John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
The
GODFATHERS OF ORIGAMI
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
CHAPTER 1
Setif, ALGERIA
0The fat woman wearing the haik clothing witnessed it alone late in the night, when it
was rumoured that bad Jinns roamed. She stood petrified in naked terror.
"Nad ash sharitah!" She screamed in alarm.
*
An old couple from the tuareg tribe was coming out of the roadside Shebeen late that
same night. A Muezzin was crying in poetic arabic from a Masjid some distance away.
Immediately they spotted it, they both froze in fear and refrained from talking. The old
woman gazed upon the sight and laid her hands on her mouth in shock. The old man
opened his mouth to speak but his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth. The old
couples were trembling. They had never seen such sight before.
*
Captain Hamza Iso was driving his Peugeot on the streets of Mechtat El Bir in the Wilaya
of Setif that same night. He whistled and piped to the oud, which emanated from the
radio of his car. Captain Iso was a prominent Officer of Surete, the Security arm and
National Police of Algeria. He was sworn to protecting lives, investigating crimes and
apprehending offenders. Captain Iso wasn't one to turn a blind eye to a crime. He was
chewing his Mechoui from a paper bag and drinking Laban, a strong yogurt from a cone
when he spotted it.
"Ya Allah!" He screamed and brought his peugeot to a screeching halt. Moments later, he
was scurrying across the road, spilling his yogurt on his brown jacket in the wake of his
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
flight. He saw an old couple trembling across the deserted road. A fat woman close to the
scene was sweating and panting in shock.
"Asif, al ma'dirah!" Captain Iso barked at her but she was lost before the sight of blood
and gore. Captain Iso came before the taxi which had been rammed into a pile of ruins
and scraps. The truck that had smashed the taxi had fled. Captain Iso looked through the
window of the smoking vehicle. The taxi driver, a berber with a thick beard and a white
cap had his head smashed and buried in the wheel of the vehicle. His lifeless hands
sloped from the wheel. Blood dripped from the wheel to the foot mat of the vehicle.
Captain Iso turned to face the passenger. He looked like an Arabian. He was wearing an
expensive Italian suit. Captain Iso dialled the station and requested dispatch of an
ambulance. Suddenly, a phone began to ring. Captain Iso searched frantically then
realized the ringing was coming from the Passenger's pocket. He opened the door of the
taxi and dipped his hands in the passenger's suit. He pulled out the cheap phone. The
caller was named Master. Captain Iso picked the call.
"Shamharouk, is it done?" A cold and guttural voice asked
"Halo, who is this?" Captain Iso asked. The call was terminated immediately. Captain Iso
looked at the phone in confusion. He scrolled down and realized the number that had
called was the only contact on the phone. He turned to face the Passenger. Suddenly, he
spotted a Shot handgun with a silencer protuding from the Passenger's suit. He
immediately pulled out his own Remington Model 870 Shot gun in fright, then he
realized the stupidity of his action. The passenger was dead and harmless. Captain Iso
opened the Passenger's suit. There were six passports in his pocket. The first was Algeria,
then Angola, Libya, Cote de voire, Gabon and Egypt. There were different names on the
passport, all bearing the picture of the dead man before him. He looked into the taxi, the
Passenger had no bag or belongings with him.
"La afham" Captain Iso muttered. Suddenly, a piece of paper fell from the Algerian
passport. Captain Iso picked it up. There was a simple inscription on the paper:
El Kebir Mosque
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Captain Iso gazed at the paper in confusion. The inscription was the address of the Great
Mosque in Algiers, the capital of Algeria. El Kebir mosque was the biggest and great
grand mosque of the Algerian people, having been built since 1097. It was located in the
Wilaya of Bab El Oued. Captain Iso was wondering why the passenger was heading to
the Great Mosque. The accident had occured 180 kilometers away from Algiers where
the Great Mosque stood. He began to ransack the dead passenger frantically. Suddenly,
he mistakenly revealed the wrist of the Passenger. There, he beheld the sigil on the
passenger's wrist.
D
Captain Iso recoiled in fright. He recognized the sigil. The sigil of the Masked men. He
had read about it before. It was one of the five sigils of the brotherhood of Nisan, an
ancient mythical empire which no one had ever found. The empire of Nisan was a city
where the greatest and vilest of assassins were trained. Captain Iso could not believe his
eyes. He gazed at the passports, the handgun protuding in the Passenger's pocket and
began to tremble. He refused to believe his eyes. He was standing before a brother of the
brotherhood of Masked men of the ancient Nisan empire. Sirens began to blare in the
distance but Captain Iso's mind was in turmoil. The caller had asked whether a task had
been completed. He wondered what the task was or what a brother from the ancient Nisan
empire was doing in Algeria. A powerful man was supposed to be executed in the El
Kebir mosque that night. Captain Iso knew it in his heart and he knew Algeria was only
the beginning. There were five other countries involved. Captain Iso gazed at the passport
before him again. He knew he had stumbled on something bigger than him. The Five
Brotherhood of the Nisan empire he thought again, wondering what mad fate had put
Algeria in the path of the Brotherhood of Nisan. He was stilling reeling from the stunning
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
revelation when the ambulance arrived. Captain Iso pulled out the cheap phone and
dialled the number that had called him again. He recoiled in utmost disbelief at what he
had just heard. He dialled again. The reply he got was the same. The number he was
dialling did not exist.
CHAPTER 2
Nisan Empire, MALI
The Stranger scurried in his robe behind the Murabitun, garrison disciples of the ancient
Nisan empire. The sharp sands of the ancient Nisan empire pricked his feets but he
mastered it. The brotherhood did not allow the wearing of shoes on their holy ground.
The Murabitun, garrison disciples were all wearing the tagelmust, indigo veil. Kel
Tagelmust, the blue people of the veil, the Stranger thought. The Murabitun, garrisoned
disciples were a long bloodline from the tribe of Tuareg. They wore thick, over flowing
robes and covered their faces with a indigo turban and asshak veil which covered their
mouth, nose and ears; leaving only their deadly eyes unveiled. The Tuaregs had began the
custom of veiling their faces to shield their mouth and nostrils from the windborne sand
from the Sahara. However, through ages and time, the veiling had become a custom
which now signified tekarit, honor and reserve. The Stranger gazed at the three bare
footed Murabitun escorting him to the Ribat, tent of the Murshid, Guide and Supreme
teacher of the brotherhood of Nisan. The three Murabitun had formed a triangle escort
around him as they took him to their Murshid, guide. The Stranger didn't see them
holding any weapons but he wasn't fooled. He knew beneath their robes were Assegais,
lances, poisoned daggers, muskets, sabers and ancient weapons of all sorts. The
Murabitun were the ones that kept watch of the brothers of Nisan. They prevented them
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
from ecaping through the twenty year training period that transformed the brothers into
the deadliest assassins, which were in great demands across the world. The Stranger
remembered the last time he was here. Over twenty five years ago. That was when he had
been given Shamharouk, a brother of the Nisan empire from the Brotherhood of Masked
Men. The Stranger focused on the task ahead and shuddered. Time was running out. The
secret would soon be exposed to the whole of Africa. The deadly secrets of Origami.
There would be chaos, the world would be shocked, heads would roll and his own head
would be the first to roll. May the gods forgive me.
The three Murabitun came before the Ribat of their Murshid, guide and supreme teacher.
A Murabitun named Hassan, whose turban was royal and thicker than the other
Murabituns' turned and saw them. Hassan was the son of the Murshid.
"Ak rzegh iwalaqnik!" He cursed furiously in the berber tongue and pulled out an
Assegais.
"Young Master, mercy! Please forgive me!" The Murabitun closest to him fell on his
knees and begged
"Why did you give him pass?" Hassan growled
"He said the Murshid asked him to come and so I gave him pass. Forgive my sins young
Master" the scared Murabitun blurted with a choked voice. Hassan unveiled his mouth
and bowed
"Salamoo alaykoom" he greeted. Before the Stranger could reply; he said
"The brothers were initiated twenty six days ago. Their training was completed that same
day. They are undergoing the sacred rite of silence in the temple. The Murshid is saying
his prayers with them. He would never have asked you to come"
"He did" the Stranger insisted and the Murabitun laughed scornfully.
"You realize that if you are lying to me, your head would roll" he said but he, the
Stranger would not bulge. Hassan headed for the temple. The Stranger knew that only the
Murshid could save his honor, his name, his dynasty and Africa. Should the Murshid
refuse him; he would rather die here than live to see the secret revealed. Moments later,
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
an old man with a white turban and an indigo robe came before him. The skin around his
veiled eyes was filled with wrinkles.
"You infidel! How dare you desecrate the ancient rites of my fathers, how dare you insult
me with your presence!" The Murshid growled furiously
"Shamharouk is dead! He died on the streets of Setif in Algeria two nights ago" the
Stranger growled and fell on his knees
"What do I care? They all die eventually" the Murshid growled
"Please, I need your help" the Stranger pleaded
"I already fulfilled the debt I owed you twenty five years ago when I gave you
Shamharouk. I owe you nothing"
"Then let me pay for it. I want two Masked men; it is urgent" he said and the Murshid
laughed him to scorn.
"The five brotherhood have all completed their trainings. It was finished twenty six days
ago. They are observing the rite of silence in the temple. I cannot break the sacred rite.
You have to return in five days time when their silence would be dissolved. However,
you should know, I cannot give you two masked men"
"It is urgent and neccessary" he pleaded again
"If you asked me for a hundred maidens from the Brotherhood of Whispers, I would
gladly give it. If you asked me for a dozen brothers, from the Brotherhood of Sicarii,
daggermen, I would not refuse you. If you asked me for twenty Necromancers and
Aeromancers or fifty brothers from the Brotherhood of Songs and Dreams to hypnotize
all your enemies; I would honor you but two brothers from the Brotherhood of Masked
men are too great a temptation for one man, not even a king. You knew Shamharouk; you
saw what he could do. I'm sorry friend, but I cannot tempt you with two Masked men lest
you become drunken with power, neither can I give you any brother today either. I owe
you nothing again. Return in five days time when their silence would be dissolved and
see your wish granted".
"In five days time, it would be too late. I would be dead and gone" the Stranger said
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"I do not care" the Murshid replied and turned to go. The Stranger tried to clutch the robe
but mistakenly touched a foot of the Murshid
"Mis n iqhaba!" The Murshid cursed in fear. Suddenly two Murabituns grabbed the
Stranger. Another Murabitun hurried forward with a skin of water and washed the feet of
the Murshid.
"You infidel!" The Murshid growled furiously. Suddenly, the Murshid spurn around
reflexively, pulling out a Sica, curved dagger and pressed it to the neck of the Stranger.
The tip of the blade of the Sica pierced the Stranger's skin and a drop of blood oozed on
the sands.
"But for what you did for me decades ago, you friend, would have been dead here and
now. Do not tempt me again" the Murshid said but the Stranger did not reply. He simply
looked into the eyes of the Murshid, matching his gaze, pleading, imploring with his
eyes. The Murshid saw the burden and secret in the eyes of the man before him. It was
great and pregnant. He knew there and then that the secret which had made such a
powerful man and godfather from far away in Africa to kneel before him here and now
was great. He didn't want to break the silence of any of the brothers. They had spent
twenty years training for this rite, yet his father had taught him as his grandfather before
his father had done same, that without understanding there can be no love or mercy. The
Murshid looked into the eyes of the Stranger and felt his burden, beheld his pains and
fears.
"I cannot give you two Masked men but I would give you Karim. He his the finest
Masked man I've ever beheld all my life as a Murshid"
"I'm already two days behind time. I need two Masked men" the Stranger pleaded
"Karim is a ghost. He his wind, dust, smoke and death"
"You do not understand; my time is spent. I need to strike now and my enemies are
numerous. I need to strike them all before they move against me". The Murshid sighed
and warned
"After today, should you set foot in Nisan again, I would kill you and feed you to the
foxes. I cannot give you another Masked man but I would give you a Maiden of
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Whispers, venom and seduction". The Stranger wanted to protest but he saw the look in
the Murshid's eyes
"Shukran Gidan, thank you friend" he said.
Moments later, a beautiful damsel wearing a Cheche headcloth was standing before him.
"Kassoumi, the goddess of beauty and the woe of men. Her face drops upon powerful
men, Sheikhs, Generals, Merchants, godfathers and it is the last they see". The sigil on
her hand was serpentine.
Y
Suddenly, a tall athletic man wearing a veiled turban came before the Ribat.
"Meet Karim, the greatest of all Masked men. Before him was none and after him would
there be any". The Stranger looked at the wrist of Karim. There were two sigils on both
of his wrist.
The first was:
The second was:
333
D
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
The Murshid saw the look of excitement in the Stranger's eyes. "Yes friend, it is the first
of its kind I ever witnessed. A single man, belonging to two of the five brotherhood of
Nisan at the same time. Whatever time you've lost, Karim and Kassoumi would recover
for you in three days"
"Three days? They need at least a week to finish off all those that stand against me"
"I can only break their silence for three days and no more. After three days, they must
return to complete their rites. They would become ghosts for you. They would become
smoke for you. Whatever enemies you have, no matter how much would all be dead in
three days. Karim and Kassoumi would ensure it".
"I am already two days behind time. How can I be sure the task can be completed in three
days?"
"Speak the word friend and it is enough" the Murshid said. The Stranger walked up to
Karim and gazed into his eyes. Karim simply stared into the void. The Stranger faced
Kassoumi too. She was indeed beautiful, her lips seductive.
"After today, I do not want to set my gaze upon you again" the Murshid growled at the
Stranger and he nodded. He watched the Murshid storm out of the Ribat. He, the Stranger
took a step back and growled to the two brothers in a vengeful tone
"Tonight would be long. Everything starts in the El Kebir Mosque in Algiers, Algeria".
CHAPTER 3
Sokoto, NIGERIA
Abhatu Anki
Searching for you,
Aghzaelak
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
I woo you,
Akrahonha
I hate her,
Al Zamen
Life...
