Co-parenting after a divorce.

While a couple is married, the husband usually goes out to work while the wife takes care of the children and the home. After a divorce, how should the roles be shared? 

In most African lands, the father takes custody of the children and fends for them, while the mother goes away alone like a single lady. While this will make it easier for her to remarry, the father can't stay home all day and so leaves the children behind with a stepmother while going to work. He won't be able to supervise her treatment of his kids and be able to confirm or refute any allegation of ill-treatment. As a result, a bad stepmother maltreats the children or a good stepmother is maligned out of jealousy. 

Children are usually better off with their mother. Even if she remarries, she will be the one to spend more time with the children than their stepfather will. He will, therefore , have no opportunity to ill-treat them in her absence. Their father can always send money into their mother's bank account and mentor the children via phone calls, online messages,etc as they grow up. The e-statements of account and the online chats will show that the father did his duty by the children in spite of the divorce. 

We rarely hear about the wicked stepfather because he is unlikely to be alone with the children in their mother's absence. He can't starve them, since their mother is the cook who will get the feeding allowance from him. 

................

If the mother gets custody and the father pays maintenance as described above, children will adjust better to life after their parents' divorce. Also, no stepmother will be able to maltreat them (or be wrongly accused of maltreating them , in a bid to send her packing and reunite their biological parents). Rather than be wrongly called a wicked stepmother, some women would rather live outside (like mistresses) to bear and rear their kids until their stepchildren grow up and leave home. 

In the Bible, mothers usually got custody of their children (including sons) after a divorce (Genesis 21:9-21 ; Ezra 10:44).

Every teacher should have a typed-questions bank.

The summary passage of the June 1998 WASSCE English Language paper describes how public exam bodies set their questions months or even years in advance, vet the questions and then store them securely for future use.  

In this smartphone and Internet age, every teacher can easily keep a bank of his or her past and future typed questions. This is especially important for teachers of Mathematics and other Science subjects (whose questions need careful typing and proofreading because of the subscripts, superscripts, fractions, matrices, vectors, diagrams, etc). They should submit their handwritten questions to the typist early and get the typed Word document sent to their smartphones for careful proofreading before printing. Otherwise, they will have to go and make the corrections right in the examination halls. Even then, the question papers will be unsightly.

After proofreading the Word document and making all the necessary corrections, send the document to the printer. Keep the edited document on your phone & upload it as an email attachment for future reference. Each new term, paste in your new set of edited questions and upload the new document as an email attachment again. You are gradually building up your typed exam questions' bank. 

You can create a future questions' bank by: (a) using your phone to take pictures of typed questions on paper, extract the text in those pictures (with Google Photos, etc) into your phone's keyboard clipboard, and paste those questions into a Word document for proofreading ; (b) copying the text of questions found online into a Word document for proofreading. If your handwriting is legible enough, you can convert pictures of your handwritten questions into typed text. Pictures can be photographed (from books) or screenshot (from the Internet) and inserted into the Word document. You can also use your phone to draw complex diagrams with the help of an Office app and a photo-editing app .

You are now ready to churn out quality questions even at short notice. Your used and new questions are already in typed form and can be selected, copied and pasted into a new document, rearranged and numbered to your taste, etc within 30 minutes and sent for printing. You are ready to beat any deadline and can now concentrate on writing your lesson notes, delivering the lessons, marking your students' scripts, etc. WPS Spreadsheet (or other equivalent apps) will help you calculate the sums and arithmetic means of many students' scores fast during the result collation stage.  

Most typists make silly typing mistakes while rushing to type many questions within a week or two. Assist both them and yourself by submitting your questions early, proofreading your typed questions on your phone or computer (while they continue typing other people's questions on their computer) and keeping a typed question bank document regularly uploaded to your email box for safekeeping. 

 

"The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" by Victor Hugo.

The novel is set in France. 

 In Rheims, Paquette de Chantefleurie gives birth to a pretty baby girl. Then some Gypsies steal her baby and replace it with an ugly baby boy who is a hunchback. They take away the shoe of one leg of the baby and leave the other behind. Paquette goes to Notre-Dame and becomes a recluse known as "Sister Gudule". She curses every Gipsy she sees from the window of her room. She keeps the shoe left behind by the Gypsies. 

The Gypsies rear Paquette's daughter and she becomes the beautiful La Esmeralda. She dresses like a Gipsy, sings and dances beautifully and takes a goat around with her. She also carries her second shoe (taken by the Gypsies when they stole her) around. Meanwhile, the hunchback baby boy is adopted by the archdeacon of Notre-Dame , Claude Frollo, an orphan who has reared up his younger brother, Jehan. The hunchback is named Quasimodo and becomes

the ringer of church bells in Notre-Dame. The noise of the bells make him deaf with time.

