"Ìyàwó alárédè" ( a play by Sunday Ẹ̀ṣọ́-Olúbọ́rọ̀dé).

Mojere is doing a Sandwich first-degree program at UNILORIN during the university holidays( while she works with her NCE at Osogbo at other times). Her friend, Fúnmi, visits her in her room and notices she looks depressed after returning earlier than expected from visiting her boyfriend, Atẹ́rẹ́. Mojere defers discussing the issue but insists on travelling to Osogbo for the weekend that very night (with Mama Segun, a fellow student), against Funmi's advice.

At the motor park, there are too many passengers for the available vehicles. Mama Segun manages to get into a vehicle but Mojere doesn't. After walking away a little, a 7-passenger private vehicle picks her up. The vehicle's occupants (the driver, the vehicle owner and Ìyá-àgbà, an elderly woman) refuse to pick any more passengers and later turn out to be kidnappers. She narrowly escapes from the bush into the expressway around Ìdọ̀fìàn in her undies only. Most motorists dodge her until Ọládélé and his friend Ọláwùmí pass by. They pick her up, drive back to Ìdọ̀fìàn to make a police report and then drop her at Osogbo.

Back at the hostel, Mojere narrates her kidnapping ordeal and the cause of her earlier depression to Funmi. A week after Atere has persuaded Mojere to abort her 2-month pregnancy, she visits him unannounced and meets 4-month-pregnant Sìk ẹ́, the woman he wants to marry, living with him. Though he was absent and Mojere waited till his arrival, the women didn't fight each other (maybe because both were in delicate states of health, one pregnant and the other recovering from an abortion). Funmi and Mojere discuss Mojere's nice Christian exes (Johnson and Ebenezer) and some nasty Muslim ones (some of whom were worse than Atere).

Mojere and Oladele start dating and she gets pregnant. When her parents discover the paternity, they (especially her father, Ayinde) fume. Oladele's parents and uncle visit Mojere's father. Even after recognising them as the relatives of the man who rescued Mojere from kidnappers, Ayinde still insists that Mojere should come back home to marry a Muslim after giving birth and handing over the child to Dele. Mojere gives birth to a son , Ibidapo, in Oladele's house. Kebijo, her mother's friend, comes to say that Ayinde is still adamant. Mojere returns home, leaving her child behind, but tells her father she will rather remain single forever in his house than marry any other man. Kolawole, Ayinde's older brother, later arrives and
preaches religious tolerance, citing the Holy Koran. Among other things, he said," Prophet Muhammad said God commands him to believe in Jesus as God's prophet sent to guide mankind... A Christian wife of a Muslim man is allowed to continue practising her religion but the children must follow their father's religion. Please allow Mojere to continue being a Muslim. My brother , please accept God's plan over Mojere's life and pray for her. My son, Rọ́pò, too wants to marry Felicia. Do we want her parents too to object?". Ayinde is won over and consents to the marriage.

Oladele's and Mojere's marriage is done in stages : letter writing between the couple's family heads, introduction, payment of bride price and bringing of traditional marriage gifts, and finally the statutory marriage at a local government secretariat. The registry official informed them that it is bigamy to marry someone else (even if it is under Native Law and Custom) while married under the Act.
During their wedding reception, a woman is caught begging with "twins" by the mother of one of the babies. The beggar explains that she rents babies for her begging business from day-care centres (who normally tell her where not to go, to avoid being seen by the real mothers). She was caught this time and taken away by the police (along with the child's mother and the mother's friends) for further investigations.

After many disappointments, Mojere too has become an "ìyàwó alárédè"(
a woman married under the Act), whose husband must not bring home another wife unless she dies or is divorced.

¤

OTHER CHARACTERS (NOT IN THE FAMILY TREE ABOVE)

FUNMI: Mojere's friend.
OLAWUMI & TUNDE: Oladele's friends.
DEREBA, DIONA , IYA AGBA : kidnappers.
KEBIJO : Mojere's mother's friend and Mojere's confidant.
MAMA SEGUN, OLUSOLA, IYABO, NIYI, ADEYEMO, DEJI, FUNNSO: other university students.
MORIRE: Muslim cleric who prayed at the reception.
ALUFAA OPEYEMI: Christian cleric who prayed at the reception.
BODUNDE: the court official who conducted the registry wedding.
FISAYO: marriage registry secretary.
IFAGBEMI : chairman at the wedding reception.
ADETUTU: chairwoman at the wedding reception.