Abubakar and and four other young boys clad in white robes and hula, cap, sang the
Arabian poetry of the popular griot Kazem El Saher for a wealthy woman at the Kari
open market in Sokoto that morning. Aboubakar sang with a high pitch Soprano while
the four boys accompanied him with the tempo of the drums, the riiti and the Balafon,
wooden xylophone. Several market women gathered and beheld the four boys with tears
and amazement in their eyes as they sang passionately for Mama Fatoumata, a rich
woman. The four boys were part of the Almajiris, the torch bearers of the sacred Islamic
religion. The school was meant to groom young moslem boys in the tenets of the Islamic
faith but it had become famous as a sanctuary for abandoned children. The young boys
are sent to the Islamic school by parents who are usually too poor to take care of them.
Thus, the parents dedicate them to the teachings of Islam and never return for them. Most
poor parents who gave birth to boys simply dumped them with the Mullahs, teachers who
were only too eager to accept the boys. The poor parents treated their girls differently.
The poor parents would sell their properties and give the last of their pennies to ensure
their girls were adorned with elaborate earrings, gold and washed with oil and perfume.
The girls are clothed in the most expensive and beautiful of robes and served with the
most nourishing dishes. A tourist in Sokoto at first glance might consider this a
deplorable situation of gender inequality but nothing could be more far from the truth.
The adorning of the girls was best interpreted by a proverb of the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria.
The food we give to the cockrel is not borne out of love but to fatten the cockrel for the
day of reckoning when the Cockrel would swim in the hot soup boiling from the
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
communal pot. So the girls' were adorned with expensive jewelry in order to make them
more appealing and enticing to wealthy men. The girls were married off at tender ages. In
Sokoto, childhood was short for the girl child and for the boy child; well, he never had a
child hood.
Aboubakar never knew his parents. He had grown in the sacred School but the Mullahs
had told him his story. Aboubakar had been found as an infant, lying under the embrace
of his dead Fulani mother after the Massacre perpetrated by Zakariya, the damned
preacher who was influenced by Wahhabi theology. The Islamic extremist had slain and
butchered everyone to death. Aboubakar's mother had shielded him with her body as the
Islamic extremist dismembered her body. He had lain under the weight of his mother's
corpse for three days, without food, without water; until a Mullah passing by had heard
the cry of the baby.
Aboubakar grew to be loved by everyone. He had the fair skin of the Fulani, yet,
everyone swore that his fairness was a bit different from that of other Fulanis. He looked
more like an Arab. Aboubakar sang like a nightingale and this brought him more alms
than the other boys. The Almajiri school had been turned into a begging and extortion
racket by the Mullahs who peddled the boys and used them for extortion racketeering.
The school had become congested through time. The Hausas and Fulanis of Northern
Nigeria kept giving birth to legions of boys and pawning them off to the Mullahs who
had no means of caring for them. The Mullahs would then send the boys out from dawn
till dusk to beg round the streets and markets of Sokoto for alms. Any boy that made less
than 100 naira a day was flogged brutally with the Koboko, a spiral kind of whip
fashioned from animal hide. The boys were allowed to keep any difference in excess of
100 naira that they made. Any boy who made no alms for a straight week was poisoned.
The Mullahs did not waste their food on a liability, they were shrewd businessmen.
Aboubakar kept singing and raking in alms but there were some days his voice was not
enough to sway the philantrophists. Then once, he went three days without getting alms.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Aboubakar became scared. Then a miracle had happened. He had a swell in his legs and
could not walk. The Mullahs nevertheless sent him to the streets to beg. As he sat on the
floor, crawling and singing, several people kept coming to put money in his bowl.
Aboubakar realized they thought he was crippled. From that day, he kept bringing the
highest amount of alms. When his legs healed, he kept pretending as if he was crippled.
He pretended even in the Almajiri school lest other boys and the Mullah realize the trick
he was using to get more alms and catch up with his profiting trick. He told no one his
fraud and continued to use the crutches the Mullahs had bought for him to make it more
evident to people that he was crippled. Aboubakar's legs were constantly hidden under
the long flowing white robe all the boys wore. He would wake in the dead of the night
and secretly walk around the chamber. The feeling consumed him with joy and
excitement but he told no one. The Mullahs loved Aboubakar and for good reason. He
had been bringing in the highest profit daily for three years now. Then two years earlier,
shortly after Aboubakar became five; economic recession had hit Nigeria hard. The daily
profits of the young boys reduced drastically. The Mullahs knew that they needed to act
lest they and the boys starved to death. The Government did not care about the Almajiri.
The profits of the boys reduced yet, Aboubakar kept raking in alms. In the end, the
Mullahs decided to make the boys like Aboubakar, to make them more pitiable and
worthy of alms. They decided to put the boys in a state in which people would be more
inclined to give them alms like Aboubakar. In one night, all the boys were summoned.
The Mullahs dismembered them one by one. They burnt out the eyes of some of the boys,
gauging and taking away their sight and severed the limbs of many, making them
crippled like Aboubakar. He, Aboubakar was however spared; he was already crippled.
Now, Aboubakar was 7 years of age and the most popular of all the Almajiri boys. Since
he had lost his unfair advantage of being crippled, he applied his wits towards another
means of survival. He was a natural survivor, born to survive the must tormenting and
scalding flames of hell. Aboubakar had gathered three boys to himself. The first, a boy of
6 who played the hoddu instrument had lost his eyes. The second, a boy of 7 who played
the Balafon, had both of his legs amputated in unequal lengths. The third, was a boy of 4
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
years old. He was Aboubakar's favorite. His name was Daouda. The Mullahs had cut off
Daouda's tongue. All that lay in his mouth was a shriveled black piece of flesh. The
Mullahs had cut Daouda's tongue for they had seen that he did not need it. Daouda was
the greatest dancer Aboubakar had ever seen. Aboubakar had formed a band with the four
boys. They went out everyday to sing while the other boys from the Almajiri school spent
their time begging. Naturally, Aboubakar's band brought in the highest amount of money
again. This time, his unfair advantage was his music. Aboubakar did not see what the
Mullahs were doing to them as injustice. For him, they were only giving him a platform
to do what he loved. To sing. Now, he and the four boys played and sang opposite the
Kofar Kade gate for Mama Fatoumata. The beautiful elderly Hausa woman in hijab
smiled at the boys and put fifty naira notes in each of their bowls. Aboubakar began
moving and singing through the Kara market. The boys followed. They sang past women
selling all sorts of wares. Grains, wheat offal, kolanuts, fresh fruits, tomatoes; the list was
endless.
El hob el mostahil
Impossible love,
El leila ihsasi ghareeb
Tonight...
The boys sang with the whole of their heart and Daouda throbbed to the beats of the
drums. He danced the traditional Yaake dance and switched to the serpentine Bori, spirit
procession dance with amazing brilliance. He danced like someone possesed by Murmur,
the god of music. He throbbed like someone afflicted by a million demons. Several of the
spectators clapped and placed five naira notes in their bowl.
El mostabida
The enslaver,
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
El tahadeyat
The challenge...
The boys sang passionately. They sang of war, love, forgiveness and peace. They sang
under the scorching sun and trekked through the breezy weather until their feets were
black and trodden. In the evening, the four boys retreated to an isolated area in the Kara
market. Aboubakar stole from the profit they made everyday. He would secretly profit
and lie to the Mullahs about the actual alms made. He and the four boys were saving the
alms for the day the Mullahs would consider them too old for the school and kick them
out into the streets. Aboubakar counted the alms they had made that day to the hearing of
the boys then told them how much they would keep for themselves. Suddenly, a wind
blowing dust from the Sahara swept across the Kara market. The whirling dust in a
tornado form was rushing towards them.
"Hakkilo!" A Samaritan suddenly beckoned at them and led them into his wooden kiosk.
The boys sat in the market kiosk as the dust swept past. The Samaritan gazed at
Aboubakar's clutches, he beheld the deformity of the other boys too and was moved to
pity. He gave them a paper bag filled with Kilici, a dried pepperish kind of meat. The
man also handed them a Can of Coke each.
"Na gode, thank you" Aboubakar thanked him and beamed in excitement. Moments later,
the boys were eating the meat and chatting idly. Daouda spat out the Coke and the other
boys laughed. He, Daouda had never drank Coke. The boys were not privy to such
delicacy and should the Mullahs know that they had been given gifts and had eaten it all
by themselves, they would be flogged greatly. For some reason, Daouda disliked the
drink. Aboubakar felt it was because he couldn't taste properly. He snatched the drink
from him and emptied it in his own belly. Aboubakar thanked the Samaritan who had
helped them for his hospitality again and then stood to leave. Suddenly, he felt a
stiffening paralysis in his hands and legs. His stomach began to churn and he held the
door of the kiosk with both hands. Aboubakar gazed at the other boys. They too were
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
experiencing what he was experiencing with the exception of Daouda who seemed calm.
The drink, Aboubakar thought. Daouda had not partaken of the drink. They had been
poisoned. Aboubakar's vison became blurry as his heart pounded rapidly. His blood
curdled as his body became burning hot. His palms stiffened and he fell to the floor and
began to grope around like an imbecile.
"Bandu am don nawa, my body hurts" Aboubakar gagged to the man but the Samaritan
simply watched the boys suffer. Daouda was about to cry out when the Samaritan patted
him.
"I would take them to the hospital" Aboubakar heard the man assure Daouda.
"Wait with him" he said, lifted the two other boys on his shoulders and carried them out.
This was no Samaritan Aboubakar thought. He tried to tell Daouda to run, to flee for his
life and scream for help. He opened his mouth to warn the innocent and naïve boy but
only a guttural sound came out as spit drooled from his mouth to the sandy earth. He did
not know what the man wanted but this was no Samaritan. He was struck by a blindness
so sudden, unexpected and profound that he was stupified as though by a demon. His
vision cleared again but his eyes burnt and scalded him as tears streamed ceaselessly. He
was a boy in agony and excruciating pain. Suddenly, the man returned and lifted him,
Aboubakar on his shoulder. The man held Daouda on the hand and led them away.
Aboubakar tried to tell Daouda to scream and run but the man was saying all the right
things to Daouda. He was calming him, telling him he was taking them to the hospital.
"Lies! All lies!" Aboubakar blurted out but realized only a guttural sound had come out.
The man led them before a large truck where three other men from the Tuarag tribe had
their head covered in a indigo turban and their faces veiled with the Asshak.
"Salamoo alaykoom" The two men greeted in the berber language and kissed the man
carrying him on the cheeks. Suddenly the men opened the truck. The large truck was
filled with more than fifty young boys and girls. All of them were groping and vomiting.
Many of them were excreting on their bodies while some were coughing out blood. The
man tossed Aboubakar into the back of the van. Daoudi saw what was going on, and
without warning; he turned and bolted.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
He did not take five steps before the Samaritan caught up with him. As the man held him
to the floor, Daouda began to scream
"Ebn el sharmoota, son of a dog!" The man barked and threw a blinding slap across
Daouda's face but the boy would not stop screaming for help. The man struck him again
and again and again till blood was spurting from his nose but Daouda would not keep his
mouth shut. From the truck, Aboubakar watched from the corner of his blurry vision as
the Samaritan picked a heavy stick. He lifted the heavy stick with all his might.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Daouda screamed as the man brought it down..
CHAPTER 4
Algiers, ALGERIA
The tight alley of the open market in Ferhat Boussad streets was filled with the vendors
and buyers clad in turban and hijabs haggling violently
"Bikam hadihi?" "Ib'd!" They cursed at each other. Nadia Youssef gazed at a mirror in a
tent. At twenty seven, Nadia still retained a fair, spotless Arab skin. She was tall and
beautiful to look upon. She had the stunning figure and curves of a model. Nadia's
extremly long hair was elegantly curled with a white hijab. Nadia was the only daughter
of Nabil Youssef, a greatly feared and respected ship Merchant who owned the largest
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
amount of fleets in Mers El Kebir, the Great harbour. Nabil had sent his daughter to
France to study Maritime Trade and Business Administration so that she would one day
take over the family's business of voyage charter, cargo consignments, contracts of
afreightments; the list were endless.
"Lai lai illa lai!" A voice exclaimed. Nadia turned to see Sayyid, her fiance whistling as
he ran his eyes through her curves. Sayyid was a noble. He was the son of the Sultan of
Tiemcen. She had known Sayyid from childhood but the romance had not kicked off till
she left for Marseille in France. She and Sayyid had traded letters and passionate words.
The epic love had sparked a romance that had left both of them overwhelmed. He had
proposed to her the moment she returned to Algeria. That was two months ago.
"So which do you prefer?" She asked him; showing him a Saroual, Blousa and Karakou,
a traditional fabric with velvet and embroider gold.
"I prefer doing this" Sayyid replied and placed a kiss on her lips. Then he kissed her
neck, her ears and she giggled as she tried to drop the piece of fabric.
"Your beards are stabbing me. You need a shave" she said and pushed him away
"Really? You do not like me like this?" He said and made a funny face. Nadia burst into
laughter.
"Are you laughing at me?" He said and began to tickle her. She dropped the fabric, lifted
her long flowing gown that hugged her body tightly and began to run. Sayyid chased her
through the tight alley of Ferhat Boussad street. They both raced past butchering vendors,
abatoirs, shops with bright colored fruits and textile materials.
"I'm going to swallow you" Sayyid threatened and she laughed in the wake of her flight.
Eventually he caught her and threw her in the air
"Idrukkini! Leave me alone" She laughed aloud. He dropped her and told her to apologise
"No" she insisted. Sayyid climbed a small rock, no higher than a bucket. He stood on it as
if it were a cliff and threatened to jump unless Nadia apologised. She laughed till her eyes
were filled with tears. Eventually, they both walked back to the textile vendor. She and
Sayyid had done their engagement. The dowry had been set. The next and last rite before
the wedding was the Lehlal, the traditional signing of the contract of marriage among the
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Algerian people. The Sheikh had prepared the contract. She and Sayyid were supposed to
meet the Sheikh later that night after prayers to finalize arrangements. The Lehlal rite was
taking place in two days time. They were presently shopping for souvenirs which would
be given to the Sheikh and the twelve man witness that would grace the rite of Lehlal.
