(Part 1/2) Growing up was not fantastic. I am from a polygamous home and my mom is the fourth wife. She had three of us; two girls and a boy. I have a very faint memory of us living together because my mom left before I reached the age of 7. For several years, I couldn’t forgive her. I couldn’t even stand her presence. I faulted her for leaving, and I was like, ‘how could she?’
Later, she tried to make amends and would come around with foodstuffs and provisions. I would refuse to see her, but my siblings would sneak out to do so each time. One day, I managed to ask her why she settled for someone like my father, and her response was, ‘Baby girl, you will understand one day’. We hugged after that. She prayed for me and our mother-daughter relationship began. It did not last though as she died two years after.
I became a ‘mother’ to my siblings at age 10 plus. I left home at age 15 after dropping out of school. I was in Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS3) at the time. I started working odd jobs to make ends meet. When I returned 4 years later, my 17-year-old sister was heavily pregnant. I couldn’t stand the shame and pain she was going through and I felt I had failed her just like my mother, so I left again. There and then I resolved to do something worthwhile with my life. I was already into a small business, so I enrolled into a secondary school again at age 19 plus. I was advised to sit for Junior WAEC (West African Examination Council). I sat for the exam with my younger brother who was 14 years old then. I also registered for NECO and GCE at age 21 and passed well enough. I have been on track since then and I can now boast of a degree.
(Read the concluding part of this story on our website.)