The Serpent in the Senate and the Woman’s Defiance
In the halls of the National Assembly, the battle for the seat of Natasha, the daughter of Akpoti, continued to rage like a furnace.
For though the court of the land had decreed that her six-month suspension must be lifted, and the time of her penalty had elapsed on the sixth day of the ninth month, the Elders of the Senate remained defiant.
On the twenty and fourth day of the ninth month, Natasha, accompanied by many voices of justice, did make a dramatic return to the Senate gates, only to be met by men of the King’s guard who barred her way with force and tear gas.
The Senate, through the voice of the Clerk, did declare, saying, “The matter is still before the higher court of the Appeal, and until a final verdict is delivered, the suspension doth stand! Her return is rejected.”
And the leader of the Senate, Godswill, called Akpabio, was seen by many to be the serpent in the chamber, the one whose personal hand did fuel the continued exclusion of the woman from her rightful seat.
And Natasha, daughter of Akpoti, did not hold her peace, but she lifted up her voice and publicly accused Akpabio, the Senate Leader, of acting as a dictator, and of using the power of the Senate to pursue a private vendetta against her.
And the Nigeria Labour Congress, a powerful union of the kingdom’s workers, did rise up, even on the twelfth day of the ninth month, and they warned the Senate, saying, “If this great injustice is not swiftly rectified, we shall summon the workers and mobilize the common people to demand her return.”
Thus, the National Assembly was revealed to be a house divided, where personal malice held sway over the rule of law, and where a woman’s voice was violently silenced despite the decree of the court.