"So which one do you prefer?" Nadia asked again, raising the two fabrics to him
"Lai lai illah lai" he said and grabbed her waist
"Sayyid, be serious for once. My Abbu, father would be vexed if we are late for prayers
and so would your Abbu, the Sultan. So which do you prefer?"
"The Saroual fabric" Sayyid said
"Karakou fabric it is" Nadia replied. Sayyid made a face; wondering why she had asked
for his opinion anyways. The both of them scurried around the streets till dusk. Sayyid
saw Nadia gazing at a Berber woman with twins.
"Any problem?"
"I was a twin once" Nadia said with a sad face
"What happened to the other?"
"My Ummu, mother said he died shortly after birth" Nadia said and Sayyid hugged her.
The Muezzin was already calling for prayers when they both alighted before the El Kebir
mosque. An old man at the door greeted them
"Ahan wa sahlan". Nadia didn't reply. She loosed her hijab a bit, letting it cover her more
conservatively and then she scurried into the populated mosque. She went to stand by her
mother, Nina Youssef; a graceful and elegant woman in her fifties. She and her mother
stood with the elites.
"You are late. Your Abbu is furious" her mother whispered. Nadia gazed at her father
standing in the front row of the mosque with his high and expensive turban which had a
silver embroidery. He was surrounded with eminent men. She saw the Sultan of Tiemcen,
Sayyid's father whisper something to her father Nabil Youssef. He turned and spotted her.
She saw her father grin and turn his face away. Nadia knew he was livid with rage. She
would pacify him after the prayers. Suddenly, there was a call. Everyone in the mosque
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
bowed on the mat. At that moment, Karim, the Masked man from the ancient Nisan
empire stood up and walked out of the El Kebir mosque. He walked up to a taxi and told
the taxi driver to take him to the airport. He was heading next to Angola. The night was
going to be long.
The Imam made a call and everyone rose again. Nadia gazed at her father Nabil. He was
still kneeling on the mat with his head bowed to the floor. The Imam made a call and
every bowed again. Another call followed and the legions of the Moslems in the mosque
stood again, yet, her father Nabil was still bowing on the mat. Nadia became worried. She
broke through the line and began moving forward. Insolent glances shot from all angles
as she disrupted the prayers. She headed to the front row.
"Abbu" she whispered but her father did not respond. She moved closer and whispered
again but there was no response. Suddenly she saw blood oozing from his white turban.
A bullet had perforated his head.
"No, no, no!" She muttered like a mad woman. The Moslems praying beside were
frowning at her when they spotted the blood too.
"Abbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Nadia let out a shrilling cry of horror. The prayers
came to an abrupt stop. There was panic and chaos everywhere as people stampeded each
other.
"No, no, Abuuuuuuuuu!" Nadia kept screaming. The elite Moslems kept gazing at Nabil
Youssef's corpse. There was fear and naked terror on their faces. There had been no
sound, there had been no noise. Later on, some would say they heard a whisper, others
would swear it was a hissing sound. None of them would be close to the truth. There had
been no sound.
CHAPTER 5
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Sahara DESERT
Aboubakar held Daouda in his embrace as the foul and ugly stench oozing from the truck
hit him hard. The effect of the poison had ebbed away yet, Daouda was still wincing in
excruciating pain. The Samaritan's blow had blinded and wounded him. Aboubakar could
see the boy's physical discomfort yet, he Daouda could not cry for his eyes were now a
lump of blood, neither could he loosen tongue and cry out his pain. Aboubakar began to
sing for Daouda and all the scared children in the lorry.
El hob el mostahil,
El leila ihsasi ghareeb...
The children in the lorry were all weeping profurously. The sonorous voice of Aboubakar
captivated their heart, stole away their sorrow and pain. Aboubakar sang like a
nightingale. The fear, pain and panic began to ebb away. The lorry was filled with bright
wide eyes and innocence.
El mostabida,
El tahadeyat...
Suddenly, the lorry came to a screeching halt. Aboubakar heard some greetings in berber
"Ana bekhair shookran". Suddenly, the door opened. Aboubakar was led down with one
of his crutches. He saw close to a hundred Tuaregs, all covered with indigo robes. Their
indigo turban was also worn with an Asshak veil that covered their mouth and nose. The
men were standing at the fringes of the Sahara desert. They were wielding burning
torches that illuminated the dark. Aboubakar gazed at the moon in fear. The Tuareg men
led all of them out of the lorry. Aboubakar saw close to three hundred children bound by
a rusted metal shackle. The faces of the children were also covered with turbans. He
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
realized this Tuaregs were slave merchants and this was their rendevouz. There were
close to fifty Dromedary Camels loaded with bags and barrels. The bound child slaves
were lined in rows and tied to the Camel caravan. Suddenly, an elderly man whose face
was uncovered stepped forward. His face was cold and deadly. The man inspected the
merchandise brought by the Samaritan. Most of his own merchandise were handicapped,
they being kidnapped from the Almajiri school.
"Naadine Rabbak Modibo!" The elderly man cursed angrilly.
"You shame me with your merchandise son. I piss upon your merchandise" the elderly
man said. Aboubakar realized the Samaritan's name was Modibo and he was the son of
the Abboo, father of this clan.
"This merchandise are worthless"
"Abboo, t..."
"Dos koot! Shut up" The elderly man cut Modibo angrilly. Another Tuareg whose name
was Keita began to mock Modibo with an insolent glance.
"Yakhrab Baytak" he mocked. Modibo spat on the sands of the Sahara and cursed in reply
"Tabaarek yalaak". Modibo's father struck him angrilly across the face for the profanities
he had uttered.
"May your armpit be damned Modibo, you would never become Abboo. I asked you to
get me merchandise and you bring me this worthless abominations" he growled angrilly
and continued to berate his son. Keita scorned Modibo with a mocking smile. When
Modibo's father's anger was spent. He gazed at the merchandise that Modibo had brought.
Suddenly, he saw Daouda wincing in pain. Aboubakar was holding him with one hand
and leaning on the crutches with the other. The elderly man barked something and
Aboubakar was brought before him. The elderly man's eyes terrified Aboubakar.
Suddenly, the man pulled out the Romal rein, a whip whose lash was made of steel rods
with smaller razor rings. Modibo, desperate to prove that his mechandise wasn't all a
waste, blurted out
"Abboo, this one sings like Malik"
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"Atsengar ddunith, may the end of the world come now" Modibo's father mocked in reply
and the whole Tuareg clan burst into laughter.
"By all means son. Let him sing us a song. Like Malik" the elderly man added and the
men roared in laughter again.
"Sing boy" Modibo growled at Aboubakar but he was scared. Modibo unsheathed an
Assegais and barked again
"Sing now or die boy". Aboubakar gazed at the moon again and sang the raggae master
piece of the Cotonou, Benin Republic born Angelique Kojo who was notorious for
singing in four languages. English, Fon, French and Yoruba. Aboubakar opened with a
powerful soprano
Wambo lombo,
Wambo lambo...
He sang as his voice echoed like the moon rippling on water.
Gbogbo nyan n' so houn kp onindjo kan m'b,
Inou gbrko oman tou oko akpdja...
Aboubakar was smiling as he sang. The smile was filled with expression of hardship,
anguish and hurt. The smile was a lie, a tragedy.
Niboni mon iri nikan odamin...
Tears were streaming down his cheeks now as he sang of angels decending and crying
infants.
Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
He sustained for minutes and just when the Tuaregs feared his throat would burst he
began to adlib
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Ham ham ho han...
He was crying passionately now. He sang to the heavens, the stars, the moon.
Yii ho ham ho ham,
Ho ham ham ho ham...
His voice was descending now. It was filled with sorrow, quiet and bliss.
Wombo lombo,
Wombo lombo, He finished.
Everywhere was defeaning silent. The Tuaregs were beholding him like a ghost.
Aboubakar turned to gaze at Modibo. There was pride on his face. The elderly man
turned to face his son and blurted out
"Perharps there is yet still hope for you son" he said
"Ass mi saant thiyuzzadh thughmass, there is hope for him the day hens have teeth" Keita
cursed and spat on the sand. The elderly man cautioned him. The elderly man grabbed
Daouda. He was still wincing in pain.
"So, this one also sing like Malik ehn?" He jested but Modibo did not reply.
"Sing boy" the elderly man said but Daouda would not sing. He did not ask again. He
simply swung the Romal rein whip into the air and lashed. The steel rods with smaller
razor rings lashed across Daouda's neck and slit his throat clean. Aboubakar watched in
shock as Daouda fell on the floor on his knees. The young boy made a gagged sound and
clutched his neck as blood gushed out. Then he fell face flat on the sands of the Sahara.
Aboubakar watched the Tuaregs separate the handicapped and deformed. He watched in
agony as they severed the heads of the handicapped with their Assegais, Sabers and
lances. They gathered some of the handicapped together and shot them with their
Muskets; others were scalded in flames and fire. The sands of the Sahara drank to its fill.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
The men tied him and the others left up, then they covered their faces with a turban and
asshak veil to shield their nostrils from the sand storm of the Sahara. Aboubakar was
balanced on a Camel with one of the slave merchants. The Abboo barked something and
every single Camel began moving into the Sahara desert. The slave merchant sitting on
the Camel with him lashed at one of the girls that didn't want to move. The stroke tore off
one of her ear lobes.
"Ya bint el haram! Daughter of a taboo" He cursed and then said something to Keita who
was walking. Keita saw fear in Aboubakar's eyes and laughed.
"Assam Alaykoom" he said but when he saw that Aboubakar did not understand; he
whispered again in the common tongue
"Death upon you boy. You are going to the ancient empire of Nisan without legs. Surely,
there is death upon you".
CHAPTER 6
Algiers, ALGERIA
Everything was happening so fast. Nadia watched the Sheikhs, Imams and other Islamic
clerics reciting the Salat as the ritual washing of her father's corpse was being performed.
The mourning custom had already began. Thousands of Algerian citizens had gathered in
the courtyard of their edifice. The crowd stretched far into the streets of Bab El Oued.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
The mourners were also reciting the salat and keeping a vigil for her father. Her father
Nabil, would be buried the next day in accordance with the Islamic rite. Nadia still
couldn't believe that it was less than five hours ago that she had seen her father grinning
at her angrilly. The last emotion of her father towards her had been anger. Suddenly she
burst into tears again. It was past midnight by the time the ritual was completed. All sorts
of greetings poured in.
"Kayfa halak Assayyida Nadia? How are you feeling Nadia" The head of their Wilaya
asked
"Ana bekhair shukran" she replied
"Your father was a patriot Assayyida" A merchant said
"Shukran Assayid, thank you sir" she replied.
"Your father lives forever in the hearts of every Algerian. He was a honorable man"
"Shukran, Thank you"
The consolation poured in from Senators, Alhajis, Sheikhs, Cardinals, Politicians. The
list were endless. Nadia watched her mother sob uncontrollably. She was distraught, she
was inconsolable. She saw the whole of the Algerian people mourning. It vexed her to
her bones, scalded her with rage and fury but she could do nothing about it. Her father
was a good man, a patriot, a mentor to the Algerian people, a bloody gift to humanity.
Who would want him dead?. Nadia retreated to her chamber. She declined seeing anyone.
Not even Sayyid.
"Nadia" Sayyid beckoned and knocked the door of her chamber but she would not let him
in.
"Nadia Uhibbuk, I love you" he told her but she would not open. She just sat alone with
red and swollen eyes and gazed at the portrait of Tin Hanan, queen of Hogar, South
Algeria. Suddenly, there was another knock on the door.
"Idrukkini, leave me alone Sayyid"
"I'm sorry Assayidda but I'm not Sayyid" the masculine voice said
"Who is it?"
"My name is Captain Iso Hamza"
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"Ib'd, go away"
"I'm sorry about your father Assayyida. Assayid Nabil was a hero to us. May Allah grant
him rest". Nadia began to sob again.
"I know this is difficult for you Assayidda but the sooner you tell me all you know, the
sooner I can go after your father's murderer". Nadia opened the door and a bald man in
brown jacket stepped into her chamber. Moments later, she was crying
"I just saw his blood oozing on the mat. I don't still understand. There was no single
sound, no noise at all. The Sultan, my fiance's father was right beside him. He heard
nothing. I don't understand" she kept crying but Captain Iso Hamza understood. Her
father Nabil, had been assassinated by a Masked man of the brotherhood of Nisan. Of
course, there would be no sound. There were only ghosts, wind, smoke and dust. The
moment he heard about the death of Nabil Youssef, he had known that the brotherhood
had struck. The event he had witnessed on the streets of Setif two days earlier still chilled
him to the bones.
"I spoke to Ummu, your mother. She said your father was scared"
"About what?" Nadia asked
"I was hoping you would tell me Assayyida. Your mother said you and your father were
very close besides, she said they were quarelling. She was angry and she did not want to
speak to him"
"My father and I are close but I have been occupied with preparation for my marriage
lately. I didn't really notice"
"Your mother said he was paranoid and afraid all the time. He complained about a storm
that was coming. She said he tried many times to send her to Assayid Ibrahim, your uncle
in Morocco. That was the cause of their quarrel. She said he swore to her that Algeria
was not safe for her and you"
"Me?"
"Yes Assayidda. I need to know the cause of your father's fear"
"If my mother cannot tell you, then neither can I. My father kept no secret from my
mother"
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"Then why did he keep this one"
"I don't know" Nadia growled angrilly and began pacing the room. She was scolding
herself, condemning herself for not noticing her father's mood, for not giving time to him;
for not knowing her parents were quarelling. She had spent all her time with Sayyid. She
began to cry again. Captain Iso waited till she was spent then asked
"Assayyida, I need to ask you a question and I need you to think carefully before
answering. Did your father, Nabil go to any of this countries recently? Angola, Gabon,
Libya, Cote de voire or Egypt". Captain Iso saw her gazing at him in shock
"What is the problem Assayidda?" He asked
"My father has been to all those countries several times in the past few month. Does this
have anything to do with his death?"
