Hey there Ladies!
Have you heard of Homer’s epic play, The Iliad, Ada began as all the ladies took their seats that evening. This time around, we were joined by another suspect, the feisty Tamara. Tamara, the event manager, is hardly ever around due to her event planning gigs and has since taken over my title, Ajala, the Traveller.
“Who does not know the story of Helen of Troy!” she quibbled, excitedly as she took her seat next to Ada, while winking at Sexy Jola. And if you ask me, she was actually too excited for my liking.
“Trouble has come to town,” mumbled Jolaolu, next to me. I gave her a pinch. It was obvious she hadn’t forgotten their last face- off months back, over the educational standard of unity schools being more preferable to private boarding schools when Ada had brought up her son’s admission issue. I remember Ada had some fears over sending her son to Federal Government College (FGC), Odogbolu, saying although her hubby wanted it, she preferred he attended a private boarding school close by.
You see, Tamara had attended FGGC Benin; Sexy Jola on the other hand attended Apata Memorial. Long story short, the boy in question has since resumed at Odogbolu.
Seeing the tension in the air, Ada retorted laughingly: “Our boy is now in JS One and soon we’ll be talking about Jamb form o.” We all laughed back, and relaxed.
“Back to my question, have you guys read Homer’s The Iliad?”
“Yes!” I replied. “It centres on a conflict that arose after Paris, a Trojan prince, stole Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world then, and wife of the Greek King Menelaus, from Sparta. In response, an alliance of Greeks sailed to Troy to recapture Helen and destroy the cities – an expedition which gave rise to the famed Trojan horse that has since given us the metaphor, GREEK GIFT.”
“Scholar!” screamed the pack. “What do you expect from a literary scholar? Evelyn The Poet, Salute!” voiced Tamara.
“Well done, Eve. Have you also heard of the proverbial ‘Achilles Heel’?”
By now, it was evident that Jolaolu was already getting irritated by Ada’s suspense, shifting left and right without leaving her seat. “Which one be this lecture on Greek mythology? Go straight to the point na,” she urged.
“My point exactly! I thought we were supposed to be discussing about coups,” added Tamara”
“I’m getting there,” Ada replied, and took us into political/history class, “You see, whether is Niger’s coup or Garbon’s, I do not subscribe to coup d’états as being the way out. My take is that coups are more or less like an Achilles Heels that is also a Greek gift.”
“Supu! Barrister, speak your Lordship! But this one pass me o. How are they related,” exclaimed Tamara.
“Ask Google.” I’d mumbled to myself, smiling mischievously as Sexy Jola nudged me.
“I must agree with our Barrister,” Mummy Fawas, who has only been smiling and nodding all evening, interrupted the tease.
“As we were chatting, I googled all that Ada was alluding to. Indeed, the recent wave of coup d’états across the region forces one to take time to reflect on the phenomenon. It begs the questions and calls attention to lessons about management of power and representation. But is coup the way out.”
“So what is the way out, then? When political leaders think they are fooling us all nko?” Jolaolu queried.
“I like the take of political scholar and Institute Director at CIAPS, Anthony Kila that democracy should be a means to (good) governance offering transparency and accountability,” Ada explained. “On the other hand, not only does coup d’état allow rebellion to fester and enables illegal state capturers to successfully operate; if things are not corrected and it becomes a trend it may take us back some decades.” And just as she was about going into another long lecture, Tamara’s phone rang, a customer was calling. It was my cue to run off. “See you tomorrow ladies and Mummy Fawas I want to be part of your next Ajoo o!”
“That would be in January. By God’s grace. Good night!”