Eggshell

By Shanu Afolami

The book is about the struggle for ethnic and tribal superiority. It examines the common issues of distrust, marginalization, and political and economic superiority, which have become a problematic thorn in the national fabric.

The story also explores the heroic trait in the Nigerian citizen, who always exhibits an inherent trait of protecting ideals they stand for.

It explores the subject of love, using the two key protagonists in the storyWemimo and Biodun, two strong souls who had gone 360 degrees in their quest to achieve success in their individual chosen professional fields.

It is a story that mimics the political upheaval of that tumultuous era in the political history of Nigeria, especially before and after 1993. The flow of the story is rendered in a way to draw attention to the very fears and concerns of certain tribes within the country, concerns that are the bedrock of most arguments surrounding calls for rotational presidency, five-years single tenure, etc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Mar 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504937542

Shanu Afolami

The author has written many poems that have centered on the subjects of love, family, social ills and injustices, crime, faith, family ideals, economy, etc. He is a talented and creative mind who has a strong message on every subject he writes on. His stories are unique because he picks up on a historical fact or event and weaves a fictional story around it, drawing plenty of inspiration from personal involvement or experiences of close friends, relatives, and documented facts about such an incident. His stories and poems have been published widely in many online publishing platforms, like www.naijastories.com, www.kalaharireview.com, and his personal blog, www.shaiontheprowl.com, with wide acclaim of their creative ingenuity and relevance to addressing contemporary issues.

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2015 Shanu Afolami. 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 02/25/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3752-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3753-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3754-2 (e)

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

EGGSHELL 1

EGGSHELL 2

EGGSHELL 3

EGGSHELL 4

EGGSHELL 5

EGGSHELL 6

EGGSHELL 7

EGGSHELL 8

EGGSHELL 9

EGGSHELL 10

PROLOGUE

EGGSHELL 1

Lagos, Nigeria

January 23, 1996.

The front office was cold; very cold. Wemimo Martins looked again at his watch. It was just past three thirty in the afternoon. He heaved another sigh; he had been waiting in the cold reception room for well over an hour. But he didn’t mind that; it was the uncertainty of the future that worried him, and of course the cold (even if he didn’t want to admit it to himself).

Waiting was no longer strange to him. In fact, it was now a habit. However, he was uncharacteristically jittery today. And he had every reason to be so - over Two billion reasons to be jittery and anxious.

That was what was at stake.

Two point five billion naira worth of contract he had chased for close to nine months. A deal that had demanded a lot from him in terms of time invested and monies spent. Now, he was here to pick up the contract - a life changing contract, or so he fervently hoped. He hoped, because in this country anything can happen. What you thought was yours could be taken away from you in a moment, without recourse to justice being served on the usurper. Especially, if the person who snatched your deal is more connected in the corridors of power than you are.

The call had come in the previous week, and since, he had not stopped dreaming. It was the one chance he had been praying for, his launch board onto bigger and better things. All his dreams were just about to unfold big Time.

But first, he needed to pick up the contract. Without that paper work being signed and sealed, he could dream on forever without actualizing his dreams.

He was quite aware that a deal was not done or sealed until the necessary documents had been signed and delivered. In their world of ’contract chasing’, deals had been known to be hijacked overnight. This was what made him uneasy- having to wait this long to pick up the paperwork that would authorize him to activate assets –men, machines and money, towards the execution of the project - The building of a new ultra-modern headquarters for the information and data management giants BK Infometrics Inc. The Egg Shell is the code word everyone associated with the pitch at his office called it, and even the hotshots at BK picked up on the code name. What if someone stole his Egg Shell now, while he was sitting in this lounge waiting to pick up the contract? It was a lot of money involved and people get desperate when money large sums of money are involved.

