Madam was the first to rush into the office. She was screaming. No sir. No sir. If she put herself in between you she would be ruffled.

 

Rogers came in. With the table that had tripped you to the floor, he kept your fists apart.

 

Did you not walk into this place on that Monday morning? You and Eddy. It was Eddy’s first day in office as the Commissioner for Social Welfare. The PRO led you two with your entourage. Those who followed you were the commissioner’s orderly, a police corporal whose club you said was broken and worn. And seven other people from Eddy’s kith and kin.

 

Eddy’s office was where the tour ended. You advised Eddy it was the proper thing to do, to visit all the departments in the ministry. You said he was supposed to meet as many of the ministry staff as possible. They ought to know their honourable commissioner from day one, you urged.

 

You saw the fair, busty lady occupying a desk as secretary to the honourable commissioner. You called her Madam. And since then you have called her Madam. Even though you got to know her name is Deborah.

 

You asked the PRO jocosely, ‘You guys have even chosen a PA for the commissioner?’ He caught your game. Everyone laughed.

 

‘She’s beautiful anyway… and I know she will be smart,’ you added, commending the brisk way Madam opened the door to Eddy’s new office.

 

That was seven months ago. About a year earlier you had gone to chief’s country home to thank him for his support. That was what you told chief. Even though your actual mission was to ask for his continued support. It was you who made the arrangements. It was you who knew who introduced you to chief’s younger brother. It was you who gave the man twenty thousand naira as appreciation. And he mumbled that fifteen thousand would be going to chief’s younger brother.

 

It was Eddy who bought the Remy Martin you presented to chief to thank him for his support.

 

Chief received you well. He told you he was the one who was supposed to thank you more. You were the engine and the axle of your ward, he said. The vote from Eri-Eri I had made him party chairman.

 

When he acknowledged that you said, ‘Thank you, Chief,’ you did not hesitate to mention the efforts of the ward chairman and the woman leader. You mentioned the names of the other members of the Executive Council of Eri-Eri I. When you said that Eddy nodded. He nodded calmly because you two understood how that day had gone.

 

All the voters arrived at the venue of the election before 9 am. There was a long disagreement with the electoral committee over what model to adopt for the exercise. But not everybody was aware. Open secret ballot, you agreed in private with the chairman.

 

A little while later, the chairman came to tell you the opposition persisted. Option A4 they insisted. He told you the treasurer and his line-up would not budge.

 

You remember the treasurer. A smallish man with a big head and a harsh mustache. He wore a brown caftan two times his size the day you joined the executive council meeting called by the chairman. In a serene tone he asked why you were at the EXCO meeting. While he talked you did not stop choosing from the tray chairman’s niece passed before you. You did not relent as you picked the biggest garden egg with a quantity of groundnut sauce. You were pent-up. And you did not ask the little girl about Nda Oyi, her father, as was on your mind. You kept your gaze on your fruit and made sure you did not look at the treasurer’s face

 

‘Madam Aisha is here.’ Treasurer also frowned.

 

You concluded he had no case. If he brought Madam Aisha into it, you had no case. He should have known.

 

Madam Aisha insists she is the substantive woman leader of Eri-Eri I.

 

Chief Mrs. Grace was suspended three weeks ago by the disciplinary committee set up by the party executive at the LGA level. When people gathered in front of the hall that day, outside the party secretariat, Dr. Oguna said someone should be in that capacity as part of the delegation to welcome the first lady. The chairman of the disciplinary committee had said it and everyone heard.

 

Madam Aisha was part of the delegation. When she shook hands and smiled back at the first lady, the first lady wished her luck as woman leader.

 

The chairman got his voice in defense of Madam Aisha. Treasurer disagreed. Others disagreed with him. And the meeting did not hold.

 

This is a small man you thought. You could constrict him with your left hand. You worried that the day was slipping from you. You went to the gate and told Eddy it was hard to change things in your favour. If his candidate lost Eri-Eri I, he was sure his candidate would lose the governorship.

 

You went back and saw the vice chairman was not at a place. His face looked like he was looking for somebody to call.

 

Of the three candidates you called one person awkward. You called him awkward because the chairman’s faction, which you belonged to, did not support him. The treasurer’s faction did not support him. He was awkward. The vice chairman had given him no chance. And you too did not.

 

The vice chairman had a hopeless mope as a huddle formed for the awkward candidate. You shared his hopelessness. You talked to him and he agreed to your plan.

It was Eddy who ran to you with a proposal. Twelve thousand naira for each person in the opposition. It was the chairman and the woman leader who lured the electoral officer away. It was Eddy who arrived in minutes behind the building with a sack filled with two hundred naira bills. It was you who handed the treasurer twenty thousand naira. You appealed to him. Your proverb meant a man does not dare another man.

 

He began to tell you how his disagreement with chairman began. He told you it was a time before they became members of the executive council of Eri-Eri I. He reminded you of chief’s court case. You told him you followed the case until the embezzlement charge was thrown out for improper presentation. 

< Prev		Next >