Indeed, fate trumps effort

I asked Barmu to give me the names of the appointees so that I can address the letters to them but he said no, that the names were not ready so I should draft the letters first. That made me apprehensive. I was wondering; with only a few hours to go before the inauguration, why […]

I asked Barmu to give me the names of the appointees so that I can address the letters to them but he said no, that the names were not ready so I should draft the letters first. That made me apprehensive. I was wondering; with only a few hours to go before the inauguration, why was he hiding from me the names of the people that he was going to appoint?
The night before inauguration I went to him with the letters. He took them and read them one by one, nodded with satisfaction, then he turned to me and said, “Alhaji, I have been thinking about the post that will fit you in my new government. The best post for you is to be the Commissioner for Works because you know how to deal with contractors who defraud the government. I remember how you used to deal with me when I was a contractor. I want you to do the same here because many contractors are fraudulent and they think they can deceive the government.”
It took me a minute to recover. This man is trying to change the agreement we reached with him at the last minute. If I agree to be a commissioner, how am I even sure that he will fulfil that promise? I quietly stood up and began to pack the files and papers that I came with. Barmu said, “Where are you going?” I said, “Home.” He roared with laughter, as is his habit. He said, “Are you angry that I am changing you from SSG to commissioner? Don’t you know that commissioner is higher than SSG? Somebody told me that SSG is not even a member of the cabinet, that he is only the secretary. That is why I am making you a commissioner instead because it is higher. Commissioner of Works for that matter!”
I looked at him in the eye and said, “Barmu, you have not changed one bit. You still break promises effortlessly. We went with you to the Emir of Tafki and he guaranteed this deal. Now you are breaking it. You made me to suffer all these days reading your handover notes and writing your speeches. Is that the work of a commissioner? Anyway, I am going now to see the emir and tell him that the deal he guaranteed has been broken. From his palace I will go to my house.”
Again Barmu roared with laughter. He said, “Is that what you are going to do? You want the emir to think that I am not a good man, that I break my promises?” I said, “I don’t know what the emir will think. I just want to tell him what happened to the deal that he served as guarantor. What he makes of it is up to him.” Then he said, “Sit down, sit down. Let me tell you the real reason why I want to change you. It is my party people that said I should not give a juicy post to a new comer. They said if you had won the election instead of me, you will not even make me a special assistant, not to talk of SSG. That is why I told them that ok, I will make you a commissioner instead. But I want you to help me tell the emir that the change is done at your request.”
I flared up and said, “This is what is called slapping a person and stopping him from crying! The emir guaranteed this deal. You know if not because of his guarantee, my campaign staff will never allow me to enter into a deal with you because of this kind of thing. And now you are saying I should tell the emir that I was the one who asked for a change. Never!” I walked briskly towards the door but Barmu beat me to the door, locked it and removed the key. He said, “Alhaji, come and sit down. Where are those appointment letters you came with?” I gave him the letters. He fished out the one for SSG and said, “Write your name here.” I wrote my name on it, then Barmu took the letter and signed it. If you see his signature, it is like the crawl of a millipede. As if nothing happened Barmu stood up and said, “Ok, SSG. There are many things to do this night before the inauguration. Please go and continue the work. I expect you at 7am so we will not be late to Shamuwa Square.”
Throughout the night Barmu kept phoning me with one instruction after another. I wrote the speech that he was going to read at the inauguration, wrote the one he will read in a radio and television broadcast later in the evening as well as the one he will read at the state dinner. When I asked him for guidance as to what to write in the speech Barmu only said, “Write whatever you think I should say! Are you not a civil servant? You are the people who know these things. What I only know is politics and money!” I also summarised for him the issues that he must tackle as soon as he is inaugurated, including workers’ salary for May which the outgoing governor refused to pay.
I was feeling very sleepy when I set out at 6am yesterday for Alhaji Barmu Dakatsalle’s house. From there we proceeded to Shamuwa Square where he took his oath of office as Governor of Tafki State. We then accompanied him to the Government House. Barmu did not even wait for the Director of Protocol to lead the way. He hurried up the stairs, opened the governor’s office, went and sat down in the swivel chair and began to swing it round. He was saying, “Alhamdu lillahi! Allah is great! I never thought this day will come when I will sit in the Governor’s chair!”
He then told me to release the appointment letters he had signed to the press secretary to announce to the press. He then said I should go to my new office and come back afterwards so we can start working. Four permanent secretaries as well as Alhaji Gohe, Maikahon Karo, Tsinin Kusa and Anbuga Anbarka accompanied me to my new office at the Executive Office of the Governor in the old Secretariat. As I sat down in the chair I said, “This is the one that Allah destined for me to occupy. Because I didn’t know it I spent the last two years jumping up and down trying to become the governor. Truly, fate trumps effort.”