"Assayida I assu..."
"What is going on Assayid?" She cried angrilly
"Assay..."
"Did anyone in these country kill my father? Do you know who killed my father?" She
screamed angrilly
"I don't Assayyida but I intend finding out. Can you tell me which of these countries he
went last?"
"None" she replied
"What do you mean none?" Captain Iso asked
"The country my father went to last was the only country he has visited recently that you
omitted"
"Which country is that Assayidda?"
"Nigeria; he went to Port harcort in Nigeria three days ago". Captain Iso stared at her in
confusion. She frowned back at him. There was no passport for Nigeria on Shamharouk,
the dead brother of the Masked men of the ancient Nisan empire.
"That would be all Assayyida" he said and handed Nadia his personal card with his
address on it.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"Should you need any information as regards my progress on this investigation, please
call me"
"Shukran" she thanked him and began to cry again.
Later that night, the scream of a maid servant pierced the silence and mournful ambience
of the edifice. Nadia ran out of her chamber. The noise was coming from her mother's
chamber. She ran to the chamber and saw the maidservants running helter skelter. Nadia
entered her mother's chamber and beheld the sight. Her mother was lying cold and still on
the bed with some yellow tablets scattered around her.
Nadia prayed desperately to wake up but this was no dream. Her hands began to tremble.
The cries and voices around her were sounding like a hoard of blabbers. She suddenly
turned and headed outside the edifice
"Nadia, where are you going?" Sayyid said but she would not listen.
"Nadia, look at me, listen to me" he kept pleading, begging, imploring but she ignored
him. She strolled past the shocked mourners in the courtyard. They too had heard the
news of her mother's death. A couple dead on the same day. She knew tongues would
wag about fate, bad omens and curses. The headlines would run if for months. Thousands
of consolation would pour in but she did not care. Nadia walked into the garage of their
vast edifice and entered a volkswagen.
"Nadia, if you love me, you would look at me just once" Sayyid begged. She switched on
the car without facing him.
"If you bear me any love at all, you would let me know where..." She zoomed off.
She knocked repeatedly on the door of Captain Iso Hamza but there was no response.
Captain Iso was the only one that had an insight into all this madness. She turned the
knob and the door opened. The living chamber of Captain Iso was empty
"Assayid Iso" She called but there was no response. Suddenly a sudden fear engulfed her.
A omniscient feeling told her to turn and run or to call Sayyid but she stubbornly refused.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Suddenly she heard water dripping from a room. She followed the sound until she got to
Captain Iso's bathroom.
"Yaa raabi!" She screamed in horror, covered her mouth in fright and began to cry. The
bath tub was overflowing with water. Captain Iso was lying naked in the water. The
whole of his body was submerged under the water with his eyes wide opened.
CHAPTER 7
Luanda, ANGOLA
It was past midnight by the time Karim descended in the Quatro De Fevereiro Airport in
Luanda, Angola. Moments later, he entered a taxi
"Take me to the Hotel Avalade" he growled to the noisy driver
"Si, the Hotel Avalade is filled with dignitaries, godfathers and powerful men tonight.
Today is Oscar Camara's 79th birthday. The whole of the people of Ngola are celebrating
him; they are celebrating the foolish thief who is stealing and enriching himself with the
future our children". Karim did not utter a single word. The chatty taxi driver continued
to rabble.
"The Camara family found the gems in Lunda in 1912; so what? The gem was found by
Luis Camara who established a mining company named DIAMENG. Diameng was
granted a mining and prospecting charter till independence. The Camara family had
exclusivity on the diamond market in Ngola. In 1977, the government established
Endiama, a State National diamond mining enterprise and aquired 77 percent of the
shares in Diameng. Today, the government of Ngola holds 77 percent of the shares in the
diamond company while the remaining 23 percent is disproportionately distributed
among the Camara family. You have no idea how much 23 percent is do you?" He asked
but Karim didn't seem interested.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"Last year, Endiama mined 2,000 kg of diamonds. That's 10,000,000 carats. Now
imagine 23 percent of that going to one family when the whole of Ngola is living off 77
percent. The bastard is old now; 79 years old but I'm sure his two daughters Adelaide and
Ado would simply continue to enrich themselves just like their gluttonous father" the
Taxi driver finished and hissed angrilly as the Taxi skidded to a stop in front of the hotel
Avalade.
There were two soldiers standing at the entrance of the hotel Avalade behind the Maitre
de, a man from the Ambundu tribe and two waitresses. Karim was wearing a black Italian
suit with a wine coloured tie and pocket piece
"Por favor, posse ver o seu convite Senor?" The Maitre de asked
"The Senor is with me" Kassoumi replied and came out of the hotel.
"Might I see your invite Senora?". Kassoumi showed him and smiled seductively. Her
smile was polished and enchanting. The Maitre de gazed at the invite
"Bem vindos, welcome" he said
"Obrigado, thank you" Kassoumi replied and led Karim into the galley. He was greeted
by symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven and Rossini. The elites were chatting and laughing
gracefully. The galley was filled with Chinese investors, diamond merchants, diplomats
and politicians. The cuisines ranged from Cokodok fritter, French crepe pancakes, dutch
proffertjes, the lists were endless. The dark skinned waitresses in fitted white suites, short
mini skirts and stilleto heels strotted to and fro with cocktails of all sorts. There was
Mimosa, Sazarac, Pina Colada and other assorted wines. Karim took a baccarat glass of
Bannana tequila and sipped as he drowned himself in the angelic blend of the orchestra.
He stretched out his hand. Kassoumi took it and they both rocked to the symphony of the
orchestra. He and Kassoumi kept watching Oscar Camara, a fat man with grey hair
laughing with some German business men. Oscar's daughters Adelaide and Ado were
being courted by all sorts of Business men. Kassoumi saw their husbands trying to hide
their frustration. She smiled and whispered something to Karim. His face was friendless.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Kassoumi pulled out a lip stick and applied it on her lips. She and Karim watched Oscar
Camara grab his last grandson. He was a fulfilled man.
"It is time" Karim whispered. Both of them swiftly advanced towards Oscar Camara.
"Halo Senor Camara, I'm Mario Savimbi"
"Si, peharps the son of Figo Savimbi"
"Yes Senor"
"Ah! Figo never told me he had a son. It is a shame my daughters are married" Oscar
Camara jested and shook Karim
"Meet my wife Adriane" Karim said. Oscar stretched his hands out but Kassoumi pecked
him on the left and right cheeks in the style of the English elites. Oscar looked at her in
suspicion after she withdrew. She had kissed his right cheeks and his left ear. He kept
looking at her face for any sign of mischief but all he saw was an innocent smile.
"Long may you live Senor" Kassoumi said. Oscar shrugged off his paranoia and said
"Obrigado, thank you". He turned to Karim
"You should come to my house sometime for tea, and you must bring this lovely wife of
yours" Oscar said
"Obrigado" he replied. Moments later, he and Kassoumi scurried out of the hotel
Avalade. They waved a taxi and headed back to the Quatro De Fevereiro Airport. Karim
saw an emotional look in Kassoumi's eyes but said nothing.
"I would meet you in the Republic of Gabon tomorrow evening. Keep General Sidiki
Conde occupied" he told her and she nodded. She pulled out a bottle with blue tablets.
"Take two of this tablets 30 minutes before you come in for the General" she said
"Why?"
"It would counteract the poison" she said. Karim collected the bottle and threw it into his
pocket.
"Where are you heading to now?" She asked
"Tripoli, Libya".
*
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Oscar Camara was laughing when his left ear began to itch him. Suddenly, the ear turned
red and began to swell. In a matter of seconds, the swell began to spread round his face
quickly.
"Sinto me doente, I feel funny" he muttered
"Is everything okay Senor?" A merchant whispered to him
"Eu acho que eu preciso de um medico a..." He was saying when he slumped to the
ground
"Socorro, Help!" The merchant beside him screamed
"Ajuda Por favor, Please help my father!" Oscar Camara's first daughter Adelaide
screamed. Oscar Camara's blood curdled. He began to change color. He turned black,
then blue, then pale and soon, blood began to spurt for his ears as fatal rashes covered his
face.
"O deus, nao me deixe morrer pai" his daughter cried as he choked and suffocated on the
floor. At Oscar Camara's last moment; he did not think of his family, or his wealth or
Angola. The only thing on his mind was Origami.
CHAPTER 8
Port harcort, NIGERIA
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
At sunrise, Tombari, son of Ubani, grandson of Kobani, of the great Amouka family in
Ogoniland, Port harcort Nigeria, gazed at all the elite families in his father's chamber.
They had all come to the kingdom of Kenkhana, one of the six kingdoms of Ogoniland,
for the three day new yam festival. The last festival had held in the kingdom of Gokhana,
this year's was holding in their own kingdom, Kenkhana. The men were all sitting at a
round table in one of his father's chamber as the drums of Karikpo began throbbing in the
distance. The great Amouka family, an ancient ebony dark skin family were greatly
respected and feared in all the six kingdoms in Ogoniland. Tombari had grown up seeing
the power and influence his father, Ubani Amouka wielded in Ogoniland. The Chiefs and
elites of the six kingdoms of Gokhana, Nyokhana, Kenkhana, Babbe, Eleme and Tae
waited upon the counsel of his father Ubani Amouka. Unto Ubani, mechants, landlords,
nobles and Cardinals gave ears and waited. They kept quiet at his counsel. After his
words, they spoke not again. Ubani's counsel dropped on every bone. Now, the elite
families had gathered in his father's house yesternight. They had held a vigil, whispering
dangerous and powerful words in the dark till dawn. Ubani Amouka was a fat pot bellied
man in his late sixties. He had three sons; Amadi, Amani and Tombari. The Amouka
family was undoubtful the wealthiest and most powerful family in Ogoniland but their
family weren't always this powerful.
The Amouka family, famous for their enviable polished black ebony dark skin had been
relatively unknown in the Kingdom of Kenkhana, one of the six kingdoms of Ogoniland.
They were small scale fishermen in the riverine areas. The major occupation among the
Ogoni people being fishing and farming. In 1956, Royal Dutch Shell, a british oil
company struck crude oil in the Niger Delta and began production through their
subsidiary in Nigeria, Shell Oil Company. This began the woe of the Ogoni people. In a
15 year period from 1976 to 1991, there were reportedly 2,976 oil spills of 2.1 million
barrels of oil in Ogoniland by the british company. The oil spills was accompanied by gas
flaring and waste discharge. The once alluvial soil of Ogoniland was no longer viable for
agriculture. Similarly, the oil spilled into the water ground of Ogoniland. This resulted
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
into the death of 7,000 in three days. Tombari's grandfather Kobani who was one of the
elders of Kenkhana, had died from the water poisoning. The water tested to high level of
hydro carbon, having been contaminated with benzene. The death of Kobani, Tombari's
grandfather had dealt a fatal blow to his father Ubani. There was mourning all through
Ogoniland. The people could not farm for the ground was barren, neither could they fish
for the water was contaminated. A famine and drought like never before hit Ogoniland
hard. The Chiefs and elders of the six kingdoms met and sent representatives to the
Federal government to come to their aid. The Federal Government never did. Ubani
Amouka watched the drought and famine kill hundreds daily. The Chiefs of the six
kingdoms decided to purchase arms and ammunitions and fight the Government
"You fools! The Igbos were more powerful than us, richer than us and even more
populated than us yet, even they could not overcome the Federal Government in a battle
for liberation. Don't be fooled by verbal eloquence and brilliance of speech my brothers.
We do not have the means to win a war against the Federal Government" the Chief of
Eleme growled
"If I didn't know you any better Kpelanya, I would have said you and wits are strangers"
the Chief of Gokhana blurted out to Kpelanya, the Chief of Eleme
"Toska, did you just insult me" the Chief of Eleme barked
"My brothers, let's leave the haggling to women and tackle the issue at hand" the Chief of
Tae said
"There is nothing to talk about. Wars are won by wits and not by bullet and if those
sacred words are true, then I'm afraid to put the lives of the great people of Kenkhana in
your witless heads" the Chief of Kenkhana cursed
"You would retract those words Ekene" the Chief of Tae growled
"I would not. My words are true. In the battle of wits, you my brothers are unarmed"
"You old shriveled bastard!" One of the Chiefs growled
"It is not my custom to answer the fury of restless tongues but I take your foolishness
well because I see you suffer the blindness of the youths" Ekene, the Chief of Kenkhana
cursed stubbornly. Ubani had watched the Chiefs limp upon each other and lynch
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
themselves. The Chiefs and elders of the six kingdom did not reach an accord and the
suffering of the Ogoni people continued. Shell Company continued to exploit natural gas
in Ogoniland. The oil spills continued to constitute enviromental degradation. Shell
Company continued to pollute the drinking water, fishing ground and farm lands. There
were large burnt gas flare from oil extraction process. The old and aged who witnessed it
had sworn to Tombari that the burnt gas illuminated the sky day and night for nine
straight days. There was total darkness in Ogoniland. The young ones began to suffer
wasting diseases as a result of exposure to the flaring. The suffering across the six
kingdoms of Ogoniland was great. In the end, the Chiefs of the six kingdoms summoned
another meeting. There, Ubani watched the Chiefs argue and insult each other again.
There were open accusations and blatant curses.
"We are not enemies!" Ubani blurted out, a phrase that in the future would become a
motto of peace for the six kingdoms of Ogoni land. When Ubani saw that he had gotten
their attention; he spoke.
"Brothers, country men, friends, we are not enemies. Though passion may have strained,
it must not break our bonds of affection and our ancestral memories, stretching from
every battle field in which the blood of our blood, our ancestors was spilt together, for
one another. The blood of Nyokhana, Gokhana, Kenkhana, Eleme, Babbe and Tae. These
brothers bled together that we, their descendants might learn the bond of blood and
family from them. We must rise as gods and angels for Ogoniland. Nyokhana must rise,
Gokhana must take a stance with their brothers, Kenkhana, Eleme, Babbe and Tae must
stand now and save Ogoniland" Ubani spoke. The chamber was silent till a Chief opened
his foul mouth
"And who is this suckling young man who has the presence of mind to speak at the table
of elders?"
