Amaka (Part 1)

I call this painting "Amaka".

Amaka could not take her eyes off Shola, a tall ruddy handsome man, as he stepped out of Pherms. He had just visited to make enquiries about developing a building project. Amaka walked quickly to the receptionist after Shola had left to enquire about Shola. There was something about Shola that caught Amaka’s attention. Who is that man? Amaka asked Martha. He has come for a building plan, Andrew will commense by providing him with a sketch before a proper CAD drawing is done, said Martha. I have put you to do the structural drawing once Andrew completes the Architectural plan, Tony and Rita will do the M&E drawings. I already have too much to do, said Amaka. Amaka agreed just so she could get to meet Shola again.

Amaka is a renowned Civil Engineer with many years of Experience. She got her degree from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, a renowned University in Nigeria for Civil Engineering. Amaka designed most of the Government projects in Enugu and Abuja. She never takes too many projects, she is good and expensive, if you want her then you have to be ready to "cough out" some good cash.

Amaka is the CEO of Pherms. She is a single mother of two. She lost her husband shortly after the birth of their second son. She is a hardworking Iron lady, she takes no nonsense. Her staff are very professional reflecting Amaka’s high values.

Nothing brings you to Pherms if you are not serious minded. As one approached Pherms, a beautifully designed garden with exotic flowers welcomed one. A lovely three-storey building with a touch of professionalism. Amaka built Pherms putting her many years of experience into every detail of this building.

At Pherms everyone mattered. Amaka has built a culture where her staff respected her and work goes on well even in her absence. She managed to do this by bridging the gap between a CEO and a receptionist. She shares an open office with her staff. They have special meeting rooms where they attended meetings with clients if they needed to. They had one shared kitchen equipped with cooking sink, refrigerator, microwaves and a dining area where everyone was free to sit together and eat. This way they caught up with one another from time to time. Amaka had a culture of cooking her own food, so she brought her food from home usually if she was not out eating with a client. This culture soon spread to almost all her staff and they either cooked or bought already cooked food and warmed it up in the office microwave. One of the rule was no “work related talk” during lunch, this way they shared stories and got to know each other well enough.

It was difficult to get employed at Pherms, but once you were in, you may never get fired. Amaka hires Engineers, Architects and Project Managers. She does not place them on monthly salary but usually gives them a percentage of the projects they were working on. This way, people were open to bring in projects as they knew they would get more percentage in projects they brought in. Amaka is usually interested in Government or multimillion Naira projects. She takes not more than five yearly and hands the rest to her staff. If Amaka was ready to work for you then count yourself lucky.

What was it about Shola that triggered some dead sensors in Amaka's body system? Since she lost her husband she had managed to kill those sensors and focused 100% on work and on her sons.

Who was this Shola that got her sensors working again?