Based on the novel The Lekki Headmaster, what simile does the Chairman use to describe the potential risk of the cooperative funds?

Answer Details

The Chairman uses the simile that having such a large cooperative fund is like hanging a snake in the roof and going to bed. This vivid image conveys the idea of living with a hidden danger: a snake suspended overhead could drop down at any time, making sleep reckless and unsafe.

Applied to the cooperative funds, the simile means that allowing such a large sum of money to accumulate in a staff-run cooperative, with limited oversight, creates a lurking risk for the school. The money could be misused, embezzled, or cause division among staff. Just as a sensible person would not sleep beneath a suspended snake, the Chairman argues that the school should not ignore the potential dangers posed by an inadequately supervised cooperative holding N95 million.

The other similes are not the one used by the Chairman in the novel. Building castles in the air, lighting a fire in a haystack, and giving a sword to your enemy are all different expressions with different meanings. The snake-in-the-roof image is the specific one the Chairman employs to describe the situation.