"If you had any wits Toska, you would master the bitter truth that this young man's words
are more seasoned with wisdom than your wax filled head could ever have thought of"
Kpelanya, the Chief of Eleme barked. The Chiefs fought till the end of that meeting. By
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
the next meeting, Ubani had become known by all the Chiefs and elders of the six
kingoms.
"What do you propose boy?" The Chief of Nyokhana asked
"We cannot fight the Federal Government"
"As if we didn't know that already" Kpelanya blurted out angrilly
"You do not understand me. It is pointless fighting the Federal Government; they are not
our problems. The Oil Companies are. Let us draft an Ogoni bill of rights. We would
demand money from the Oil Companies in accumulated damages and compensation. We
would also demand immediate stoppage of enviromental degradation and negotiate for
mutual agreement on all future drilling"
"And why would the Oil Companies honor our demands?" A Chief asked
"Because we would also set up a Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people,
MOSOP. We would arm them with ammunitions and frustrate the business of the Oil
Companies till they sign the treaty". The Chiefs agreed. Ubani spent the next few weeks
moving from one community to another to get militias, local men to enlist in MOSOP. At
first, it was only his two sons Abani and Amadi that stood with him. Tombari was still
being weaned at the time. Ubani convinced the whole kingdoms to fight. In Nyokhana, he
addressed the crowd
"When the white man exploits and puts himself to labor, it is called hardwork but when
he himself exploits and put another to work, it is called slavery. If all Africans, Negroes
and tribes are men, why then, my ancient faith teaches me that all men are created equal
and that there can be no moral right in connection with making a slave of another. My
brothers, we've been made slaves not by our brothers; be they Igbos, Yoruba, Hausa,
Urhobo or by whatsoever name called but by the white man, the british. We are not
enemies. The common enemy is the white man. Sons of Khana, remind me the last time
lasting liberation was forged by a pen. No, it is forged by blood. Blood of martyrs,
patriots, fathers whom sons would speak of years from now, to generations unborn.
Nyokhana, would you fight like warriors, would you be part of this story or would you
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
watch from the sidelines?" That day, hundreds enlisted for MOSOP. In Gokhana, Ubani
chanted
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this current government cannot
endure permanently. Sooner or later, it must change power. It will become one thing or
the other yet, Ogoniland can exist permanently. We are not enemies, we are Ogonis,
every single person here present is part of an ancient blood line of the sons of Khana. We
are Ogonis, you are Ogoni. We did not become Ogoni the day we were born in
Ogoniland; we became Ogoni the day Ogoniland was born in us". Gradually, Ubani
spread across the six kindgoms until he raised a two thousand man army militia. Then
they tendered the Bill of Ogoniland to the Oil Companies who rejected it outrightly.
MOSOP began to kidnapp oil workers and expatriates from the Oil companies. They
would ransom the oil workers back to the company for certain payments which they used
to import weapons and ammunitions as well as food. The MOSOP fought for nearly two
decades. The Federal Government took the sides of the Oil Companies. The Ogoni kept
fighting violently against the Oil Companies. Over seven thousand civilians were
slaughtered in Ogoniland. Hundreds of Ogonis were illegally detained yet MOSOP would
not be bullied into submission. The Federal Miltary Government arrested four of the six
Chiefs, tried them before a Military tribunal and had them hung. Ubani continued to press
the soldiers of MOSOP to fight on. Then the Aboturu Slaves in Chains Saga had occured.
The saga that every Ogoni thanked the gods for. The saga had changed the fortune of the
Ogoni people and the Federal Government had listened to them. The same saga had made
the name Amouka, a household name, known across the whole of Nigeria. Ubani had
negotiated an amnesty for all Ogonis who had bore arms under the umbrella of MOSOP.
Ubani, had become a hero to the Ogoni people. Today, Ogonis were the richest in
Nigeria. The kingdom of Kenkhana in Port harcourt alone, was filled with breathtaking
skyscapers, pastoral lawns and an exquisite serenity. Tombari had been to all the six
kingdoms. Kenkhana, their own kingdom was the most developed of all. The other
kingdoms of Nyokhana, Gokhana, Eleme, Babbe and Tae were developing at a slow
pace. Tombari turned and watched the elite men who had yesterday, come to Kenkhana
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
for the Doonu Kuneke festival, the yam festival, storm out of his father's chamber
angrilly. Tombari saw anger and malice on his father's ebony black and wrinkled face.
The other men from the elite family were livid with rage also. Their eyes were red and
vengeful. It spat blood. He knew why his father was angry. Ubani Amouka hated all the
elites of Ogoniland. Ubani Amouka had suffered with the Chiefs and elders to lift the
sufferings of the Ogoni people. All the Chiefs and elders who had partook in the fight for
the survival of the Ogoni people had long died. Now, the elite families were the ones
enjoying the reward of their labor, enriching themselves with the money meant for the
commoners. Ubani had spent billions reconstructing Kenkhana, building hospitals, good
roads and proper irrigation. The elite families in other kindgoms simply squandered the
accumulated royalties and damages the Federal Government paid to the Ogoni people for
themselves. Ubani hated the blatant show of affluence and the shame exhibited by the
elite families. Now, the elite families who had gathered all night to discuss something his
father would not talk about, cursed angrilly on the streets. Tombari had seen fear in the
eyes of all the elite men as they entered his father's chamber yesterday night when they
came to Kenkhana for the new yam festival. Now, they all stormed out with red eyes; an
indication that the meeting had not gone well; an indication that his father Ubani Amouka
had failed to agree to something the elites had proposed. Tombari knew that many of the
elites considered his father a stubborn man, a stumbling block that had to be removed at
all cost. All the elite family across the six kingdoms of Ogoniland were present. The
Baridkarra family of Nyokhana, the Yaabari family of Gokhana, the Saro family of
Babbe, the Dumlesi family of Tae, the Nubari family of Eleme; the lists were endless.
These families were the most powerful in each of their kingdoms; their Chiefs danced to
their tunes. His father hated them all. Tombari was fidgeting nervously. He had
yesterday, proposed to Eweosa, the daughter of Abraham from the family of Nubari; one
of the elite families his father hated and the most powerful family in the kingdom of
Eleme. He had met Eweosa at the new yam festival two years earlier which held in her
own kingdom in Eleme. Now, he had promised Eweosa he would tell his father about
them before the three days festival was over; before Eweosa returned to the kingdom of
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Eleme. She ran her father's exporting Company in Eleme, the same way he worked as the
Marketing and Management Director of his father's hospitality and hotel services.
Tombari ran MO-International Hotel and Resorts, the hotel regarded as the foremost
hotel in the country for seven straight years with twenty one subsidiaries in twenty one
different States; of the thirty six in Nigeria. MO-International also had eighteen
subsidiaries outside Nigeria. Tombari managed them all. Eweosa had also promised him
to tell her father Abraham Nubari about them before the three days festival was over.
Tombari watched the boys and and young men performing acrobatics as they trooped out
of their houses wearing the Mariko masks. There were tourists from England, Brazil and
the Scandivanian countries dancing ridiculously on the streets. The sun had fully risen
now. The people of Ogoni trooped out en masse in various traditional attire. The Karikpo
masquerades began to throb out as human representation of the ancestors. The Ka elu
dance was being performed at every corner of the streets. There were magical puppet
shows performed by the cult of Amanikpo, there was canoe paddling dance. Tombari
knew he should tell his father about Eweosa here and now but he was nervous besides,
his father was still venting at all the elites of which his father in law, Abraham Nubari
was one. The day is still long he thought and made his decision. I would wait. There is
plenty of time.
*
Somewhere in Tripoli, Libya; Karim yanked up his cheap phone
"Add one more name to your list" the guttural voice of the stranger growled angrilly
"Who?" Karim asked and the stranger spoke.
CHAPTER 9
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Nisan Empire, MALI
The hot sun of the Sahara scalded Aboubakar on the face and thick rashes began to form.
Aboubakar was in deep pain. He had, had nightmares of Daouda all through the night.
The raging sun continued to pierce him and he feared he might faint. He watched the
other boys in shackles staggering under the dazing sun. Suddenly, a girl slumped on the
sands.
"Ya bint el Khinziri!" Keita cursed and bade her stand. She did not respond. The Abboo
came around and examined the girl.
"The whore is dead" he muttered angrilly. Aboubakar watched as the Tuarag slave
merchants cut her loose and left her on the sands of the Sahara. Late in the evening, a boy
screamed
"Yeeeeeetii!"
"Dos koot, shut up!" One of the Tuaregs growled but the boy would not stop. He had
been bitten by a sand viper of the Sahara. The Tuaregs cut him loose also. Aboubakar
watched as the venom spread round the boy, killing him in seconds. The Tuareg
merchants led them through the valley between the sand dunes of the Sahara. They
climbed the hamada, stone plateaus. Aboubakar was tired and fatigued but he dared not
complain. He was better of than the boys trekking. Before night fall, many other boys and
girls succumbed to the sands of the Sahara. Some died from dehydration, others were
bitten by yellow spotted hyrax, monitor lizards, black faced fire finch, red silver ants and
other desert reptiles. The Tuareg slave merchants could not care less. At sun set, they
arrived at the city of Amazighs near the Siwa oasis. Aboubakar watched the Tuareg slave
merchants sell some of the boys to the people of Amazighs, known as the free and noble
people. A fat woman growled at Modibo
"Why is the pretty one sitting on a Camel? He must be highborn isn't he?" The woman
glanced conspiratorily at Modibo
"He sure is" Modibo replied
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"How much?" She asked
"Two sacks of Ashrafis, gold coins". The woman gazed at Modibo suspiciously and
moved to examine Aboubakar.
"Put him on his feet, I want to behold him" she said. Modibo was stammering when Keita
blurted from nowhere
"That merchandise has no limbs"
"Bashokh aleek, I piss on you" the fat woman cursed
"A sack of Ashrafis" Modibo barked but the woman was already storming away
"Half a sack of Ashrafis" he growled at her but she did not as much as shift her gaze.
Many boys were sold for sacks of Ashrafis, date palm, roasted Addax, a large white
antelope; the list were endless. The Tuareg merchants watered the Camels, filled their
water barrels and set off the next day. It was the same as the previous day. Three boys
succumbed to the desert. The first had reached out to touch a desert shrub when a yellow
Death Stalker scorpion, almost ten centimeters long had stung him. The venom killed the
boy instantly. The Tuaregs cut him loose. The remaining two boys had been killed by the
whirling Sahara sand storms. That night, the Tuareg slave merchants stumbled upon a
Caravan of holy men of Azalai. The holy men had close to 20,000 Camels. The Abboo of
the Tuaregs offered the holy men gifts of Ashrafis, spice and salt. Aboubakar was sure
the holy men would condemn the slave merchants and possibly slaughter them all and
then free the boys. He watched in shock as the holy men accepted the gifts, blessed the
Tuareg merchants and their trade, then bade them away. The third day was the most
terrifying of all. The Tuareg merchants had encountered a forty four man Caravan of
Sahrawi nomads with merchandise of embroidered cloths, camel loads of silk, grains,
barley; and wine skins and barrels filled with wine. Aboubakar watched the Tuareg
merchants clutch their Muskets surreptitiously. Modibo was holding his sharpened Saber
on one hand and an Assegeis on the other.
"All we seek is a pass" the Emir of the Sahrawi nomads, an elderly berber man with a
long white beard and a yellow turban growled
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"The desert is large enough to accomodate us" the Emir's son, a seasoned warrior said
with a deadly look in his eyes
"By all means, pass" the Abboo said but the Emir spotted him eying and coveting the
Camel loads of silk, barley, grains, aloes, spices and embroidered cloths. He wanted the
merchandise for himself. The two clans stood, facing each other, each fearing to move.
Suddenly, the Abboo barked
"Yakhrab baytak!" The Tuareg merchants lifted their muskets and fired. Eleven of the
Sahrawi nomads fell down dead. The son of the Emir let fly a javelin which pierced
through the head of Keita. The Sahrawi nomads pulled out arrows, drew and loosed.
Aboubakar watched three Tuareg men fall face flat on the sands. The Sahrawi nomads
drew again and loosed. The arrow ripped the lungs of a Tuareg merchant. The Tuaregs
unsheathed their Assegais, Sabers and charged towards the Sahrawi with lances drawn. It
was a blood bath. There were clashes of metal and flashing of steel. Aboubakar watched
the son of the Emir burst the head of two Tuaregs with his lance. He spurn around and cut
off the arm of another with his Saber and came upon the Abboo of the Tuareg slave
merchants. The Abboo took off the head of the son of the Emir with a stroke of his
Assegais. The blood was red on his blade. The Emir was brought before the Abboo and
forced on his knees
"I did nothing wro..." A blinding slap connected with his face. The Tuaregs counted the
amount of losses they had suffered. Eighteen men were dead. Six were wounded and four
boys were lost in cross fire. The Tuaregs buried their dead. That night, the Tuaregs
immured the Emir in the sands and sang desert songs all night. They buried him in the
sands up till his neck. Only his head was visible. Then they feasted on wine and roasted
antelope. The slave boys were given a piece of meat to eat as well. The next morning, just
when Aboubakar thought he could take no more, he began to hear the tempo of drums.
"Do you hear that boy?" The man on his Camel scorned with a mocking smile as they
plundered the merchandise of the nomads of Sahrawi.
"That is the sound of the drums of Nisan".
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
The ancient Nisan empire was surrounded by tall thick sand stone walls. Three
barefooted Murabitans were standing at the Pass.
