My Throne

By Bulus Mikailu

My Throne is the story of two friends who are disgruntled with the situation of the society. They decided to go against the system thereby putting their life on the line. The government felt uncomfortable and threatened, causing it to pass a death sentence on them. They were not detered but continued their struggle. Can they survive the fight?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477216699

Bulus Mikailu

Bulus Mikailu is a graduate of English with specialization Literature from the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. His writing experience can be traced back to 1994. In 1994, he participated in a National Essay competition organized by the Federal Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture for Tertiary level where he emerged second. Since then he has not relented in writing. Educationally, he graduated from Secondary School (High School) in 1992 and then proceeded to a College of Education (a Teacher Training Institution) where he read Education combined with English and Religious Studies. On completion he was awarded the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE). He took up a teaching job in a High School as a teacher of English. In pursuance of his education, he entered the University. While in the University he wrote in all the known genres i.e poetry, drama, short stories and fiction. One of his plays ' Forbidden Fruit ' was staged at the University of Maiduguri in 2003. He specializes in fictional work. He writes book suitable for young adults and matured people. He writes about the socio-economic situation with reference to Nigeria and Africa in general. He tries to present the picture that that is pre valent in the continent. When he was in the University he was a member of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) at present, he works as an administrative officer in a government security outfit. His interest is reading, writing and acting. He lives in Yola, Adamawa State capital, Nigeria.

Book preview

MY

THRONE

BULUS MIKAILU

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AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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© 2012 by Bulus Mikailu. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/02/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1668-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1667-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1669-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012920477

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

DEDICATION

To Brendan, my son whose birth brought the muse. Your laughs, cries and wrestling matches on the floor is a constant source of inspiration and creativity to me. May every end be a beginning… .

ONE

What is the meaning of all this noise? Steven thought as he woke up from his afternoon siesta, feeling bad that the only activity that gives him consolation in life had been short lived. He put his two palms on the bed as he eased himself up as if in a press-up position to look through the window. It was a political rally going on. What is the rally all about? He listened quietly to hear part of the chant coming out from the crowd. He adjusted himself on the bed to look at the crowd in procession. They held several banners with hyphenated and catchy expressions, some of which read; CONTINUITY FOR THE ACTION MAN, THE MAN WHO BROUGHT CHANGE TO OUR STATE SHOULD BE GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE, THE RIGHT MAN AT THE RIGHT TIME, OUR MESSIAH HAS COME and many more.

Steven got down from his bed picked his trouser from his hanger and pulled it over the short which he had on him. He took a T-shirt which he had flunged over the door when he came back from work and slung it on his left shoulder and walked out of his room. He slotted his naked feet onto the pair of sandals by the door and walked out to see more of the procession going on outside.

These people can’t be serious he thought. Despite all the suffering and degradation going on in the state, some are still clamouring for a return of the incumbent governor come next year’s general elections. These are real sycophants indeed.

As the procession marched past his house, he shook his head in despair, thinking about what the future held for Longuda State. This same man the people are clamoring for is the one that has been looting the state’s treasury for the past three years. He wondered if the people are blind to the situation starting them in the face.

He began to walk in the opposite direction, his mind pre-occupied with the disparity going on around him. Here are people praising the incumbent despite his non-performance and they are calling for his return to office. He assessed his life as a graduate of English, a civil servant who finds in difficult to feed himself. What kind of country is this? He thought as he continued his walk, turning at intervals to look at the procession as it took the bend towards the State House. He then remembered he had not worn his T-shirts, he smiled at that as he pulled it over his head, at that moment he heard tyre screeches just in front of him, before he could pull the shirt over his head he was down already.

The next time he opened his eyes, his body was aching. He looked around and saw a nurse in white smiling at him.

‘Am I in heaven already? ‘He asked

‘No Sir, you are not yet in heaven’ she said smiling.

‘I guess I am on my way, but why is my body aching all over; heaven is not suppose to be so.?’

‘Because you are in the hospital’

‘Hospital?’

‘Yes, you were hit by a vehicle’

‘Why didn’t the car kill me?’

‘No’ she said smiling ‘As a young man you should not be talking about death’

As they were still talking, Kula his friend just strode to the bed.

‘Thank God, you are awake’ Kula said

‘What happened?’ Steven asked

‘I thought you were going to die’

‘Don’t you think death is better’

‘Don’t start that, just get well’

‘For how long have I been here?’

‘Four hours’

‘That’s a long time’

‘You are improving’ the nurse said smiling

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‘How many people are present?’ the party chairman asked the secretary

‘Only five sir’

The chairman looked at his watch.

‘It is getting to 11 0’ clock and these people have not arrived’.

‘Let us give them more time’ the secretary put in. Some minutes later, the delegates for the meeting started arriving. The place was the state secretariat of People’s Progressive Party. The meeting was scheduled to fore-stall the plan of the party in power, from winning the next election.

‘We are all eye witness to what happened in this city last week’ The chairman started ‘The rally was sponsored by the incumbent governor, he knows he performed badly but still wants to be returned as governor, so we are here to plan towards the forth coming general election. We cannot close our eyes to crisis and allow all forms of injustice to continue to rule in this state and put the lives of the people in jeopardy.’

‘Yes we owe the people of this state a duty to salvage them from the tyrannical government of P.O.P’ the secretary added.

‘What is the plan you have on ground?’ Alhaji Hamza asked, who is being tipped for the party’s flag-bearer in the next general election.

‘The floor is open for suggestions, we are here to rub minds, so all suggestions will be welcomed’ the chairman added.