"Kòkúmọ́ ọmọ ọ̀dọ̀ àgbà" ( a play by Àkòfẹ́ Adéníyì).

 OTHER CHARACTERS NOT IN THE FAMILY TREE  PICTURE.

ÀKÀNGBÉ:  Ọlátidé's friend.
KÍKẸ́LỌMỌ : Akangbe's wife.
ATINÚKẸ́ : Abeni's friend.
OLÓRÍAWO: the king's herbalist.
FÁBÍYÌÍ , AWÓKÚNLÉ: other herbalists in the play.
JAGUN, Ẹ̀Ẹ̀KẸRIN, ALÁSÀ, ọ̀TUN,AJÍRọ́BA, AMÒFIN Mọ́GÀJÍ: chiefs.
KÉBÉ:the king's messenger.
 ỌLÁWÙMÍ: Kokumo's friend.
AJÉLABÍ:businessman.
FỌLÁKẸ́ : Otun's wife.
WÚRÀỌLÁ: Jagun's wife.

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

THE PLOT

ACT 1

SCENE 1 :  Àbẹ̀ní visits her 30-year-old son, Ọlátidé, and advises him
to get married and give her a grandchild.

SCENE 2: When his friend, Àkàngbé (who is married with children at the
same age), later arrives to take him to a beer parlour, he refuses.

SCENE 3: Akangbe goes to the beer parlour alone and drinks so much
that he misbehaves and is arrested but later released.

ACT 2

SCENE 1:  Olatide has married Adenrele but their first son
(Ọlákùlẹ́hìn) dies in infancy.

SCENE 2: Three years later, they are yet to have another child.
Olatide vists Awokunle , who says Adenrele will soon get pregnant.

SCENE 3: She has a new baby, whom Abeni names Kòkúmọ́ (" he will not
die again").

SCENE 4:  At the modest naming ceremony, no alcohol is served so
Akangbe goes to Ìyá Gbajúmọ̀ ( the beer parlour woman who got him
arrested earlier) after eating his food.

ACT 3

SCENE 1:  Kokumo starts living with Abeni at 3 years of age. At 5
years of age, he starts school at Primary 2 because of his performance
at the admission interview.

SCENE 2: Five years later, he is appointed the "Senior Boy" of the
school. That same day, he and his friend Olawumi see a purse
containing 10 000 naira on the road on their way home. Kokumo takes
the money to the police station and the owner turns out to be Olorì (=
Queen) Adébísí. The king decides to sponsor his education to the
university level, have him at the palace and give his parents a house.
Queen Adebisi feels it is too much but the king overrules her
objection.

SCENE 3:  She tells Kokumo to wash her children's clothes with his,
among other household chores, and must not report to the king. On the
6th day of his arrival, she tells him to stop wasting electricity by
reading at night. He replies, " Please, Ma, it's because household
chores prevented me from reading in the evening after school hours".
Kábíyèsí (= "the king") overhears them and warns her against
maltreating the boy.

SCENE 4:  Queen Adebisi  consults a herbalist (Fábíyìí) to kill Kokumo
for outshining her children (though he teaches them at home). Fabiyi
gives her a poison to put in his food and a charm that makes whoever
steps across it mad till death. After serving the children's food, the
king calls Queen Adebisi (who tells the children not to eat before her
return). While the other children wait,  Adeleke (the crown prince)
gets impatient, eats the wrong food and dies. Queen Adebisi steps
across the charm while rushing back and runs mad.

Some chiefs suspect Kokumo  until Oloriawo consults the oracle and
reveals the queen's atrocities.

ACT 4

SCENE 1: Kokumo, now a medical doctor, refuses to abort a 3-month
pregnancy for Ajisafe and his girlfriend, Bolatito.

 SCENE 2: The king gives his daughter Àsàkẹ́ in marriage to Kokumo and
the marriage is blessed with children.

 SCENE 3: Kokumo assembles all the town's herbalists to cure his
mother-in-law, Queen Adebisi. Only Fabiyi is understandably able to
cure her and gets the monetary reward. However, robbers ambush him,
beat him up and take all the money.