 Sister Gudule keeps looking for her daughter and La Esmeralda for her mother. Sister Gudule curses La Esmeralda whenever she sees her, seeing her as a Gipsy.

La Esmeralda has once saved Pierre Gringoire from the gallows by marrying him but wards off his amorous advances with a dagger she always carries ground. She also gives Quasimodo some water to drink when he is pilloried and nobody else is willing to give him water. Quasimodo is eternally grateful to her for this. Her undoing is falling in love with one Captain Phoebus de Châteaupers ,the lover of rich Fleur-de-lys de Gondelaurier. 

While Fleur-de-Lys hates her because of Phoebus, the archdeacon wants her for himself. One day, Phoebus and Esmeralda enter a hotel room but the archdeacon stabs him from behind and everyone thinks she did it . She is sentenced to death by hanging, though Phoebus is not really dead. Quasimodo carries her to a sanctuary, from where the archdeacon and Pierre take her away in a boat. While Pierre is busy with the goat, the archdeacon asks her to choose between accepting his love advances and death by hanging. She defiantly chooses the latter so he takes her to Sister Gudule's cell and goes to call the soldiers. However, Sister Gudule and La Esmeralda get talking and discover they are mother and daughter when the shoes in their hands matched. Sister Gudule quickly changes from her enemy to her protector.  

Sister Gudule will have succeeded in hiding her from the soldiers, if she has not heard Phoebus' voice and shouted his name. Sister Gudule bites the hangman but pays for this with her life. The archdeacon watches Esmeralda's hanging with great pleasure from the top of the church tower. Quasimodo pushes him down from behind and he dies. Quasimodo flees Notre-Dame but his skeleton is found entwined with Esmeralda's 2 years later. Pierre Gringoire saves the goat and Phoebus marries his Fleur-de-lys.

................

* "Gipsies" = "Gypsies". Both spellings are correct.

"The Gods are not to blame" by Ola Rotimi

.CHARACTERS.

NARRATOR.

KING ADETUSA = the old king of Kutuje.

QUEEN OJUOLA = his wife.

KING ODEWALE = successor to Adetusa. 

ABERO = Odewale's second wife.

ADEROPO = second son of Adetusa and Ojuola. 

OGUN PRIEST.

BABA FAKUNLE = a soothsayer.

BOY = his escort.

FIRST, SECOND and THIRD CHIEFS.

ALAKA = Odewale's boyhood friend.

GBONKA, OLOJO = messengers to Adetusa.

IYA ABURO = a mad woman.

ROYAL BARD.

ADEWALE, ADEBISI, OYEYEMI, ADEYINKA = King Odewale's children. (The ones mentioned first and 3rd are boys, while the other 2 are girls). 

AKILAPA , BOKINI, LABATA, AGIDI = royal bodyguards. 

Townspeople, Drummers, Royal retainers. 

................................

PROLOGUE: When King Adetusa and Queen Ojuola have their first baby, an Ifa priest (Baba Fakunle) prophesies that the baby will kill his own father and marry his own mother. The baby is given to Gbonka (the king's special messenger) to be taken to the evil grove and killed. Two years later, the king and the queen bear another son, Aderopo ("replacement"). 32 years after that first boy's birth, King Adetusa has met a violent death. Kutuje's neighbours, the people of Ikolu, take advantage of the king's death and attack Kutuje. They kill, seize and enslave many people in Kutuje. 

Odewale , "son of Ogundele from Ijekun Yemoja", hears of their suffering and comes to their aid. He helps them defeat Ikolu into oblivion and is made the king of Kutuje (against their tradition of crowning only natives). He inherits Queen Ojuola (who has 4 children for him). The first 11 years of his reign are blissful.

               ACT 1 

Scene 1: A strange sickness is afflicting and killing many people in Kutuje. While Aderopo is away to Ile-Ife to ask Orunmila the cause of the plague, King Odewale teaches the people how to use herbs. The king also sends Iya Aburo (a lunatic) for treatment and fosters her baby.

Scene 2 : Aderopo delivers the oracle's message, "The land is suffering because King Adetusa's killer is living in peace in your midst!" He offers to bring Baba Fakunle to reveal the killer's identity. Odewale swears by Ogun (the god of iron) to expose the killer, remove his eyes and send him into exile.

