THE woMAN

In my primary and secondary school days, the Nigerian economy was doing better than half of the world's economies, so many foreign professionals trooped to Nigeria and became teachers to eke a living. 

One fond memory of those days was when the pupils in my class were lined up by our Indian teacher, who asked each of us what we wanted to be "when we grow up".

Almost everybody said: 

"Doctor"

"Soldier"

"Teacher"

"Farmer"

"Simple Servant" 🤣

One of the smallest girls in the class, Nwukabu Luka, answered, "Mother", and the whole class laughed at her. 

Now, this didn't register until I was in my final year at the university when my friends and I casually asked each other where we saw ourselves in 10 years, and almost all the ladies said, "married with kids" or just "in my husband's house". 

I have always assumed that any lady that is focused on marriage is shallow and without ambition. That all they want is to get married, have kids, and proudly bear a man's name. This is their calling in life. 

Well, I was wrong. My little cousin Nafeesah changed all that when she said that the ladies aren't the problem but society which does not recognize their importance unless they got married to a man. 

Nafeesa already told me, time and again, that marriage isn't for her. Like me, she doesn't want to have to tolerate another adult's excesses or be bound to someone whose level of intellect, understanding, or exposure is shy of hers. 

I have never seen a lady who gets turned off by marriage until Nafeesa opened up to me after reading an article I wrote, that MARRIAGE IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY. 

All the laws that doctor human existence do not favor women. 

Men were smart enough to create rules which are still being used to indoctrinate and brainwash females to accept that they can never be complete without a man's stamp of approval. 

A word like FEMINISM has been redefined to mean unsubmissive and stubborn. 

Religious laws and teachings, that were supposed to be fair to all humans, relegated women to the background and enslaved them to men to be used and discarded whenever they asked to take part in deciding what concerned them and their wellbeing. Men even dictate the morality of women's dressing. "The man knows best, what a woman needs". 🙄

When Hajiya Gambo Sawaba joined politics in the 50s, she was called names, imprisoned by men, raped, and tortured because she challenged men, not God. 

The likes of Sarah Jibrin and Mama Taraba faced the same name-calling by men who believed that women should not participate in politics as men are the only ones chosen by God to rule and make all decisions. 

The turnout of the 2023 General elections showed that women voters outnumbered the men 4-1, yet they were less than 5% women on the ballots. 

They are only good for voting and not to be voted for because of certain religious doctrines that are only allowed to be interpreted by men, said so.

Nwukabu Luka grew up to become an educated mother of educated children, and is now working assiduously to make her husband a Member of the Taraba State House of Assembly. 

I did not become a doctor, and neither did any of us become anything we told our Indian teacher that day, except the little girl we laughed at. 

If the rules that guide everything we do aren't redefined, women would always accept that marriage is more important than individual rise to fame and glory. 

Now all they worry about is the horrifying Biological Clock and the need to have kids early, not minding whether they are successful, happy, or fulfilled in life. 

But as a man, what do I even know? 

Let me just shut up and allow the rulers of the galaxy to continue milking and using the "termite soldiers" to build their great empires. 

Writing history that only glorifies the one who sits on the throne and forgets the ones who died to put them there. 

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL DICTATOR'S DAY. 

©JBZ_2023