Every mother wants the best for her child.
If Uchechi had been a good child, I would not be in the kind of wahala that I am in but you see as a good mother, I will not sit by and let bad thing enter my korokoro eye, tufia kwa!
Everybody is here accusing me of being a bad mother, that I wanted to kill my child and grandchild but that is not the truth. I just wanted to teach Uchechi that when you disobey your parents, they will teach you a lesson you will never forget!
Uchechi is my last born. We sent her to Teacher’s College so that she will not be an illiterate, you understand? She would be able to get a good job and take care of herself and her parents in our old age.
We ourselves, we are still struggling, so we begged her eldest brother, Johnny to sponsor her to go to school. The school is in the next community. After one year, I don’t know how she waka her waka that she came to meet me one day at the farm and told me she was not going to continue school again.
Which kind talk be dat? You will just wake up one day and say ‘Mma, I no wan go school again.’ Is that how they do it nowadays?
I asked her, ‘Uche, what is the matter? Is it that your teachers are wicked?’ I asked that because that will be the first thing you will think of when your child comes to tell you she doesn’t want to go to school again.
And Uchechi was not a small girl. She was already 19years and she was the one who chose to go to Teacher Training College, so we told her elder brother, that one has shops at the main market, he agreed that he would sponsor her.
And he was sponsoring her. She had finished first year, remaining two years, when she came with this nonsense talk that she would not go to school again.
I did not know that Uchechi had carried belle for one Uzor that lives near where her school is. So instead of going to school, she hadé been going to see this foolish boy, Uzor who had impregnated her!
The first thing I did was to wire her heavy slaps!
So after all the suffer we were all suffering for her to go to school, she had let one useless boy spoil her life for her? As I wired her the slaps, she fell and got up and was crying and telling me she would not go to school again and that she would not live in our house again, that she would go to Uzor’s house and marry him!
Chineke! Is that how they do it nowadays?
Me sef, I was angry, I was abusing her and I chased her with a stick, who born her to go and live with a man when we have not released her to the man?
That was how it happened o.
When her father came from his shop, I told him, see what your daughter has done. He too was angry.
One week passed, two weeks…we did not see this Uzor, we did not see Uchechi.
I was beginning to wonder, what sort of man will keep a girl in his house and not go and tell her parents that their daughter is with him?
A useless human being, that is who the man is, useless human being!
He doesn’t want to bring yams, palm wine, abada5, goats and chicken like sensible men, he just wants to come and carry another person’s daughter…onye oshii!
So, I went to the place myself, I went to find out about Uchechi because despite the fact that she is wayward, we coukd not just abandon her there; if she is not sensible to know what her rights are as a properly brought up girl, I her mother is still alive to make sure she does the right thing.
So, I went to find out. When I got there, both of them were not even remorseful, Uchechi was still making mouth that she would not go to school, that she is not even pregnant, that she just lied so that I would not disturb her about school, that she would die with Uzor!
Tufia kwa!
My own child, talking to me like that? What medicine did Uzor give her that she can face me eye to eye and tell me she would not do what I asked her to do?
So I said, the suffer that will wire you is coming, I give you two weeks, two weeks to come to your senses, two weeks to carry your kaya back to the house, otherwise, this town will not contain you and me and as for Uzor, I told him he is a useless man, his mates are bringing proper things to come and marry a girl, he is busy doing juju and this juju will not work because my daughter must return to me.
Both of them told me I should not come back, my own daughter told me she would die with Uzor…even if he doesn’t perform the normal bride price rites…? I will not leave my eyes open, ooo!
They did not come back, so I went to hire boys, boys that will go and carry Uchechi from that side and bring her to our house because even if true, true Uzor wants to marry her, he should do it the right way. A girl that just runs away to live with a man when he has not paid her bride price is a disgrace to her family; she is cheap article and I will not leave my eyes open for fly to shit in it!
So the boys went to carry Uchechi, they said that Uzor began to fight them that they should leave his wife…huh? which wife? Wife he has not come to see her parents for? Wife he has not paid shinshin for, even sef, he hasn’t brought ordinary wine, which yeye wife be dat?
The useless boy followed them back to our house and was talking nonsense, so I told the boys to flog both of them with koboko.
They wired them wella! Pickin wey say hin mama no go take eye sleep, hinsef will not slumber!
That’s how come Uzor’s people went to call police that I want to kill my daughter and grandchild and son- in- law… me, I don’t have any son-in-law, and I didn’t not know Uchechi was pregnant, the girl lies too much!
That’s why I am in Police wahala, help me, biko!
(Series written and edited by Peju Akande and based on true stories)
photo credit