Direction - S01 E11

3 years ago

Direction - S01 E11

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 11

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There were soon rumours flying around that the next documentary would be on Mrs Janet Olatunde. In it, according to the rumours, her activities while in the D.A would be x-rayed and people would get to see her for who she really was – an egoistic, deceptive and corrupt person, who wasn’t fit to manage a home, not to talk of an entire state in the capacity of a Deputy Governor. This, it was claimed, was the reason why she was no longer in her husband’s home, and why she used her surname, Olatunde. Her eccentric outbursts were said to be resultant effects of her drug addiction, a vice she was alleged to have gotten into while in the United States. Though a mere rumour, it elicited instant reactions from the C.A. The chairman, Sir Maigida, described the planned documentary as a show of shame, and the last kicks from a dying horse. Professor Imonikhe described the D.A as a party which was yet to discard its irritating habit of victimizing the female folk; he called on all women to reject through their votes a party that planned to humiliate one of them through absolutely baseless contortions, capable of breaking homes and ruining societal peace. These views were reechoed by The Patriotic Voice Newspaper, in an editorial titled: ‘THE RULING OPPOSITION”

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him (ACTS 8:32).

At a time like this, with the people set to go to the polls, it is pertinent to ensure that the right choices are made. But, like the Ethiopian eunuch in the above cull from the bible, how will the masses know the right choice, except they be guided? How will they be able to separate the wheat from the chaff? How will they make the right decisions in the midst of so much falsehood from an alliance of desperate and focus-less individuals?

It is no longer news that, in their desperate and selfishly guided bid to cling unto power, the D.A launched an assault on our collective sensibilities in the form of a poor package of lies they called a documentary. It is no longer news that in their estimation, they thought such a diabolical plan could stop the daily increasing acceptance of the C.A as a worthy alternative. It is refreshing to note that the people, so fed up with the Paul Igbobia’s maladministration, are now ready to move in the new direction. It is refreshing to note that they have refused to believe the lie and are determined to dump out the desperate cabal currently in power through their votes.

However, we must remind the people of the fact that these devils will never give up; this is why they have moved their poisonous fangs onto the C.A’s deputy governorship candidate, the indefatigable Mrs Janet Olatunde. That, in their belief that the woman’s place is in the kitchen, they frustrated her out of their party is not enough; now they must move to ensure that she never attains peace in the C.A which welcomed her with open arms. Is this the kind of party an ambitious woman will support? Would our ladies with the great potentials imbued in them, and who make over half of our total voting population support such a party? A party that believes your entire value starts and ends in the kitchen? The choice is yours.

But, why has the Desperate Alliance adopted such a stance? Why have they made personality attacks their stock-in-trade? Aren’t they supposed to be telling the people what THEY HAVE ACHIEVED and what THEY INTEND TO ACHIEVE? Or could it be what we suspect, that they are learning fast to be an opposition party – a terrible one at that? Then, that would be really pitiable, for they are still in power – though temporarily. We encourage them to learn fast, for that status would soon be theirs.
We hail the ruling party…sorry, the ruling opposition.
It was a working method, as the D.A soon discovered. While they weren’t sure of the extent of impact made by the documentary, they were satisfied with the mere fact that it was making an impact anyway. The many attempts at rebuttals by the C.A hierarchy and the papers of the documentary’s content at the expense of all else was gratifying enough. Now, their focus was more on defending themselves than being always on the attack. The rumour on an upcoming documentary on Mrs Olatunde had been on the suggestion of Dr Magareth Ikpehia; the Governor had been the most surprised when such a suggestion came from her. He had even contracted a team of private detectors to monitor her movements and home, as he had been warned that she would still be in contact with Mrs Olatunde, who was said to be her closest friend in the party. Her suggestion and personal involvement in the circulation of the rumour had truly confirmed to him that in politics, there were no permanent friends or enemies. There was actually no more time for such a documentary; the election was only a few days away. Considering the frenzy the rumour had whipped up, he would have strongly considered such a production. He was yet to confirm the drug addiction angle, and he was still going to; he could imagine the media war and possible social unrest arresting Mrs Olatunde was going to generate, but such wouldn’t move him once the drug use, which was illegal, was confirmed. The D.A was holding its final rally the next day, a rally at which his speech would focus mainly on the contents of the documentary on Sir Maigida. If only they had more time for the documentary on Mrs Olatunde!

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The elections were only two days away; Chief Mike was in his campaign office flanked by Mrs Olatunde and Ezekiel. Sir Maigida and some executives of the party had just left. They had stopped over at his campaign office while returning from their last rally. Sir Maigida and the other executives were going to the party secretariat where they would be expecting Chief Mike and Mrs Olatunde later.
Chief Mike felt spent. In the heat of the denials associated with the documentary on Sir Maigida and the rumoured one on Mrs Olatunde, he had had to meet with the Elite Market Women’s Association, the Entrepreneurial Group, Fashion Designer’s Association and some other groups whose names he couldn’t even remember. He had felt like one being remote-controlled as they led him from venue to venue. He had made many promises, some of which he would forget as soon as he left a venue for another. He had noticed Mrs Olatunde’s vigour all the way and had wondered if the rumour about her use of drugs wasn’t true after all. Florence would have been tired for long already. His wife had made it clear severally that she couldn’t be going around with him on his campaign rallies and had only attended one so far. It wasn’t same with Mrs Olatunde, she would want to be at every rally and could remain standing for as long as was required. She could talk at length whenever presented with the opportunity, sometimes doing so until she was reminded of the time. He couldn’t be too sure she wasn’t guilty of the use of narcotics.
‘I can assure you that we will still win this election, sir,’ Ezekiel said in reply to a question. ‘We may have lost some ground most recently due to that documentary, but I don’t think there’s much cause for alarm.’
‘That had better been the case; I think I’ve been sensing some dissatisfaction from the crowd recently…’

‘I sensed it, too,’ Mrs Olatunde chipped in, ignoring the glare from Chief Mike who wasn’t pleased to have been interrupted, ‘that was why I disallowed that man in a red shirt from asking a question. I suspected that he was planted there by the D.A.’
‘Ezekiel?’ Chief Mike said, sounding like he never heard her. Mrs Olatunde pouted and looked away.

Ezekiel suppressed a grin. ‘That’s true, sir; and that has been because of the documentary on Sir Maigida. But the documentary was wrongly timed; many voters, especially in the rural areas, are yet to hear about it and there is no likelihood of them doing so before the election. Things could have been a lot more difficult had such a documentary emerged earlier.’
Ezekiel’s words gladdened his heart. They also meant that there would be no opportunity for the D.A to inflict further damage. Chief Mike eyed Mrs Olatunde, he knew she disliked the manner he had brushed her aside, but she also had to know that he disliked being interrupted when talking. The election was only two days away; he felt a pump of adrenaline as he thought about this. Only a few hours stood between him and a probable change in status. His Excellency!

They were at the party secretariat an hour later, with Sir Maigida pointing at some bales of customized wrappers, bags of rice and gallons of groundnut oil, meant for distribution same night when the Publicity Secretary of the party ran into the hall, halting breathlessly before Sir Maigida.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ Sir Maigida asked. Chief Mike was already in the rear of the group, looking around for possible escape routes should the secretariat be under attack. Sir Maigida was under no such fear, he was sure of the efficacy of his charms.

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