Tourniquet

By Azubuike Isiguzo

My heart is troubled, and I am losing my emotional and spiritual balance simultaneously, Oliver prayed. I am getting more troubled every day from my perplexities, and I have nowhere to turn to but you. You have been the greatest strength of my life, my elixir, and the force behind my wits. Please deliver me from this miry clay, lift my head up that I may not slide into defeat and despair.

Oliver screamed, placing his hands on his head. Oh my god, this is not happening, he said as he advanced towards Francis. He was so inflamed and exasperated that he grabbed Francis by his neck with both hands to strangle him, shouting, Why didnt you tell me? You could have just told me, Francis, you could have just told me! Francis was visibly choking, but Oliver didnt make any attempt to release his hold. He was visibly very broken, and Francis knew his boss would never mean to strangle him.

As Oliver held on to his neck, screaming, his grip on Franciss neck started to loosen, and his voice, sounding at crescendo, started fading gradually into ventriloqy. Francis, realizing it, looked up into Olivers face and saw what broke him for the next two days, Sarah for the next one week, and Tommy the whole day, which is how long they were all sick. It was tears in Olivers eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jan 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524596675

Azubuike Isiguzo

Azubuike Isiguzo loves to challenge people to develop powerful and intrinsic visions for their lives. He draws deep vital distinctions between living a practical, faith-oriented life and mere profession of faith because he is a strong believer in what produces results. He is the head steward of Wordlake Ministries International. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria, with his wife and two children.

Book preview

First

It was a usual rainy day but one with an oppressive humidity, causing a mixture of cool yet hot atmosphere at the same time because the humidity didn’t take kindly to the exerting influence of the rains as it rose in defiant revolt. This is not strange to the Western African climate but Oliver saw it as a bad omen, especially considering the situation he had found himself in at the time. He was, for the first time in his life both as an individual and a business man, at the police station for a criminal case. How he got here he was still trying to process while standing outside the entrance leading into the police station, as they waited for the investigating police officer (IPO).

The weather itself confirmed his hunch that he was in for trouble which he neither bargained for nor deserved to be in as he did his best to live free from any form of finger pointing that could incense strife. As he stood outside the entrance waiting, he could feel sweat droplets on his elbow emanating from his underarms. He was sure that, by the time he would be done with the police, his shirt would be so wet it would need a wringing out. It was only being the cynosure that reminded him he was in the company of people as he was lost in his thoughts. His personal assistant and counsel were there with him and were all sympathetic to his plight as they knew he was a peaceful and easy going gentleman who would have given anything he could to instantly quell the fire he found engulfing him. As his companions occasionally spoke to him, he could only hear their voices as faint echoes from a distance, though they stood right next to him, his assistant to his right and his counsel to his left, he was lost in very deep worrying and agonizing thoughts and was beginning to feel sick on the inside.

This isn’t looking good for my person, he concluded in his thoughts and unknowingly let out a sigh. Take it easy, his counsel advised him, you have to stop wool-gathering and be calm, it will all pass away; remember you are innocent of the accusations so you don’t have to grow lily-livered; the truth will show itself at the end of the day, please relax. Oliver turned and looked at his counsel as if to say did I think aloud? His counsel, understanding the gesture responded, yes, you did, my friend. Now you see the reason why you have to stay calm because it’s beginning to get the better of you. Remember if there were no obstacles in life there would be no need for the development of wheels.

The Divisional Force Headquarters at Odususon Street, in Osufesan Local Government Area in Lagos, was moist from the late afternoon rains. This weather, he thought to himself, is making matters worse for me; if only it was cooler, I might have been more relaxed. Yet he knew that even if he were to be put in an enclosed place with functional air-conditioners, he would still sweat, as the uneasiness within him is the real cause of his perspiration and not the torrid weather. But come to think of this, what have I done to deserve to be treated like this by Ekezie? I only wanted to do business and not end up in a dispute. This is the case of the adage used down town in Lagos- iyanga dey sleep, trouble come wake am implying one who gets into trouble when he sets out not looking for it in any way.

A few weeks back, it was all smiles between Ekezie and himself until he started finding traces of inconsistency in Ekezie’s reports and even as he made up his mind to pay a closer attention to details. Ekezie was growing unpredictable by the day as Oliver admitted that things were no longer as they seemed. Ekezie had seen that, sooner than later, Oliver would discover his tricks, concerning the business they both had agreed to run together. They were yet to have a written and signed pact but Oliver had been funding its setup while they both ironed out their partnership details and responsibilities. Oliver was the sole financier while Ekezie was to bring in technical assistance and a small customer base which they would build on. Oliver started employing strict measures to see he wasn’t robbed of his investments. The end result was both of them landing in the police station with their individual counsels.

