The story was told to me by my friend Tunde, who's a junior engineer in Abuja, at a wedding reception last December. We were sitting at the back while the speeches went on far too long, and he leaned over and whispered it, and I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop myself laughing.
A few weeks earlier, Tunde had gone for a very important job interview at a big construction company. He was nervous, so he left home really early and wore his best suit. On the way, he stopped at a roadside stall for some fried bean cakes, because he hadn't eaten. He was so careful not to drip oil on his suit that he didn't notice a goat wandering behind him. When he turned round, the goat had climbed onto the back seat of his car through the open door and was happily eating the folder with his certificates. He spent ten minutes chasing it round the car, with a crowd of people cheering, and arrived at the interview with half-eaten documents covered in goat saliva. The best part was that when he explained, the interviewer, an older woman, laughed so much she had to leave the room. He got the job.
I found it funny partly because of the way Tunde told it. He's usually very serious, so watching him act out chasing a goat in a smart suit was hilarious. But it was also the contrast between something so formal and something so ridiculous. And honestly, it's a nice reminder that a disaster can turn out fine. Now whenever one of us has an interview, someone says, watch out for goats.