         

      ACT 2

 Scene 1 : Aderopo returns with Baba Fakunle (who is now blind). When Baba Fakunle says he has smelt the murderer and turns away without revealing his identity, Odewale accuses him of having been bribed. Baba Fakunle now calls Odewale the murderer and a bedsharer.

Scene 2: Odewale accuses Aderopo of being behind the seer's accusation in order to get the throne from him. Despite all intercessions, he sends Aderopo on exile. ''May my eyes not see Aderopo again till I die!", he swears by Ogun.

Scene 3: Odewale returns from the town to the palace and is greeted by the royal bard.

Scene 4: Odewale refuses to tell Ojuola the cause of his quarrel with Aderopo. He summons the chiefs to a meeting.

            ACT 3 

Scene 1:  

  Alaka, "son of Odediran", Odewale's boyhood friend from Ijekun Yemoja, comes to the palace to see him. "When Odewale left our village 13 years ago, he made me swear not to look for him until both of his parents are dead". Odewale is the "son" of Alaka's master. Odewale tells Alaka," I ran away from Ede (where I said you would find me) because a man died there in my hands. I caught an old man and several other people harvesting yams on my land. He called me a bush man and a thief and told his men (Gbonka and Olojo) to bundle me up. They said the land I bought belongs to the mother of their master. As the other 3 men attacked me, I used incantations to put them to sleep. The old man remained awake and used incantations to get me to drop dead. I used my hoe to strike him dead with a single blow and then ran away from the place in horror. I crossed five rivers before getting to this strange land".

Scene 2: Odewale explains his anger at Aderopo (over Baba Fakunle's comments) to Ojuola. Ojuola said that this same seer : (a) made her kill her first son ; (b) said King Adetusa was killed by one of his own blood. Odewale calls in the chiefs to hear that second part (which seems to vindicate him, as a "stranger" in their midst). The chiefs and Queen Ojuola agree that King Adetusa was killed near Ede (according to an eyewitness account). This reference to Ede makes Odewale uncomfortable (since he also killed a man there) . The eyewitness, Gbonka, is sent for. 

Scene 3: Alaka tells Odewale about his "father's" death in peace. Odewale reveals another past experience. "A man I considered my uncle once called me an impostor. I consulted an oracle which said I would kill my father and marry my mother but said I should stay where I was and not run away. That is why I ran away from home. My father has now died in peace". Alaka now says Ogundele and Mobike are not Odewale's biological parents. Further questioning makes Alaka reveal that he and his master (Ogundele) got Odewale as a baby (wrapped up like a sacrifice to the gods) from Gbonka. Ojuola now knows she has married her son and walks into the bedroom in dismay. 

Scene 4: Gbonka is led into the palace. He doesn't recognise Alaka until Alaka (as a younger man) prods his memory. When Odewale eventually knows his wife is his mother, he goes into the bedroom (where Ojuola has killed herself by pushing a knife into her own womb). Aderopo is sent for and he sees that Odewale has gorged out his own eyes with Ojuola's suicide knife. 

Odewale apologises to Aderopo (who says that is how the gods meant it to happen). Odewale now says," Do not blame the gods. It was my harsh temper that made me kill my father for insulting the tribe I thought was my own. It was that murder that made me run to this land where I married my mother". He tells the chiefs to give Ojuola a befitting burial and then goes into exile with all his children. 

"The gods are not to blame" by Ola Rotimi.

CHARACTERS.

NARRATOR.

KING ADETUSA = the old king of Kutuje.

QUEEN OJUOLA = his wife.

KING ODEWALE = successor to Adetusa. 

ABERO = Odewale's second wife.

ADEROPO = second son of Adetusa and Ojuola. 

OGUN PRIEST.

BABA FAKUNLE = a soothsayer.

BOY = his escort.

FIRST, SECOND and THIRD CHIEFS.

ALAKA = Odewale's boyhood friend.

GBONKA, OLOJO = messengers to Adetusa.

IYA ABURO = a mad woman.

ROYAL BARD.

ADEWALE, ADEBISI, OYEYEMI, ADEYINKA = King Odewale's children. (The ones mentioned first and 3rd are boys, while the other 2 are girls). 

AKILAPA , BOKINI, LABATA, AGIDI = royal bodyguards. 

Townspeople, Drummers, Royal retainers. 

................................

