Late in 1977, I returned to Nigeria to receive training. At the end of the three-week course, the Branch Committee coordinator, Malcolm Vigo, had me read a letter from the Sierra Leone branch. The brothers were looking for a healthy, single pioneer brother who spoke English and French so that he could serve as a circuit overseer in Guinea. Brother Vigo informed me that I was being trained for the assignment. He stressed that it was not an easy assignment. “Think it over before you accept,” he advised me. I immediately replied, “Since it is Jehovah who is sending me, I will go.”

I flew to Sierra Leone and met with the brothers at the branch office. One Branch Committee member told me, “We do not know much about the Kingdom work in Guinea.” Although the branch was responsible for the preaching work in neighboring Guinea, communication with the publishers was not possible because of the tense political situation there. And despite several attempts, the branch had been unable to get a representative into the country. Therefore, I was asked to travel to the capital of Guinea, Conakry, to try to obtain residency.

Shortly afterward, I returned to the branch office in Sierra Leone and informed the brothers of the minister’s decision. The brothers shouted with joy when they heard how Jehovah had blessed my journey. I had been granted residency in Guinea!

From 1978 to 1989, I served in the circuit work in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and as a substitute circuit overseer in Liberia.