 SCENE 4 : The king dies without any surviving son so Kokumo is made
the new king of Ayéwùmí.


          ACT 5

SCENE 1: Kokumo consults with his chiefs on ways of moving the town
forward. Among other things, he offers free land to any indigene who
wants to build a company in the town.

SCENE 2:   Ajelabi is the first indigene to come. He wants to build a
cocoa-processing company and the king tells him to choose any parcel
of land he likes. The land Ajelabi chooses belongs to Jagun , who
insists on selling the land or getting some of the bribe he thinks
Ajelabi has given the king.

SCENE 3:  Jagun plots with Otun and Alasa to get Kokumo dethroned. He
alleges that Kokumo has collected a 10 000 naira bribe from Ajelabi
and is also having an affair with Otun's wife. Otun and Alasa refuse
to come out as witnesses. Jagun loses his chieftaincy title to
Ajelabi.

¤

Fibroid surgery and the recovery process

 In preparation for the surgery, you will be given an enema to clear your
bowels. A catheter will also be fixed into your urethra (to help you
urinate during the surgery and a few days afterwards ). Most surgeries
are
done under spinal anaesthesia (where only your abdominal region is numbed
through an injection into the epidural space via the muscles of your back)
rather than general anaesthesia (where your whole system is shut down and
you are made to breathe through a ventilator). This is because spinal
anaesthesia allows the medical team to constantly monitor your pulse and
check your consciousness by chatting you up. A patient under general
anaesthesia can easily die during surgery and never wake up without anyone
knowing, since most wake up only 12 or more hours after the surgery. It is
said that the slightest movement during the spinal injection leads to
inability to walk for life but my anaesthetist dispelled the notion and I
never had cause to move because my injection was painless.( Please
play it safe by not moving, to prevent stories that touch the heart.)
The hospital
gown will be tied to the drip stands across your chest , leaving only your
head and shoulders on one side and your lower body on the other side for
the surgery. A brush will be used to smear a cream on your bare skin from
the chest down to demobilise you , preventing you from moving your body and
interfering with the surgery. To remove the fibroids, the following layers
will be cut open : the abdominal skin, the muscle, fascia, peritoneum and
uterine wall .Throughout the surgery (and for days afterwards), you will be
taking in liquids through drips and urinating through the catheter into the
urine bag (to be emptied when full into bed pans by the nurses). Water is
life.

After the surgery, you will experience surgical pains (as the anaesthetics
wear off). The pains will be intense and continuous for the first 12 hours
and gradually ease off over the next few days. [ No woman can escape the
curse God placed on Eve. If you choose a Caesarean Section to avoid labour
pains, you will experience your own pains after the surgery. Even if you
don't have a child, you will undergo fibroid surgery and experience its
pains]. You will be told to lie on your back without lifting your head (or
get 5 days' headache) for the first 12 hours. After the first 12 hours , I
took my first sip of water and was allowed to sit up on the bed. You won't
be allowed to eat for the first 24 hours so that you won't have to defecate
and get up from the bed. But you will take in water through drips and later
orally and urinate through the catheter into the urine bag.

The second day, I was led to the bathroom in the morning ,bathed by a
nurse and allowed to
take tea and liquid pap. On the 3rd day,I walked round the premises . The
urine bag was removed, allowing me to try urinating normally through the
catheter into the toilet for a few hours before the catheter and the belly
plaster were removed. I was discharged from the hospital on the fourth day.


How should you take care of your body after you have been discharged from
the hospital? These tips will help.

1. Soak a piece of cotton wool in methylated spirit,squeeze out excess
spirit into a container for later use and use the wool to wipe clean the
surface of the surgical incision (in one direction only, not back and
forth)  about every 2 hours.
  Use a mirror to see the incision clearly during wiping . Don't
bother your caregivers with this little task; let them concentrate on
heavier tasks like fetching and carrying.

2. Don't scrub or peel away any scab (the hard covering formed on a wound
as it heals). Otherwise, you may scrub away both the scab and the healthy
skin developing under it. The scab will dry up and fall away by itself once
the skin underneath is fully developed.