PROLOGUE: When King Adetusa and Queen Ojuola have their first baby, an Ifa priest (Baba Fakunle) prophesies that the baby will kill his own father and marry his own mother. The baby is given to Gbonka (the king's special messenger) to be taken to the evil grove and killed. Two years later, the king and the queen bear another son, Aderopo ("replacement"). 32 years after that first boy's birth, King Adetusa has met a violent death. Kutuje's neighbours, the people of Ikolu, take advantage of the king's death and attack Kutuje. They kill, seize and enslave many people in Kutuje. 

Odewale , "son of Ogundele from Ijekun Yemoja", hears of their suffering and comes to their aid. He helps them defeat Ikolu into oblivion and is made the king of Kutuje (against their tradition of crowning only natives). He inherits Queen Ojuola (who has 4 children for him). The first 11 years of his reign are blissful.

               ACT 1 

Scene 1: A strange sickness is afflicting and killing many people in Kutuje. While Aderopo is away to Ile-Ife to ask Orunmila the cause of the plague, King Odewale teaches the people how to use herbs. The king also sends Iya Aburo (a lunatic) for treatment and fosters her baby.

Scene 2 : Aderopo delivers the oracle's message, "The land is suffering because King Adetusa's killer is living in peace in your midst!" He offers to bring Baba Fakunle to reveal the killer's identity. Odewale swears by Ogun (the god of iron) to expose the killer, remove his eyes and send him into exile.

         

      ACT 2

 Scene 1 : Aderopo returns with Baba Fakunle (who is now blind). When Baba Fakunle says he has smelt the murderer and turns away without revealing his identity, Odewale accuses him of having been bribed. Baba Fakunle now calls Odewale the murderer and a bedsharer.

Scene 2: Odewale accuses Aderopo of being behind the seer's accusation in order to get the throne from him. Despite all intercessions, he sends Aderopo on exile. ''May my eyes not see Aderopo again till I die!", he swears by Ogun.

Scene 3: Odewale returns from the town to the palace and is greeted by the royal bard.

Scene 4: Odewale refuses to tell Ojuola the cause of his quarrel with Aderopo. He summons the chiefs to a meeting.

            ACT 3 

Scene 1:  

  Alaka, "son of Odediran", Odewale's boyhood friend from Ijekun Yemoja, comes to the palace to see him. "When Odewale left our village 13 years ago, he made me swear not to look for him until both of his parents are dead". Odewale is the "son" of Alaka's master. Odewale tells Alaka," I ran away from Ede (where I said you would find me) because a man died there in my hands. I caught an old man and several other people harvesting yams on my land. He called me a bush man and a thief and told his men (Gbonka and Olojo) to bundle me up. They said the land I bought belongs to the mother of their master. As the other 3 men attacked me, I used incantations to put them to sleep. The old man remained awake and used incantations to get me to drop dead. I used my hoe to strike him dead with a single blow and then ran away from the place in horror. I crossed five rivers before getting to this strange land".

Scene 2: Odewale explains his anger at Aderopo (over Baba Fakunle's comments) to Ojuola. Ojuola said that this same seer : (a) made her kill her first son ; (b) said King Adetusa was killed by one of his own blood. Odewale calls in the chiefs to hear that second part (which seems to vindicate him, as a "stranger" in their midst). The chiefs and Queen Ojuola agree that King Adetusa was killed near Ede (according to an eyewitness account). This reference to Ede makes Odewale uncomfortable (since he also killed a man there) . The eyewitness, Gbonka, is sent for. 

Scene 3: Alaka tells Odewale about his "father's" death in peace. Odewale reveals another past experience. "A man I considered my uncle once called me an impostor. I consulted an oracle which said I would kill my father and marry my mother but said I should stay where I was and not run away. That is why I ran away from home. My father has now died in peace". Alaka now says Ogundele and Mobike are not Odewale's biological parents. Further questioning makes Alaka reveal that he and his master (Ogundele) got Odewale as a baby (wrapped up like a sacrifice to the gods) from Gbonka. Ojuola now knows she has married her son and walks into the bedroom in dismay. 

Scene 4: Gbonka is led into the palace. He doesn't recognise Alaka until Alaka (as a younger man) prods his memory. When Odewale eventually knows his wife is his mother, he goes into the bedroom (where Ojuola has killed herself by pushing a knife into her own womb). Aderopo is sent for and he sees that Odewale has gorged out his own eyes with Ojuola's suicide knife. 

Odewale apologises to Aderopo (who says that is how the gods meant it to happen). Odewale now says," Do not blame the gods. It was my harsh temper that made me kill my father for insulting the tribe I thought was my own. It was that murder that made me run to this land where I married my mother". He tells the chiefs to give Ojuola a befitting burial and then goes into exile with all his children.