The Guardians - Season 1 - Episode 11

5 years ago

The Guardians - Season 1 - Episode 11

☆☆

The conference room was
filled with al sort of men and a
few women, most of them in
different uniforms while some
were plainly dressed. They
had all come with their
personal assistants but soon,
those had to go outside the
room as they were not cleared
for the information that
would be shared inside the
conference room. The
conference room was huge
and it was rarely used and
never had it been this full no
matterwhat meeting they
were having simply because
no meeting which is as
important as the one they
were about to have has been
held here.

On the floor of the reception
was a huge inscription of the
Nigerian coats of arms and
the walls were painted in a
cool milky color togive the
impression of coolness but
those who worked behind the
desks knew there was
nothing cool about what goes
in the building. It is a place
where most of the difficult
decisions were taken and the
amount of backbiting and
politicking that happens is
staggering.

The participants started
arriving about 15 minutes
before 12 when the meeting
is supposed to start. There
was no room for lateness in
this business and when a
meetingis called with such
urgency and secrecy, time is f
the upmost importance as
lateness could cost a lot of
lives or a lot of materials
might be lost. The building
was guarded by uniformed
men drawn from a selection
of the Army, Navy and Air
force. Almost at every angle,
there was something to
remind visitors that the
building belongs to the
military and they did
everything to keep it that way.

From the exterior painting to
the flags flying. From the gates
where inspectionswere
carried out to the constant
salutation by everyone.

The first guest to arrive was
the Chief of Army staff General
Buba Rasak. A retired soldier
who had served the Nigerian
army in the Civil war and
different missions both inside
and outside the country. Buba
is a tall and bulky man whose
appearance screams
command. His face carried a
scar which is evidence of a
bullet that smeared his face
during a peace mission
somewhere in east Africa. He
is dark in complexion and a
man who rarely talk. His life
has been that of receiving
orders and he learnt of
listening a lot before giving
anyone replies.

His car pulled up at the
entrance to the reception and
he did not wait for his driver
or any of his escorts to come
and open the door before he
opened it and got down by
himself. His aide came to his
side carrying a file and Buba
made his way to the door and
itwas opened from within.

The guard who opened it
saluted him and he did not
respond. He walked over to
the reception and before he
spoke, the receptionist
answered

“Good morning sir. Welcome
to the Defence head quarters
sir”

“Where is the Minister? She
dragged me out of a very
important briefing for some
meeting and it better make
sense or she will be hearing
from me to the fullest”

The minister might be his
senior in position but when
you are the head of the
largest Army on the continent,
you feel the power he feels.
His uniform has had so many
decorations that he did not
have space to puthis medals
anymore. The new ones he
receives, he just puts inside
his drawer back at the office.

“The conference room is
already prepared sir .Right
this way”
Someone came to his front
and Buba looked at him
“Is this not the same Head
quarters I am used to? I am
very capable of finding the
conference room by myself
and I need no usher.

He looked back and saw the
Chief of Naval staff Admiral
Emeka Johnson walk through
the same doors he had
walked through someseconds
ago and he walked up to him
to greet him.

They exchanged salutes and
Buba said;
“What are you doing here
Emeka?”

“I was called here to meet the
MinDef (Minister of Defence)
here by noon for an
emergency meeting. I was
about heading to Port
Harcourt for some inspections
when I got thecall so I came
over to see what it is about.

Don’t tell me you got the same
call”

“Well I am here and it is
almost noon so I am here for
that too and seems like it is
for the same thing. I just hope
she did not call us here to
discuss Budget cuts else she is
going to hear it”

Emeka smiled and said;
“We should wait and see what
she wants to say. The day is
still young and this is just
October 10. I doubt they want
to start talking budget things
now.”

Together, they walked into the
conference room. When they
entered, the room was empty
except for people arranging
bottled waters in front of each
chair. They took a seatbesides
and got into a discussion
when the Director General of
the SSS Tope Adesanya
entered.