All the trouble of the past two weeks made Oliver unconsciously start reflecting on his life and how that trouble just seem to locate him even where he set out with the purest of intent. He could remember vividly how the events that shaped his life all started at the University campus, where he ended up ascending the leadership seat of his then Campus Christian fellowship. It was an ordination he never bargained for, never wanted and never chose but took up the mantle of leadership because deep within, he knew it was destiny calling. It was all like yesterday; yes, he remembered it all- how because of whom he was and his complete commitment to his faith, he had trusted people of same faith who surprisingly let him down and he was left to painfully pick up the bits and pieces of his broken heart.

Fate had treated him to some unfair times- all because of his trusting heart and now again he was in trouble because of the same trait with a man who claimed to share the same faith. It was very easy for him to fall in love with people who shared his love for God. He was trusting to a fault. As he cast his mind back in time, it started coming back to him, memories with very painful stings which he thought would fade into time and serve only as a reminder of that which shaped his future, but then, here he was again finding himself enshrouded in another fresh brouhaha but born out of the same womb.

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It was not his desire yet the mantle of leadership of his campus fellowship had fallen into his hands, reluctantly though but understanding divine intent, he took it and laboured by the grace granted to him to make the most of the privilege of leadership for the service of God and man. It was a pretty rough path for him, as he truly never really had it easy with his team of generals who worked tirelessly with him to bring to fruition the divine mandate they were handed on the university campus. The fellowship had been ripped apart by all sorts of controversy even before he became a student of the university. Pastor Oliver Ikem soon understood that what was handed to him and his team was much more than a campus fellowship.

They had inherited a system riddled with cancer. It was a torrid time for all of them; they worked tirelessly and toiled to make fruitful the work in their hands but it was tougher than swimming against a boisterous ocean tide, as their predecessors had been entwined in scandalous controversies that had eaten up the very foundation of the vision behind the establishment of the campus ministry; their time on the campus was running out and so were the commitment of certain of his key general.

His proper ordeal started on campus when he had been twined into a controversy he knew nothing about and for a decent student he felt, he was too clean to be involved in it. As he respond commensurately to his ordeal with the university authorities, he had left the running of fellowship to his team but would latter find out that it had died a natural death as he wasn’t always present to hold the front forth. He didn’t blame them though for they had been let down by people they felt had given them posterity only to find out they had been handed a breathing carcass whose only asset was its breath. They had become demoralised and couldn’t continue. Oliver understood that they had to move on and so did the fellowship too. It was sad that they had no one ready to carry the baton they were handed and Oliver didn’t blame anyone; who would be crazy enough to be associated with such in the first place? The past set of leaders had not only let down themselves but had let God down and generations after them of which Oliver was amongst. It had depressed him and sometimes made him sick how that people could have no regard for what had been divinely entrusted to them, placing personal desires above handed responsibility. He had come to terms for the first time in his life that it was possible for people to openly profess Christ and then unashamedly and openly live on the contrary. He did eventually find his way out of his troubles with the university authorities but his campus ministry wasn’t that lucky.

Troublesome and challenging situations always have a way of locating me he muttered and this was just a pinch in the myriad of topsy-turvy situations he had found himself. This time I was coming out to become a business man and needed to form a synergy so I can achieve my set out goals in record time. Do these problems arise from me been too trusting? Am I a baby in the woods, a simpleton and witless person? Or is it because my life is destined for great things hence my challenges? He pondered quietly. He remembered what his father had told about himself some years back. He had contracted a mechanic who was working on his car and his father had felt the mechanic was ripping him off, having years of experience in vehicles and their functionalities but he had argued with his father that it might not be true as the auto mechanic sounded very sincere. His dad told him that he hears sincerity in the voices of criminals because himself is a sincere person and trusts people so much because he trusts himself and would never deceive for a gain, a quality his father found priceless in him and praised him for, but told him it will get him hurt in life as he walks down the path of destiny and asked him to be a little more careful in his dealings. Could daddy’s words be my real problem? Oh God, please send me an angel he prayed silently, I am in dire straight and need your help. First, deliver me from this evil, and then from myself. Please Lord, I need you now more than ever, he prayed in his heart.

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He was called back by the voice of his counsel, The IPO is here, let’s go in and speak with him, so they all walked into his office, Barrister Ekeanyanwu in front, his PA, Pastor Francis in-between and himself following behind. Oliver was sick to his stomach, his feet were so heavy that as he followed behind them.

