Thorns In My Boot - S01 E28

Story 2 years ago

Thorns In My Boot - S01 E28

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 28

I passed my J.A.M.B with 290 points; the

cutoff point for Business administration at

U.N.N was 260 points. I also passed my final

prelim examination at I.M.T

I settled for U.N.N and I registered at the

Business administration department as a

one level student at the Enugu Campus.

I focused on my academics and my Okada

business. My aim from the onset was to

come tops in the department so I ensured I

did not miss any test or assignment. The

knowledge I had acquired from the

preliminary studies at I.M.T came in handy

because it was like a repetition of the

courses I did in I.M.T at the one hundred

levels U.N.N.

1999 elections was over and Obasanjo had

been sworn in as the Civilian president of

Nigeria but I was scared of going back to

headquarters to see the G.O.C, the hostilities

I faced trying to reach him had been too

daunting.

I was happy that Amaka was pregnant but I

was sad because it will distort her plans to

further her studies abroad, she had hoped

to get her master’s degree before settling

down. But she did not seem to bother, but I

was because I had wished for a better and

more comfortable life for her, I was still

trying to succeed in life, she did not even

leave me with the choice of terminating the

pregnancy as she had gone all the way to

tell her father about it. I just wished I would

not let her down; I wished all the ill luck that

fate had endowed on me since childhood

will end and not consume her too. These

were the challenges I tabled before mama

and Baba Ekundayo as I visited them in

Abakaliki to mark Ekundayo’s first birthday.

They encouraged me and assured me that

money was not the problem and indeed it

was not because Baba Dayo had hit it big in

Abakaliki.

Having set up his Shop at ‘sperra n deo

“junction with a big showroom facing the

ever busy road, it was not difficult for his

works to be seen and admired and

consequently the deals started coming in

torrents. The first big hit was a contract to

furnish the new P.D.P (Peoples Democratic

Party) secretariat at Abakaliki; all the rooms

in the Building were to be furnished with

wooden office furniture. He was the

successful bidder after going through the

due process screening of contractors as his

price was the least and most realistic.

Baba Dayo as I now call him travelled down

to Ogbomosho in Oyo state and Akure in

Ondo state to seal business deals on supply

of plywood and timbers to his shop at

Abakaliki. He also went to Villages and

bought matured tress in the forest; these

were felled and pruned by professionals

before transporting them down to Abakaliki.

He then got a paid agent based in Sarki in

Oyo state whose job was to be going into

villages and buying matured trees and

sending the timber to Abakaliki.

Consequently Baba Dayo became a Timber

Merchant in Abakaliki, supplying other

traders at the Timber Market on Ayim Street.

The contract price that was awarded to him

to furnish the secretariat was twenty million

naira even though he quoted twelve million

naira, he knew he had to return the excess

money to certain persons once he is paid, in

fact they demanded he paid them upfront

before commencement of the Contract but

he begged them as this was his first and he

did not have such capital so what they did

was to act as guarantor for him as he

collected a bank loan to finance the project

but they collected their eight million naira up

front all the same.

At the end of the contract, he was paid his

balance and he made a profit of four million

naira, having used eight million naira to

execute the job and settled many people.

But he was a busy man as many of the

Politicians wanted him to furnish their new

houses and hotels that were springing up at

Abakaliki. He had over twenty workers on

his monthly pay roll and many hired hands

that come in handy for urgent jobs that may

need him to travel out of town.

He was also told that the contract of

furnishing the new government house

being planned at Nkwagu will be given to

him as long as the quality of his job does

not fall and as long as he is willing to grease

the necessary palms. The Government house

contract was estimated to cost over three

hundred million naira.

If not for the school I had started in Enugu, I

would not have gone back! For what? When

my parents are millionaires already? Baba

Dayo was controlling Money and controlling

money means controlling People, his life was

changed forever! Abakaliki was expanding,

P.D.P was in charge of the state and he was

their favoured contractor! He had his hands

full as almost all the Local Government

Chairmen and Councilors wanted him to

handle the roofing and furnishing of their

new houses because he used the best wood

in town and his job was very neat and

unique, his style of design was not common

in Abakaliki so they all wanted something

different.

Baba Dayo was also building his own house,

a four room Bungalow at Nkwagu close to

the Army barracks. He had ordered for two

fairly used Cars from Belgium through a Car

dealer in Abakaliki, an SUV and a Saloon for

mama.

As I left for Enugu on Monday morning, Baba

Dayo gave me a Cheque of two hundred

naira for my upkeep and School expenses.

He said whenever Amaka and I are ready,

we should tell them so that we can all go to

Awka and see her father and his Kinsmen

for Amaka’s hand in marriage. He also said

he would be visiting Esa-odo with his Wife

and Kid by Christmas time; but as I kicked

started my bike and pumping the throttle in

readiness to zoom off, mama ran to me and

whispered in my ears that they would not

be going to Esa-Odo come December

because she was pregnant but her husband

does not know it yet, he had been busy

pursuing business. I laughed out loud and

gave her a peck before zooming out of their

compound. I was so happy, I sang all the

way to Enugu with my two hundred

thousand naira in my pocket.