Vernon Mooers writes

THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVEYARD

chapter 12 (2)
 

A little while later the ambulance pulled in, followed by the Volks. Quinones was all worked up and excited. "They were going to shoot us," he was sort of laughing about the adventure. "Soldiers by the Post Office... I didn't see them. Malik was yelling Stop, Stop! The guy had his gun pointed at us. I yelled out, "Don't shoot! We're doctors!" It was crazy," he was gesturing the whole story.

Malik was calm, smiling, and holding his glass of beer. "I thought you were used to it in the Philippines," he was laughing.

"There, they just wave you down, check your I.D. and let you go. That guy was going to shoot us without asking questions." He was still raving on nervously, recounting the adventure good-humouredly. "Don't shoot! We're doctors!" he made the gesture again. "There were about fifty of them around the Post Office, all over the place. I got the ambulance to escort us back. The soldier was drunk."

"Hear that, they're drunk," one of the ladies said to another one who had no use for alcohol and whose father had been in the Philippine military and left the family. The corner of her mouth went down in a disgusted frown.

"We were taught when we were young never to point a gun at anything unless you're going to kill it... If anyone did it accidentally when you went hunting with them, you'd never go with them again... Anyway, you didn't stop, I would have shot you," he said.

"I didn't see them -- it's dark!" Ricardo said. Of course nobody knew the soldiers were out. Curfew was supposed to be at 7. It was now around 8:30. They'd come into town from the barracks.

"There's a curfew," he said, "They're serious." Nobody thought they would be serious way up in the north. "It's the first day. They just gave them leeway to get off the streets and make it home."

"Let's play chess," Ricardo said. "It'll take my mind off it. I can't concentrate." He was still upset over the incident.

He was playing recklessly. "I thought you're used to it in Pakistan," he was saying. Malik just smiled, drinking his beer. Nothing bothered him.

A man came in. He was in a suit and tie. They greeted the man. He thought it was the D.P.O. Everyone shook his hand. The ladies who knew him sat him down and gave him a plate of food.

"I'm glad you're all here," the man said. "I'm at home, it's O.K."

"We're celebrating New Years," one said.

"My boyfriend's here now," another of the ladies said, teasing him.

"We're safe now," Quinones was laughing. "I think you're in command here."

The C.O. straightened his tie and said more seriously, "Yes, we're sorry about that. We'll have to get you curfew caps. That is our duty. We said we would protect you."

"Can we put on the music?" Maria needled, opening her arms for him to dance with her.

"Yes, I dance," the C.O. was saying. The mood was light.

After a few minutes he got up. "I think I'm on duty," he said. "I'm just doing my job as always." More seriously he added, "Just follow orders, that is all." He hadn't touched the plate of food.

Everyone's eyes followed him to the door. Outside he added, "It's not a coup, just a change of leadership.

"The Sir Lankan teacher accompanied him to the car. She was going out with him. They got in and talked.

A few minutes later she came back. "What did he say?" Alex dug. "What's going on?"

"Oh, he won't say," she answered. "He's going to Kano tomorrow. He takes orders from there. Then he has to go to Maiduguri after because we're in this State." That was it, nothing more. Alex wondered if all the military supported it or if there would be a counter-coup or split in the ranks.

The party continued. He went outside, looking up and down. No cars passed, no one was out. He couldn't see any soldiers but he knew they were there, around the Post Office and spread out by the water tower and hospital -- all around. He yelled at the dog. It had been barking. Then he went back inside. "The party was not too loud, but the house was all lit up, the cars outside. Anyway, they knew they were all there in the house. Nobody would burst in and the C.O. was around and luckily, his female friend was there.

The ambulance came around at 11:45. Ricardo wanted to go home because his children were already sleepy. They brought the driver in and fed him. They waited until it was New Year's, the magic hour of 12. It was a normal New Year's celebration. The children had sparklers. Around 12:10 he took the kids home.

Now, there was no way any of the rest could go. They'd have to stay all night. Malik and Adele, the dentist, could cut through the back. No one could drive out to the schools. There was no question of that. The soldiers would be up by the railway and power station. If they saw a car, well...

There was nothing more on the radio, the station was blank and BBC was off the air. The others set up the table to play mahjongg. They'd be at it all night. That was their usual Saturday night past-time anyway. Once they started, they could play till morning without any trouble at all.