"Salamoo alaykoom" the Abboo greeted
"You are late Ahmed. The other slave merchants turned in their merchandise yesterday"
"Tell the Sayyiddiis, teachers that they would want to see my merchandise". A Murabitun
scurried away. Moments later, five men wearing green turban stood at the Pass. The five
men were the Sayyiddiis, the teachers of the arts of the ancient Nisan empire. The five of
them had a sigil engraved with gold embroidery on their green turban. The first, the
Sayyiddii of the Brotherhood of whispers' sigil had a serpentine look
Y
The second, the Sayyiddii of the Brotherhood of Sicarii, daggermen had a sigil which
looked like the Sica, curved dagger
   
The third, the Sayyiddii of the Brotherhood of Songs and dreams had a sigil which looked
like three perching birds
333
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
The fourth, the Sayyiddii of the Brotherhood of Aeromancers and Necromancers had a
sigil which was the Nisan symbol for dark arts
Y
The fifth and last Sayyiddii of the Brotherhood of Masked men, the most arrogant of
them all, had a sigil which looked like a Roman armour facing sideways and whose eyes
and ears were blindfolded
D
Moments later, the Sayyiddiis were examining the merchandise and negotiating among
themselves which should go to a particular brotherhood. The men finished late in the
afternoon
"There is one more left" Modibo screamed
"Yes, a boy without limbs" the Sayyiddii of the brotherhood of Sicarii said
"No my lords. A Fulani nightingale from the deepest caves in Al Kubra" Modibo
dramatized but the Sayyiddiis were already heading back through the Pass of Nisan
"Sing boy!" Modibo growled but Aboubakar was trembling. There was something dark
and sinister about the Sayyiddiis.
"No one sees Nisan and returns alive apart from the slave merchants, and even we only
dare come here once in twenty years to supply merchandise. Sing now and enter the Pass
or keep mute now and I shall ensure you are mute forever".
Aboubakar began the Muda in a slow, soft and low cadence.
Le o le o le o heei,
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Le o le o le o heeeeeeeeeeeei...
The five Sayyiddiis turned around and beheld him in shock
"Ya ebn el jahsh!" One of the Sayyiddiis exclaimed
Ku berlari pakai hati,
Tak berhenti sampai mati...
Aboubakar sang sonorously. Hundreds of Murabituns flocked to the gate to see for
themselves. The Murshid, watched, listened from the rooftop of his Ribat.
Aku dangar ada yan bicara,
Papa mamaku punya cita cita...
A small sand storm began to form around Aboubakar. It whirled around him, raging,
rushing. He sat like a god, a king.
"An omen" the Sayyiddii of the brotherhood of Aeromancer and Necromancer cried but
no one was interested in what he was saying
Hudupku itu adalah aku
Le o le o le o heeeeeeeeeeeeei. Aboubakar finished.
"I would have the Fulani" the Sayyiddi of the brotherhood of Songs and dreams barked
"No, I would have him" the Sayyiddii of Masked men growled
"Climb down your high horse Abdul. The Fulani sings like Malik" the Sayyiddii of Songs
and dreams growled
"That is what you see Umar. I see a boy no one would suspect as dangerous. A boy who
no one would notice. A boy no one would see till he strikes. I see a ghost, I see wind,
smoke and dust" the two Sayyiddiis argued till the Murshid came to the Pass. The
Murshid walked up to Aboubakar
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"What is your name boy?"
"Aboubakar" he said and saw shock on the faces of all the Sayyiddiis, Murabitans and
Murshid. He would learn the reason for their shock in future.
"Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!" The Sayyiddii of Aeromancers and
Necromancers fell on his knees and praised
"An omen! An omen!" He cried but no one listened.
"The Fulani should be in the brotherhood of songs and dreams Great Murshid. What good
can he be to Abdul as a Masked man? He doesn't even have his limbs" Umar, the
Sayyiddii of songs and dreams barked
"No Umar. You are seeing what the boy wants you to see. This boy is sly and cunning"
the Murshid said and commanded Aboubakar
"Stand on your feet boy". The Tuareg slave merchants were staring at the Murshid as if
he was mad
"He does not walk" the Abboo of the Tuareg slave merchants growled
"You heard me boy, get down from the Camel and stand with your own feet" the Murshid
threatened with a guttural voice. Aboubakar slowly climbed down from the Camel. His
secret was out.
"Kosma yara!" The Abboo of the Tuareg slave merchants cursed and unsheathed his
Assegeis
"He outwitted you Ahmed; a boy outwitted you and you must master it" the Murshid
growled. The Abboo spat on the floor in front of his son Modibo.
"You bring shame and mockery upon me!" He barked in fury and Modibo shot
Aboubakar a deadly glance. The Sayyiddiis were gazing at Aboubakar in shock. He had
outwitted them all.
"Aboubakar would hypnotize with songs, dreams and illusions. He would put thoughts
into the head of the greatest of men yet, he would also be a ghost, wind, dust and smoke.
The two of you would have him" the Murshid concluded
"Two brotherhoods? That is like g..."
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"I know what it is like but this one is going to be the greatest brother of Nisan" the
Murshid said and stormed into Nisan.
"How did you know the Fulani could walk father?" Hassan, the son of the Murshid and
head of the Murabituns, garrisoned disciples asked. Hassan was a fierce boy in his
twenties.
"We only see what we look for son, we only look for what we know. You thought the
boy was lame and that was what you saw. I saw his legs trembling and I knew he was a
fraud"
"You seem impressed by the Fulani father" he said and the Murshid laughed
"Maybe I am. Afterall, rarely have I seen a boy who deceived his tutors twice in one day"
"Twice?"
"Yes. First you all thought he was lame and now you think him a Fulani. That boy is no
Fulani" the Murshid said and walked away, leaving his son, Hassan confused. Hassan
gazed at Aboubakar as Abdul, the Sayyiddii of Masked men led him away. He couldn't
shake off the feeling that something was wrong about the boy. Suddenly, the Sayyiddii of
the brotherhood of Aeromancers and Necromancer, the dark arts walked up to him
"Everything about the Fulani is wrong" Hassan said
"I know young Master. I looked into the flames yesterday and I saw it"
"What did you see?"
"I saw the ancient Nisan empire burning in flames and brimestone. It was an omen"
"An omen?"
"A'a, an omen that the Fulani would burn Nisan to the ground"
"Are you sure?"
"Nisan would burn and our heads would be mounted on pikes. Every Sayyiddii, every
Murabitan. The Murshid would be burnt and scalded in tar and you young Master would
never ascend the ancient stool of Murshid, the stool of your ancestors"
"There is only one way to prevent that" Hassan said
"I agree" the Sayyiddii replied
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"My father has taken an interest in the Fulani. You must careful but quick. Make it look
like an accident"
"Yes young Master"
CHAPTER 10
Tripoli, LIBYA
Mohammed Mahmud sat in the topmost floor of the fourteen storey sky scraper of Sirte
Oil Company, his own oil Company in Tripoli. He gazed at the white wall and beheld the
numerous awards he had received from the Libyan Government for his reforms in the oil
sector. The award for the 13 billion cubic meter per year discovery of natural gas in the
Sirte basin. The award for Sirte's Oil Company's production and operation in the fields of
Kaguba, Nasser, Jebel, Ralah, Sahl, Assamond and Sorrah. He alone had made Libya the
second largest producers of Natural gas in Africa; second only to Nigeria. He alone. I'm a
patriot Mahmud thought with trembling hands. I'm a bloody patriot.
He gazed at the papers in his hands. The headlines were all the same. Al Taraqqi was
running it, II Giornale de Tripoli was running it, Al Manqab Al Afriqi, the list were
endless. Mahmud's drowned a glass of Petrus 91 and allowed the wine burn his throat.
Nabil Youssef had been killed last night, Oscar Camara had followed, poisoned at
midnight. It could only mean one thing. The secret is out, the sharks are coming.
Mahmud had instructed his guards to get his four wives and seven children out of the
country but his last daughter, Eisha had stayed. She was strong, heady and stubborn just
like his own mother. He gazed at Eisha flipping through a magazine at a corner of his
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
office without a care in the world. She wanted to be a fashion model. He wanted to be
like her. Oh, to be young again. The secret was out. The secret of Origami. It was
shocking as well as frightening. All the men who had joined the alliance were patriots.
All the men were wealthy and powerful. None of them could have been compelled into
submission or bribed into spilling the secrets. The secret was out. How? Who? Why?
Mahmud thought as he pondered on the wisdom of initiating Origami in the first place.
Suddenly, he felt pressed. He got up and went into the toilet to empty his bowels. Eisha,
his daughter waited a minute, two, ten, thirty but her father did not come out. She stood
up and walked to the toilet
"Abbu, father" she called but there was no response.
"Abbu!" She began to panic but when there was no reply, she let out a cry of horror.
Moments later, guards had broken down the door of the toilet.
"No, no, no; Abbuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Eisha shrieked. It was the most horrifying cry the
guards had ever head. Mohammed Mahmud was sprawled against the toilet sit. His head
was slumped against the slab, his opened eyes was already taking the lifeless form. The
guards stared at him in confusion. There was nothing in sight that explained what had
happened. Then one of the guards looked at the Chinese bamboo slated ceiling. One of
the slates had been slightly adjusted; someone had been here only seconds ago. The
guards gazed at Mahmud's corpse closely. There was a round mark on his neck. He had
been strangled. There had been no sound, there had been no noise.
CHAPTER 11
Algiers, ALGERIA
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Nadia watched the rite of ritual cleansing being performed on her mother. It was like a
dream. The Camphor and perfumed soap saturated the air. She watched the Kafan,
shrouding of the body in simple white cloths and told herself this was a nightmare from
which she must wake. Her thoughts drifted back to Captain Iso Hamza. The look of
agony in his eyes as Surete, the Algerian Police had carried him to the morgue. The look
in his lifeless eyes was forever enshrined in her heart. The same look had been in her
father, Nabil's eyes. She would not forget or forgive the perpetrator. A sudden wave of
terror engulfed her and her heart skipped a beat. Throughout the funeral procession to the
graveyard, her thoughts were on the last discussion that she had with Captain Iso Hamza.
Someone from the countries her father had visited had killed him, and Captain Iso had
been killed for prying. She watched the Ulamas, religious leaders begin the prayer with
Takbir. The women were all mournfully clothed. There was no jewelry or elaborate silk
clothings. There were no perfume or Kohl, eye makeup or henna on hands and feets.
Nadia did not cry, neither did she sob. She was wounded, angry, lost. The trip back to her
father's residence was filled with biterness and grief. She sat alone in the massive
mansion yet, felt empty. She watched the maidens come and go with all sorts of graces
and courtesies but it made no meaning to her. Nobles, Merchants, Sheikhs and powerful
lords among the Algerian people made her weary with consolations. The gluttonous eyed
lawyers and greedy accountants were circling, each trying to retain her as their client. She
was her father's only heir. Nadia did not want to see any of them. The consolations came
in from Tunis, Morroca, Nubia, Arabia, Bangladesh but Nadia did not care. Then
something snapped in her mind. There was no consolation pouring from Angola, or
Libya, or Gabon, or Egypt, or Cote de voire or Nigeria. Her father had spent the last few
months pratically living in all these countries yet, not a single call. Even if it were a
business deal, wouldn't the investors be interested in securing and protecting their
investments in the hands of the new head of her father's Shipping Companies in Mers El
Kebir, the Great harbour. Her father had not gone to these countries for a business deal,
she knew it in her heart. Every bone and fibre told her so. Moments later, Nadia was
packing a few thing in a bag. Sayyid suddenly stormed into her chamber. She took a
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
glance at him and noticed he had shaved. The fact that he was looking polished and clean
when she was mourning enraged her for some reason. She simply turned and kept
packing her things
"Where are you going?"
"Portharcourt, Nigeria"
"What? You've not even completed the Hidaad, three days of mourning" Sayyid blurted
but she did not reply.
"Nadia, I'm speaking to you" he said but she kept packing.
"I need to change my clothes. I need some privacy" she blurted angrilly.
"Nadia" his voice was soft
"You should be mourning, the mourning clothes should stay on"
"Sayyid, I need to change my clothes" she barked, knowing that Sayyid was a
conservative Moslem. He believed a woman undressing in front of a man be she his
fiancee was unchaste and sinful.
"The mourning is not for you; it is to show the Algerian people that your family is worthy
of respect"
"Or you are afraid that your father, the Sultan would think you low for bethroting a
maiden who so disrespected her deceased parents by not waiting to complete their
Hidaad. Maybe he might even forbid you from marrying me"
"Nadia, are you accusing me of trying to look good with the death of your parents?"
"Well, you shaved Sayyid didn't you?"
"You asked me to shave yesterday Nadia, remember?"
"You shaved on the morning of my parents funeral!" she screamed
"This is not about my shaving is it?"
"Never mind, just leave"
"I'm not leaving" he blurted out. She did not ask again. She unzipped her robe and threw
it to the floor
"Nadia! What ar..." She was already pulling out a tightly fitted jean trousers and a black
jacket from the wardrope. Sayyid's gaze fell on her curves. He kept beholding her
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
stunning figure, her smooth and spotless skin as she dressed. He was filled with vain
desires. There was a coral tatoo on her waist, just below her rib cage. He watched her
throw a long black cotton suit on her body as she packed her hair. He knew he could not
stop her.
"What are you going to do in Nigeria?" He asked but she did not answer.
"Nadia, you don't have any friend or relative in Nigeria. You would be alone"
"My parents are dead Sayyid. I don't have any loved one here again either"
"I'm still here" he said. She turned to face him. He was standing before her, taller than
her.
"You are angry Nadia, I know. I want to share that anger; that pain, everything with you.
That's what I meant when I asked you to marry me. I want to share not only moments but
passion, grief and secret laughter"
"You don't understand" she said
"Then make me Nadia. If you can't make me understand a thing, then one else in this
world can" he said. She began to sob. He reached out and hugged her and there and then,
she knew he loved her for Sayyid was conservative and traditional. He believed hugging
between unmarried couples was unchaste and sinful. Yet, he comforted her with a hug, he
committed the unchaste with her. She told him everything.
"It looks dangerous Nadia, If Captain Iso was killed for this, his killers would come after
you"
"Hopefully, not in Nigeria" she said and he sighed
"It is dangerous Nadia, I can't let you go alone".
