Thread by @LekeAlder

The Garinja Files. A dystopian novella by Leke Alder

Chapter 1 - The Senator

#GarinjaFiles

1. Senator Olowookere descended from the belly of the aircraft. He was the first off the plane – a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-200 from London. As befits his newly acquired status he travelled first class. #GarinjaFiles

2. The senator is a new “political elite,” a first-term senator. His carriage changed. Behind his back he’s uncharitably referred to as arriviste - omo oju orolari. #GarinjaFiles

3. The native expression cuts deep. He wore a blue kaftan, a bulky gold watch, white alligator shoes, matching traditional cap. #GarinjaFiles

4. The cap is embroidered with a stylized “OO” motif – the first “O” for Olowookere, the second for Oluwayemisi. “Olowookere” speaks to a rich man’s stature, “Oluwayemisi” ascribes glorification to God. The senator carried a Louis Vuitton hand luggage. #GarinjaFiles

5. It’s also initialled “OO.” It contained inflight purchases, the result of duty-free exercises. A Versace Boadicea The Victorious Valiant Eau de perfum sat in the corner. It was bought for Madam. At $899 it was a small price to pay. #GarinjaFiles

6. As he exited the plane, the senator winked at the air hostess. She was buxom, milky fair. Her auburn hair was swept from her chiseled face. She belongs to fashion magazines, not plane cabins. #GarinjaFiles

7. She wore a red lipstick, a very wide smile, a fairly tight top and a Virgin skirt. A purple scarf adorned her neck. She cannot be taken in in one look, which was why the senator undertook a long exposure. #GarinjaFiles

8. His brain needed time to process pieces of her, sew it all together. After the 6-hour flight, she looked no worse for wear. They would spend another twenty minutes waiting on the tarmac for the ground tug. There was something about that lipstick. #GarinjaFiles

9. What happens next on “The Senator”? Click here to read the full chapter for FREE [bit.ly/3fuuZiX] #GarinjaFiles

©Leke Alder

The Garinja Files. A dystopian novella by Leke Alder

Chapter 2 - Caucus meeting

1. Senator Olowookere drove straight home from the airport. He neither branched to the right, nor to the left. As his convoy raced down the airport road his mind raced in the opposite direction of time, towards his past. #GarinjaFiles

2. From where the senator came from tragedies unfold on either side of the road. The streets are full of humanity, people milling up and down. There is always the bustle of enterprise, people seeking to make a living. #GarinjaFiles

3. Wosi wosi traders are plentiful. These are sellers of the insubstantial – toy whistles, sweets, chewing gum, biscuit, water sachets… Nothing they sell in any quantity will ever make a difference to their lives. #GarinjaFiles

4. The senator reclined further into the cushiony leather seat, sliding down a little. His thought went to minibus drivers as he rummaged through the pantry of his past. They’re generally regarded as a nuisance. #GarinjaFiles

5. The bus conductors behave like animals. They stand on the back bumpers of the minibusses in joyous and energetic stupidity, oblivious to the high possibility of losing a limb or more. The danfos, as the minibusses are called are very rough in traffic. #GarinjaFiles

6. People scamper as they approach. There are humans everywhere. As the convoy raced on the senator made a sign of the cross, muttering a prayer under his breath. He thanked God he wasn’t like “those people,” much like the Pharisees of old. #GarinjaFiles

7. He soon arrived at home. He hugged his wife and two chubby kids. They ran to embrace him. They were glad to see their dad. Daddy had been gone for two weeks attending an international conference on legislative attack on the coronavirus pandemic. #GarinjaFiles

8. What happens next on “Caucus meeting? You can read the full chapter FREE on Facebook.

Click here to read: [bit.ly/3d7MNi5] #GarinjaFiles

PS. Missed Chapter 1 (The Senator)? Click here to catch up on the story [bit.ly/3fuuZiX]

©Leke Alder

The Garinja Files. A dystopian novella by Leke Alder

Chapter 3 - Winners and whiners

1. In every election cycle, there are winners, losers, and whiners. The whiners typically work for the success of the party at the polls, but once the election is over, they’re pushed aside and out of the equation. The reapers take over. #GarinjaFiles

2. They reap where they have not sown. They’re usually a shadowy group. They only emerge when appointments begin. But they were always there; they just hibernated, awaiting their moment. #GarinjaFiles

3. Once appointed to executive capacity they seize control of the organs of state, using the privilege of their newfound status to take out everyone else. They push out the miracle workers, turn them to whiners. #GarinjaFiles

4. The whiners then begin to seek their pound of flesh. They cross over to the opposition party & begin to work assiduously for the local downfall of their former party. It’s a therapeutic exercise of sorts. When you’re used & dumped you need to work out your pain. #GarinjaFiles

5. The new party welcomes the whiners with a grand reception, usually a rally. It’s a ritual. They insist the prodigal son (or daughter) has returned. That’s because the relegated whiners often left from their old party now turned new party to the new party now turned old party.

