The Hidden Hypocrites!

Author: David Oletu

Your Work, Whether Good Or Bad, Won’t Be Hidden Forever.

They Will Be Revealed,

And You Will Be Held Accountable For Every One Of Your Actions, Dead Or Alive.

But, It Pays To Be Good!

Society teaches us to dress the way we want to be addressed.

But the Bible teaches moderation in how we present ourselves.

I think society should stick to the biblical truth of ‘moderation’ in every aspect of our lives,

and not overthink things at the sight of human physical appearance. 

Society should not be fooled by only addressing people by their looks.

Let’s all just be moderate in our appearance, but not define who we truly are merely by our appearance.

Your Work, Whether Good Or Bad, Won’t Be Hidden Forever. They Will Be Revealed, And You Will Be Held Accountable For Every One Of Your Actions, Dead Or Alive. But, It Pays To Be Good!

The Hidden Hypocrites!

My name is Amoru Henry.

I am popularly known as the ‘Educated Yahoo Boy on Suits and Ties.’

I am an accountant by profession, with so many academic honours and ground-breaking achievements in the finance industry.

Also, I once served as the Accountant General of the federation—! With huge control over the nations’ Money or finances!

The Hidden Hypocrites! 

But. Today, I am a chained idle prisoner in my mansion, reaping the spoils of the evil seeds I had planted.

My hands are now restricted from practicing my profession, and my legs are restricted from moving an inch out of my luxurious apartment.

If I ever moved an inch, the angry mob, whom I rendered hopeless and hungry with my corrupt act, would stone me to death. 

I had failed to safeguard my integrity as an old man in power who had the livelihood of millions resting on his shoulders.

And I embezzled public funds and left the masses—the real owners of the money—in penury.

“PAY US OUR SALARY!” “WE ARE SUFFERING!”

One day, the streets were filled with angry protesters who were working for the government and receiving meagre salaries.

Despite how insufficient their salaries were, many of them still had cases where their salaries for some months were withheld. 

How can a person work tirelessly for months without being compensated?

That brought a huge concern to the whole government labour workers;

hence, they came out in full force, with their placards and black uniforms,

heading towards the government office and directing their grievances to the president of the federation. 

The soldiers tried to calm the people down, but their painful noises kept increasing.

Since peace wasn’t an option for the soldiers, they turned violent, firing their guns towards the sky to put fear on the protesters.

But, still, the crowd and noises kept increasing.

The people were determined to get their withheld salaries paid immediately, so there was no backing out, even if fire fell from the sky. 

“We die here!!” A protester said loudly.

The Hidden Hypocrites!

An hour later, after the failed attempts of the military men to stop the protesters from creating unpleasant scenes at the government house,

there came a loud, continuous sound of sirens from behind the protesters.

It was a convoy of black Prado jeeps that were driven by some men in black suits and shades.

The cars were also accompanied by military vans with heavily armed soldiers on them.

They drove into the midst of the grieving protesters and stopped at their front, where they would perhaps be able to address them well. 

The moment the car stopped,

the protesters lowered their voices, eager to see the government official who would be coming out of the vehicle to address them.

They thought it would be a representative of the president,

but their assumptions were proven wrong when they saw the president himself coming out of the vehicle, accompanied by me, his accountant general.

As usual, I was standing tall in my suit and tie.

The president, on the other hand, was in his white dazzling native dress also known as ‘Agbada’.

I could best describe him as a rolling ball, for he was that fair old fat short man.

I wondered how such a man was able to pull the crowd to vote for him with his slightly dwarfed height.

Perhaps his money and sweet words worked so well for him. 

How about his academic qualifications? ‘

“Who that wan epp for politics?’ The Hidden Hypocrites!

Just have your money and sweet words, and even if you have zero academic achievements, you will see yourself ruling over intellectuals in my world.

“My people! Calm down,” the president began his address with his baritone voice.

“We won’t calm down until you pay us!” an angry protester voiced out.

“Yes!” everyone responded in agreement.

“I have heard your grief, and I promise to resolve it with immediate effect,” the president said.

“Your pain is my pain.

I am here to serve you, and I won’t deprive you of what rightfully belongs to you,” the president stated more emphatically. 

“Before this weekend, you all will receive your withheld salaries.

