I am popularly called Mama Idayatu. Idayatu is the name of my first daughter. My real name is Madam Abeni Jimoh.I am a 55 year old widow. I live at Ibadan in the south west of Nigeria. I have six grown up children - three females and three males.My late husband Alhaji Raufu Jimoh died about ten years ago.
My late mother popularly called Iya Alakara but whose real name was Madam Abebi Jinadu was married to the polygamous family of Alhaji Aremu Jinadu.My father had two wives.Madam Agbeke was the senior wife while my mother was the junior wife.Each of the wives had four children in which I am one.Even with the sustained efforts by my father Alhaji Arermu Jinadu to maintain peace in his household. strife and enmity were the order of the day between the two wives that's between my mother and her arch rival Madam Agbeke the senior wife.
Preparation of meals for the family was done on weekly rotational basis. The even I am
now about to narrate is very true.It happened to me during the week my step mother was
in charge of preparing meals for the family.I had a step sister Silifat. We were of the same age group. We were each 8years old and in the sane class - Primary 2 at the same Government Primary School. This unfortunate incident took place on a Friday he day for the Muslim Jumat Prayer. So our parents were away from the house to go and pray at the mosque in the afternoon.
Before my step mother left for the mosque. she left a plate of food each for me and my step sister with an instruction that her daughter should take the food in a particular plate while I should take the food in the other plate. The instruction we must carry out.As fate would have it that date I had to get home a few meters ahead of my step sister. I had to go to the toilet
where I had to spend considerable time in the toilet.
Meanwhile when I was in the toilet, my step sister Silifat had taken my own plate of food and ate it contrary to the instruction of her mother. I knew there would be a very serious problem on the return of my step mother.She would not take kindly to her instruction being flouted NOT
knowing that a very sad event was soon to be unfolded.
A few minutes after Silifat hed eaten my very own plate of food, she started complaining of stomach ache. Suddenly she was holding her stomach and rolling on the ground. Since the initial first aid treament applied failed, Silifat was rushed to the nearby hospital where she eventually died and was buried in the family compound. The trauma of seeing her daughter's grave every morning was too much for my step mother that she had to pack out of
moses zaccheaus - a writer, philatelic and numismatic teacher.
www.moseszee.com - http://moseszee.blogspot.com
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the blog is based on GENERAL FEATURE