Moments later, both of them were driven by a Chaffeur to Dar El Beida. They stepped
into the noisy Houari Boumediene Airport and scurried to the departure line. Moments
later, a berber- Arabian Official stamped their passports and smiled. As they left the
queue, the smile on the berber-Arabian's face disappeared. He yanked up his phone
hurriedly and dialled the Sultan of Tiemcen, Sayyid's father.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
CHAPTER 12
Port harcort, NIGERIA
The thought of the fury Tombari had seen in the eyes of the elites that morning unnerved
him. He had never seen such blatant outrage directed against his father. The people of
Ogoni respected Ubani Amouka. He gazed at the colorful streets from the mini limousine
which revved across the streets. The streets were filled with kites, traditional attires,
facial masks, brightly colored balloons of all shades and sizes. The streets was filled with
Ogonis, tourists and settlers with painted faces, parading and dancing to the tempo of
drums in excitement. It was carnival like. Tombari watched from the mini limousine as
the whole of Port harcourt stood still for the Ogonis.
"Take me to the Ororo Chinese restaurant" he said to his Chaffeur. He was to meet with
Eweosa. The thought made him a little nervous. She was expecting him to tell her he had
informed his father, Ubani about them.
Tombari had watched his father head to the square that morning to perform the rites of
the Doonu Kuneke festival. His father, Ubani would be given the traditional honor of
eating the first yam after which, he, Ubani would host the Governor of Rivers State and
other dignitaries from Abuja who had come to grace the occasion. Since the last of the
Chiefs who had fought for Ogoniland had died, the rite of first yam had been bestowed
on his father, Ubani Amouka. Tombari had watched too much of the event growing up;
he was bored of it. Tombari's heart missed a beat and drifted off to the incidence that had
happened during the last new yam festival held in Gokhana. Somehow, he knew in his
heart that it was connected to the hostilities he had witnessed from the elite families that
morning. He had stormed into an heated argument between his two elder brothers and his
father
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"Father, you were the only one that bled with those dead Chiefs. We've fought enough for
Ogoniland, it's time to do what is right; it's time to separate the Kingdoms of Ogoniland
and end this madness, this betrayal and greed of the elite familes" Amadi, his eldest
brother barked
"Ogoniland is one and the six kingdoms must remain so"
"Father, we must wash our hands off the secrets and politics of Ogoniland before it is too
late. Let everyone go their own way. God knows Kenkhana would be better for it. These
elite families hid like girls when we rose to fight against Shell, now they foolishly stand
as men; lost in their own folly" his second brother Amani growled
"We fought for Ogoniland once son, we would spill our blood for it yet again. Ogoniland
must remain as one at all cost and I would not let the greed of a few families change that"
"I'm sorry father, but you would fight alone this time" his brothers had blurted and left
Port harcourt in fury. They hadn't as much as called ever since. Tombari did not know the
dark secret, conspiracy or politics that had caused his brothers to turn against their father
because of his refusal to break the kingdom of Kenkhana from Ogoniland. Ubani told
him nothing and neither did his brothers. There was so much secret, quietness and
concealment. Tombari had been a sweet little boy and kept his mouth mute. The pain of
his brother's separation still haunted his father. He did not want to burden the old man
with his curiousity. The vehicle skidded to an halt in the Ororo Chinese restaurant.
"Ah Mr Tombari, I didn't get an instruction to book you a reservation" the Maitre d' said
"I didn't make one Meribe" he replied and Meribe sighed
"Oh, I see. The executive tables are all booked sir"
"Any table would be just fine Meribe"
"No problem sir. Please follow me" he said and led Tombari to a table. Four men wearing
the festive attires were drinking at a table closeby.
"I trust your father Ubani Amouka is well"
"He is" Tombari replied
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"My wife and I pray for your father everyday as do all the people of Kenkhana and
Ogoniland. We thank God for his wisdom in the Aboturu Slaves in Chains Saga; we
thank God for his impact in the development of the Kingdom of Kenkhana"
"Thank you Meribe"
"How many guests of yours should I prepare for?" Meribe asked
"Just one. Miss Nubari"
"Forgive me but is it the Nubari of the kingdom of Eleme"
"Yes Meribe, she is the first daughter of Abraham Nubari"
"My God! I must get you an executive table right away"
"Meri..."
"I'm sorry, but I must insist sir. Miss Nubari has never been to the Ororo restaurant
before. It would be a shame if she is displeased with our services". Tombari smiled as he
watched Meribe scurry away. He was basking in the orchestral symphony of Beethoven
playing in the background when he heard one of the four men on the table beside him
whisper his father's name. Quickly, Tombari allowed his ears register their dialect. His
father Ubani, had thought him to have an ear for the dialect of each of the six kingdoms.
Ubani had said to him, a man who does not have an ear for the six dialects and seeks to
rule Ogoniland would die without instruction and would in the greatness of his folly, go
astray. So, Tombari had sat in many council meetings with his father. He had learnt to
have an ear for dialect, sarcasm, unspoken glances. To hear what elders were saying but
more importantly, what they were refusing to say. Now, he listened and gave himself to
dialect. Two of the four men were from Eleme, Eweosa's kingdom, another was from
Babbe while the last was from Nyokhana. They were trying desperately to be quiet. They
were so enraged by what they were saying that they didn't know he was hearing them.
"The old fool gave us the we are not enemies speech and he his the same person who has
oppressed us and driven us to poverty all these years" one of the men from Eleme
growled
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"He seems to have done well for Kenkhana. I mean look at all the sky scrapers
constructed in this kingdom. Look at the lawns, the roads and the state of the art facilities;
I mean look at this bloody restaurant. We have nothing like this in Babbe"
"Did you behold the stunning magnificence of MO-International Hotel and Resorts on
our way here?"
"I thought it was only me. A hotel with a resort built on the river? I'm yet to get the
gigantic structure out of my mind. I hate Ubani Amouka" another barked
"I heard the Amouka family want to own one of those in every state in the country"
"They already have subsidiaries of MO-International Hotel and Resorts in twenty one
states. They also have eighteen subsidiaries outside Nigeria"
"That greedy bastard!"
"The old fool enriches his family and the people of Kenkhana with what should belong to
all six kingdoms"
"The gods curse the gluttonous fool. He does not deserve the title of father of Ogoniland.
He might be father of Kenkhana, but the shriveled bastard is no father of Ogoniland. He
cares only for Kenkhana"
"It does not matter; everything ends today" one of the men from Eleme said
"What do you mean" the one from Nyokhana asked
"The Chiefs have been planning to break the kingdoms away from Ogoniland. Nyokhana,
Gokhana, Babbe, Eleme and Tae would be removed from Ogoniland. Everyone would go
their separate ways"
"You fools, the Chiefs are powerless against Ubani Amouka. He still has heavy influence
and support from the masses in the six kingdoms. The people are loyal to him"
"Well, the Chiefs have the support of the elite families. Everyone is desperate to rid their
kingdom from the heavy grasp of Ubani Amouka" another said.
"Besides, those loyal to Ubani Amouka are largely people from Kenkhana. Those from
other kingdoms who still blindly think him a hero are fools who cannot open their eyes to
the reality of their stricken state". Tombari watched in shock, unable to believe what this
men were saying about his father. His father was hero, a patriot. Their Chiefs and elites
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
were the thieves. He had attended all the council meetings. He had seen the revenue and
royalties allocation scheme. Each of the six kingdoms took equally. The men were lost in
bitterness and consumed with hatred. They were oblivious to his presence.
"I heard the elite families went to his lodge yesternight to discuss terms of the separation"
"Ubani Amouka would never agree. He would never allow anyone take a kingdom from
Ogoniland"
"He must agree; the elite families are desperate. They would not take no for an answer"
"What if he does not agree?"
"He must"
"What happens if he doesn't?"
"I saw the look in the eyes of Abraham Nubari, the elder of our own Eleme when we
were coming here. I was part of his entourage. He didn't look like one that would take no
for an answer"
"I saw the same look in the eyes of Charles Baridkarra, the elder of my own Nyokhana;
he wasn't a man to be refused"
"See brothers!" One of the men from Eleme beamed
"You all speak like fools. My question is simple. What happens if Ubani Amouka still
says no"
"Then I'm afraid, his head would roll" the man from Nyokhana whispered
"Afterall, old men fall and break their necks all the time" another said. Tombari trembled
where he sat. He could not believe his ears. He remembered the look on the faces of the
elders from the elite families that he had seen early in the morning. It meant only one
thing. His father had refused.
"If the old man is killed, his sons would not take kindly to the death of their father"
"Should the old man fall, the heads of his sons would roll too, I should think. All three of
them, including his first two sons who have relocated to Lagos"
"The people of Kenkhana would raise dust and flames"
"Then we shall silence them all in the dead of the night. Every single Kenkhana. The best
part my brothers, is that we don't need to sneak our men into their kingdom to do it. We
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
are already in Kenkhana afterall. Do you really think it was a mistake the Chiefs and
elites chose Kenkhana for the Doonu Kuneke festival this year?" One of the men from
Eleme said
"Everything is set my brothers. Every of the five kingdoms are ready to strike tonight,
tomorrow night, whichever night the signal comes. All that is left is whether Ubani
Amouka agrees or not" the other man from Eleme said and suddenly spotted Tombari
looking at him. Tombari immediately faced the table yet, he could feel the stabbing gaze
of the four men on him.
"Today would be long my brothers" one of the four men said and they all stormed out of
the restaurant.
"Sir, I've found you an executive ta..." Meribe stopped short as he saw Tombari's hands
trembling.
"Is anything the problem sir?" He asked but Tombari could not reply. He was shaking
terribly.
CHAPTER 13
Nisan Empire, MALI
That night, all the boys and girls stood on the sands of the Nisan empire. There were
close to a thousand innocent boys standing before the burning torches that illuminated the
empire of Nisan. The boys were all covered with purple robes and black turbans.
However, their faces were not veiled or concealed like the Murabituns, the garrisoned
disciples. The girls also wore the purple robes and a Cheche head dress. The Murabituns
were standing on each post of the ancient sand walls of the empire of Nisan. Their deadly
eyes were keeping the watch. Aboubakar could not see them holding any weapons, yet,
the rumour was that the Murabituns had all sorts of deadly weapons beneath their
garment. Suddenly Aboubakar turned and saw Hassan, the head of the Murabituns and
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
son of the Murshid gazing at him. There was a look in the Hassan's youthful eyes that
Aboubakar could not place. Suddenly, Hassan pulled out a horn and blew it. All the
Sayyiddii's began strotting out from the five temples in Nisan. They were all wearing the
green turban embroidered with the sigil of their brotherhood. Aboubakar gazed at
Sayyiddii Abdul, the tutor of Masked men. There was an arrogance about him that gave
Aboubakar the distinct impression that he felt he was better than everyone. Sayyiddii
Abdul had interrogated him greatly some hours earlier. The elderly man had asked for his
name, his country, his tribe, his god, his age, his customs. No detail was to small to ask.
Moments later, Sayyiddii Umar, the tutor of Songs and dreams had done the same to him.
Suddenly, Hassan blew the horn five times. The Murshid stepped out with a cold gaze on
his face. He stood before all the children and growled
"Step out if you hear name". He handed over a scroll to his son Hassan. Hassan began
calling the names. It was a long list. Aboubakar's legs began to ache him, the sands of
Nisan pricked his feets. The Sahara desert was beginning to get cold and chilly. Hassan
finished calling the list late in the night. He had called over 200 boys and girls. The
Murabituns blindfolded the 200 boys and led them sheepishly to a far corner of the sand
walls. Everywhere was dark but the burning torches illuminated the scene unfolding in
the distance. Aboubakar watched some Murabituns push something on the sand wall
which looked like a grinding mill. A slab on the sands, at a corner near the walls gave
way, revealing what looked like a dungeon with a depth of 90 feets and a width of 300
feets. Aboubakar saw what looked like a fog coming from the dungeon but when he
looked closer, he realized it was smoke. Before he could blink, he watched the
Murabituns toss the 200 boys and girls into the dungeon filled with boiling tar.
"Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" "Hakunaaaa!" "Nooooooooooooooo!" The scream of horror and
agony was excruciating. A boy beside Aboubakar who had drawn patterned line across
his face as a form of charm began to urinate on himself. The 200 boys were swallowed in
the boiling tar. Everywhere became silent. Every single boy and girl in Nisan were
trembling terribly. Aboubakar began to pant as beads of sweat formed on his face. His
legs were fidgeting. He looked up and saw Hassan walk past a burning torch. There was a
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
smug grin of satisfaction on his face. The Murshid turned and faced all the terrified
children who were wondering why the 200 boys and girls had been drowned in scalding
tar.
"Give me a child before eight and I would make of him a saint or a devil" the Murshid
said. It came to Aboubakar immediately. All the children that were killed were eight
years old and above. They were too old. This time, Aboubakar let out his bladder for he
realized he had survived narrowly. He was afterall, seven years old.
"Welcome to the ancient Nisan empire. Forget your name, here you are all brothers and
that is how you would call everyone; brother. Forget your tribe, forget all you were
before now, you no longer exist. None of you standing before me exist. The only thing
before me now is smoke, wind, dust and ghosts. Forget every thing. Forget pain, forget
laughter, forget love, forget hatred but keep to whatever god you hold, you would need
him to survive for only a fool says there is no god. Tonight, everyone of you must say
your last prayers to your gods because courage is simply fear that has said its prayer.
Tonight you must all die, you must all conquer yourselves because whoever conquers
himself gets double victory. There is no escaping from Nisan; no one before you has ever
escaped this sand walls; you won't be different. If you are caught trying to escape, you
would die. If you succeed, you would still die in the scorching heat of the Sahara. If you
dishonor your tutors, you would die. If you call a brother by the name he bore before he
stepped into Nisan, you would die. Never forget everything I've said tonight. Never
forget anything you've seen either. You are 800 ghosts standing before tonight. In twenty
years time, the sands of Nisan would have swept 700 of you away, perharps more. The
survivors would be gods, kings, wind. You would be courted by godfathers and men of
the underworld all over the world. You would do things, see things. You would become
the judgment of God upon infidels. You would become the woe and nightmare that drops
upon godfathers and kings. Some of you would cheat death, others would call it forth
when they deem fit. You are already ghosts, you would become gods. Look at the people
standing beside you tonight; look into their eyes, feel the warmth of their presence. Many
of them would die. The weak among you would die by your hands, the foolish among
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
you by the Murabituns, but the strong and tactful would survive. There is only one rule in
this place. Be strong, be tactful, survive".
