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A GLIMPSE GUIDE TO FATHER OF NATIONS

The title is relevant and apt for it is satirizes the situation in contemporary Africa. Fathers d Nations is an honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state or nation. These are figures in the African context who once helped drive away the colonial regime and helped their countries gain self-rule under their leadership. In the contemporary sense, fathers of nations are basically the heads of states and governments: presidents.

 Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Nation of India is a figure celebrated in numerous nations and by international organizations, a departure from these current title holders. On Joseph Stalin's seventieth birthday in 1949, he was bestowed with the title "Father of Nations" for his establishment of "people's democracies" in countries occupied by the USSR after World War 11.

In post-colonial Africa, "Father of Nation" was a title used by leaders to refer to their role in the independence movement as a source of legitimacy and to use paternalist symbolism as a source of continued popularity.

The title is satirical. In the text, fifty fathers of nations, herein titled heads of state have met at Banjul —Gambia. The agenda of the summit is not clear. This discussion thereafter has neither head nor tail. Two rival groups emerge; each advancing its ideology. There are those for Path Alpha and another group advancing Way Omega.

The debate seems directionless. Thus, what comes to the fore is that the agenda for Africa is set and dictated by the international financial institutions that continue to impoverish the continent. Though "fathers" are expected to give direction, provide agenda, give proper leadership and guidance to their "children," who in this context are their respective nations and states. On the contrary, heads of state in Africa seem to be clueless, visionless and without agenda and this is what ails Africa. Hence, it can be arguably said that the problems bedeviling Africa stem from poor leadership that has presumably enveloped Africa as a continent. Needless to say, this poor leadership is not ready to pass over the baton to a vibrant and visionary leadership. For the longest time ever, after most countries gained self-rule, the continent is still stuck in the realms of poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and diseases fifty years after independence.

Fathers of Nations is a spellbinding and thought-provoking, satirical novel tackling contemporary issues set in contemporary Africa. Paul B. Vitta uses sarcasm through humour to enlighten the reader on the social, economic and political wrongs in the African states. The continent is still struggling with the post independent problems namely: poverty, ignorance and disease. Instead of solving the same problems, the states have new entrants which are equally retrogressive to the inhabitants of the African nations (corruption and impunity). The continent is hence depicted as having lost sense of direction and moral correctness.

 The plot revolves around the lives of four men from different parts of Africa. These men—Professor Kimani, Comrade Melusi, Engineer Tahir, Pastor Chiamaka, want the African heads of states in a Summit to ratify and adopt the document that could transform the continent's economic structures. The above stated four men, have initially suffered in different ways under the current political systems in their respective countries. This makes each and every one of them to hold a grudge against the same systems that affected them and hence starts to press for a possible change.

Doctor Abiola Afolabi is abandoned by his American wife (Pamela); Professor Kimani from Kenya has lost his wife (Asiyo Omondi) to a former university colleague now a politician by the name Newborn Walomu, his daughter — Tuni, dies in a fatal accident; pastor Chiamaka is a fierce man who is jailed irregularly also deterred from preaching, finally, Ngobile Melusi a big time politician suffers in the hands of the new head of state, loses his wife (Ziliza) in a massacre, his Ndebele people are ruthlessly suppressed and murdered by the head of state's direct order. In addition to the four men, Engineer Seif Tahir (a nuclear bomb expert), Mr. Thaddeus Longway, are also dissatisfied by the African leadership, they are assisted by VOA journalist Fiona McKenzie and Nicholas Sentinel who in one accord plan to front their agenda before the heads Summit held in Gambia's capital of Banjul.

Asummit of the heads of the African States is planned to take place in Banjul the capital of Gambia. Fifty heads of states are invited including the Gambian head of state who is supposed to be the chair of the summit but passes it on to another president. The heads of states are assembled and accommodated in the Pinnacle Hotel with their entourage, they look forward to re-adopt the Way Omega ideology which advocates for a common growth strategy of the citizens which will enable the donors to continue supporting the African nations through aids and grants. The ideology is fronted by Minister Zinto who claims that the strategy was well- though out by experts. The majority of the African head of states seems to be aged and have over stayed in power, a good example is president Didier Bangoura who is depicted as senile, Bibo Dibonso who had ruled for forty years (Pg 157), king Jemba Jemba IV, who was aking for life, president Wasi Wasi who had commited all sorts of atrocities including authoring many coups and so many others.

