THE COVID-19 PALLIATIVE
Michael Makinwa sat in his living room in his palatial mansion. He was dressed in only singlet and boxers as he watched the TVC Entertainment channel on his TV. He changed channels and settled on Channels. He watched for a few minutes and then changed to AIT. He sighed. Each of the channels was talking about the same thing: The Coronavirus Problem.

In one of the channels, four people were making comments about how so many people were suffering as a result of the partial lockdowns in most of the states in Nigeria. The fact that so many people didn’t believe in the existence of the virus in Nigeria and the fact that businesses were not moving usually meant disaster.

Disaster meant more of the virus, more of hunger, and more of theft. The government was not very serious as they seem not to be taking the entire saga seriously. The people in government never seemed to care about the citizens. Most of the things they do are just to show other countries that they were doing something. It was all talk and no relevant action.
The onus fell on people like him to help the less privileged. He had a lot of companies and not all of them had taken a hit. He had had the foresight to invest in food and medical supplies and now, that was helping him greatly.

He thought about the people he had to cater for. There were so many people on his street who would need help. He decided to donate some amount to the governments of the states where he had businesses and houses and that was the states in the South West. Since he didn’t trust the governments to do the right thing, he would do his part to help the citizens in the local governments where his houses and businesses were.

He picked up his phone and made a call to his assistant, Damola. She would know how to make everything happen. Damola was a valued employee. She knew so many of his secrets and he trusted her. She had once been hired, forced actually to hack his home security but he had hired her later after the perpetrators had been arrested.

She picked up on the first ring. “Hello boss,” she said.

Michael loved hearing her voice. It always made his heart beat faster in excitement. He could not deny the fact that he was deeply in love with her but she had always deflected his advances and she always told him that she couldn’t date her boss.

“How have you been? I hope you are enjoying the lockdown?” he asked her.

Damola chuckled. “Not really. I am bored.”

Michael laughed. “I told you several times to come and spend the lockdown period with me. We could play games, swim, and have fun.”

Damola laughed. “No, thank you.”

He outlined his plan for her. He told her everything he wanted to be done.

“That’s very kind of you, boss,” Damola said.

Michael was always happy whenever she praised him for anything. He smiled delightedly. “Thanks,” he said.

“I will get to it and by tomorrow, everything will be ready,” Damola said.

“Thanks dear,” Michael said and they hung up. He continued to change channels. He smiled as he thought about the delight in the eyes of those who got the COVID-19 palliatives. Damola would make sure that the palliatives were shared under the direction of the Makinwa Foundation.

***

Early the next morning, Damola called Michael and told him that everything was set. He was not even surprised that she had done everything so fast. He had a nice swim and a wonderful breakfast. Then he went to the living room to watch TV while he waited for a call that everything had been shared.

When the call came, it was not what he hoped to hear.

“Bad news boss,” Damola said.

“What is it?”

“One of the trucks carrying food to Ado Ekiti from Ibadan was hijacked and the driver and his assistant were shot. Both of them have been rushed to the hospital. The driver is in critical condition but the assistant was still able to call me.”

“Oh my God,” Michael moaned. “Did you add GPS trackers to the trucks?”

“Yes, yes. Should I call the police?’ Damola asked.

“No,” Michael replied. “You know how they love wasting time.”

“What about Detective Kolapo?” Damola asked.

Detective Kolapo was a good friend of Michael. He was one of the few honest and capable officers in the Nigerian Police Force. The man was a warrior and he loved catching thieves and perpetrators. If you committed a crime and he is assigned to solve the case, just know that he would catch you.

“No. Kolapo would be busy,” Michael said.

“So what do you want to do?”

“Of course, I am going after them.”

“Alone? That is dangerous!”

“Wow, Damola, I didn’t know you cared about me so much,” Michael.

“You pay my salary. I don’t want to lose you,” Damola said.

Michael laughed. “I will be fine. Give me the GPS coordinates.”

A few minutes later, Michael got the coordinates on his phone. “I got it.” The truck seems to be stationary deep in a bush just after the Oduduwa University at Iyana Ife.

“Please, be very careful,” Damola said.

Michael dressed and put on a face mask. He went into his armory and picked some items. He put them into a bag. He walked out and he got into his best-customized car. He put on dark glasses and then drove to the gates. The gates opened themselves and he drove out of the compound. He reminded himself that he had to get married soon.

***

An hour later, he reached a checkpoint and rolled down his car window.

An armed police officer walked over to him. “Good day, sir,” the officer said. He had a rounded stomach and Michael noted the name on the uniform. The officer had no face mask and Michael shifted his head farther away.

“Good day,” he replied. “Please put on a face mask.”

The man looked angry. “I don’t have a face mask and I don’t have coronavirus either.”

Michael reached out to the back seat and gave a new face mask to the man.
“Thank you,” the officer said. “Now, I will have to ask you to go back. Interstate travel is not allowed.

Michael decided to tell the truth. “We arranged some COVID-19 palliatives to some people in Ado Ekiti but the truck was hijacked and driver and his assistant were shot. I am their boss. I want to go and check on them.”

“I don’t care,” the officer said. “The only way you are passing through is if you give us 10k. That’s the amount that vehicles have been paying us.”

Michael was very angry. “You are a very insensitive human being. I won’t give you anything, you thief.” He rolled up his window.

The officer got angrier. “Park!” he screamed as he raised his gun threateningly.

Michael gave him a wicked smile and mad to drive away. The police officer fired his gun at the car. There was no scratch. Instead the bullets ricocheted and shredded the officer’s legs. While he screamed, Michael pressed a button that made his car speed away.

The other officers could only watch as the car sped away. They somehow knew that they would never hope to catch the car. They attempted to make calls to the other patrol officers on the way.
Michael had counted on this and he didn’t even bother to wait in the next checkpoints. Even when they placed drums and other things that could stop a large truck, the car went through them easily.

About an hour later, he reached the junction which led to where the hijackers had driven the truck. He sped into the untarred road and a few minutes later, he found the hijackers.

They were just moving the COVID-19 palliatives which included thousands of bags of rice, bean, facemasks, noodles, and many other food items. Five armed men stood at alert as they watched him. Ten men who were dressed only in trousers watched him too. These were the ones packing the food items from the truck into the building.

***

Michael pressed a button that switched on the car’s loudspeakers. “Hello thieves,” he said. The sound was very loud. “Those items are COVID-19 palliatives that I purchased with my hard-earned money. I want you to do me a favor. You are going to pack everything back in the truck and then drive yourselves to the nearest police station.

The armed men among them didn’t even say anything. They opened fire on the car. The bullets bounced off the car. Michael rested back and played a nice song by Limoblaze while the men fired.

When they paused, Michael spoke again. “You are wasting my time. I am going to say this one more time. Drop your weapons, return the items to the trucks, and let’s go to the nearest police station.

Read more: https://opinionsandstories.com/the-covid-19-palliative-a-gadgetman-story/