Alex retrieved his sleeping bag, took three cushions from the couch and put them in the other room. He took an ash tray and a bottle of water with him. He swallowed 5 mg. of valium he carried in his shirt pocket and crawled into the sleeping bag. He had one cigarette. He thought he should sleep. It was already 3 am. There was no use worrying about things any more.

In the morning when he woke up and wandered into the living room, Jeannie was sitting ready to go. He wanted to fix a coffee first. He looked at his watch. It was 8:30, Sunday morning. Curfew was off. They could drive to the school. It was better to be off. He'd do his coffee routine at home.

They got in the car. The others had left already. Things looked normal enough outside. An Army truck drove by. He dropped Jeannie at the WTC. When they got to the power station by the railway, a large group of soldiers were in combat uniform. They were changing shifts, that was all. He waved.

Back at his house in the school, he made a coffee, flicked on the radio. There was only martial music so he let it play. A few minutes later Saleh came in. Alex gave him a cup, poured the water from the thermos in it and dropped a tea-bag in for him.

"They announced the new Head of State -- Major General Buhari. It was at 12:18 last night," Saleh said. "It came from the top. They planned it well. Brigadier Bako was killed who took his troops to surround State House and he went in to tell the Presidential Guards. They shot him, so his troops blew the place apart."

"Who's Buhari?" he asked.

"They say it's an offshoot of the old regime. They just retired some Generals off. He wasn't even in Lagos. Someone said they saw him at mosque in Jos on Friday, just going about normally. They came and got him to go to Lagos after," Saleh explained. 

"Were they all behind it?"

"No one can go against them," Saleh said, "Buhari commands the Armoured Division in Kaduna. He's feared in the whole military. He can just call out his boys with armour. It came from the top."

"So the others just follow?"

"As long as they don't go against it, there will be no problem," Saleh said.

"I can just see those guys sitting around deciding to take over. So he's the strongest."

"Last time they killed so many. The Civil War. They killed so many in the north -- just shot them. They're disciplined. No one can go against them. Even the police won't go against them. Last time one General just went to Sokoto, surrounded the Sardonna's palace. He killed the Sardonna with his bare hands," Saleh recalled.

"As long as there's no rebels, as long as no one goes against them..."

"It was from the top. They just retired some off. Nobody knows what goes on... You just hear about it after on the radio... Nobody knows what will happen... The last coup time they said it was to get rid of corruption also... They can just kill you..."

"Yes, the army is strong. They don't mess around," Alex said.

The National Anthem interrupted the marital music. It was the same tape of General Buhari's announcement: "I have accepted the position with humility and a deep sense of responsibility."  It was a reiteration of Brigadier Sani Abatcha and Tunde Idigbon and Major General Ibrahim Babangida's announcements the day before. He again cited the reasons the military had taken power, "economic mismanagement, the incompetence of the legislatures, rigging during the 1983 elections, corruption and indiscipline." Buhari said they would bring "Corrupt officials and their agents to book, supplement shortfalls suffered by the last harvest and pay salary arrears to workers," and more importantly, "give high priority to the morale and the combat readiness of the Nigerian Armed Forces, especially in pursuit of a dynamic and realistic foreign policy." Lastly he made a solemn appeal, "Finally we have dutifully intervened to save Nigeria from imminent collapse. We, therefore, expect all Nigerians, including those who participated directly or indirectly in bringing the nation to its present predicament, to co-operate with us. This generation of Nigerians, and indeed future generations, have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together."

The music came on again. That was it.

"So it was successful," Alex said.

"They've had lots of practice," Saleh laughed. "They have the discipline, the best communications. The politicians are on the run. Some will be wanted men."

"I imagine a lot of people are scared stiff."

"They said the airport at Ikeja was closed," Saleh laughed. "The soldiers just took it over and a plane was coming in from London. The controllers said they should direct it to another airport in a neighbouring country. They said it was closed to air traffic. One guy, the Secretary-General of the NPN party was on the plane. He told the pilot to radio back who he was and that he wanted this plane down. The pilot told the control tower. The military boys were there and laughed and told him O.K. you can come in. When the plane landed, he walked off and right into their hands. I guess he almost died when he saw the soldiers there and not the usual police." Saleh was chuckling over that one.

"Where did you go last night?" Saleh asked, still laughing. The Hausas loved a joke.

"We went to the town. We had to stay there because of the curfew," Alex answered."It was a New Year's Eve Party."