Daughters who walk this path : a novel by Kilanko Yejide 1975-

Author:Kilanko, Yejide, 1975-
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Families -- Nigeria -- Fiction, Families, Roman, Englisch, Nigeria -- Fiction, Nigeria
ISBN: 0143186116
Publisher: Toronto : Penguin
Published: 2012-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

Mr. Tiamiyu lost the election that day. I was at Aunty Morenike’s house when Mr. Tiamiyu came to tell her that he was leaving Ibadan for good. He had accepted a teaching position at a secondary school in Abuja.

Aunty Morenike agreed to go out with him that evening. When she went to change her clothes, Mr. Tiamiyu gave me a weak smile. “So, Miss Morayo, did you enjoy your first taste of politics.^ Maybe you too can run for a political office in the future.”

In that moment, I seriously doubted it. The truth was that I found the whole thing very confusing. It was obvious that in all the years Chief Omoniyi has been Local Government Chairman, our lives have not changed for the better. Yet, the majority of people were not ready to try something new.

When I told him this, Mr. Tiamiyu nodded. “You are right. We have become so used to accepting the pitiful crumbs thrown our way. The other thing our people know is that Chief Omoniyi is ready to do anything under the sun to stay in power. When our people see danger coming, we run away, saying to ourselves, Ta nife Who wants to die.^ But are we not dying slowly anyway.^ The truth is, Ta ni o ni Who is not going to die.>”

A tired look came into his eyes. “Always remember that making change happen anywhere is never an easy thing. Sometimes it takes leaning far over the fire and getting burnt.” He rubbed his hands over his head. “Take care of your aunty for me, okay.>”

That was the last time I saw him.

Weeks later, I was back at Aunty Morenike’s house. Aunty

Morenike sighed from her spot on the settee. “Morayo, is it only me or do you also miss all the excitement of the elections?”

I nodded in agreement. But I could tell she missed Mr. Tiamiyu more than the excitement of the elections. “Today at school, I really wished Mr. Tiamiyu was there. He would have understood exactly what I was talking about.”

Other times she would flip through the pages of a book she was reading and sigh. “Mr. Tiamiyu would have loved to read this book too.”

For the first few months after his departure, they exchanged letters regularly. “Morayo, Mr. Tiamiyu said that I should greet you,” Aunty Morenike said as she scanned through one of his letters. “He has just been promoted to vice-principal at his new school. Can you imagine? A whole vice-principal in less than four months! He is such a smart man.” Aunty Morenike’s face beamed with a proud smile. “He has been given his own quarters inside the school compound. He said that you and I could come and visit him in Abuja. What do you think?”

I waited for her to announce that they were going to get married and that she was moving to Abuja. She never did.

There were days when I wanted to ask Aunty Morenike why she did not just marry Mr. Tiamiyu regardless of what anyone said.

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