The Governor Emeritus jumps out of his sleep. He looks at his surroundings: the bed is gold-plated; the mattress is extra-relaxing; the table lamp; the chandelier; the curve television set; the crested rug; and all. He could not have asked for anything better. But he is baffled and troubled. The dream he just had still scares him. It is a sharp contrast to the beauty of the room he is in.
The first thing that occurs to him after clearing his head is to walk from the Presidential Lodge to the Governor’s Apartment and challenge His Excellency with the facts just revealed to him in his dream.
It is just 6am. The crowd will soon start trooping in. Since his status changed to governor-emeritus of Abasi Ibom State, the crowd in and outside the Presidential Lodge has increased. They troop in as early as 7am. Of course to seek one favour or the other. To many of these people, they see him as Governor Emeritus rather than the Senator of the Federal Republic that he now is. To them, the fact that he now lives in the Presidential Lodge anytime he is in town is a further confirmation of his hold on the governor, Modu Leunamme.
He drafted Leunamme, a former bank top executive, into politics and made him governor at all cost. In appreciation, Leunamme still allows him call the shot. Almost everybody that matters in the governor’s executive council is there on his say so.
Now, this dream. It has two parts. One part is that the governor will soon start calling his bluff. He will start by instigating people to start complaining about his use of the Presidential Lodge. And two, the tribunal sitting in Abuja will kick out the governor after six months. But before then, Leunamme will cut him to size. He shivers at the possibility of these things happening. It occurs to him that nothing is impossible in politics.
His phone soon rings. It is his wife, who is in Dubai enjoying her life.
“Hi Honey,” he says.
“Good morning my heart,” his wife replies.
Before he says anything else, his wife adds: “You sound down.”
He relays the dream he just had to her.
“This is getting serious,” she says.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Yesterday, my PA called me saying he heard the Chief of Staff saying that the governor cannot continue to be under your shadow and that very soon, he will show you who is in power between them by first ensuring that all the lawmakers switch allegiance to him.”
Governor Emeritus cuts in: “You mean he said that?”
“Honey, he did and even said more. He described you as a greedy bastard who thinks the whole of Abasi Ibom should lick your foot. He said soon Abuja will be your permanent home and that if you prove stubborn, he will supply EFCC enough evidence to make Kuje your official abode.”
She continues: “Apart from the Chief of Staff, another aide of the governor was overheard saying that the governor will soon meet with members of the National Assembly from the state, especially the senators and the reason for the meeting is to use them against your desire to be Minority Leader of the Umbrella Peoples Party in the Senate.”
“Can all these be true?”
“I really don’t know.”
“But, with the kind of revelations in your dream, I am beginning to believe them,” his wife says.
There is a silence of some seconds.
“Honey, just be careful. There are examples abound of men helped into power who less than three months after turned against their benefactor and became their worst enemy. So, if it happens here it will not be strange. Of all the governors helped into power by their predecessor, only a few did not supplant them. Some tried but could not.”
“I will be careful dear. Just enjoy yourself. I will be expecting you back next week.”
The conversation ends. He decides to place a call to the Chief of Staff. The phone hardly rings before the man starts to pay obeisance.
“Good morning your Excellency,” the Chief of Staff says, “I remain loyal Sir. To what do I owe this call sir?”
Doubts set in again and he queries himself: Is this man deceiving me? He is confused.
“I want you to see me later in the day. There is something I need to discuss with you.”
“Okay sir, I will see you,” the Chief of Staff replies.
He gets off the bed and retires to the bathroom to have his bath. The Jacuzzi is where he thinks he needs and he buries himself in it relishing the soothing feeling of the water. There his thoughts wonder.
He remembers his search for a successor and how he had to dump two powerful men before settling for the governor, who was a political novice. He remembers the battles he had to fight because of his choice. He remembers the dream he had in which he found himself in-between heaven and hell. He remembers how after that dream he decided he was not going to foist any candidate on the party. He remembers how he called a meeting of the party top notch and told them he was not going to foist anybody. He also remembers how weeks later his wife told him to discountenance the dream and go ahead with his original plan. He equally remembers how he had to threaten his estranged political sons with death when they were against his decision to foist Leunamme on the state. He remembers so many things and he shivers inside the warm Jacuzzi.
As he rubs the liquid soap on his body, he thinks of the best way out. Should he confront the governor or should he just siddon look? It is not an easy decision to make. In that instant, a discussion he had with former Governor Ibo of Nambra State came to him. Ibo had advised him against sticking out his neck for anybody. Ibo had stuck out his neck for a former banker to become his successor and it did not take three months before the man turned against him.
For Governor Emeritus, the deed is done. Leunamme is governor already and what he needs to fashion out now is how he will not be disgraced. Or, should he just work underground to make sure he loses at the tribunal? No, this is no option, he says. It will only bring in his arch enemy, who will now make it a point of duty to expose him every day. At least, this one will only assert himself but not ridicule him, he agrees.
He gets out of the Jacuzzi, heads for the room, dresses up and looks out of the window. There are at least 10 people waiting outside already. He recognises four of them. They are men who have begged him to get them one appointment or the other. He sure is in no mood for petty talks this morning.
“Udom,” he calls on the steward.
“Yes sir,” the steward says.
“Tell all of them I am going to be busy with a conference call with the Senate President for the next four hours. They should come back tomorrow.”
“Okay sir,” the steward says and rushes to go and deliver the message.
He grabs the remote control, switches on the television and tries to soak himself in on the newspaper review. It takes less than five minutes into the programme for him to realise than his case is akin to someone who has murdered sleep and peace of mind is going to be a commodity he will find difficult to acquire.