FEATURES

THE BIG QUESTION : Is The Mother Part Of The Family?

Sade Augustine was a girl from an average Nigerian family. They were neither rich nor poor, with a Father, mother and two brothers. She grew up knowing her mother to be irresponsible, being nonchalant about her children, and her father to be a very responsible man.

Mr. Augustine was a very busy man since he needed to make ends meet for the family. He traveled near and far as a contractor within the country. He was a highly intelligent and sound contractor and contracts keep coming in for him.

As you can see, Sade lacked the person that can instill the necessary life values in lack, still, she didn’t lose her morals. She always felt irritated whenever the word ‘mother’ was mentioned. She had frequent fight with her mum.  One of it was a day she called her mum by her first name instead of mummy. 

Mum : Sade come here and massage my feet, I am very tried.

Sade: Mum I can’t, I’m having menstrual cramps.

Mum:   And so what? Is it your hand that is menstruating? Or are you the only one that menstruates? Come on,  bend down and massage my feet fast fast.

Sade stood where she was and didn’t make a move. Her mum shouted, "Are you deaf? Can’t you hear me?"

Irritated by her mother’s selfish behavior, she shouted at the top of her voice, “Folake!, Why are you so wicked?”. Her mother stood, infuriated by the words that came out from her daughter’s mouth, she rose her hand and slapped her. 

Sade blurted "You slapped me?" , Enraged, her mum replied, "Yes! And I will slap you over and over again if you don’t watch your tongue, young lady."

Sade ran into her room and began to cry. 

In school, whenever she hears from other kids how loving and caring their mothers were, she usually felt gloomy. On one of such days, she would result to being sad all day. This, she felt till she was 15 years old when she got used to everything and had no expectation for more.

Fast forward to when she wanted to write UTME, an exam secondary school students had to write to get into the Tertiary institution, Sade had a friend named Charles who was from a wealthy family. He played a major role in assisting her pass her examination in flying colours, through joint reading, paid tutorials and consistent follow up on her academics.

Oh I know what you are thinking… you expected their relationship to lead to a disgusting end but no, Sade was a very lucky girl. Charles had no evil agenda either, they were both teenagers on their path to envisioned greatness.

Sade got into Akinfenwa university at Ilesha at the age of sixteen. She finds it more relaxing in school than at home. She rarely went home. Going to school to her, was just like escaping the Lion’s den. She used to wonder why her mother was such a cruel human being.

Her brothers? They were there. Her immediate younger brother got into Senior Secondary School 3 at her own third year in the University. He also  can’t wait to get out of the house. All the children couldn’t wait to leave their own father’s house due to their mother’s bad attitude.

And her father? As usual, he comes home once in a while and whenever he is around, he tries to make the children happy. He never forget to call his daughter, he calls her quite often. 

Sade was very studious. All through her university days, she had distinctions in all her courses. This made her the talk of the campus. She had many scholarship offers, infact she was swimming in scholarships. Her father didn’t really spend much as her fees were taken care of  by different scholarship bodies both the governmental and non-governmental organizations.

On her convocation day, she received numerous awards. Part of it was a once- in – a – lifetime opportunity to travel to canada with her family.

Now, the big question is was her mum part of her family? Can she still be referred to as her mother?  Can she forget all the agonizing times she passed through because of her mum’s unruly and wicked attitude?

Can the pain ever dwindle? What about the days and nights she longed for motherly love and none was available? Will she take her mother with her?

 IF IT WAS YOU, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Ogunsanmi Adeola Susan

200l Student