SECTION B: COMPREHENSION
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Alani was the seventh child of his family. When he was growing up, there was scarcely enough to go round. His mother was a petty trader while his father worked as a clerk in one of the ministries. But Alani was an intelligent child and performed brilliantly at school. This endeared him to his teachers. He represented the school at all competitions and won many laurels, While he was in Basic Six, he won a scholarship to study at any school of his choice to university level. The future was indeed bright for him. However, having to constantly struggle with his siblings for the little sustenance provided by
their parents turned him into an aggressive child.
After graduation, Alani got a job with a reputable accounting firm. He travelled far and wide and was trained extensively. He rose through the ranks and became one of the top executives. After a while, he decided to establish his own firm. His firm flourished because of his hard work, dedication and the huge amount of money and time he invested in the venture. After just a few years, the firm became a household name. However, things took a bad turn. Alani’s success went to his head. He became pompous. He would get angry at the slightest provocation. He refused to take the advice of his employees, considering them all beneath him. Even when his workers had good suggestions for improvement, he would not listen. Often times, he would treat even his clients shabbily. He began to lose clients one by one and his profits dwindled. His firm was on the rocks and he started to blame his employees for the downturn in his business. He became suspici6us of every move made and action taken by his workers. Soon, Alani became a bitter man. He lost the respect of his workers because he often quarrelled with them.
However, Alani’s secretary, who was his pioneer staff, did not give up on him. She tried to talk to him and refused to resign when other members of staff were putting in their letters. When five of his workers resigned on the same day, that decided it! He realized that he just had to turn his life around.
He went for counselling and began to turn over a new leaf. It was during one of the counselling sessions that he met a business mogul. They got talking and the man was impressed with Alani’s knowledge and expertise. They formed a partnership and Alani’s business began to grow again. Alani had leant a useful lesson: those who are endowed with success should nurture it with humility.
(c) Why did Alani’s business almost collapse?
Explanation
He was taken over by pride.