The President was talking based on the sudden kidnap of his daughter and his son in law. The Vice President was also sited in the midst of the few officials, and many journalists. “By then everything will be sorted out.” Mr Adewale finished and a flurry of hands went up, then he pointed to one of them and a woman (journalist) stood up.
“Mr President, what is the present report on the rescue mission of your daughter and her husband? She sat down after that.
“Um, thank you, what’s your name again? He asked and she told him. “You see Miss Eridiong, the securities are doing their jobs well but it’s easy for an enemy to penetrate when there’s someone within the government that is working for or with them___”
He had finished answering few of the questions he could at the time. “What did you think you were doing? Telling the whole public that there’s a leak in the Villa? Are you trying to tempt whoever is doing this?” Victoria attacked him from the hall.
“You think I wanted to say that? It’ll make us look weak and make them say I can’t do my job,” he added. “But they wanted a headline and I had to give it to them.” He shouted. She knew he wasn’t thinking right, she also noticed that pressure was weighing him down than the usual. Which would he deal with first? The bombings in Maiduguri or the Fulani herdsmen who slaughtered a lot of people three days ago in Borno and Adamawa? It was too much to take at the time. He needed time to clear his head, he hasn’t been able to sleep at nights also. she noticed.
The next morning, he had his doctor over to check his B.P in his office. The door was locked and he ordered the guard outside to stop anyone from entering. “You’re alright sir.” The doctor said, removing the stethoscope from both ears and unfolding the sphygmomanometer from Mr Adewale’s left arm.
They were sitting close to each other. Mr Adewale looked straight to the doctor and noticed he was not able to stare back at him. “What is it Usman?” He asked calmly. “I know when something is wrong,” he said. “I haven’t been able to sleep for the past two days now and the drugs don’t seem to be working for me. So you can’t tell me that I’m fine.” He urged him to tell him the truth.
“Your B.P level is higher than the usual sir. I’m sorry. You may need a cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scan. Because if you’re not admitted by tomorrow, you will be in shock and unable to___”
“So what do you suggest we do?” Mr Adewale interrupted.
“Um, for a start, I’ll place you on a two weeks diet. And secondly you need a lot of rest, we can admit you here at home if that’s what you’d like.” The doctor suggested.
“Anything you say Usman.” He trusted him with his life, him and Doctor Usman went a long way back. They had been friends since before he even thought of becoming a politician.
“That’s what we will do,” Doctor Usman said. “I suggest you have enough meetings today and some media talks you have tonight. So that by 10pm we can place you under two intravenous fluids.” He finished and the President nodded. It was fair to him.
In the evening, the President was in a meeting with some joint chiefs. Both military and the elders of Benue State, concerning the brutal killing of innocent civilians. “It has affected so many people and made almost twenty percent of them homeless___” suddenly the elder’s voice grew distant. The President sat in his chair with his eyes closed. He wasn’t paying attention to the meeting. He had started feeling drowsy and having headaches, which made his head spin. Suddenly he started to sweat profusely like someone who descended from a mountain. “Mr President,” the chief of the army staff said. “Sir?”
Mr Adewale jumped as he touched him by the arm. They all looked bemused, he looked totally lost and out of time. Was he even listening to what they had been saying? They murmured to themselves. “They were able to avoid a major disaster at the event ___” the chief of staff tried to continue.
“I’m sorry,” Mr Adewale started. “It’s been a hell of a day, I think we should call off this meeting till some other time.” He said slowly standing up.
“But Mr President, this matter needs to be handled quickly. The earlier the better sir.” Someone challenged.
“Yes, I know Elder Dike. Talk to General Chima about it. He will tell you the steps to take towards bringing peace back to your state,” he added. “Thank you all for coming gentlemen, and save journey to your destinations.” Mr Adewale finished and almost fell down when he slammed the door behind. Jack got a hold of him quickly. “Go fetch the doctor,” he said panting. “Now!”
It was merely 10pm when the doctor drove into the Villa. The equipments he needed was supplied and in no time he put the IV in the President. His breath had began to slow down some minutes later, and the sweating too. “No one needs to know.” He had warned the doctor, his wife and Jack his bodyguard. They were his three most trusted people in the mansion then. His son Jake (Bola) was another subject entirely, he is wise but stupid. wise when it came to money issues and stupid when it came to keeping secrets especially from women. They were his weakness.
“He needs a lot of rest,” the doctor said. “I’ll be back in the morning to check on him.”
“You should stay with him Incase.” The First Lady suggested.
“That would draw suspicion, the vultures (journalists) are already circling around. And he told me not to stay the night.” The doctor said.
“Alright, thank you so much doctor Usman.” Victoria said in appreciation and he left quickly. Jack closed the door, no one was going in or out of the room unless the first lady’s say so. He was very loyal to the one he served.
“It is high time you stopped drinking.” Taye warned. Sitting beside Bola who was drunk that night, they sat together on the couch. He was in the Vice President’s house.
“What exactly did you say was in this food?” He asked.
“A clove of garlic was used for the recipe.” She laughed. “Mother made them.”
“Your mother cooks?” He sounded surprised.
“Yes,” she sat back. “With the way things are happening now, she said its best you do things like this on your own. You don’t know who wants you dead.” She finished and he laughed.
“Speaking of which. Have you heard anything about your brother?” She shook her head.
“Have you?” She returned.
“No.” He shook his head too and suddenly looked sad. He had missed his sister, even though they fought and argued. Not having her around was what he couldn’t take. “I hate him!” He roared.
“Hate who?”
“The President. My father,” he added. “I just hate that he’s not doing anything about all of this, he’s too soft.”
“Don’t say that,” she moved closer with her left hand crossed over his shoulder. “I’m sure he’s doing everything he can to make sure your sister and my brother come back home safely. Even my father had been going up and down all day. I’m very sure they are fine wherever they are and they will come back in one piece.” She said.
“I hope.” He didn’t seem touched by her sense of reasoning with their parents.