3. If you accidentally break a scab and bleeding starts from that spot,
don't wipe away the blood (or more blood will ooze out). Let the blood form
a new scab over the spot.

4. Cover the incision (with nylon tied round your waist) when bathing , to
prevent soaking and opening up the incision.

5. The stitches will be removed by your doctor once the incision has been
covered by pink skin throughout its length. However, the holes left behind
by the removed stitches must be protected from water. Therefore , continue
to wipe the holes (and the incision line) with methylated spirit and
protect them from water until they heal.

6. After the holes heal (and there is no scab or hole on the incision
line), you can bathe your whole body without covering up any part. However,
wash the incision area gently with your hands and soap only. The pink skin
or ridge is too delicate for any hard sponge. 🔯* After your incision has
been fully covered with pink skin, stop wiping it with methylated
spirit ; it is unnecessary. The "branches" linking the
suture holes to the incision line will be the first to shrivel away. The
outside borders of the pink, hairless ridge will gradually become normal
skin (with its tiny hairs), until the belly is left with a very thin scar
or none at all.

7.  Keep constipation at bay by drinking a lot of water and eating fruits,
vegetables and fibre-rich foods. Stay away from junk foods and drinks.
Doing this will help prevent the development of new fibroids and also keep
a host of other diseases at bay.

8. Even after your incision has closed (with pink skin), don't lift
anything heavier than 2.5 kg (or 2.5 litres of water) or bend down with
your fingers below the knee (e.g. to pick something from the floor, wash
your legs,etc) for the first 3 months after the surgery. The inner layers
of the incision (between your skin and your womb) also need to heal. *
Don't eat or drink more than that amount (2.5 kg or litres) at a time.
Taking small meals frequently is better than burdening your body with heavy
meals or a lot of water.

9. Walking and lying on your back are safe exercises you can do (from the
moment you are allowed to take your first walk) to tone up the excess flab
in your belly after fibroid removal.

10. If your hair is coarse (e.g. African virgin hair) and you don't want to
straighten it with chemicals, cut it short. Combing long tough hair can be
too stressful for you at this time. You won't need a second haircut since
you will be strong enough for hairdressing in 6 months.

11. After the third post-surgery month, you can bend down to wash your
feet, do the laundry and other chores but don't carry items that are too
heavy for you. GRADUALLY increase the weights you carry, adding an
additional kg (or litre) per month, and see how your body reacts. Try other
activities (such as using a sewing machine) gradually the same way. Listen
to your body. If an activity sounds too strenuous, stop it for now and try
it again in the next 2 weeks.

12. Be careful about lifting young children. Most children weigh about
3 kg at birth, 7 kg at 6 months, 10 kg at 1 year, 12 kg at 2, 15 kg at
3, 16 kg at 4, 19 kg at 5, etc. Walk and play with them but don't lift
too much weight too soon.

13.Avoid riding on rickety roads to avoid upsetting your uterine
lining and seeing blood in the wrong time of your cycle. This lesson
will also protect you from a miscarriage when pregnant. Walk instead
or find a better route.

14. Don't stress yourself unnecessarily. It is better to fetch 60
litres of water in 12 5-litre trips than in 6 10-litre trips or 5
12-litre trips. Don't always carry the maximum weight you have safely
carried before; it may be safe to carry that weight once or twice but
not on a regular basis. Spread apart your chores. Get help whenever
you can (even if you have to beg your worst enemy), rather than injure
yourself. NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER UNDERGONE
SURGERY. YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE IT EASY THROUGHOUT LIFE.

NOTE: The above tips are based on MY experiences. Yours may be different (
based on the size and location of the fibroids, extent of the surgical
cut,etc) . Therefore, consult your surgeon for specific instructions.

Missing person: Adewale ADEBOYE

Mr Adewale ADEBOYE has been missing since May 12, 2011 (at almost 21).

HEIGHT  : 5' 10" .
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English and Yoruba.
COMPLEXION : Chocolate.
TRIBAL MARKS: None.
LAST-KNOWN ADDRESSES: (a) Oke-Ola Line 1, Modakeke, Osun State [his residence]; (b)Alhaji Adejumo Shopping Complex, Opposite Beacon Junction, Ondo Road, Modakeke, Osun State [where he ran a barbing salon].

