“The Weight Of Things.”
He smiles at himself in the mirror, but it is only for a few seconds. He is aware that he cannot be alone for long. There will soon be a knock on the door. His smile fades, becomes a frown and then a sigh. He tries on the cufflinks but is not happy with how they fit. The bathroom is huge. It has always been huge. Too big for him and his little ways.
He ignores the cufflinks for now. Over a year in these spaces and it is still alien to him. He cannot figure his way out of it. He has always had the ability to hide his inner torment in smiles and words and some sort of creative action. Now, with his name in the lights and the constant questions about his competence, he is finding it harder to keep these fears at bay. He sits on the hard slab of the unnecessary Jacuzzi and thinks of the last few months.
He thinks about the election results and all the drama around the number of votes that fell his way. He thinks of the campaign, the horrific nature of the primaries and the relative calm of the general elections. He tries to act unafraid of what comes next.
Chuks only knocks once before he enters.
-are you okay, Mr President?
-what do you need? Richard replies but he is already on autopilot.
-thirty minutes to the thing.
-where is Hadiza?
-she is waiting for you. Everyone is waiting for you. As per usual.
Chuks stands in front of him, pushing the urgency of moving along but gently, as always.
-are you afraid?
-yes, I am
-it is not your first day
-yes, it is not
-do you need medication?
-I might
A flask appears from somewhere under his blazer and he hands it over. Richard takes a long swig and lets it burn through him.
-show time, Chuks says, before he takes one long sip for himself.
Richard gets up.
–to the weight of things, he offers as a toast.
-the weight of things, Chuks replies, his own voice now even but unsure.
Dramatis Personae
Richard Edewor Williams-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Chukwuma Nwachukwu-Chief of Staff to the President
Hadiza Williams-First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Article in Daily Chronicle
Williams Sworn In Amidst Pageantry And Fear.
Excerpt
By Anthony Nwabunor
“The 29th of May 2011 may be a day that will live long in infamy in Nigerian political history. A little-known Governor and then Vice President of convenience rose from the ashes of a fallen but somewhat loved President to become the candidate of convenience and now a full-fledged and elected President.
Richard Edewor Williams is the nation’s fifth President, fourth elected President and fourteenth Head of State. At 45 years old he is not the youngest, but many feel he is the least deserving. He was Governor of Delta State almost by default and was then Vice President as a weak counterpoint to a strong President. Now, he is all by himself.
Williams at least seems to know this, in his own words:
‘I have not always been the obvious choice, but I am honoured that you would grant me space in the history of those who seek to lead not by the gun but by laws, not by fear but by faith and not by privilege but by providence.’”
Inaugural speech
Excerpt
“My fellows Nigerians,
I stand before you today humbled by the great faith you have put in me. I have not always been the obvious choice, but I am honoured that you would grant me space in the history of those who seek to lead not by the gun but by laws, not by fear but by faith and not by privilege but by providence.
We have faced together in the last few years some of the most trying times in the storied history of our young but vital nationhood. We have faced the great tragedy of losing our dear President to ill health, we have faced strife in our relations with each other and a political crisis over succession. We have survived. We have come out of the dark wiser, we have tested our laws and found them able to show a path of peaceful transition and we have faced ourselves and seen our ability to look above ethnic groups and primordial arrangements. We have the kept the faith with each other and we have stayed together. We may have been fractured at times but we did not break. We have done what our nation has always been able to do, we have survived.
I stand before you here today as testament to our ability to contest a bitter election and not remain bitter. To disagree and not separate. To take the blows of fate and still find our feet standing.
This is fine but I stand before you for another reason. We are not here to merely stay in this spot but to move forward, we do not exist on this peculiar patch of earth to just survive but also to thrive and we are not here to make a nation that is only viable but one that is vital.
These are the years ahead that I can promise you. Years where we will all seek to build community where there has been friction and distrust, to create opportunity so everyone can have a place at the table of our commonwealth, to build our future through education and innovation and to create a country were things work and people can believe in systems that work for everyone…”
