The Venusian Conspirators 

By

Peter Ibrahim

peteribrahim@yahoo.com

This is a short account of some sad and inglorious events, which occurred in a not too distant past. And like most tales, the characters might not be real, but the scenario closely approaches reality. It occurred on Venus, the closest planet to Earth, but it was so emblematic that it might as well have occurred on Earth.

It began in Asorara, a small growing town of a peaceful, vibrant and accommodating people, in the nation of Asoria, found on the coastal plains of the Venara continent. Asorara’s proximity to Baja, the Capital city, conferred on it a larger-than-life image, but it was in reality a little more than a village settlement whose only source of pride and relevance was the single Federal College of Technology situated on the outskirts of the settlement, and which drew its students from all over the Federal Republic of Asoria.

Shortly before the advent of democracy in Asoria, a rich land-owner had convinced the draconian Executive Council members of the Asoria Forces Ruling Coalition, AFRC, to appoint him the Asi of Asorara, which they did, instead of listening to the voice of the people who had preferred one candidate who, though financially less endowed, was more credible and much loved. Perhaps, little did they know that the land-owner had his hungry eyes trained at the annual allocations meant for capital and recurrent expenditure of the Asorara College.

Immediately he assumed the seat of the demised Asi, the new Asi constituted an Elders’ Committee which comprised rich but miserly merchants, retired civil servants, crooked opinion molders and a few honest but impotent elders with the sole purpose of executing his not-so-noble agenda.

This Committee proceeded into misguiding the then Principal  of the College into bending and breaking the established operational procedure in managing the affairs of the College, until he and the treasurer of the College became at the beck and call of the Asi, and danced to his whims and caprices. This continued for the entire tenure of the Principal resulting in a directionless and retrogressive existence that condemned the  College to a dustbin of academic pursuits.

The dawn of democracy in Asoria marked the change of leadership of the College. It brought a thoroughbred academic staff, named Abdil, from Baja University, where community influence on academic institutions was at its barest minimum, to the helms of affairs. The new Principal’s very rich academic exposure, at home and abroad, had firmly entrenched objectivity and sincerity of purpose in whatever he puts his hands. And therefore, when he was appointed the new principal of the College, he accepted the challenge with the mightiest of zeal and prayed to the Almighty for help.

The Asi had perfected plans to overwhelm the in-coming Principal and completely disarm him as soon as he arrived. A reception was therefore organized to send off the former and welcome the new one. Unfortunately, Abdil was not impressed by ceremonies. As the reception rolled on, he was told that if he followed the path of the outgoing principal, the Asi would treat him well and also shower him with an equally grand reception at the end of his tenure. Abdil was not amused by that advice. His mind reflected that he was in Asorara only as a federal civil servant, he was an academic through and through, and he was only there to do his job. And as for gratitude, he expected only God’s pleasure and his salary, no more.

However, it was when he settled down to do his work that he realized the tens of millions of liabilities he had inherited from the reception’s recipient. He had then gone out hoping to be pacified by projects accomplished that led to the liabilities. But to his uttermost dismay, he found a college that was no more than a glorified secondary school. That was when the new principal realized the enormity of his new assignment. He, therefore, resolved to take some drastic measures, to salvage what he could and ensure that he did not become a lackey of external forces to the detriment of his primary responsibility.

He started by guiding the Management of the College in a solid resolve to prioritize academic excellence, to improve the welfare of students and staff especially in the areas of provision of potable water, transportation and accommodation; and to discontinue with ‘business as usual’ approach in the area of contracts. They decided to embark on ‘direct labour’ approach to reduce cost so as to pay inherited liabilities.

These resolutions, especially the last, did no go down well with the Asi, his teeming lackeys in the College and his Committee of nominal contractors. Those people could not believe that the new Management had a mind of its own and had resolved to extricate the College from their murderous grip. They saw in ‘direct labour’ an enemy of infinite proportion, because they feared that it had started exposing their previously executed contracts as thievery of enormous magnitude. Furthermore, it denied them their only source of sustenance and hence, it must be nipped in the bud.

Therefore, they conspired with their lackeys and organized an armed robbery attack to cart away some money meant for the completion of a noble project in the College. They then went round the Governing Council of the College and pulled enormous strings to ensure that their meal ticket was returned to them.

That misadventure was partially successful; it had led to the suspension of ‘direct labour’ approach to projects, by the Council, but it only strengthened the resolve of the Principal in particular and the Management in general to weather the storm and continue with their noble crusade.

On one hand, the attack had opened Abdil’s eyes to a new reality that he needed to fortify the security network of the College since the then existing system was heavily laden with Asi’s subjects and loyalists. On the other hand, various representatives of ordinary people had trooped to the Principal expressing their solidarity, lamenting the prevalence of miscreants in their society and pointing veiled fingers at the powers that be. They had mentioned that they supported fully the reform postures of the new administration, which they believed was more in the interest of their town and their people. They had prayed to God for the continuation of that administration.

The Principal then gathered his staff and briefed them about the goings on and reiterated his resolve to discharge his duty to the best of his ability no matter whose ox was gored. That event was promptly reported to the Asi who became so infuriated that he immediately summoned his Committee. Their decision was however to ‘allow the matter to cool down’ for sometime, due to the criminal nature of the accomplished deed.

Abdil settled down against all odds to establish a system worthy of the adjective ‘academic’. His level of seriousness and efficiency infected all well-meaning and competent staff. The inefficient naturally fell by the wayside. The students never had it better due to the sudden emergence of efficient transport system. Water tankers began working round the clock to ensure adequate supply of portable water. Accommodation facilities were being improved and more were being built to cater for both students and staff. And money was spent to purchase diesel to supply electric power for students to read and for the staff to benefit in the event of power failure from the Federal Grid.