The Path Alpha a counter ideology emanating from AGDA (Agency for Governance and Development in Africa), which is championed by Mr. Thaddeus Longway, finds its way to the heads of states summit. Mr. Longway mobilises the likes of Professor Kimani, Comrade Melusi, Pastor Chiamaka, Doctor Afolabi and Engineer Tahir to use 'the trick' to table the ideology before the summit to counter thc Way Omega.

Path Alpha is a strategy that advocates for mobilizing civic or public discounted into will to change. This strategy is to solve the problems some present heads of state find it difficult to solve. The advocators of Path Alpha champion the strategy because they want to solve the problems and owing to the fact that they have also suffered the ugly state abuse and do not want to suffer any more.

The Summit comes to aclose in an unprecedented way by 'the fathers of nations' setting up a committee to bring the matter into a conclusion. The committee set is given the name The Method Committee which is chaired by President Bangoura who seems to be terribly confused because of senility. He uses two ways to make a decision on which strategy to be ratified — the Simple Matrix by a toss of a coin and Choice Matrix. Ultimately, either way, the path alpha carries the day, meaning the common citizen wins.

Chapter one (Pg.1-15)

 The Four Strangers with the Same Mission

ü  It is evening, four strangcrs check in at The Seamount hotel in Gambia's capital" Banjul .

ü  Noneofthemknowstheotherthree

ü   First to check in is about 609 Karanja Kimani, a professor in the Institute of Development at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He's assigned a room on the fourth floor, east wing.

ü  Ngobile Melusi, about 70, a comrade and a citizen of Zimbabweis second to check in and is allocated a room on the fifth floor of the south wing.

ü  Third to clock in is about 50, Chineke Chiamaka, a pastor at the Church Inside Africa (CIA) in Lagos, Nigeria. Chiamaka is booked on the sixth floor of the west wing.

ü  Last to report is another stranger, about 40, his name is SeifTahir, an Engineer formerly employed by the Ministry of Defense in the Tripoli- Libya. He is assigned a room onthe third-floor north wing.

ü   In less than an hour after the booking all the four "strangers," receives a call from the same caller who declines to divulge details about himself, He only identifies himself as the guide and gives the same set of instructions about opening their briefcases using a similar code: one, one, two, four. The code number fails to open the briefcases in all the four cases.

ü  Meanwhile, Dr. Abiola Afolabi, another guest at the hotel hears someone call him from behind. From the introduction, Dr. Afolabi meets Fiona McKenzie, a reporter with Gambia News, a Gambian who was adopted by Ian and Elspeth McKenzie Scottish missionaries. She was brought up in Edingburg, Scotland and is now back to Banjul.

ü   An interview ensues. Dr. Abiola Afolabi, is disclosed, he schooled at Harvard University in the US and currently teaches at the University of Ibadan. He's forty-five and is an advisor to the heads of state. Africa's heads of state are soon to start a debate at Pinnacle Hotel, a hotel that is two streets from The Seamount Hotel

ü  The Heads of State are soon to discuss a document titled Way Omega. If adopted, Way Omega is expected to change African politics drastically; there are to be no more military coups, no more rigged elections, no more foul play.

ü  Dr. Abiola Afolabi the author of Failure of States in which he is so pessimistic about Africa's state of affairs and yet in Way Omega he's very optimistic, He was invited by the presidents .