Wemimo grimaced and shifted in his seat in an attempt to banish the evil thought from his mind. Now, he had a better view of the man seated beside him on the soft leather seat. The man was reading a newspaper and apart from the cursory greeting they had exchanged when he came in, they had not said another word to each other. A possible contract snatcher? Maybe? Or maybe just another innocent appointment for the Director. He looked eerily familiar, though he couldn’t put a finger on where he had seen him before. But, that can’t be his concern for now. Other things were crowding out unwanted thoughts from his mind. His future was soon to change big time.

In his new sitting position, he also had a good view of the receptionist. He could monitor when the buzzer will ring asking for him to go in to see the Director. He had never met the director of BK Infometrics Inc., and that was another major cause for concern. He liked to establish rapport with his client. In this particular case however, all negotiations and design details for the contract had been thrashed out in offices and conference rooms between floors two and four of the BK office in Ikoyi. But, now he had gone all the way to the top floor- floor 15, he hoped to receive the signed contract and to meet the man who was giving him a big chance to earn bigger bread and a yummier butter. He had been invited to come alone, which to his mind had been very odd.

The cold sifted through to his brain again and his body responded with an involuntary shiver. He was afraid to ask the receptionist to increase the temperature, as he had already made that request twice. Another such request might not receive the same sympathetic smile as with his earlier ones.

He fought the urge to look at his watch again. Instead, he stared at the intercom placed on the secretary’s table, almost wishing it to ring. And as if on cue, the buzzer sounded. Wemimo watched as the secretary picked up the receiver and listened for a brief moment before replacing it in its cradle.

Mr. Martins, you can go in now.

Wemimo sighed deeply before shoving himself out of the seat. He gave his tie a flick, re-arranged the flap of his suit and walked purposefully towards the only other door in the room. He was vaguely aware of the man’s eyes watching him as he made his way to the door.

‘Let him watch…bloody contract snatcher,’ Wemimo thought as he reached the door and tapped it gently twice.

Come in please, the surprise was registered with a lurch of his heart. That was not a man’s voice. Wemimo stood motionless for a brief moment before opening the door and stepping into the office. His surprise was confirmed by the sight that greeted him as he stepped over the threshold. Seated directly opposite the door, backing the floor-to-ceiling window which occupied the far end of the office was a young but very beautiful woman.

Yes. She was beautiful, but very small.

But, maybe her small frame was made more noticeable because of her semi-oval table was huge, but remarkably neat. Beside her laptop were two phones - a SAMSUNG and a Nokia, a mug; an old fashioned table phone also took place of pride at the center of the table alongside a brown paper folder. There was nothing else in sight on the table. She was really small for the size of the table and the relative stark nakedness of the table further accentuated that. To Wemimo it was all surreal, but she seemed very well at home in the office. To the far left of her table was a small fridge. On top of the fridge were a set of glasses and two bottles of water. Beside the fridge stood a small bureau stocked with drinks. Many of the bottles were still full, which might indicate that the occupant of the office didn’t drink much or that the bar was only recently restocked. However, she must read a lot. The entire right wing of the room was occupied by a bookshelf, and the library was impressive from where he stood. No space was left idle on the shelf, every inch occupied by books of varying sizes and volumes. Floor to ceiling, there was The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli, The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, Plato’s Republic, The Wealth of Nations by the great economist Adam Smith, For Whom The Bells Toll by Ernest Hemingway, How To Win Friends and Influence by Dale Carnegie, The Metamorphosis with the author’s name obscured by Tolstoy’s War and Peace. It was a really impressive library. Oddly, they were all books that had been written by male writers and his chauvinistic mind noted, for male readers. Wemimo stood there for a while trying to take it all in.

Please sit down sir, the woman indicated one of the seats opposite her desk. He took three steps to reach the offered seat and sat.

"I have been fully briefed by my people on your company’s competence and track record in construction, the kind we have in mind. I have also seen your designs. They are indeed avante garde, especially the egg part. I like that very much. I however like to meet my contractors and business partners in person. It is one way I can reassure myself that I am putting money in the right hands…and beyond money, putting the