The judicious utilization of resources by the Management was so much that the drop in allocation from the Asorian Government was barely noticed. That was when a gang of hooligans was organized to physically attack and eliminate this ‘stubborn’ man. However, the attack was foiled by the new-improved security system and well trained personnel. Some disgruntled students were then cajoled and some even forced into taking part in another organized effort, but that also was doomed to fail.

The Management shrugged its shoulders and moved on. That time its effort transcended the College. The Principal had earlier set up a committee to look into how the College could socially assist its host community. From its recommendations, formerly non-existent town bus transport system was introduced, ferrying people to long distances at very subsidized rates. Cleaner water was produced for their purchase and consumption and several other social efforts were executed.

On the academic front, the Principal had introduced remedial programme meant only for Asorara indigenes to enable them secure admission en masse into the College, which was hitherto dominated by candidates from other parts of Asoria. That effort, over a three-year period, changed the composition of the student population thereby reducing the temperate nature of student groups and minimized the proliferation of cult groups.

The Management built new structures and established new departments. Competent staffs were employed to manage the rapid developmental efforts. It was at the time when the Education Fund Unit of the Government decided to recognize the efforts of the new management and rewarded it with the title of ‘Centre of Expertise’ in addition to some fiduciary commitments, that a new malicious plot was hatched.

‘All our previous efforts have failed because our approaches were crude, I had allowed you to advise me on what to do, now I will use my experience to show this small boy that I am not his match’, said the Asi, coughing profusely. ‘You see, my diabetes is advanced, my heart does not allow me to be active these days, but…but as long as I remain the descendant of the Tall One, I shall not rest until this boy goes down’.

‘Yes your highness. Character assassination, like we discussed, should be the name of the game’, added his deputy.

‘But I have heard that he never intends to go for a second term’, chipped in one old frail-looking member of the Committee, ‘why don’t we just allow him to finish his first term and go so as to…’

‘To allow him celebrate?!’ Barked the Asi. ‘No way, we have to destroy him before he goes. He cannot get away with it. We have to punish him. We will activate our subjects within the College and here in town to execute the job’. He then appeared to fall into deep reverie before adding, ‘ we shall invite him to be sure of that second term issue and then we shall strike’.

‘Yes, your majesty.’ The others chorused.

The following week, the Asorara Elders’ Committee invited the Principal where he was asked about his second term intentions. When he replied that he had none, the Committee was ‘appalled’. They then set out to convince him to run, because according to the Asi, ‘we have never had it better in this community’. The Principal laughed inwardly and politely turned them down and begged to take his leave. Some people were then delegated to come and bring it to his attention that it was ‘rude to turn down an Asi’s offer’. They said even if the Principal refused to change his mind, they could ‘only go back with a thankfully affirmative answer.’ The principal only said, ‘do as you wish.’

Shortly after this incident, some people were recruited to fabricate malicious lies about the Principal and spread them in Asorara to poison the good opinion of the people about the Principal. Some were paid money, some were promised properties and some were even promised the principal’s position if the effort succeeded.

One of such people overdid his part and convinced a not-so-professional tabloid to publish defamatory news about the Principal and the Management of the College. The published piece attracted attention in some serious circles in the larger land of Asoria. Some senior civil servants and politicians that have heard and seen the miraculous achievements of the Principal in that ‘season of no-money’ called and expressed their anger and urged the principal to take legal action so as to clear his name and bring an end to those series of ridiculous and ill-motivated events.

Much against his wish, the Principal had to publish a resume of his Management’s accomplishments in some dailies and then proceeded to threaten to go to court and claim damages in millions.

This singular event rattled the whole bunch of the conspirators, because they knew that if the matter went to court, the one that went to the tabloid would not want to go down alone; he had even threatened to open up and tell the truth and seek leniency if they failed to back him with legal fees and other expenses.

The Asi was confused. He had been advised to sell his property in Baja to fight the legal battle, which he did, but his apathy for spending money and the fear of being embarrassed, defeated and ridiculed in court did not allow him to sleep for days. Despite his poor health he kept oscillating between pillar and post trying to come up with a solution that would enable him save his face. He decided to call an enlarged town meeting where he shamelessly scouted for scapegoats and tried to bury them with blames. He pointed them out as the major causes of misunderstandings between him and the Principal. He claimed that he had been mapping strategies to ensure the continuation of the Principal’s tenure. All these, he hoped would reach the ears of the Principal and cause him to shelve his threat.

Some of the Asi’s subjects that played significant dishonourable roles scurried their ways into the Principal’s quarters and appealed for understanding and forgiveness. All of them were successful for the Principal was not vindictive, he only wanted to be allowed to do his job.

However, the Asi was not at peace. The tabloid fellow had become restless and there was no calming him down in sight. The guilty were afraid and there was no hiding place. It was at that point that the Asi decided to play his last card, at least to delay the inevitable. He placed phone calls to his highly placed friends in Baja who advised him to write a solicitous letter to the Education Secretary and request for his intervention in the matter. And to claim that failure to do such could lead to loss of peace and order in Asoria. This letter naturally got the attention of the Secretary who not only acted as requested, but also set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the matter.

The last we heard was that the committee had started sitting, but its uncompromising posture was worrying to the Asi and his lackeys. They had hoped for an influenceable sort where they could maneuver their ways and ensure the entrenchment of their fabrications in the final report. The Asi has not rested, and had suddenly begun to realize the wisdom in the saying that goes, ‘ a baby that says its mother would not sleep, must have a sleepless night of cries and discomfort’.

Part II to follow.