Go home and relax your mind,” the president assured us as he proceeded to leave the scene with us and his entourage.

We entered the car and zoomed off, leaving the protesters hopeful. 

The president of the federation was a very noble man.

He was a man of his word. A man with a good track record in his years of service to the people.

If only he had good people working under him, his tenure would have made more sense.

His people would not have come to him with wailing but with praise.

But His reputation had been soiled by the corrupt officials who were under him.

The Hidden Hypocrites!

What do the people know anyway?

Whatever problem strikes the nation, the president is always the one who receives the stones,

while we who caused the problems hide behind him to continue with our crooked acts.

 

“The President has just approved money worth 200 billion for us to disburse to pay labour workers withheld salaries!”

My secretary revealed to me one day in my luxurious office, where light never blinks and the air conditions continually. 

“Wow! 200 billion!” I responded in excitement.

“Yes, Sir!” My secretary replied, also feeling so excited. 

You may wonder what excites my secretary about such news.

Was it for the masses who had been suffering due to their withheld salary, or…?

Well, my secretary knows the game already.

That was another opportunity for us to fatten our pockets.

My secretary was my only confidant.

She was that tall, dark, beautiful, and ‘well-endowed’ educated young lady whom I initiated into the corrupt system.

She came into the ministry looking very innocent:

and trying her best to impress us with her polished English, excellent university leaving certificate, and corporate-looking appearance.

She never knew that beyond those qualities, her integrity would be tested when she eventually started seeing the money.

She never knew that the character was the true test of human nature beyond the glamorized accent, speech, and corporate wear. 

12 months after my secretary had worked with me in managing the federation’s account,

I decided to put her to the test by tripling her salary for a particular month.

The Hidden Hypocrites!

But I expected her to bring such an unusual salary payment to my attention, but she didn’t. She kept it to herself.

“Rose, have you been paid your salary for the month?” I asked her.

“Yes, sir, I have been paid. But…” she said and paused like she had something bothering her. 

“But what?” I asked her, pretending like I didn’t know what the issue was. 

“Oh, but nothing, sir!” she said, with a forceful and suspicious smile. 

“Okay, you may leave now.”

I dismissed her, staring at her as she stared back continuously while making her way to the door until she left. 

She had just failed her character test.

It was as though she wanted to spit her bone of concern out, but then the evil side of her probably told her not to say a word.

If she does, the tripled salary paid into her account may be deducted. 

She fell for my trap. She thought I had made a mistake.

Even if she may also think I didn’t make a mistake in tripling her salary for no reason, I expected her to show some gratitude for the unusual increase.

It dawned on me that aside from showing an attribute of greed, she also ended up portraying herself as an ungrateful human.

The Hidden Hypocrites!

Nonetheless, that was the kind of person I was looking for: one who loves money; one who is greedy, secretive, and unbothered!

That was how I initiated her into the corrupt system.

I used her failure against her, to get her to accept my conditions.

She couldn’t beat me because she knew she had failed the integrity test;

hence, she joined me to continue the act of misappropriation and diversion of public funds into our pockets.

She became my partner in crime, becoming an educated and sophisticated Yahoo girl on corporate with polished English. 

And, together, we successfully diverted parts of the Money- (200 billion) meant for the payment of withheld salaries into our pockets.

We paid the affected workers half of their withheld salaries and unapologetically reserved 80 billion in our pockets out of the 200 billion approved.

That’s what we refer to as the national cake. We ensure to cut our large share before distributing the remains to others. 

The Hidden Hypocrites!

When the protesters came once more to complain that they were paid, but not in full,

we cooked up an excuse as usual that fire burned down the office of the accountant-general, hence we couldn’t process their full payments.

And We showed them fake proofs in the media space with real fire, truly burning down a section of the Accountant-General’s office.

After all, if some people somewhere in Africa can absorb the news of a snake swallowing their money, what else can people not accept?

They had no choice but to accept whatever came their way.

And They couldn’t prove us wrong because they indeed saw fire burning the office.

Besides, many won’t care anymore because they received something, even if it was half of what they were supposed to receive.

That’s how much we impoverish them, so they can always settle for peanuts whenever we want to deceive, control their minds, or cheat them.

The Hidden Hypocrites! 

