Betrayal is an act of disloyalty whose sole motivation is attainment of
selfish interest often realized at the detriment of other’s welfare. In
Paul B. Vitta’s Fathers of Nations, post-colonial African leadership has
suppressed the voices of the civilians who are mere spectators as
leaders destroy their source of livelihood.
To some extent, Dr. Afolabi betrays the heads of state. He had been
invited to provide a piece of advice on Way Omega Strategy. Little are
the heads of state aware that he is at the center of the rival group
(Path Alpha), having been recruited by Tad Longway on his way back
from Fountain of Democratic Rule Conference in Washington. He
accepts to guide the four Path Alpha delegates and then influences the
introduction of Path Alpha on the summit’s agenda and also
determines the outcome of the method committee while liaising with
American hacker (Nick Sentinel). His actions bring a serious rift
between the summiteers especially the chair of the summit and
President Dibonso which almost turns tragic, the summit itself ends
without the closing ceremony which was bad for The Gambia’s image
when the visiting heads of states skipped the dinner as well organized
by The Pinnacle Hotel.
African leaders, the so called the fathers of nations have betrayed the
ordinary people. They are in the offices with the mandate of taking
care of the populace but tragically, this is not the case. The ruler in
Zimbabwe betrays comrade Melusi whom they fought the white man
with. When Zimbabwe gains her
independence, the ruler does not remember to appoint Comrade
Ngobile Melusi a minister, instead he only focuses on his Shona people
and any dissenting voice silenced. To add salt into the injury, the same
ruler is culpable for the cold murder of Melusi’s wife having sent the
military to deal with Ndebele insurgency. The squalid living conditions
in which Melusi is living in as well as the abject poverty is his making
due to the fact that he bungled the economy forcing the former to
reside in a slum. To make it worse, the ruler pulls down the slums
without prior notice rendering the residents including Melusi homeless
with nowhere to go.
Newborn Walomu, recently elected member of parliament via a by-
election, betrays Prof. Kimani his former colleague at the university
after he marries Asiya, Prof. Kimani’s wife. Barely six months after the
unfortunate demise of Kimani’s daughter Tuni through a road accident,
Walomu snatches Asiya Omondi instead of condoling with his former
colleague for the tragic loss. When Kimani attempts to seek an
explanation from Newborn, whom was not only a husband of three but
also much younger than Asiya . Instead, he ends up on the receiving
end of wife-stealing statistics worldwide which infuriates him further
prompting Kimani to resort to violence. He’s arrested and imprisoned
for six months, demoted at the university and suffers from lack of
sleep upon his release from prison.
Asiyo betrays Prof. Kimani her husband. The predicament the husband
gets himself in is not his making. Professors at the University of Nairobi
earn peanuts compared to the Member of Parliament. Secondly, its
isn’t the making for their car to be grounded to necessitate their only
daughter to travel using public means and get involved in a grisly road
accident. Rather it’s the economic status of the good Professor that
brings about this challenge. Instead, she insensitively mocks his
financial situation and scapegoats him for the daughter’s premature
death before rubbing in the salt by accepting a marriage proposal from
Kimani’s former colleague at the university. Kimani’s tribulations at the
hands of state (six months jail sentence for assault), demotion at his
place of work, loneliness manifested by sleepless nights and
desperation of leaving teaching to join Path Alpha owe their origin to
Asiya’s antics.
Yoruba culture shortchanges Dr. Afolabi. When attempting to resolve
the marital impass between the former and his American wife over the
childlessness afflicting their sox-year marriage. There could have been
a better engagement between the cultural heads and Dr. Afolabi
before Nimbo was dropped at Dr. Afolabi’s place as a second wife by
his cousin Femi for this brings about an acrimonious disagreement
which later leads to divorce between Dr. Afolabi and Pamela, his wife.
Pamela takes it a notch higher by deeming Dr. Afolabi as being
complicit. She does not listen to him; instead, she hurriedly opts out of
marriage and goes back to Boston only to call after a week to tell him
she had filed for a divorce. Ironically, her stance of wanting to adopt
children instead of bearing them had earlier precipitated the
intervention by the elders in Kaduna. That leaves Afolabi wifeless and
vulnerable to overtures from the Gambian News correspondent, he
ends up in a brawl at the Seamount Hotel while attempting to shield
her from a sex predator by the name Leo (the Liberian Mauler).
In conclusion, Africa is a continent where the most learned are
impoverished because society doesn’t value knowledge. Instead, it
cherishes ignorance and malfeasance. Prof Kimani, Comrade Melusi,
Pastor Chiamaka and Engineer Tahir after doing a lot for their mother
countries are still neglected. They are languishing in poverty and
untold suffering; they have been left on their own.