He was a student of the Faculty of Agriculture , Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife before he dropped out (his matriculation number being ANS/2008/002).

Anybody with useful information about his whereabouts should  please call or text  +2347055751407 , send a message to https://www.facebook.com/modupeore.enaohwo  , or contact the nearest police station.

May your children and other loved ones never get lost. Amen.Thanks.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Fólúṣọ́ Adébóyè" <foluso.adeboye@gmail.com>
Date: Apr 17, 2023 10:54 AM
Subject: Missing person
To: <emodupeore@gmail.com>
Cc:

"Violence" (a novel by Festus Iyayi).

The novel discusses how the rich oppress the poor and force them to pay
violence with violence. There are several cases of oppression in the novel.

Idemudia and his wife ,Adisa , live in a mud house in Benin City, Edo
State, Nigeria. They often have to go hungry and she feels he is not trying
hard enough. Idemudia has had a rough childhood with a polygamous father
who couldn't pay his school fees (making him drop out of secondary school)
and eventually chased Idemudia's mother out with all her children. He can't
find a profitable job in the city. Married 5 years earlier, he has left his
and Adisa's 3-year-old only child (Ogbodu) behind in the village for his
mother to feed.

Idemudia is wondering where to go one day when a Mercedes Benz car runs
into the gutter in front of his house. He helps the wealthy owners (Obofun
and his wife, Queen) get the car out. Queen requests for people who can
help her offload 1 500 bags of cement from 3 trailers, and Idemudia and his
friends jump at the offer. At the end of the day, he gets 5 naira.

Soon the effects of the strenuous work begin to tell on him : he becomes
very ill. There aren't enough beds at the University Hospital so they are
referred to the Ogbe Hospital. Adisa is wondering how to get food and drugs
for her husband when Obofun walks in and alleges that Idemudia has stolen
some bags of cement. After Obofun discovers the truth, he tries to have an
affair with Adisa. She refuses at first but gives in when she can't pay
Idemudia's hospital bills. Unknown to them, Queen sees them and decides to
have her own back.

Adisa later realises she needn't have sold herself ; Idemudia's friends
have contributed the money. She tells her husband that she got the money
(given her by Obofun) from her aunt, Salome (also called Yasha).

Later, Idemudia and his colleagues demand better pay from Queen. Idemudia
is chosen as their foreman. When he goes to Queen's house to negotiate with
her, she tries to bribe him with her body. (That's her usual business
style, her way of getting free supplies for her supermarket,etc from Iriso
and others. Obofun pretends not to know but sleeps with other men's wives
in revenge. Having stashed all his resources, gained from bribery and
corruption, into Queen's account, he can't afford to divorce her. Their
children too are morally corrupt; Lilian is "raped" in her parents' house
by 3 schoolboys without anyone hearing her scream. She only starts
screaming on her mother's arrival). When he refuses, she tells him about
Adisa's affair with Obofun (to hurt him).

As Idemudia returns home, he decides to kill his wife. Adisa doesn't deny
(but weeps in silence)when he confronts her with his discovery. Then he
realises that she has probably done this to pay his hospital bills ( just
as he regularly sells his blood at hospitals to feed both of them). So the
woman is forgiven and the matter forgotten.

OTHER CASES OF OPPRESSION IN THE NOVEL

1. At the Freedom Motel (owned by Obofun), delicious leftover food (which
includes meat, jollof rice, beans and dòdò) are given to pigs and dogs
while human beings like Idemudia go hungry (pages 18-20).

2. Queen and many other employers of labour are reluctant to pay their
labourers or increase their wages but are eager to increase their workload.
Dissenters are often sacked. (pages 17, 35-38, 153, 234-248, 250-251).

3. "Government concentrated on building hotels instead of hospitals in the
midst of so much disease"(page 55). Two accident victims are referred from
the University Hospital to the Ogbe Hospital (where they die the same day)
because the man who brought them there has disappeared (pages 58-59). Many
patients share beds or sleep on the floor, if they are lucky not to be
turned back from the hospital.

4. Adisa's ignorance makes her cover up feverish Idemudia (page 41),
instead of cooling his body with water and buying food with the 5 naira.
Maybe he would have recovered without having to go to the hospital to incur
a 23-naira debt.

