enwerem University(formerly known as Imo State University) Owerri,just after the ceremony of my handover as the General Secretary of Jccf(Joint Christian Campus Fellowship),my phone rang.Guess who called! Far beyond my widest imagination,it turned out to be the driver of the bus I boarded to Aba some days back.

Wonders,they say,shall never end.I recently experienced a wonderous miracle and that I want to share.I'm not just happy about the whole thing,I also learnt alot.

After my exams in last year's December,I've been on vacation.When we were recalled,I made arrangements in preparation for my return.We were to change environment and needed to put things in order there.I became a traveller,constantly on the road.I was revolving around Aba,Owerri and Orlu.It was within that period that I encountered and seriously gave thought to the numerous legal and illegal check-points on our over 220,000km road network,of which I wrote about recently.

On March 25,2010,there was the need for me to go to Aba as usual from Owerri.I was lodging at the house of my friend,Steve.That hot afternoon,I started the journey.I boarded a taxi from Okigwe road and alighted at MCC junction,along the popular Wetheral road.I slogged down to Abia Line company's Park along MCC road.

There,I boarded a car-one of the best cars in the company and we were only seven,apart from the driver.It was not like a normal bus but looked more like a wagon car.I wasted alot of time in their park that day due to severe scarcity of passengers,unlike before.I was just carrying a 'bagco' bag containing my ceiling fan.With me also,were my two phones,quite unlike me.I sat at the back seat behind the driver and close to the window.

In Aba,I boarded another taxi and got to my mum's shop.After spending about 15minutes there,I noticed that my nokia N70 phone was missing.Rubbish! One may say,but getting another one will gulp some reasonable amount of money.At first,I didn't want to go about,in search of it,but after much persuasion from my mum,I decided to report to their office in Aba main park.

On getting there,I told them what happened.They demanded for my ticket so as to use it in identifying the car and its driver.I was not with it,so I went back home to look for it.I luckily saw it in my mum's shop,badly folded.I showed up in their office again and they were able to identify the driver but told me to return the next day.

The next day,I got there and met the driver and told him everything.He promised to search his vehicle later and give me a call,if he eventually finds my phone.As at that time,he has 'loaded' his car and set to move.I only succeeded in dropping my name,address and phone number with him.After some days,I got over the whole incidence and almost forgot the phone.

Many things happened before the phone was misplaced.A day before that day,the battery ran down and I immediately put my second phone in use.Also the screen suddenly became blank,showing nothing but white light.Adding to these,I locked the phone with two different codes,making it impossible for one to use it without working on it.These made me loose the hope of getting it again.

Almost a forthnight later,the driver of the car called me on phone to tell me that he has seen my missing phone,and that I should come to their office for its collection.He could have also pocketed it!I was really flabbergasted.Pronto,I started spreading the good news.The driver was supposed to come to Owerri,where I was supposed to meet him but he later went to Umuahia.I kept in touch with him.At the long run,my phone made a surprising return.

I'm not through yet!

Surprisingly,after charging the battery,I switched it on and noticed that the screen has miraculously been restored to normalcy.Before then,I was thinking of how to gather money for its repair.Alot of money is actually involved in changing the screen of a phone of that category.But God is omnipotent and omniscient,able to works wonders,even in inanimate things.It was very happy.

I learnt alot.I learnt that it is safer to travel with a car owned by a registered company.In cases of car breakdown,loss of items and other unforseen circumstances,they come to your rescue.Tickets are very important just like the 'manifest.'There's the need to keep ones ticket for at least 24hours after the journey.I learnt to strive irrespective of many discouragements.

In this society,full of corruption and deception,I never thought that I'll get my phone again.Even the touts in the park gave a good report concerning that driver.People find it difficult to return any lost item they come across,thinking that they are smart and forgetting that good name is better than any thing 'get-able.'For those that are into this ugly habit,hear the truth!What is not your own is not your own!Must you be the one that will take that misplaced item?You must not be the one.

I'm very grateful to God for all that happened including the lessons learnt.Ofcourse,ALL THINGS,whether palatable or not,good or bad,friendly or not are supposed to work together for my good as a child of God.I also pray for more trustworthy and transparent men and women in our society.Restitution is inevitable for any 'thief' that comes to his/her senses.Did you get that?The rigorous and hard way out of it, makes it better avoided than corrected.

Be wise my dear!