"Heh-why has everyone gone quiet? Keep talking. Weren't you all talking so enthusiastically just now? Why have you all shut your mouths?"
His face dark, Sankara spoke in a tone somewhere between mockery and a cold sneer:
"Last year's national grain output of 1.2 million tonnes made you very proud, did it?"
Bang!
The deafening sound made everyone in the conference hall shudder. Sankara had slammed his right palm hard against the table, and he continued:
"I raised your salaries because I hoped you would fulfill your duties and provide the people with better help and services.
"And what happened? I won't say anything about the Ministry of National Defense, but you middle- and senior-ranking officials from the Ministry of Agriculture don't even know how much grain it takes to feed the entire population! You don't even know how much arable land the country has!
"Have I treated you too well since taking office, making you think I, Sankara, am easy to push around? Must you wait until I hold a knife to your necks?
"Only then will you understand what it means to do your jobs properly? Only then will you realize that over ten million people across the country are going hungry every day? Only then will you understand that an annual output of 1.2 million tonnes cannot possibly feed this country's population of more than twenty-two million?"
"We're sorry, Mr. President!"
Ameli hurriedly rose to her feet and bowed her head in apology.
"We're sorry, Mr. President!"
The other officials followed suit, including the officers from the Ministry of National Defense.
But how many of them truly meant that apology was something perhaps only they themselves and heaven knew.
Uh... all right, perhaps Sankara had to be added to that list.
Although he did not know how many were sincere, he knew how many were not.
For example, Sankara would never believe a single word out of the mouths of those officials whose loyalty had already dropped below 50.
"You're sorry, Mr. President?"
Sankara countered:
"Is it me you've wronged? The ones you owe an apology to are those ten million-plus people enduring hunger. They're the ones you've truly wronged!
"Besides, what good is saying sorry? Can a single apology bring back the lives of those who have already starved to death?"
"Whew-"
Sankara released the stale breath that had been trapped in his chest and composed himself. Waving for everyone to sit, he continued softly:
"Sit down, all of you! Actually... the person who should apologize most is me. I knew perfectly well that the food problem was already serious, yet after taking office, I still focused my energy on other matters.
"If I had paid attention sooner, perhaps we could have solved the food problem in less time, spared our people another day of hunger, and had fewer people starve to death while we worked to resolve it-even one fewer would have been something!
"So the person who truly ought to apologize to the people is me, their president! I should also be the one bearing the primary responsibility!"
Hearing Sankara say this, the officers from the Ministry of National Defense, his loyal followers whose loyalty scores were all above 80, could no longer stay seated. They rose one after another and spoke:
"How can this be your fault, Mr. President? You haven't even been in office for a month!"
"This is clearly a mess left behind by the previous presidents. No matter how you look at it, it can't be laid at your door!"
"Exactly! You don't need to apologize for a problem that isn't yours!"
One after another, they voiced their bewilderment at Sankara's apology.
"All of you, sit down!"
Sankara barked.
"..."
The conference hall, which had been growing noisy, instantly fell silent again.
The officers from the Ministry of National Defense felt as though fish bones were stuck in their throats, their faces flushed red with pent-up words. Yet after opening their mouths for a long while, they could only obediently return to their seats under Sankara's gaze.
"???"
"!!!"
Some of the Ministry of Agriculture officials were astonished and bewildered by the sight.
These officers from the Ministry of National Defense actually defend this new president so fiercely?
Hiss... does Sankara command that much prestige in the military? One shout was enough to send them back to their seats?
This is a little absurd! It's not as though I never saw similar scenes under the previous presidents, but none of them could possibly have commanded this much prestige!
These officials' minds began turning again.
In Sankara's field of vision, some of the officials whose loyalty had fallen saw it fall even further, while others returned to above 60, or even above 70.
Only a very small number of officials had been moved by Sankara's self-criticism just now. Though they were only a very small number, they were an unexpected and pleasant surprise to him.
The loyalty of those officials who had been moved had jumped straight from around 70 to above 80, with several even reaching 90!
Among them was Ameli, the minister of agriculture. Her loyalty to Sankara had soared from 76 to 90, reaching a level where she could be said to be willing to serve him unto death, just like Meyev and the others.
"I don't care what happened before or what problems there were. All I know is that the person sitting in the president's seat now is me, Sankara, not anyone else!
"So whenever any problem arises in the Republic of Burkina, I bear the primary responsibility. Any reason offered to explain those problems is pale and useless!"
Sankara paused for breath, then continued:
"So, since I bear the primary responsibility, I must come up with ways to solve the food problem that has arisen in our country and shoulder that responsibility.
"I spent all of last night thinking about it, and I did manage to come up with a few ideas that seemed decent to me. I'll tell you about them.
"If you have any opinions afterward, you can raise them too. One person's ideas are incomplete and biased. Only a solution we all come up with together will be the best fit for our Republic of Burkina!"
Sankara took a sip of tea and continued:
"First, we need enough arable land. What do we do when grain output is insufficient? The answer is actually very simple. The most direct solution is to expand the area planted with grain."
"Then how do we expand the area planted with grain?"
"The solution I came up with is to nationalize all the arable land in the country, then distribute it to all the farmers as reasonably as possible according to actual circumstances."
"???"
Before he had even finished speaking, the entire conference hall erupted in an uproar.
Even though they had already prepared themselves somewhat for something along these lines, when Sankara spoke those words-especially the phrase "nationalize all"-the Ministry of Agriculture officials were still left dumbfounded.
Even the officers from the Ministry of National Defense wondered whether Sankara's approach was a little too... uh... extreme.
"Mr. President, might this approach of yours be a little too... ahead of its time? It may not quite suit our country's current circumstances."
Ameli was the first to stand. Halfway through her words, she hesitated and chose a term she considered barely suitable, then continued:
"Most importantly, our country is still at war. If..."
But before she could finish, someone else interrupted her. A middle-aged official stood up and addressed Sankara with excitement and admiration written all over his face:
"I firmly support the president's idea. I believe only the president's idea can resolve our country's severe food shortage in the shortest possible time."
Sankara turned his gaze toward the middle-aged official, a trace of amusement flashing through his eyes.
Because...