On the first Sunday of the next month, after I had successfully fattened my pocket with the masses’ entitlement,

I went to the church to pay my tithes—giving back to God and for kingdom advancement.

That’s how hypocritical we appeared.

We used religion to cover up our mess and immorality.

The masses were deceived over and over each time they saw me in my regular suit and tie in church on Sundays,

lifting my unholy hands and professing my fake love for God. 

They all thought I loved God. I also thought the same.

But my zero empathy for the poor masses proved my love for the devil instead. 

After the church service had ended, I went straight to my pastor’s office to pay him the regular monthly homage with a brown envelope.

The Hidden Hypocrites!

My pastor was a tall, dark, well-built man with a protruded belly that we ignorantly define as a sign of wealth and a good life.

He was nevertheless very wealthy.

He always comes to church in his neatly ironed corporate suit and ties with his big Bible.

 

Once he steps on the altar, he never fails to share a sermon on giving.

“GIVE, AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE DOUBLE PORTIONS.”

“GIVE AND YOU SHALL BE ESTABLISHED.”

“IF YOU DON’T GIVE, GOD WILL SEIZE ALL YOUR WEALTH, AND YOU WILL BE POOR!”

Those were his regular words to us.

Oh!

There were even special chairs that were reserved for the ‘big boys’ like me,

whose tithes and financial contributions towards church growth were the largest.

We were also given key positions in the church as a result.

Positions such as deacons, deaconesses, elders, Dames, and even pastors!

What if we did not have money to give?

We would have probably been the backbenchers. 

And what about those who do not have to give?

How will they feel about the pastor’s kind of message on giving and his special preference for those who give the most in church?

These are things that cause unhealthy pressure and rivalry among church members.

We all gave more to the church, not because we truly loved God but rather for greed, eye service, or recognition. 

“Pastor here is a token for you,” I said, handing over the regular brown envelope to the pastor in his office.

He opened it, checked the amount written on the cheque, and immediately blasted in unknown tongues.

“Pastor! Pastor!!” I said, laughing at his immediate action.

I understood the moment.

The money was bigger than the one I had previously been giving him.

He could not control his joyful emotions, so he had to express them with some strange tongues of fire.

The Hidden Hypocrites!

Woo! He even had to remove his tie.

The heat suddenly became so much for him in his fully air-conditioned office. 

“Pastor, easy,! It’s just a small thing!” I said to him:

“My brother!!” He responded loudly. “In fact, kneel; let me pray for you!” he said.

Pastor’s usual response to every amount of Money I gave him was a simple “thank you,”

but this time, he just needed to scatter my head with prayers.

It was almost like he wouldn’t stop when he started praying for me while I was on my knees.

I had to give him a signal that he should just end the prayers.

“On top of money?

This pastor must be yet another Yahoo boy in suit and tie,” I soliloquized satirically. His love for money was second to none.

I won’t blame him.

That’s how twisted society has gotten.

Many of us do not genuinely care about God or people. We only care about material things;

hence, we use our positions to get what we want—either in a good way or in a bad way, depending on how clean or rotten our source and conscience are. 

After I had narrowly escaped the pastor’s long prayers, I headed straight to my house.

The Hidden Hypocrites!

On my way home, I observed two policemen and a young man in disagreement on one side of the road that leads to my house.

I picked up interest in the case and asked my driver to stop the car.

So, I got out of the car and went towards the policemen who were trying to arrest the boy.

The boy was struggling to free himself from the hands of the two policemen.

The boy seemed so confident that he had done nothing wrong, so he saw no reason why the policemen should arrest him. 

“What’s going on here?” I asked the policemen, having moved closer to them.

“He is a Yahoo boy!” (an Internet fraudulent character) one of the policemen retorted. 

For a few seconds, I kept quiet, observing the boy from head to toe.

He looks like someone who was in his mid-20s. He was putting on baggy trousers and a shirt.

And He adorned himself with gold neck chains, a wristwatch, and a finger-ring.

He was also putting on a face cap and sunglasses, even when the sun wasn’t shining.

I also noticed that the expensive car parked in front of mine was his.

“Sir! I am not a Yahoo boy!” The boy said this in defence. 

“So, what do you do, young man?” I asked him, eager to know how he lives such a luxurious lifestyle at his age.

