It's All Coming Back by Kurannen Baaki

Opportunity, they say, comes once in a lifetime. And when it does, you grab it. Senator and presidential aspirant Akaha Ivom was not going to let his pass by no matter what. Among the presidential aspirants, he was with the better chance until funds ran out in the middle of campaign and he had to make the deplorable but only decision of killing his wife.

“I know we anticipated this, but it was not to be this quick,” his campaign manager said. “You know the setback about the fundraising: the death of Chief Zik Anyanwu. Now his estate has denied he made a promise to donate three hundred million naira to the campaign team.”

Little was realized from the fundraising. He was to make history as the first Tivman to become President. The crowd was with him. No one was willing to lend him such money. The only option now was to take the one that rightfully belonged to him. It was a difficult decision. But if he was to become the first Tiv President, strike a balance in the leadership circle and rebrand the country the way he had promised, it was worth the sacrifice. It was worth killing his wife, who had not really supported his ambition, to inherit $5,000,000 in cash. He had told her that after eight years as a senator, he would leave active politics. But it was sixteen now.

For any other person, an assassin was not hard to find, but this was a murder that must not look like murder. It was to be a natural death.

“I have money,” he said to his campaign manager. “But it requires a human sacrifice.”

The campaign manager jumped out of his chair. “I can’t be party to any ritual murder. I am not going to any witch doctor…”

“Nobody is going to a witch doctor, Peter,” the senator said in a tone that sounded too polite for the kind of conversation. “I am inheriting the money.”

“Who are you killing to inherit this money?”

The senator paused.

“My wife.”

“No, no!”

“I am making you minister after this. This campaign would fail and I will go back to the senate as a life senator. You will have nothing. Simply get over it. I am not asking you to kill anybody. I am doing it myself. And if being the first Tivman to become the President of this country does not mean anything to you,” the senator went on, and now the words came out forcefully and a plump finger from his large arm was sticking repeatedly in the campaign manager’s face, “it means the whole world to me.”

“This is a bad idea.”

The senator wheeled his three-hundred-pound bulk on one heel and barked, “If you vomit over five hundred million where you stand then it’s a bad idea.”

A week later, the death of his wife in her sleep was reported as a heart attack. He compounded it with a tearful press conference, joined in by millions of supporters across the country. A month later after he had buried his wife and mourned her for another week, his campaign regained its momentum.

The elections came. And passed.

Senator-For-Life and presidential aspirant Akaha Ivom was already jubilating with his team when the victory news came in. They were gathered in a large room that had been stuffed with tension before the results began coming in. Now they were throwing themselves at each other, screaming and slapping their backs in celebration.

When the door opened, none of them noticed until the leader of the intruders, a tall man in suit spoke.

“I am sorry to intrude, gentlemen and ladies, but we want a word with the President-elect.”

The man walked up to Akaha Ivom and said with a badge stuck in the senator’s face:

“Detective Dennis Duke. You are under arrest for the murder of your wife four months ago. You have the right to remain silent as anything you say will be used against you in the court of law.”

Book Review: The Small Print by Abimbola Dare

I have learnt not to judge a book by its cover. The first full-length novel I read had no cover. I mean, it wasn’t published like that but only to let you know that covers most times do not really mean substance. And if I had bothered about that, I wouldn’t have read the book that inspired me to write thrillers. But when I saw The Small Print, I was tempted. I would have been wrong with my judgment because the book promises an interesting read. When I began reading the book, I instantly was drawn back to a wonderful Christian children’s book God and a Boy Named Joe by Ethel Barrett, written with such skill that even an adult could enjoy. Abimbola Dare has written with a keen eye to wonderful detail, and also with a great sense of humor.

The novel begins with a scene in an office in London with one of the three main characters Wale Ademola reporting for a promotion interview only to his shock, find his ex-wife that he has ran away from in Nigeria sitting right in the room. From this, the reader is guaranteed of an intriguing string of events, especially when Jennifer the other character in the main picture did not show whatever it was that had joined her and Wale. I have not read the whole of this book but the opening chapter alone is a strong indication of something worth reading. Such novels are meant to have two key elements that make them unputdownable: drama and suspense. Abimbola has incorporated all these with a good mix of narration and dialogue.

The Small Print doesn’t appear a classic, though. Apart from the cover’s extra colorfulness, the title does not go down well with me as a compelling novel title, also taking the intrigue the body of the book itself promises out of it. But this can be unnoticed by readers with the book’s high promise of intrigue and suspense.

Abimbola has registered herself as a strong voice in Christian fiction and I give her credit for taking a bold step into an aspect that not too many Nigerian authors find project worthy owing to the huge challenges. The release of The Small Print comes in less than a month and I am waiting to read it. To those that fancy inspirational Christian fiction, Abimbola’s The Small Print would be a good read. And even to those looking for a good alternative to their preferred genre.