The Activist - Season 1 - Episode 4

Episode 5 years ago

The Activist - Season 1 - Episode 4

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The sight of the building gave Andrew a lift, as he increased his pace. However, just as he thought he was going to make it alive, disaster struck.

Matches, who had gone on his own separate way suddenly appeared on the view that Andrew beheld, immediately firing a shot at his leg.
“Ah!” He shouted as more cult members came to the view. His wonderful ‘vision’ was now turning into a nightmare.

“Where you wan run go before? Stand up Mr Man!” Matches shouted with a lot of aggression, obviously obtained from been a street thug. Andrew la!d on the floor, hope lost and fighting spirit utterly gone. He knew this was the end, because Kareem will surely kill him immediately.
A surgical knife suddenly came in view, shooting his curiosity up. Andrew wondered which careless medical student could have done this.
A brilliant, crazy idea came in his head.

He silently took the knife, somehow escaping Matches attention as he kept ranting. He now slid the knife and his hand under the body and pretended that he had fainted.

Kareem caught up with Matches and co, grinning to himself. He thought Matches had killed him off.
“Matches, carry am make I use am send message.” Kareem ordered in a gale mood.
Sending message meant cutting all the person’s body parts with an axe and distributing it all over campus, a note accompanying each piece or body part.

As Matches lifted Andrew up, the almost dying man quickly offered two decisive stabs at Matches body and a glancing strike at Kareem, all before he was fatally shot by a recruit. Poor Matches bled to death by the cut into his neck, while Andrew slowly remembered everyone, his soon-to-be disappointed parents and Tade, his younger brother of five years, before he departed this world.

It was 10.00am. A red Toyota Car was stuck in traffic along the expressway between Ibadan and Ilesha. In the car was a hopefully young fresher, aiming to succeed in his future school. His name is Tade.

Tade, an eighteen year old male student, was tall and lanky for his age. His dressing was more expressive than expected, considering he was going to study Law at the more conservative Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun state. His mind, bored stiff by the traffic issue drifted between his current location and his home.

His home was more like a house than a ‘home’ to him. His parents were not in talking terms at home. They may not be fighting every minute, but their behaviour around him was enough evidence that a cold war existed between them. They put on a facade outside, obviously to avoid prying eyes and running mouths, but they created an unhappy and slightly distrustful lad.

]He took his mind off the his parents troubles and focused on his driver, Salisu. Anytime he remembered the driver, he smiles. The young man behind the wheels has not been opportune to be in a primary school not to talk of a university. His parents were a dead mum and a too-drunk-to-be concerned father. At the age of four, his uncle took him away from the stench of alcohol and straight to the smell of dust, as he worked like a slave for his uncle as soon as he reached the age to differentiate right from wrong. He was so mal treated that he ran away once he was twelve and entered the streets, working as a bus conductor.
It was in prison that Wale saw the young boy of sixteen years with a criminal record and took him in. He got him trained in driving and since Salisu knew the parts of the South West like the tribal marks on his cheeks- the only gift from home, Wale entrusted him with driving everyone around. Salisu on his part, was always the obedient servant never betraying his benefactor, something he transferred to Tade.

The traffic had cleared up and Salisu drove quickly, carefully overtaking cars and even a petrol tanker; something that caused panic to Tade. The student was about cautioning Salisu when he reduced the speed of the driving by himself.

]OAU was in view, some metres besides them. The beauty was not immediately apparent to them, but when they drove towards the gate, the sight improved. The gates were rather short, but the face of the statute of Oduduwa was molded on the wall of the gates, with the said walls dividing the traffic going in and those going out. As with all ‘important days’ like this, a slow traffic build-up was present.

Their sight-seeing was halted by the security officer who asked Salisu for his particulars, using his face in a bid to scare him. It failed woefully.
After his particulars were cleared, the security officer then proceeded to ‘obtain’ Salisu.

“You see, my son.” He started, “I have been here for some time without any food or water.” He then used a minute to reel out the inadequacies of the government of the day. “Abeg find something for me.” He concluded.

Salisu looked a bit surprised and calmly told him that he was also in a bad situation financially, so he could not help him. The old man refuse to budge.

“My son, is that how you lie to your parents?” At the sound of the word ‘parents’, Salisu got inflamed with anger, spilling out expletives and insults on the man. Tade watched with interest as they dragged it on.

“If you don’t give me anything, you won’t leave here!” The man threatened. Already other cars were hooting but Salisu just turned the engine off. Tade knew this was likely to be a long wait, considering that the old man had pressed a wrong button on Salisu.