Sonar’s Journal: Ever Paid An Agent? Greed & The Middle Man Syndrome

Greed has been given different names from being smart, sharp, fast, streetwise to other more familiar terms such as agent or partner thereby ruining the reputation of those who are permitted by law to operate with the title.

Hi there once again, hope you are well, today’s topic is quite familiar and as usual close to our everyday life, have you ever paid money to someone that claimed to be an agent, middle man or link to what you really wanted? If your answer is yes then am tempted to ask you how it went.

I know many of us have paid middle men in past maybe due to the absence of alternatives or being pressed for time. Sometimes these people deliver while in some other cases they just disappear with your hard earned cash even under legitimate circumstances.

Speaking of legitimate circumstances, it is not so uncommon to hear of corrupt housing agents who collected money from several prospects for one available accommodation in a bid to make quick money. Such incidents often lead to police involvement or court proceedings for prospects that know their right.

Be it a housing agent, clearing agent, a broker, registered dealer or marketer just to mention a few, these are some legitimate operators having their guiding principles and jurisdiction accordingly however, they all have their bad eggs within their various systems though that is not our focus today.

Virtually all top essential commodities have gotten some form of racketeering going on which is primarily orchestrated by people better known as middle men most of which have no business or legal connection to the goods or services in  question. In a lot of cases they are responsible for the high cost of goods and services because they inflate prices in other to get better share or cuts.

A clear example of this happened to a friend who had ignored my advice to patronize authorized car dealers or go to the car company directly to purchase a vehicle, he had gone ahead to pay a road side dealer for the brand and spec he wanted only to be told he needed to pay a separate compulsory 12% extra of the total amount he paid for the car, we later discovered that this ridiculously high amount was to be shared between the dealer and a fellow that literally had nothing to do with the transaction.

“Time for me to spell out the aim of this article; the major aim here is NOT to taint the image of any legal occupation or trade but instead to raise awareness of the atrocious act of those corrupt middle men who have contributed to the hardship of the common man due to their greed and insensitive activities.”

Now don’t go thinking that these middle men are far out there and unfamiliar, I can tell you that sometimes they are very close to you either as an acquaintance, neighbour or even a family member. In fact according to statistics most of the havoc committed by middle men come from those without legal grounds to the transaction.

 Big Question – Why do some people cheat others to make extra gain… Could this be linked to the Biblical prophecy of men increasingly becoming lovers of themselves?

– Sunday Imonah

I received a mail from a young MC who narrated his ordeal with a middle man, apparently his service was required by a client and so was engaged through an acquaintance that knew him, he had performed his role satisfactorily and was invited for dinner by the said client. He later discovered during the general conversation that the client had specifically paid him four (4) times the amount the lady that contacted him – i. e.  the middle man – paid him.

This was aside the extra money paid to the lady for getting such a good MC, one major thing that came out of his ordeal was that he lost all form of respect for the lady though elderly and also told the client the real sum he got which led to more brouhaha between the lady and the client.

While preparing this article I received over fifty mails from people with encounters relating to the subject but sadly I cannot share them all here due to space, perhaps subsequently.

 In a world where almost everything is being given a new name to make it sound nice, we know that what is bad remains bad and certainly same goes for greed.

– Sunday Imonah

Now the big question is; why do some people cheat others to make extra gain? Could it be joblessness but apart from the jobless ones, a lot of the other people doing it have jobs and businesses so it’s confusing and leaves the question hanging. Could this be linked to the Biblical prophecy of men (humans) increasingly becoming lovers of themselves?

While we all ponder on this, it is left for every individual to acquire the right knowledge about things and be mindful about the people we deal with.

I started by listing out some of the terms used to downplay what is clearly and unarguably an act of greed, no matter what it is called in a world where almost everything is being given a new name to make it sound nice, we know that what is bad remains bad and certainly same goes for greed.

About The Writer:

Sunday Imonah, also known as Lord Sonar because of his good music ears and vocal prowess, is an enigmatic Presenter on the Breakfast Show as well as DCA on other belts on Metro FM, He is a voice artiste as well. He has produce, written, and directed creative works for the Station as well. He has voiced Commercials for Companies like Afrab Chem, Cornoil, numerous pharmaceutical and beverage companies as well as religious houses to mention but a few. Sunday is a social critic who uses his writings to proffer solutions for social good.

Connect:

Twitter: @FirstSonar

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