Published via Ecency

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