ü  The interview ends prematurely after her boss calls her to the office

ü  Onthe other hand, 49 foreign heads of state are in Banjul for the summit. They still look happy

ü  For Gambians, the presence of so many visiting dignitaries isn't fun. Here, before dignitaries came, bull dozers were dispatched at night in slum clearance 'exercises,' demolished road side kiosks on which whole families depended upon. Roads got rare layers of tarmac at times of maximum traffic. Checkpoints sprouted everywhere. Water taps dried up because all water had to go to the new water foundations built to mesmerize visitors

ü  Catastrophes can happen even at summits. All heads of state are to be put in one hotel; Pinnacle Hotel so that security is concentrated at the hotel instead of having fifty places to be manned

ü  A few challenges are noted on how well to take care of the dignitaries in terms of sitting arrangement at the summit and the hotel arrangement

Chapter Two (Pg.16-20)

 At the Seamount Hotel

A mobile phone rings at The Seamount Hotel- west wing and pastor Chineke Chiamaka answers it; it is 9:00 p.m.

The caller wants to find out the progress. Pastor Chiamaka affirms that everything is fine. The caller inquires whether the briefcase is open and further asks what Pastor Chiamaka has seen in the briefcase. Pastor Chiamaka confirms that he sees a letter from Agency for Governance and Development in Africa (AGDA) and a copy of a document dubbed Way Omega. He also says he sees a copy of Path Alpha, the development strategy that AGDA believes is superior to Way Omega and that it hopes to slip in and replace Way Omega

Pastor Chiamaka also confirms to have seen leaflets, pamphlets and brochures from AGDA. Hefurther confirms to have seen the mobile phone he is using.

The caller/guide is still reluctant to give his real name. The caller is the only one to initiate the conversation between them. The guide tells the pastor that they are on the same mission, so he should not worry. The caller further says he cannot share his name because he feels their mission is still at a very delicate stage.

AGDAasks Pastor Chiamaka to be fully familiar with both documents: Way Omega and Path Alpha. The caller reminds the Pastor that he had seen him at the bar at The Seamount hotel taking pepsi

Meanwhile, another mobile rings at The Seamount Hotel's south wing. Comrade Melusi answers. Another phone rings in the east wing. Prof. Kimani takes the call.

Still another phone rings in the northern wing. Engineer Seif Tahir responds.

 The time is now 11:00p.m

Chapter Three (Pg.21-45)

The story behind Agency for Governance and Develop meant in Africa (AGDA)

The chapter unfolds with a flashback into Prof. Kimani's life. Prof. Kimani joined the University of Nairobi directly as a senior lecturer straight from the University of Oxford where he studied.

Amonthafter his arrival, Prof. Kimani launched a noisy debate in which he dcmandcd that thc Univcrsiy of Nairobi henceforth strive for bcing rclcvant to thc society rather than simply focusing on dclivcring cxccllcncc in work, Six months later, his clarion call prevailed. The University's official motto became "Relevance to the society." 

After winning this first war, he wedged another one which was even noisier. He wanted the university to be an agent of change not a mere spectator of it.

In the meantime, he married Asiya Omondi. He became a Professor and now felt complete.

Aglobal economic recession hit Africa. Jobs and incomes shrank. To get out of the crisis, Africa had to make changes and donors were the architects of these proposed changes. Donors demanded for change and Africa obliged.

Prof. Kimani had a daughter, Tuni, a name she owes to Tunisia, her country of conception.

Parliament (MP) earned less. what professors took home as salary. After the coup, an MPrakes upto ahundred times the income of a professor

Afamily discussion is underway between a father, mother and daughter. From the discussion, it's clear that the state has failed terribly in discharging its mandate and therefore the only way is to be the agent of change oneself

Meanwhile, Tuni shares what an instructor told her on why women are susceptible and fall easy prey to predators as lack of awareness of where women are, a look of weakness & helplessness and a temptation to stray.

Acomparison is drawn between Prof. Kimani and Newborn Walomu, professor's former junior colleague and now a Member of Parliament. From the comparison, Kimani who is stuck at the university, is doing poorly while Walomu is doing very well after joining politics and having become an MP.

Tuni, the only daughter and child to Prof. Kimani dies in a road accident. Tuni had to use public service vehicle because his father's car was not in good condition. This infuriated Asiya Omondi

Prof. Kimani and his spouse Asiya Omondi were inconsolable over their daughter's death.

