Road To Hegemony

PROLOGUE. CH9: PROJECT ORACLE

Bonny Camp Military Base 

Senior Detective Balogun and Detective Emeka arrived at the military base and were directed to the Special Operations department building in the camp. Waiting for them at the building’s lobby is Colonel Balogun. He walked up to the two men. Smiling, he said, “You are finally here.” He shared a handshake and hug with Senior Detective Balogun, who should now be called Special Agent Balogun. He noticed Detective Emeka  by his side and asked, “Who might this be?”

Special Agent Balogun introduced the two men. “This is my pick for the task force. Detective Emeka Uzo. Emeka, this is the military supervisor for our task force, Army Colonel Bolaji Balogun.”

The men shook hands.

 “Nice to meet you, Colonel. “ Said Detective Emeka 

“Likewise, Detective. “ replied Colonel Balogun 

“Now then gentlemen, your office and other task force members await.“ Colonel Balogun said, turning around to welcome them into the building,

Detective Emeka walked a step behind the two men while in thought ‘Balogun…  I wonder if he is related to the boss. Also, a military supervisor? Just what is this task force about? Boss seems to know something about it though.’ Since he couldn’t come up with an answer, he pushed it down ‘Well, I will get the answers eventually.’

They entered an elevator to the fourth floor of the fifteen storey building. When they came out of the elevator, they saw a hallway of about ten meters in front of them. At the end of the hallway was a door with a fingerprint, iris and retina scanners, voice analyzer, and keypad. Detective Emeka raised an eyebrow at the seemingly cumbersome security. As if reading his mind, Colonel Balogun said, “The Spec Ops department handles military matters outside of the conventional ones. A lot of which are confidential. Hence the level of security on every level irrespective of what they handle. “

He placed his hand and eyes on the scanner, recited a given phrase, and inputted a password. The door opened. “Every member would be given their unique password. I don’t think I have to remind you not to give it out, do I? “ said Colonel Balogun 

The men walked through the door and came to a large office space. From the door, one can see a large conference room with glass walls in front. To the left, there are three offices. To the right is a wall with no way of telling what is behind it from here.

In the conference room, there were already four people seated at a long rectangular table, two men and two women. Special Agent Balogun noticed that they seem to belong to two different groups. A man and woman in each group, each sitting at the side of the table. Colonel Balogun said to Special Agent Balogun, “Those on the right are from the D.S.S while those on the left are from military intelligence.”

Special Agent Balogun nodded his head and the men walked to the conference room. Colonel Balogun  said to the gathering, “Before anything else, I believe introductions are in order.“ He looked to the left of the table.

“I am Captain Rahmon Fapohunda, Army intelligence." Said the man

“I am Lieutenant Ngozi Anyakwoha, Navy Intelligence." Said the woman.

Colonel Balogun looked to the right

“I am Special Agent Damilola Salvador and this is my colleague Special Agent Andrew Akeredolu. We’re from the Department of State Security.” Said the woman.

Special Agent Balogun and Detective Emeka also introduced themselves.

With the introductions finished, Colonel Balogun nodded and said, “Good, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, to the matter at hand. First, I believe we all know that anything discussed here stays in this room. Everyone here has been chosen from 3 defense and law enforcement arms. This task force has been charged with using Intel gathered from a top-secret government program to prevent crime in the Metropolitan city of Lagos. To this end, provisional security clearance has been granted to the members of the task force in other for you to access said Intel. I will be acting in a supervisory capacity. The leader of the task force will be the new D.S.S agent, Special Agent Babatunde Balogun. Your assignment will be given to you later by him. That will be all.  Babatunde, a word.”

Special Agent Balogun and Colonel Balogun walked out of the conference room and headed for a door in the middle of the wall to the right of the elevator.

When they left, Special Agent Akeredolu said, “To think someone can be the head of a task force like this through influence.”

“What do you mean by that?“ asked Detective Emeka in a sour tone.

“What do I mean? Didn’t you hear? They are both surnamed ‘Balogun’. Look at their closeness, clearly, they are related. After all, how can a new D.S.S agent head a task force like this if not with the help of his family.” Special Agent Akeredolu alleged. Special Agent Salvador shook her head but Special Agent Akeredolu thought she supported his deduction and became increasingly convinced that he was right. Special Agent Salvador was about to say something when she heard a laugh from the other side of the table. It was Lieutenant Anyakwoha 

“What’s funny?” Asked Special Agent Akeredolu 

“Balogun family? Wrongful appointment? Do you know that if you said this outside, not only will be laughed at but you might also spend a few days undergoing ‘rehabilitation’? “ Said Lieutenant Anyakwoha 

“What?! “ Special Agent Akeredolu was stunned

Captain Fapohunda looked at him with pity, he said, “The Balogun family will never use their influence to get trash into a position. It’s exactly the opposite. They will expend all their connection and influence to get only the best man for the job. You don’t look for the Balogun family, they look for you.”

Special Agent Salvador finally got the chance to speak, she added, “It seems you are new in Lagos. However, I can say with certainty that Babatunde Balogun has solved more high-profile federal cases than you have been involved in. Not to mention the total number of cases he has solved. I don’t know how this task force is supposed to operate but for me, his credentials alone are enough for me to listen to him. “

Listening to what they all said, Special Agent Akeredolu felt embarrassed and could only keep quiet. Detective Emeka chuckled inwardly. He didn’t think his boss was a star. Also, he wondered what kind of a family he came from.

In the meantime, Colonel Balogun and Special Agent Balogun walked through a series of doors and came to, what looked like, a server room. At the side of the room is a large monitor with a wireless keyboard at the side.

“The system is designed so that Intel from the program can only be accessed by you from this computer. When there’s a case, you will be informed so that you can get the relevant details from here. What you share with your team is up to you.“ said Colonel Balogun.

“Am I to passively wait for it to give me cases or can I look in cases of my choosing?” Asked Special Agent Balogun

Colonel Balogun shrugged his shoulders and said, “Honestly, you can do whatever you want as long as you follow the procedures. Even if you pursue your cases, nobody would care as long as this task force achieves its aim of finding a method of implementing the Intel legally. Besides, even if you pursue your cases, the Intel you get here is not admissible in court since you can’t announce how you got said intel. Meaning you will have to find a way to present or use it legally which is what we want this task force to do.”

Special Agent Balogun nodded. He looked at the large screen monitor, thinking of how to go about his plans. It was then something occurred to him.

“You’ve not told me the name of this program or is it still classified to me?“ He asked

Colonel Balogun smiles bitterly “When the old man heard about the program during its presentation, he said, “since it is trying to predict the future, it is like ‘opon ifa' (Oracle’s divination board).” Since then, it is being called ‘The Oracle Program‘. “

Special Agent Balogun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His uncle’s odd naming sense came to play. He winked at his elder cousin and said playfully, “Then the task force’s assignment should be called ‘Project Oracle’ .”

Colonel Balogun rolled his eyes at him, “Better be careful, you never know the name might just stick. “

Both of them burst into laughter