A moneybag’s pride is wounded
On the first day we were told that he got held up in Lagos. On the second day we heard that he changed his travel plans and instead of coming to Tafki State he proceeded to Niamey where he was negotiating to lease a copper mine. On the third day we heard that Alhaji Wauru […]
On the first day we were told that he got held up in Lagos. On the second day we heard that he changed his travel plans and instead of coming to Tafki State he proceeded to Niamey where he was negotiating to lease a copper mine. On the third day we heard that Alhaji Wauru Danmatakala went to Abuja to receive a visiting Kuwaiti Sheikh with whom he is involved in the rearing of Arabian horses. And on the fourth day we heard that he went on condolence visits to three different towns. It was only on the fifth day that we got confirmation that Alhaji Wauru, better known to everyone in Tafki State as Maitumbin Kudi, which means the one with the stomach full of money, had slipped into town and would see us at midnight.
Alhaji Gohe, Maikahon Karo and I arrived at Alhaji Wauru’s palatial home on the outskirts of our state capital. It was well after 11pm. Our visit was planned like a secret Mafia operation; we had to supply a description of the car in which we were coming. We were told to look out for a man wearing a long black jallabiyya and a white cap. We stopped the car when we spotted the man standing by the street corner; he silently opened the door and came in. He led us to a side street, past some tall walls before we arrived at a secret entrance into Alhaji Wauru’s mansion. Within minutes we were sitting in a circular, thatch-roofed but very well appointed living room.
We sat for a few minutes before Maitumbin Kudi walked in. For a man reputed to have so much money, he is of slight built and of average height. He is very jovial; even though I had never before met this man, said to be the richest man in Tafki State, he pretended as if we are old acquaintances and he gave us a warm welcome. When Maikaho was introduced, Maitumbin Kudi said, “Aargh! Maikahon Karo! I have heard so much about you. You are the one with a buffalo’s horns! You are not afraid of colliding with anybody!” Maikaho blushed and said, “Except with you, sir. I am afraid of colliding heads with you.”
Alhaji Gohe delivered our pitch. He said, “Alhaji Wauru, please accept our apologies that we have not been able to come and greet you and inform you about our friend and master Alhaji Sule’s plan to seek the governorship of Tafki State in next year’s election. We are very sorry for that and it was really because you are very busy and we could not get an appointment to see you. We are here to greet you and to seek your help with this aspiration. We know that there is nothing we can offer you that Allah has not already bestowed on you but Alhaji Sule’s father and your illustrious late father once worked together at Amburzin. It is that history of family friendship that we are here to rekindle and to seek your support for Alhaji Sule’s aspiration.”
Before he answered, Maitumbin Kudi touched a button and a curtain quickly drifted apart to reveal a long table well set with roasted meat, fried chicken, fruits, sweets, drinks, honey and bottled fura. He invited us to fill our plates before he said, “Alhaji Sule and your entourage, I welcome you to my house. This is our first meeting but Allah willing we are going to have many more meetings between now and the elections and even after. Even before you came here, I decided to support your aspiration. Let me tell you why I decided to support you before you even asked me. They did something to me in this state two months ago during the celebration of twenty years since the creation of Tafki State. I left my businesses in order to attend the ceremony here in Birnin Tafki. I came with three of my international business partners, one of them a Chinese, one of them an Indian and the third one Australian. His Excellency the Governor knew I was there. He personally invited me to attend the occasion but when he was making his speech, he refused to acknowledge my presence. My business partners concluded that I am not an important person in my own home state.”
We all gasped in horror. Maikaho said, “That is small work of His Excellency! He is fond of disgracing people! Imagine, he was acknowledging the presence of inconsequential people but he forgot Alhaji Wauru!” “It pained me very much,” Maitumbin Kudi continued. “For a man like me, there is nothing more painful than to be disregarded at home. I have therefore decided to put an end to such embarrassment in the future. I am not looking for money in Tafki State. Tafki State does not have the money that will attract my attention. Neither do I want political office in Tafki State or anywhere else. All I want is to protect my dignity and ensure that I receive proper respect in my own state. To get that, I am ready to spend any amount of money. What is the use of having money if it will not protect your honour and dignity?” We all chorused, “It is of no use! Honour is the most important thing!”
Maitumbin Kudi continued, “Very good. When you become the governor, I don’t want any contract from you. I don’t want any money. All I want from you is, give me lavish recognition anywhere we meet. If it is at a public occasion, recognise me! If I come home with visitors, receive me well and show them that I am respected at home. If any social event is taking place in my house, I want you to attend it with all your commissioners. When you are going to make an important appointment, let me hear about it before it is announced. Don’t let me hear about things on the radio. If people rush in and tell me what they heard on the radio, I should be able to say yes, the Governor told me about it yesterday. That is all. If you promise me these things, I will take care of all your financial problems in this campaign.”