6. If all that sounds confusing it’s because you don’t understand politics without principle. It’s not uncommon for a Garinja politician to cross carpet, uncross the carpet, re-cross the carpet and then roll up the carpet. #GarinjaFiles

7. What happens next on “Winners and whiners”? You can read the full chapter FREE on Facebook.

Click here to read: [bit.ly/3dfjzht]

PS. Missed chapter 2 (Caucus meeting)? Click here to catch up on the story [bit.ly/3d7MNi5] #GarinjaFiles.
©Leke Alder

The Garinja Files. A dystopian novella by Leke Alder

Chapter 4 - The Reverend

1. Reverend Marvelous labours hard under the anointing. He sweats profusely any given Sunday, breaking down scriptures. Ebullient and self-confident, he resents the use of Strong’s or any other concordance. Or any study aid for that matter. #GarinjaFiles

2. As he says, he is not a poorly anointed minister. The anointing is all a man of God needs. The Reverend seems to go by phonetical approximation in his biblical exegesis. It’s why he would confuse the word “yoke” for yolk. #GarinjaFiles

3. “The anointing breaks the yolk!” he would say. “When you smash an egg, the yolk, that is the yellow thing, spills out. It cannot be put back again. The yolk has spilled. May God break the yolk of your difficulties!” #GarinjaFiles

4. The Reverend was labouring hard this Sunday. He held a white towel to stem the wetness of his safari suit. He was wrestling with the anointing like Jacob wrestled with God. His breathing was labored. He was short-breathed in places. #GarinjaFiles

5. The Reverend is a little overweight. Rev. Marvelous is the founder, senior pastor, and apostle of Holy Deliverance Revelation Tabernacle. The name of the church suggests the compound capacities of the ministry. The church is noted for deliverance from demons. #GarinjaFiles

6. The anointing breaks the yolk. That the Reverend is an exegete is not in doubt. It’s why the name of the church has “revelation” in it. #GarinjaFiles

7. What happens next on “The Reverend”? You can read the full chapter FREE on Facebook.

Click here to read the full chapter [bit.ly/3dkRu8t]

PS. Missed Chapter 3 (Winners and whiners)? Click to catch up on the story [bit.ly/3dfjzht] #GarinjaFiles

©Leke Alder

The Garinja Files. A dystopian novella by Leke Alder

Chapter 5 - Death march

1. In London panic had set in. And for good measure. Italy is just a stone throw away. The picture from Italy was ugly, very ugly. Death is ugly. It bleaches life out of humanity, producing a waxy hue. #GarinjaFiles

2. The Vatican shuttered St. Peter’s Square. No more milling of tourists and adherents in the stark ornateness of the square. There was that picture of the Pope, a lonely and sad figure as he walked the grounds of St. Peter supplicating the unseen and the Unseen. #GarinjaFiles

3. He was bent with age and the burden of death. The virus had brought Italy to her knees. In an act of desperation, the Italian Airforce flew a statue of the Virgin Mary over the cities of Italy. A priest held up the Holy Eucharist. #GarinjaFiles

4. Perhaps the Virgin would dispense her grace from 900ft above. The weapons of warfare were no longer carnal. Carpenters were too busy in Italy. They were hammering coffins nonstop. Death was over-productive. The league of carpenters could not keep up. #GarinjaFiles

5. The virus spread throughout the globe. 177 nations were soon infected. There was death everywhere. The statistic from nation after nation was grim. Death graphs began to spike upward like a plane nose diving but the picture is upside down. #GarinjaFiles

6. In every graph, there was always that moment COVID-19 took a drastic rebellious swing to produce an exponential graph. #GarinjaFiles

7. The virus didn’t spare royalty either. Neither did it spare fame or fortune. It infected royals, government officials, celebrities and sports personalities. #GarinjaFiles

8. What happens next on “Death march”? You can read the full chapter FREE on Facebook.

Click here to read the full chapter [bit.ly/2Bp4VXF]

PS. Missed Chapter 4 (The Reverend)? Click here to catch up on the story [bit.ly/3dkRu8t] #GarinjaFiles

The Garinja Files. A dystopian novella by Leke Alder

Chapter 6 - Imaginings

1. As the virus spread, conspiracy theories abounded, especially about the 5G network. It was alleged COVID-19 was caused by the deployment of a 5G network across the globe. The evidence was tenuous, however. The link was associative, not causative. #GarinjaFiles

2. Nonetheless, 5G came to be viewed as a nefarious end-time program to control humanity. It didn’t help that China was at the forefront of the network deployment. The virus originated in China. #GarinjaFiles

3. Since the network was being tested in several cities across the globe, pandemonium broke out on social media. #GarinjaFiles

4. Photographs emerged of trees scalded on one side by alleged radiation from 5G transmitters. Videos emerged of people rioting over 5G, destroying 5G transmission poles. #GarinjaFiles

5. The videos weren’t dated. At first, the 5G controversy was considered a fringe community issue, but then it went mainstream. Prominent news outlets devoted talk to it. In a feat of exegetical dexterity, a well-known televangelist made a special broadcast. #GarinjaFiles

6. Using a chart, he improbably linked the end times, 5G network, vaccination and coronavirus. There was evidence of a leap of faith in the chart but there was an absence of linear logic. #GarinjaFiles

7. He would later backtrack but talks about “the agenda” mushroomed all over WhatsApp platforms. It didn’t take long before materials emerged about the Bilderberg Group, the Georgia Guidestones and the Kissinger Report. #GarinjaFiles

8. What happens next on “Imaginings”? You can read the full chapter FREE on Facebook.

Click here to read the full chapter [bit.ly/2NhWHmV]

PS. Missed Chapter 5 (Death march)? Click here to catch up on the story [bit.ly/2Bp4VXF] #GarinjaFiles
©Leke Alder