5. Idemudia's bedmate (who is from Asaba) at Ogbe Hospital has a terrible
cough and shouts "Anuoha" after each cough (pages 59-60,76-78). Before he
dies (as an "old" man of 45!), he tells Idemudia how his wife Ifeanya was
gang-raped to death, his daughter Itetah kidnapped and his son Anuoha shot
dead, leading to his loneliness and ill health. His supposed journalist
relative, Mr Iyokoh, refuses to identify or claim his dead body or pay his
hospital bills (pages 141-148).

6. While people like Idemudia suffered in the city, village life was also
very rough. Though village people had enough food to eat (from their farms)
and lived in their own houses, farm work often aged them quickly and
shortened their life expectancies (pages 71-72, 283-284).

7. Idemudia and Adisa (at Govt Class 4 and Secondary Modern 2 respectively)
are more formally educated than Obofun and Queen (at Standard 4 and Primary
School respectively) (pages 71-72,283). Queen educated herself informally
afterwards (page 88). Yet, the latter couple are wealthier due to his
father's money (page 72) and the money he got from fraud while serving in
various Ministries (page 29).

8. Papa Jimoh (Idemudia's neighbour) is arrested for an offence committed
by his colleague, a fellow driver. He is locked up for 2 days and 3 nights
with 39 other people in a 12-by-10-feet police cell which has only a
double-decker bed. They all urinate on the floor, pass faeces into a
general bucket and take turns to sit on the bed. The company doesn't
compensate him after his innocence has been proved (pages 79-84).

 9.
One Christmas, Adisa "had bought and prepared a chicken that had died
from an illness...because there had been no money" (page 67).

10.  A play (also called "Violence") ,written by a former patient and
shown at Ogbe Hospital's 25th anniversary, shows how suffering pushes
people into crime. A 38-year-old labourer with 3 kids who gets 14
naira pay per month is charged to court for robbery with violence. So
are a schoolteacher (whose 2 former students embezzled money as
eminent personalities and were retired with full benefits) and a
jobless man (who graduated from secondary school 16 years earlier and
gets 3 naira per day when he is lucky to get menial jobs). The Defence
Counsel in the play said," acts of violence are committed when a man
is denied the opportunity of being educated, of getting a job, of
feeding himself and his family properly, of getting medical attention
cheaply, quickly and promptly. ... When such men of poor and limited
opportunities react,they are only (in a certain measure ) answering
violence with violence"(page 185). See also page 243, where violence
is defined as consisting "not of physical , brutal assault but of a
slow and gradual debasement of himself, his pride as a man". The
judgmental judge's death sentence on all the accused persons is
rendered null and void by the news of his earlier dismissal from
service for bribery and corruption.

................................MINOR CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL................

1. MR PAPIROS CLERIDES = the thin Greek site engineer employed by
Queen against her own labourers.

2. LILIAN = one of Queen's 3 daughters.

3. ESIE = Queen's 2nd son.

4. AUNTY YASHA (SALOME) is Adisa's aunt, who is separated from her
husband (who used to beat her up after being drunk, neglected her and
her children and even borrowed money in her name). She fends for
herself and her children from the proceeds of prostitution. As a
result of her bitter experience, she often encourages Adisa to leave
Idemudia and rent a room outside like her, until she learns that he
often sells his blood to feed her (pages 46-48, 154-157,254).

5 - 10 . PATRICK , OMOIFO , BERNARD, OSARO, ANYAM, IFEANYI =
Idemudia's friends and fellow labourers. Please don't confuse IFEANYI
with IFEANYA (Anuoha's mother).

11.  RICHARD = Queen's houseboy.

12-13.  PAPA & MAMA JIMOH =  Idemudia's and Adisa's neighbours at Owode Street.

14.  ALUIYA  =  Queen's driver.

15.  IRISO = a Ministry of Agriculture official who gives Queen free
eggs, milk, fish and meat for her hotel in return for sex .

16. DALA = Iriso's friend.

17. MR ERNEST IYOKOH = a journalist mentioned by Anuoha's father as
his relative.

18. THE "OLD" MAN = Anuoha's father and Idemudia's bedmate at Ogbe Hospital.

¤