“I’m into tech, sir,” he responded.

“You see?” One of the policemen said, “Na dem dey always press laptop dey do yahoo,” he concluded.

I knew what the boy meant by tech.

He was probably a software developer, programmer, and so on.

And I am aware they make so much money in the field, legally.

The policemen were just uninformed and perhaps looking for ways to extort him. 

“You are a Yahoo boy! Stop lying,” I said to the boy, in agreement with the policemen, who seemed excited to see me support them. 

“So, you are one of those boys destroying the image of our country?”

I accused the boy further.

“Now you have been caught, and you will face the consequences,” I said to him, signaling to the police to take him away.

“Ahh! Sir! Please! I am not into fraud. Help me! My hands are clean!”

The boy begged, but I didn’t give him listening ears. I went back into my car with my driver and continued my journey. 

How stupid and unfortunate! The police did not know their real enemies.

They did not know that the real Yahoo boy was standing right in front of them. – The Hidden Hypocrites!

But They point accusing fingers at the innocent ones, merely judging them by their appearance.

They thought I was an upright person because of my suit and tie.

But They never knew how much I cheated them to earn a “filthy” living for myself. 

Their loss! Our wins!

30 minutes later, after the incident between the police and the unfairly tagged Yahoo boy, I safely and happily reached my luxurious mansion.

To my surprise, I saw some strange men in black in my mansion with the wide-open gate.

“Where is my security?”

I wondered where he was until I saw him seated helplessly outside of his security lodge as my driver drove me in. 

The strange men seem to be like forces from a special squad. 

“Who are you? And what are you doing in my house?”

I asked one of the men, but they were all silent. My curiosity was heightened by fear.

The Hidden Hypocrites! 

“Oh! Mr Henry. Welcome home!”

A hefty man, who was in a red jacket, greeted me.

He was coming out of the door of my mansion with some men carrying two big boxes.

Those boxes were mine. I stuffed a lot of money in there. 

“We are the Law Enforcement Government Officials,’

The man introduced himself and his squad with his card.

“We were authorized to search your house,” he said, showing me his search warrant.

“How would you explain this? Mr Henry,”

he asked, pointing towards the two big boxes that were heavily loaded with money—the poor masses’ money.

I became speechless. I couldn’t defend myself.

How much was my monthly salary as the accountant general of the federation to have kept such a huge amount of money in my custody?

Were there no banks?

I just couldn’t explain.

Without any second thought or further dialogue,

the Police men handcuffed me and led me to their station, where I was left in custody for a few weeks, awaiting the day of judgment in the law court.

Proverbs 2:22 KJV

[22] But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, And the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.2.22.KJV

The Hidden Hypocrites!

At the Court, I was, however, granted bail in the sum of 50 million by the judge.

This implies If anyone could bail me out with 50 million, I would be temporarily free till I’m called again for trial.

It’s laughable that the big man who stole billions is protected, honoured, or granted bail even when caught.

How on earth would you grant bail to an obvious thief? I wondered.

50 million was like a chicken change (small amount) to me, for I had accumulated a lot of dirty wealth and connections.

My friends and family were able to bail me out, and I became free from the shackles of the police temporarily.

However, I realised I wasn’t free from the shackles of life that now limited me. 

FROM BEEN A NOTABLE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION, I NOW BECAME THAT CORRUPT EX-ACCOUNTANT GENERAL WHO DIVERTED PUBLIC FUNDS.

That’s how boldly my profile was rewritten in the media space, with my pictures everywhere. 

Even if I may not get to spend the rest of my life in jail for my crimes,

I am spending it with a shameful name and image that won’t only affect me but my entire lineage.

Also Read : Life Seems Unfair at Times! But God Is the Great Equalizer. – Diademng (thediademng.org)

The Hidden Hypocrites!

DCM Note:

The author’s use of the expression “Yahoo Boy on Suit and Tie” is used to describe people:

who appear responsible in their dress, speech, position, and achievements but have an impure and dishonest mind and actions.

Unfortunately, many who have been schooled to make society better are the ones destroying it with their hypocritical acts.

However, the author has just one message for us from the book of Proverbs 22:1-2

“A good name is more desirable than great riches and to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

The Hidden Hypocrites!