Jamaica

Chapter 27

At about 10am on a bright Monday morning, Mr. Adeleke was in his office reading the morning edition of his favorite newspaper. It was a growing habit that he had developed since he started receiving numerous letters demanding an update to Sambo Constructions. The story  from the very start, connecting the killing of the three men to the company, didn't make any sense to him. 

He couldn't figure out how all three men were affiliated to the same company  even while holding differing job positions. To him it didn't make sense at all. Then one  morning,  the minute he stepped into his office and put his briefcase down, he received an unusual visit from a man who barged into his office claiming to represent some important but concerned individuals.

"Who are you, and why barge into my office, like that?" He had asked, the minute the door swung open and the man walked in. Mr. Adeleke saw an elderly man with a walking stick staring at him. The man had strains of white scattered throughout  his hair and he wasn't alone. He had come with two bodyguards and the sight of them gave Mr. Adeleke the impression that the man could be a very highly placed individual.

One of the bodyguards closed the door, and both men stood by the door  blocking it. The expression on Mr. Adeleke's face changed when he saw the two bodyguards standing by the door with arms folded and carrying threatening stares. He quickly cleared his throat and told the man to sit down.

"Please have a seat, sir."
The man gave him a long hard stare and then pointed his walking stick at one of the bodyguards. The bodyguard quickly emerged and brought out the chair and used his handkerchief to wipe it. The man sat down and stared right into Mr. Adeleke's eyes.

"Who is feeding you with the information you are putting out there?" Mr. Adeleke immediately frowned. He had no clue what the man was talking about.

"Sir, with all due respect," he said, shifting his eyes from the man to the bodyguards. "With all due respect, I do not know what you are talking about." The man smiled, and then sighed.

"You put out news connecting the killing of three men to Sambo Constructions." Mr. Adeleke sighed at the mention of Sambo Constructions. He had no idea who was sending his company the information, and why. All he did was approve the story to be broadcasted.

"How did you know about Sambo Constructions?"

"Sir, in all honesty , I do not know where the information was coming from, and who was sending it."

"But that didn't stop you from broadcasting it."
"I was prompted to do so because I realized that if there was such a group or organization, the people of Lagos State had a right to know about its existence."

"And what is the end result, now?" Mr. Adeleke didn't know how to answer that question and simply stared at the man. The man kept quiet hoping to get an answer from him. But sensing that Mr. Adeleke wouldn't answer the question, he went on to say, "Well, as you can see, by releasing the story you only made matters worse for yourself and not for the people of Lagos state." Mr. Adeleke blinked, confused at this comment by the man sitting opposite him.

"I only published a story, sir. I only served the general public a story. I mean, if it wasn't me, some other network might have done it."

"Except you are the only network that ran the story, and not the others. I mean, NTA the mother of all networks in this country, has no idea where the story came from." Mr. Adeleke nodded his head as he realized that perhaps the problem wasn't him broadcasting the story, but that compared to the bigger networks, his was a small news outlet.

"Are you implying that as a small network we are not doing our job well?" The man laughed at the question Mr. Adeleke asked.

"This is not about you being small and the others being key players in the media industry."
"Then what is it about?" The man sighed and then shook his head in dismay.