At that moment, the MCs were stunned, and did not even know what to comment on. They only stood and looked on. The Police Band almost missed their beat. The Chairman and Ken held their breath. The President wondered what to expect. As they faced each other, they began their throwing and kicks with the individuals in front of them. Now, Jeff, who was facing Emeka kicked him, and he threw him down at once. He stood up immediately, and they fell in line. Jewel, who was facing Leon, kicked him, and, in a jiffy, Leon was thrown down. Nevertheless, Frank was facing a girl who was bigger than he was and one would think that the girl would throw him down, to everyone's dismay, Frank threw her down. Then, Francisca, who looked petite like her mother, did not want to take chances at all. She rushed at her opponent, who was unguarded and startled by her action. Then, she threw him down by sheer luck. Everyone knew that she out smarted the boy. Austin, and David, were not left out. In less than two minutes, the twenty of them were done, and stood at attention. Jeff gave another command and they all marched out. The audience, who was awestruck, could not wait for the MCs to ask her to clap, and gave a loud round of applause.
Then, the MCs came back to the present, and they began their work by appreciating the taekwondo group.
“Continue to clap for them, please. That was an outstanding performance.”
Now, Tom decided to tease Edwin by asking.
“Edwin, will you marry a taekwondo?”
Edwin was stunned because he was not expecting it, and he must give an answer. Meanwhile, Tom continued with his work. The students, who queued behind the taekwondo group, and were halted by their performance had continued. They got to the salute stand, and the commander gave the 'eyes right' command, and they saluted the President.
“Wow. That is a beautiful one. These are students from the host community of the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group. A big round of applause for them," Tom said, and handed the microphone to Edwin to announce the next group, which was Victor and his group. Though his team members were not looking healthy, but they were all neatly dressed in their sports attires, and were marching with the tennis ball and baton in their pockets. When they got to the salute stand, their commander, called out the 'eyes right' command, and they halted simultaneously. Now, they turned to the right, brought out their batons and balls from their pockets and tossed it in the air. They did it repeatedly for ten times and to everyone's surprise, they never missed the ball. After tossing for about ten times, they stood at attention, put their batons and balls back into their pockets and stood still.
Then, the commander of the team shouted 'left turn' and they all turned in unison and halted. Finally, he shouted 'forward march', and they marched out of the salute area. Edwin, who was holding the microphone, praised their performances, “Wow! This is marvelous. Kindly encourage them by clapping. These are members of the Striit Kea Empire. A group of street children who came together to develop their talents. Thank you so much for coming.”
Before he handed the microphone to Tom, he retaliated by asking him another question.
“Tom, can you toss the table tennis ball ten times without missing?”
Nevertheless, the members of staff of the Cherry Fields Oil and Gas Group protested from their stand. They were aware that Edwin wanted to evade Tom's question, and they were more interested in Edwin's response. Then, they shouted in unison.
“No. Give us your answer first. No sitting on the fence.”
They repeated the question in case he had forgotten.
“Edwin, will you marry taekwondoin?”
Now, Edwin was in a fix, and it was almost impossible for him to escape from responding to the question. Then, he cooked up a response that would put an end to the question without any further argument.
“I will consult the council of elders for proper counseling.”
Everyone laughed heartily at his response.
'You better consult them quickly,’ The General Manager thought.
Just as the march pass was about coming to an end, Edwin got a text message that startled him from Mrs. Dora Israel, the caterer. He held his breath because he thought that something must have gone wrong with the meal arrangement. So, he hurriedly tapped on the message button and read. (Edwin, kindly make an announcement for a tea break. There will be a light breakfast before the sports events. If you look around, you will notice that there are serving points beside every stand.)
Now, Edwin's head began to spin as it dawned on him that he had not made any arrangements for breakfast, nor was there a tea break on the program. He looked around only to see that there were about one hundred serving points at the stadium.
"May God bless you, Lady D,” he mumbled, and breathed freely. Furthermore, he looked up at the salute stand, and saw the last group of people giving their salute. They were the team from the National Council of Youths and Sports, whom the General Manager had contracted to moderate the sports activities. After the march pass and taking of salute, Tom continued, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have come to the end of this segment of today's event. We will take a music interlude to enable his Excellency and his team to return to their seats. The Police Band over to you.”
Now, he handed the microphone to Edwin, who was beside him, and he carried on, “Thank you very much, Mr. Adams. Hold on, please, the Police Band. Kindly take note of an adjustment in the program.”
The police band stopped, and he paused. He looked at the audience, and discovered that they were not paying attention to him. Everyone wanted to get back to his or her seat after the march pass, and that caused some disorderliness, thereby making his speech useless.
“Kindly, settle down,” he pleaded.
When the audience had calmed down, he continued, “Can we put our hands together for ourselves?”
(Clap) (Clap)
“The march pass was something else, or how do you see it, Mr. Adams?”
“It was exceptionally excellent.”
“Wow! Put your hand together for yourselves once again.”
(Clap) (Clap)
The MCs were actually putting up the jokes to buy time, and to capture the people's attention. When the audience clapped, her attention was drawn to the platform.
“Before the President, his Excellency Dr. Festus Ancient, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces comes to the platform for his address, kindly take note of this adjustment on the program.”
Now, he looked at the audience and made sure they were listening before he continued, "There will be a tea break, and breakfast immediately after the President's speech before we go to the sports activities. If you look around, you will see several serving points by your side. Kindly, put your hands together for the caterer.”