Aboubakar could not sleep that night. He sat on the mud bed in his Ribat with three other
boys. The girls were kept in a separate Ribat. All the girls belonged to the brotherhood of
Whispers. Aboubakar watched the boys in his Ribat saying their last prayers. They were
all terrified to death. The horrific scream of the 200 children echoed in their heads. The
first boy was burning incense before a figurine. He had lighted the incense with the oil
lamp in the room. The second boy was venerating Jengu, the Cameroonian god of water.
He washed his face with water from a calabash. The third boy was the one who had
patterned line with white chalk drawn all over his body. He was dancing a spirit dance
and tapping his feets on the floor to an inaudible music as his lips moved like someone in
a trance yet, Aboubakar realized he was shaking nervously in agitation. Aboubakar stood
up and stepped outside the Ribat. He was scared and terrified. He began to cry. He
sobbed and wailed his eyes out. He wasn't the only one. Several boys were crying outside
their Ribat. Many of the boys were taller, more muscular than he was. It suddenly
dawned on Aboubakar that this were the boys he would compete with for survival. A mad
fear engulfed him and he panicked. He began running towards the Pass of the Nisan
empire. He saw shadows moving around as the sands stung his feets. He kept running,
crying and panting. A Murabitun keeping the watch on the tall sand wall of Nisan spotted
him from afar; another spotted him and another and soon, the whole Murabituns keeping
watch chased him with their deadly eyes. Aboubakar kept running towards the Pass. It
seemed so far way. He kept running until the burning torch ahead became visible. He saw
a shadow standing in the middle of the Pass but he did not stop. He kept running. He
stopped and began to walk as he got closer to the Pass.
"Turn back boy, turn back now" the Murabitun standing in the middle of the Pass
growled
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"No" Aboubakar cried. The Murabituns on the sand walls stooped and steadied their
Muskets. The barrel of the Musket was aimed at the center of Aboubakar's head. The
Murabituns never missed.
"Turn around boy before it is too late, I don't want your blood on my watch" the
Murabitun standing in the middle of the Pass growled
"I'm not meant to be here, I'm a Musician. All I wanted to do is sing" he cried profurously
and panted heavily yet kept walking towards the Pass stubbornly. The Murabituns closed
one of their eyes and aimed with the other. Aboubakar was only a few feets away from
the Pass now.
The Murabituns stooping on the sand walls watched without mercy, without compassion
and without hesitation. They placed their fingers on the trigger. The Murabitun at the
Pass growled
"This is your last chance boy. Turn now or never. I won't ask again"
"No"
CHAPTER 14
Port harcort, NIGERIA
Tombari was yet to recover from the shocking plots he had just heard. He kept trembling
where he sat as the four men disappeared out of the Ororo Restaurant. Suddenly, he saw
Meribe, the Maitre'd scurrying over to greet Eweosa. He was doting on her, almost
bowing to her. Eweosa was attractive and intelligent. She was courteous and classy,
possessing all the graces and elegance of an elite. She had blue patterned native wrapper
flowing from her neck to her knees, leaving her spotless back somewhat exposed.
Eweosa walked over to him in the festive attire and kissed him but he did not respond.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"What is it?" She asked and took her seat opposite him. Tombari gazed into her eyes,
searching her mind, searching the blackness and machinations of her heart. There was no
way the five elites family would plan a genocide and her father, Abraham Nubari would
keep it away from her.
"What is the problem Tom? You are scaring me" she said but Tombari felt betrayed,
used.
"Did your father say no?" She asked
"So you knew?" He replied
"So I knew what?"
"So you knew, you whore!" Tombari blurted angrilly.
"Tom, you are not making a lot of sense right now. I'm trying to be calm and matured
about whatever is nudging you but if you insult me again, I woul..."
"Would do what ehn? You would do what exactly? Did you even love me Ewe?"
"Tom I..."
"Did you?" He screamed angrilly, his eyes clouding with tears.
"Look into my eyes you whore and answer me"
"Don't you ever Tom, don't you ever call me a whore again" she blurted. Her voice was
angry and violent.
"Whore!" Tombari barked
"You know what Tom, I'm done" she said, removed the diamond ring he hand given her
and threw it in his face. She made to stand but he grabbed her hands and growled
"You are going nowhere until you tell me everything Ewe"
"My God Tom! You are so stupid and ignorant. The idea that you have no clue is not
only truly absurd but legendary. You are 28 years old but your father still treats you like a
boy. You are the son of Ubani Amouka, the so called acclaimed father of Ogoniland and
you are ignorant"
"I know everything. I know your plan to break the five kingdoms away from Ogoniland"
he barked angrilly
"Then why are you still holding my hand?" Tombari stammered but refused to back down
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"You would tell me everything you know Ewe or I swear, I wo..."
"Do what Tom? You can't even match me with your wits. You have to resort to violence
to get a simple answer". Tombari left her wrist. He became emotional.
"Did you even love me Ewe? Did I mean anything to you?" He asked but she did not
reply.
"I proposed to you for Godsake Ewe. I was going to marry you. At what stage where you
going to tell me you were a fraud? What were you even doing with me anyway"
"My relationship with you is the only reason Kenkhana is till standing you blind fool"
"So everything was a lie, everything was a political arrangement"
"No Tom"
"No?"
"It began as a political arrangement but I really got to like you. Sometimes, I think you
are weak and soft and sweet but I realize that you are the only member of the elite family
that is innocent of all these politics, deceit and power drunkeness. I like you for that" she
said and sat down again.
"Like?"
"I love you"
"If you do, then explain all this to me Ewe. Explain why the whole of Kenkhana is about
to be slaughtered by the greedy and gluttoneous elite family of which your traitor of a
father is one"
"Okay Tom, you are making it really difficult to have a decent and polite conversation
with you"
"Kenkhana is about to be littered with bodies, do not speak to me about decency"
"The whole of Kenkhana is not going to be slaughtered Tom, unless your father decides
to play hard ball". Suddenly, Tombari's phone began to ring. It was the Maitre d' of MOInternational Hotel and Resorts calling.
"Hello Emeka"
"Sir, the guests from all the five kingdoms are requesting for Champagne. They are about
to go violent sir. They are cursing your father. You have to come down"
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"Emeka, go to the store and take out four cartons o..."
"Sir, the deliveries have not arrived since yesternight"
"What!"
"Yes sir. I've dialed Nnamdi but he's not picking up. I don't know what is delaying him".
Tombari was trying to think. Suddenly, Emeka cried out
"Sir, they are threatening to burn down the hotel". Tombari grinned. He knew
Champagne was a symbolic drink to the elites of Nigeria. It was a drink of affluence and
status. In 2013, Lagos alone consumed more Champagne than the whole of SouthAfrica.
The consumption rate of Portharcort, Abuja, Calabar, Kano, Enugu and Jos weren't even
included.
"Okay Emeka, I'm held up now. Serve the guests with Single Malt Whiskey. Convince
them that it is okay. Emeka, you have to sound convincing. I would join you as soon as I
can"
"Okay sir".
"Customer trouble" Eweosa said but Tombari did not reply.
"You know me Tom, I'm not a bad person" she said with a soft voice
"I thought I knew you but I didn't realize till today that you are an actress, skilled in the
art of deceit, whoredom an..."
"You really want to know what is going on Tom?" She blurted angrilly
"Finally! Yes Ewe, let truth spill from your deceitful mouth just for once"
"Tom, it would change every single thing you've ever believed, ever single thing you've
ever loved"
"I'm listening". Eweosa gazed at him for a long time and beckoned to Meribe to pour her
some wine. She threw a gulp down her throat and said
"Your father is a fraud Tom"
"What!"
"The people of Ogoniland know it. The people of Nyokhana, Gokhana, Babbe, Tae and
my own Eleme. The only people too blind to see are your own people, the people of
Kenkhana"
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"My father is a hero, a patriot, a good man. Where was your father when my father
fought Shell Compnay"
"Your father was a hero Tom. He his no longer one. He his monpolizing the
compensation and royalties the Federal Government is paying to Ogoniland"
"How dare you Ewe? How dare you open your ungrateful mouth and insult my father?"
Eweosa held his face. The fragrance of her perfume strong and suggestive
"Look at me Tom" she said but he pushed her hands away
"Kenkhana is developing yet, other kingdoms are poverty stricken"
"Your elders, elites and Chiefs are diverting the royalties given to them into their pockets.
They are laudering your money and you seek to blame their corrupt practices on my
father?"
"If that is true, why has your father done nothing about it? Your father wields power and
influence in Ogoniland. If the elites were laudering money, why did your father let it
continue unabetted. Open your mind Tom, the whole five kingdoms can't be wrong on
this"
"I began attending council meetings when I was a boy Ewe. I saw the royalty allocation
scheme. Every kingdom takes equally. You are being deceived Ewe. Your elders are the
thieves. Your elites, your Chiefs, your father Abraham Nubari" Tombari blurted. She
kept quiet and watched him.
"Why did your brothers leave Tom?"
"They wanted my father to remove Kenkhana from Ogoniland but he refused because he
is a patriot, a true Ogoni"
"Think Tom. Is your father patriotic enough to lose two sons over five kingdoms whose
elites are corrupt, if we even accept your argument that the five kingdoms are the ones
that are corrupt. Is your father that patriotic?"
"My father is a good man!"
"You are 28, yet, you know nothing about your father's oil fields and oil blocks. Your
father does not allow you into the business and secrets of Crude oil. The only thing you
do is to manage a pathetic chain of hotels. You, the son of the most powerful man in
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
Ogoniland, managing hotels. Every member of the elite family laughs at you behind your
back Tom. I'm a woman, if my father didn't tell me everything, I would be excused by
people. You are a man and you are still ignorant. Why Tom, why does your father keep
the politics of Crude oil from you? What is his excuse? What is your own excuse? Why
doesn't he speak about your brothers? We, the elite families are not the enemies" she said,
using his father's militant speech. Tombari was silent and confused. His father was a
hero, a patriot, a good man. Ubani Amouka was wealthy. He was one of the wealthiest
and the most powerful men in Nigeria. He had wealth, power, fame, influence and praise.
Why would he still be stealing from the very people he fought to liberate. Why would he
launder the royalties meant for the poor. It doesn't make any sense.
"My father is a good man" he insisted and Eweosa nodded. Tombari got up to leave.
"You didn't tell your father about us did you?"
"What do you care?"
"He would never have accepted Tom"
"Speak for your own father"
"My own father?" Eweosa laughed in sarcasm
"You know Tom, my father made a joke to your father during the meeting they had
yesternight. They were having an argument and he said
"It's your son and my daughter that should be quarelling this way". It was a bad joke but
your father didn't miss the meaning. He said to my father before the other elite families
"Nubari, your daughter is beneath my son".
"My father would never have said so" Tombari insisted
"Well, my father swore to me he said so"
"Then I guess it boils down to how much you trust your father and how much I trust
mine"
"Unlike your father Tom, my own father tells me everything"
"Why did you even agree to marry me?"
"It might be difficult for you to believe but I really do love you"
"You must think me a fool"
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"I must confess, sometimes such as this, I do but that doesn't mean I'm lying that I do
love you. I'd prove it to you right now" she said, stooped, picked the diamond ring from
the floor and slipped it back into her fingers
"What exactly does this mean?" He asked. She picked her bag, pecked him and strotted
out of the Ororo Restaurant. Tombari sat, a confused man. Moments later, he was
heading to the MO-International Hotel and Resorts. The Chaffeur parked at the MOFerry Port. Moments later, Tombari sat in one of the Ferry owned by his father. The
Ferry cruised through the river. The MO-International Hotel and Resorts unfolded before
him. The giant edifice sat on the water like a work of art. The green lawns and blue water
pools were breath taking, the serenity overwhelming. Tombari scurried through the tufted
Chinese rug at the reception.
"Welcome Mr Amouka" hotel attendants, guards and other staffs greeted but he did not
reply. He spotted Emeka, the Maitre d' speaking to a guest and approached him
"Sir, everything is fine now. Your father handled the situation"
"My father?"
"Yes, he arrived some hours ago with the Governor and some guests from Abuja who
came to grace the great Doonu Kuneke festival". Tombari did not say anything. He
scurried into the elite lounge at the MO-International Hotel and Resort. The room was
filled with laughter, clinging of baccarat glasses and all sorts of cuisines and delicacies.
Tombari spotted Abraham Nubari, Eweosa's father. He was speaking to a beautiful lady
wearing a open back gown. Abraham Nubari spotted him. They both locked eyes,
matching each others gaze. Every member of the elite family laughs at you behind your
back Tom Eweosa's voice echoed. Tombari was angry, vengeful, hurt. Abraham Nubari
turned away. All the elite families were present. They, their wives, legitimate and
illegitimate children. There were Arabs, Sheikhs from North Africa, Basters from South
Africa, Merchants from the Middle East. They were all laughing and merrying. Suddenly,
Charles Baridkarra head of the elite family in Nyokhana suddenly hit his glass with a
silver spoon. Everywhere became silent.
John Adeseewo
The Godfathers of ORIGAMI
"I want to make a toast to Ubani Amouka for his honorable service to Ogoniland. For the
wisdom he demonsrated in the Aboturu Slaves in Chains Saga, for Amnesty initiative he
spear headed for MOSOP, for liberating us all. We would never forgot these services,
neither would our children long after you are dead and gone" he said and raised his glass.
"To Ubani Amouka, long may you reign". Every guest in the lounge raised their glass.
The elite families also did. The family of Nubari, the family of Baridkarra, the family of
Saro, the family of Yabaari and the family of Dumlesi. Tombari's gaze met that of
Abraham Nubari again. He turned his face away as they all lifted their glass and chorused
"To Ubani Amouka, long may you reign".