Anthills Of The Savannah

Following the taxi drivers’ visit, Ikem spends the night with Elewa and reflects on his desire to connect with common people. Meanwhile, His Excellency summons Chris and orders him to suspend Ikem from his position for alleged subversive activities; the traffic stop was a ruse to ensure that the regime had evidence of Ikem leaving the hotel where he met with the delegation, which His Excellency characterizes as “mostly motor-park touts, drug pushes and other criminal elements” (132). Chris refuses to fire Ikem and attempts to resign, but His Excellency rejects the resignation and threatens him.

Later, a police dispatch rider delivers the suspension letter to Ikem. Ikem meets with Chris and Beatrice at Chris’s house to discuss the situation; Chris and Beatrice urge caution, but Ikem is determined to speak out. Elewa arrives distraught, having heard the news on the radio. The group watches the national news broadcast, which officially announces Ikem’s suspension and reports the arrest of six Abazon province leaders, a development that horrifies Ikem.

A few days after his suspension, Ikem delivers a lecture to a massive crowd at the University of Bassa. He titles his speech “The Tortoise and the Leopard” and begins by telling the folktale and revealing that the man he heard it from, an elder from Abazon, has been imprisoned.