• In the evening, Asiya drops a bombshell to her husband that she would be leaving. She says Newborn Walomu, the MP and Professor's former junior colleague, had asked to marry her. Asiya Omondi feels Tuni would be alive if Prof. Kimani had — she wouldn't have used the public service vehicle a real car that caused the fatal accident. She left the following morning to Newborn Walomu's place

Prof. Kimani goes for Newborn Walomu and petitions why he had decided to take his wife. A scuffle begins at the MP's office. The police come in and arrest both.

Prof Kimani is charged with "assaulting a Member of Parliament." His university demotes him from a full Professor to a senior lecturer, the point he started at when he joined the university. A six months' jail term follows. He's a dejected man.

Meanwhile, Prof. Kimani hears a knock at the door. Awhite man of about 50 is standing outside, ICs Mr. Tad Longway.

After a lengthy discussion, Mr. Longway asks Prof. Kimani to join AGDA whose mission is to question Africa's status quo

He further asks him to follow Path Alpha, a strategy built on the idea that a present, public discontent exprcsscs itself in acts that cancel out instead of adding up

Path Alpha will correct the anomaly by "mobilizing civic discontent into will to change." Mr. Longway tells Prof. Kimani if he joins Path Alpha he would go down for orientation at their headquarters in Cape Town and he will also attend the next summit of Africa's heads of state in Banjul, Gambia.

He's enlisted as a member of Path Alpha the following day. The loss of his daughter, desertion by his wife, mistreatment by his university and state had tested him hard and long. He had reached the boiling point

Chapter Four (Pg.46-65)

 The Voice of America (VOA)Contract

Ms. Fiona McKenzie gets into a taxi, leaves The Seamount Hotel and heads back to her office. She had indicated to her boss that she would be at the office in an hour's time

It takes longer to get to the office because of the roadblocks that were basically everywhere.

She is stopped at Arch Number 22. The police wanted a bribe from the taxi driver, an unemployed graduate. So she reaches her workplace/office late.

Ms. McKenzie goes straight to see her boss who informs her that he is pulling her from her assignment at the summit at the Pinnacle Hotel. He explains himself. He seconds her to the VOA. She is now on a two-year loan from the Gambian News to the Voice of America with immediate effect.

In retrospect, there was a time when US policy forbade the Voice of America to broadcast in America. The image was bad for VOA. It had to go. The more reason VOAwasemploying non-Americans.

Mr. Robert Manley, chief of the bureau, met her at the entrance then led her to the office. Mr. Manley instructed her that because there was a breaking story, she would start her job immediately.

Her new pay is better than what Gambian News was offering and paying She is introduced to a staff mate, a new arrival from America, Nicolas Sentinel, a communications Technician

The breaking story is that a summit of Africa's heads of state would begin shortly at the Pinnacle Hotel. Sentinel would be handy in her working. She learns that Sentinel has records of many proceedings in Gambia including Ms McKenzie's interview with Dr. Afolabi. From the recordings, Sentinel confirms that there is a man talking to a total of four other men.

Ms. McKenzie is taken to her new office and Mr. Manley rushes to a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign affairs.

Meanwhile, Dr. Afolabi tosses in his bed sleeplessly for nearly an hour before he finally dozes off.

Dr. Afolabi's phone rings. He answers it is Miss Fiona Mckenzie Ms. McKenzie asks Dr. Afolabi if he could nicet her.

He comesout to meet her but does not find her. While he readies to go back to his room, a voicc of a woman, about 30 years cries out for help.

The young womanis in acompany of aman. The hotel attendant looks detached and aloof.

The young womanbeing whisked away is noted to be McKenzie.

She shouts out Dr. Afolabi's name and this strikes him to rush to her aid.

Dr. Afolabi faces the alleged abductor who says he's Leo otherwise referred to as Liberian mauler.

Dr. Afolabi faces the alleged abductor who says he's Leo otherwise referred to as Liberian mauler.

They go to Dr. Afolabi's suite where she scraps his face and he helps her change her clothing and freshen up

In the meantime, a phone rings. The caller is Chineke Chiamaka After the call, his mooddarkens.

Fiona McKenzie shares a lot about VOA and the story in Nicolas Sentinel's machine, silent listener, which has recorded so many things in the last two days

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