K.C Philips

Chapter Twenty

It came as no surprise to K.C when he met a throng of pressmen and women populating the building's façade. K.C was undoubtedly transformed by the video he watched the previous night; he was confident. Stepping out of the car, the pressleople crashed on him in their droves.

"Mr K.C! How do you feel about today?" said one of them. K.C took a deep breath, smiled and said, "I feel extremely good, thank you. No pressure at all." After that, he walked briskly towards the main building, but not before another question came in. It was a female this time.

"What assurance do you have of Beta Oil Group not being sold?"

K.C stopped moving. Slowly, he walked back to meet the lady. On getting there, he stopped and said, "Let me make this clear to you. Mr Nasiru Dagogo came to Lagos without a stake in Beta Oil Group. He's returning to the North that same way." Immediately, K.C turned back and made his way to the building, amidst the agog throng that kept bombarding him qquestions.

He arrived at the conference room in no time. He met the same set of people from yesterday, minus Nasiru and Sefiyyah.

Are they planning a late entrance?

He picked a seat next to Mr Nebo. Every person seated looked despondent. K.C did not, in any way, feel comfortable with the gloomy atmosphere. He turned to Mr Nebo and asked, "What's wrong with you and everyone? Why the gloomy atmosphere?"

Melitus Nebo took a deep breath, turned to look at K.C and said, "We have no choice, K.C. You see, Mr Dagogo was right. This company is headed nowhere."

K.C lost it at that very moment.

"What do you mean by saying we have no choice? Are you going ahead with selling the company? My father trusted you, Mr Nebo! Selling the company would be an insult to his memory. Come on, Mr Nebo!" Mr Nebo, who had already looked away, answered emotionlessly, "Sooner or later, you'll understand." K.C was about to say something when Nasiru walked in with Sefiyyah Aboubacar. On sighting K.C, he began in his boisterous tone.

"How have the tables turned, K.C? You're coming early for the first time, K.C. Did you experience any form of overnight change?" K.C smiled and replied, "Sure, sure. There was. You both can have your seats." When they were all seated, Sefiyyah Aboubacar decided to break her silence. She stood up and began. Her accent was that of a well-educated Northerner.

"Good day, everyone. As we all know, today is the day we get to determine who leads this establishment. We will all be required to raise our right hands to indicate our vote. As cliché as we know it to be, the majority wins. So, Mr Nebo, whenever you're ready."

K.C could already feel the heat. They were eleven in number, himself included. If six or more of them voted in favour of the company being sold, it would all be over. Meanwhile, Mr Nebo began in a tired tone after clearing his throat.

"Ermm, thank you Ms Aboubacar. All in favour of a Briggs' takeover, please indicate your vote by raising your right hand." Almost immediately, Ikenna'shand went up. Soon after, Nasiru, Sefiyyah and two other board members raised their hands. Mr Nebo didn't raise his hand. He hesitated for a few minutes. Nasiru looked like a house on fire.

"Though the outcome seems obvious, all those in favour of the company not being sold, kindly indicate by raising your right hand." Slowly, four hands went up. K.C could not believe it. He was somewhat relieved when Mr Nebo raised his right hand after a moment of indecision. A wave of whispers passed through the room. All eyes fell on K.C.

"Mr K.C Philips," began Mr Nebo, "You are yet to indicate your vote on this matter." K.C smiled. This was the scenario he envisaged. Hesitantly, he got up, walked towards Nasiru's seat, crouched, looked square into Nasiru's eyes and said, "You're not having this company", after which he raised up his right hand. As he walked back to his seat, the whispers grew louder. K.C had barely settled down when Nasiru stood up and began in a tone that did little to hide his frustration.

"I shall not stand by this result. You and your brother cannot have different votes. It is even written in the Christian Bible - A house that is divided against itself cannot stand! I demand a re-vote!". Commotion set in as Nasiru took his seat. K.C smiled and stood up. He loved this.

"Ikenna has no stake in Beta Oil Group, neither do I. There's no legal document to back our positions. Ikenna become the CEO by the word of my father's mouth, the same wat I became the deputy CEO. As I speak, Beta Oil Group is an acephalous entity run by its board of directors. Who is legally recognised as the head of the board? Mr Melitus Nebo! And what did Mr Nebo vote in favour of? The retention of the company's sovereignty!"

K.C paused for a moment. Subsequently, he approached Nasiru and said, "You've lost, Nasiru Dagogo. Making reference to all the verses in Bible will not alter your fate.This meeting is over." Even after everyone had stood up, Nasiru sat down defeated. It took Sefiyyah Aboubacar to get Nasiru to stand up and leave. Outside the conference room, Melitus Nebo caught up with K.C and gave him a handshake.

"That was very impressive, K.C. Your father would be proud of you."

"Thank you, Mr Nebo."

"One more thing, K.C. I'm sorry for ever considering the sale of the company. I gave up too easily."

K.C stifled a laugh before saying, "It's okay, Mr Nebo. All that matters is that the company still belongs to us. What do you think?"

Mr Nebo smiled slightly. On an afterthought, he said, "You know, we're CEO-less at the moment. Who's going to come in?".

That was when Ikenna came into the fray.

"It's K.C. K.C is the CEO," He said, looking at Mr Nebo. He turned to K.C and said, "You have watched the video, am I right?"

"Yes. I have." K.C said. Ikenna tapped him lightly and told him how proud he was of him. He added, "I'm leaving for Baton Rouge tomorrow. Make dad proud." He made to walk away before K.C called him.

"Ikenna?"

Slowly, Ikenna turned back. "Yes?"

K.C drew nearer to him and said, "I'm not angry with the fact that you decided to pursue a venture of your own. But I'm angry with the fact that you seemed ready to sell BOG to Nasiru."

Ikenna was speechless. After hesitating, he spoke, "You see, I neither loved dad nor his company. I'm a very terrible, self-conceited human being. There's this inexplicable, destructive force in me. Call it vendetta against dad for forcing me into studying petrochemical engineering instead of medicine, which I wanted. I never quite belonged to the Philips clan. Nevertheless, we'll meet again, K.C. Goodbye, Mr Nebo. It was a huge pleasure working with you."

K.C and Mr Nebo watched Ikenna walk away until his elevator door closed. Their gaze unchanged, Mr Nebo said, "You can't blame him, can you?"

"Not quite," K.C said. "Not quite."

***************************************

K.C's mind was swarmed with countless thoughts as he drove home. He had saved his company. It was his indeed.

My father placed it under my control.

He felt a tinge of satisfaction. Still, K.C felt empty deep inside him. He couldn't explain it initially, but he knew afterwards.

I can't let her get married to that scumbag.

Nasiru envisioned it all. He set him up with Okaro. He set him up with Jessica. Okaro's child and his infidelity with Fisayo was enough evidence for Jessica to run right into Nasiru's arms. The whole episode would have placed K.C in the wrong frame of mind to lead Beta Group.

Who knows, he might have planted the whole entrepreneur idea in Ikenna and forced him to liase with Fisayo in the beginning.

K.C felt used. He pulled up in a corner and let out a painful groan. Victory had never felt so sweet, if only the victory had played out in a scenario he himself orchestrated. What was he going to do?

I can't just go to Abuja. But if I don't, I'll be rendered the ultimate loser.

K.C hesitated. After an eternity of deep thinking, he resolved to go to Abuja to stop Jessica beforehand.

Even if I don't succeed, at least I can live with the fact that I made an effort.

Consumed by his resolve, he changed course and set sail for Murtala Mohammed Airport with the view of making the next available flight to Abuja.