As they sat down in the office of the IPO, the police officer greeted them Ah welcome gentlemen and looking carefully into Oliver’s face, he said "young man, from the distraught on your face, I can tell you are the one with the problem here; please, my dear young man be calm, the police will do their job and if the report is true, as you have stated then it will be resolved swiftly and your life will return to normal.

Then he joked, You know say as a business man for Lagos, if you never carry person go police, or person never carry you go police, you never become real business man. Every one burst out laughing except Oliver; he didn’t find the joke funny at all. So my face must be registered with the police station to be a good business man? What nonsense, he thought. But as he ruminated on the words of the police officer, he saw there was some sense in what he was saying. The Lagos business terrain was a different ball game altogether and had its unique set of rules and regulations and this was a part of it. He had done nothing wrong except to ask his supposed partner that they should part ways, maybe not in the best of terms but how else was he to condone fraud if not to walk away as fast he could and escape the looming disaster of losing his funds? He had found out that his supposed partner had other things up his sleeve and decided to play no further part in the business relationship with which his supposed partner took offence and was trying to bully him into accepting agreements that never existed. However, Oliver stood firm and said no to his intimidations and harassments. He had gotten his counsel involved and had decided to state his case in the most audacious manner possible, as he would not allow himself to be bullied by no one, especially knowing he was innocent. What a business terrain, he thought where the guilty is attempting to be bolder than the innocent; the police officer was right in a sense, he concluded.

They left the police station that day with Oliver feeling that everything will be alright but he was still sickened that it would take a process of time, time which he knew would redefine his entire personality but he just has to see this out. Barrister Ekeanyanwu assured him that all will be laid to rest in the shortest possible time as he has set all machinery in motion to see to that. He, also, told Pastor Oliver of his doubts concerning his ability to see this to the very end which might certainly include the option of prosecuting his supposed partner from both the criminal and civil sides of the law. He raised this because he knew Oliver was a man who loved and believed in peace at any cost, even if it will be detrimental to his person. They all went home, with Oliver hoping for the best.

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Oliver was awakened from his sleep by the buzz of his mobile phone, as he had found it difficult to go to sleep; meditating over the trouble of the past few weeks. He had fallen asleep in the midst of his deep thoughts but he was sure it must have been in the wee hours of the morning. As he made for his mobile phone, he felt a piercing headache which held him back from taking the call, s he had to lay back and get a grip of himself before any other thing.

It took him another fifteen minutes to pull himself together as he later realised that the ache was made worse as a result of how he had jumped to the phone’s buzzing. My approach so far is not doing me any good, giving himself a pep talk while his phone still buzzed ceaselessly but he kept using the silent button on the phone without bothering to check who was calling. I have to get a grip on myself before I attend to anything today, he had told himself. I haven’t had any good sleep for the past two weeks, three days and about seventeen hours and this must stop because I am losing sleep for the wrong reasons. What will I do now? I am innocent he kept telling himself. As he kept ruminating, he fell off his bed with a heavy heart unto his knees. Dear Lord, it’s either you save me or I am done for in hands of the mendacious, he said as he started to pray. He had almost forgotten God was still there for him, this pressure has gotten the better of me and I have forgotten the very things I preach and teach so emphatically. God can and God will deliver me, as he thought deeper, his prayer’s intensity also got stronger and stronger.

When Pastor Oliver arose from his knees, he felt twice his height and twice his weight; he was stronger, much relaxed and confident. He felt his faith deeper and knew God had stepped in to quell the all evil surrounding him; he smiled and said how we often run from what we should be running to. How could I forget that God is interested in all that concerns us even when we make both honest and dishonest mistakes? He loves us to a fault and it’s no fault of His to love us so helplessly. ‘We are the creatures of His love and the objects of His mercy; how great is our God and his mercy forever,’ he sang out. He was jolted from his study chair, remembering his phone was ringing earlier. Picking up his mobile phone to see it was Ekeanyanwu, Eke Esquire, he said with a smile, what could it be this time? Am I wanted at the court or police station? Whatever case it is, God has taken charge henceforth all every party has to do now is to respond to His injunctions and dictates.

He dialled Eke’s number and Eke didn’t pick up, he dialled again and Eke picked up this time. Oliver, I had called you severally and no response from you. Hope there is no problem, are you alright?

I am doing very well, Barrister, I was talking to God when you were calling, I am sorry, and I am here now.

"That is very interesting, God has truly shone the light, because the IPO at the police station called me to say that Ekezie’s counsel was in his office early this morning to inform