On Monday, September 13, 2010, I retired honorably from my dream job at one of Nigeria’s most admired banks. It was not an easy decision as I had over N12m debt hanging over my neck.

No one wakes up and retires without a reason. The reason why I left – with my head intact, proud and confident – is a story for another day. Here I want to share why I refused to accept a mouth-watering offer from one of Nigeria’s biggest bank then.

I invested 27 years in the financial services industry, shared almost equally between two very reputable public and private sector institutions. One was a development banking institution, and the other a commercial bank.

Both were organizations to die for back the day and offered unsurpassed learning and career experiences.                  

Over the years I added an MBA and banking professional qualifications to my quiver and was soon in my game.

By the time I was forced to throw in the towel, I was a highly sought-after top performer doing the work of an Assistant General Manager but I was four levels below that rank.

So, when the call came barely 24 hours after I’d hung my gloves, I was tempted to the core. The guy at the other end waxed lyrical: we’ll give you everything you want and two levels above your current position. After six months you’ll be promoted noting what we know about you, he concluded.

Principal Manager, controlling a department in one of Nigeria’s biggest bank: it was an offer made in Heaven noting the perks attached to such positions.

Any desperate man in my position would have jumped at it.  And I was desperate. What with the over N12m debt hanging over my neck as the sword of Damocles? What about lost status, and the jalopy I was driving?

But I dismissed the offer with the wave of the hand.

Dismissing that offer was the most difficult career decision I ever made.

I would have been given a huge car loan to buy a top range Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, the vehicle in vogue then. A bigger mortgage refinance loan for an elegant property around the Lekki axis, silent generators, company-paid driver, gardener and assorted other perks would have all been mine without asking.

 A status driven me would have fallen for the trap. Knowing Nigeria’s financial services industry, the trap comes with golden fetters. But I’ve always cherished independence, the freedom to be me, and following the straight and narrow.

Today I travel round the world to attend conferences, I advise and coach C-Suite executives on their IP and platform mastery,  I run communities of learners, and acquire new skills by writing and reading books. It’s utopian.

Whenever you’re at a crossroads and tempted to choose between money and your independence, choose wisely.

Money may not intoxicate as power, but it’s a close cousin. When you have lots of it you may even think you’re a god. Like religion, money is a potent opium, it makes a society go crazy. Like Nigeria. Money, especially too much of it, acquired through crookery can blind you to other attributes more noble.

Until I come your way again, remain blessed and think independence – financial independence.

If you know a friend facing a career choice, please share this piece with him or her.