‘Mr chairman’ Luka said, ‘I feel we should be thinking of who we are going to present before we start brainstorming on strategies.

‘The primaries are still far-away, it is then we will know who emerges as the flag-bearer’ Alhaji Hamza said.

Mr. Musa looked round the room smiling, ‘there is no need waiting for primaries, those of us in this room can decide who becomes the candidate in this party. So why don’t we go ahead and suggest who picks the ticket eventually.

‘As you are all aware, nobody has shown interest for that seat apart from myself’ Ahaji Hamza puts in.

‘We have now heard, are we in agreement or is there a dissenting voice? Luka asked.

‘Impossible! ‘Haruna objected’ Hamza cannot represent us, he is from the same zone as the present governor, the people might think that the same situation will be prevalent if they vote for somebody from that region’

‘Who are you suggesting?’ the chairman asked. There was silence ‘Or is any of you interested? We all know that Alhaji Hamza has shown his interest for quite some time now. All of us are aware of that’.

‘Chairman, that is not why we are here, but before then, ‘the PRO said, ‘we have to think, there are many things to consider especially when we are talking about contesting against the party in power.’

‘Tell us the thing, we should consider?’ the chairman asked.

‘Let us not be blind to the kind of politics that goes on in this state’ the P.R.O continued ‘No matter how minute a factor is, it is still a factor. There are factors that feature prominently in our politics today, such as religion, ethnic background and educational qualification. At times we should not be blind to ones past involvements be it in business, private or public life.’

‘What are you trying to say?’ Alhaji Hamza asked

‘Nothing’ the P.R.O answered

‘This is not the time for fault finding’ Musa said ‘If we critically analyse what the PRO has said, we are not left in doubt that for us to be successful in the next election, we should put sentiments aside and work towards the victory of our party.’

‘As far as I am concerned’ the chairman said ‘I am not biased on a particular candidate. If any of you here feels he can step-in, let him speak-out.’

‘What is wrong with my candidature? ‘Alhaji Hamza asked.

‘Alhaji, nothing is wrong-’ ‘the chairman said, ‘I want to give everybody a fair chance, anybody that eventually emerges will be supported by all of us sitting in this room and we will all work for victory. It is only in the victory of our party that all of us can benefit’

‘I suggest that we should suspend this meeting, so that we can think of who should fly our flag. If we cannot solve that problem, our sitting here will amount to waste of time’ Musa said

‘I don’t think so’ Alhaji said

"Alhaji please don’t take it personal, we are all here for the party and not for our personal interest’ the secretary added.

‘I feel some people are not comfortable with my choice, but they are not man-enough to present themselves. I call that cowardice.’

‘Alhaji, you are taking it too far. Why the out-burst?’ the PRO asked

‘Yes, the guilty are always afraid’ Alhaji said.

‘We should not start this way. If we cannot agree among ourselves, how do we hope to fight against our opponent.’ The chairman said.

‘I will call for the adjournment of this meeting, till tomorrow, so that tempers can soften.’ Immediately, Alhaji Hamza angrily walked out of the conference room. Closely followed by the party’s secretary, trying to get his attention. But before he could reach Alhaji, he had entered his car and zoomed off. The others stood at the door of the secretariat watching the unfolding scenario before them. ‘Is this the kind of governor we want to present to the people’ somebody said. ‘This is a show of shame’ Another hissed. All start to disperse as they enter their car, driving off in different direction.

TWO

Nurse Doosuur was talking to Steven about his possible discharge from hospital.

‘Ah, I don’t want to leave this, please’ Steven said

‘You cannot continue to stay here’, she said smiling ‘you are better now.’

‘You don’t understand the situation.’

‘How?’

‘I have never felt this loved’

‘How do you mean?’ Doosuur asked smiling.

‘Can’t you see all the visitors coming to visit me, even my neighbours that I felt do not like me in that compound.’ He said ‘so you can see why I want to remain here.’

‘The more you stay here, the more money will be spent for your up-keep’ she said

‘Let them spend, after all its not my money that is being spent.’

‘Look, let us be realistic, . . . .’

‘Wait nurse, what is your name?’

‘Doosuur, Doosuur Nev’ she said

‘That’s a good name’

‘But why the interest in my name?’

‘Is there anything wrong in knowing your name?’

‘None’

‘Actually, if I must be sincere to myself, and not die in silence, I must tell you how wonderful you have been’ the nurse smiled ‘or do you think I am joking?’ He added.

‘I appreciate what you’ve said and you’ve been a special patient’ she said smiling.

‘Can I come and visit sometimes?’ He asked

‘You will be welcomed’

Kula then walked into the ward ‘Boy you are now strong, so can we go?’ He asked.

‘So fast?’ Steven asked

‘Why not, I have just collected you discharge papers from the doctors’ Kula said.

‘Man, you are wicked, you could not even inform me about your plans, that’s wickedness’

‘What are we waiting for?’

‘I don’t want to leave this nurse’

‘In love already?’ Kula looked at the nurse, then at Steven, Doosuur smiled and looked away. ‘Don’t tell me both of you have fallen for each other’.

‘You can say that again, I have never met anyone like her… . ‘As he was talking Doosuur ran out of the ward with a goodbye as she closed the door behind her.

‘What is happening?’ Kula asked

‘I will tell you later, let’s go’ Steven said outside, a car was already waiting. ‘Whose car is this?’ Steven asked

‘The car that hit you’

‘Why?’

‘The person took care of your medical bills and he has been coming