The Plight of the Girl Child

          The Plight of the Girl Child

                    (a short story)

    

                  By Lene Ododomu

Chief Ogunde is a very wealthy palmwine tapper in Avon village. He has obtained three chieftaincy titles, including the highest title which has only obtained by two prominent  people  in the land. He has two children, one male and one female and it can never become a problem to sponsor the two of them in school even to the ph.d level because he has the money. He is the first person to build two upstairs in the village and still now nobody has achieved that.

Chief Ogunde only interested on the education of his son, Bamidele and have no interest on the education of the daughter, Ayomide. He got pressure from his wife, Ayomi everyday to support the education of Ayomide but he feels less concern on her going to school. The only thing he will say is that she is a girl and expected to assist the mother for her domestic works and get married.

However, Ayomide's mother was not comfortable with the plan of projecting her as a domestic worker. So she decides giving a support to Ayomide and make sure that she achieve what will give her value.

Ayomide is just five years old and all the time she has spent while living on the earth as a child, she is has never touch the ground of learning. The mother called her into her room and sat her down. She then announced her plan to support her education and also made an unexpected promise by supporting her education to the level of her choice. She could not hold her joy and started thanking her mother. This excitement of Ayomide motivated the mother and happy for the fact that she has uncaged her from flying in the sky like a rodent as Ayomide always wanted.

In the following day, Ayomi brought Ayomide to her new school named Federal Government Primary School, Agon and registered her. When they tested  her knowledge, it became a surprise to everyone including the mother that she has never attended a school  since her birth, but she passed all the questions given to her. 

To test more of her knowledge, the head mistress of her school gave her a question of primary six students but she also answered it correctly. Mrs. Funke, the head mistress put her on scholarship which made the mother so happy. Meanwhile, Bamidele who the father only wanted to go to school has repeated class like four times.

When Chief Ogunde got the news of Ayomide's achievement in school, he was not happy and still not in support of her going to school. So what he did was to send her out of his house and never want her to return.

Ayomide stopped going to school because she had no place to stay and eat. This happened because the mother went to her paternal home to see her parents. But luckily, the head mistress got the news from someone who is very close to Ayomide after she stops seeing her in school for two weeks.

Mrs. Funke asked: " Why are men this heartless? Is it because Ayomide is a girl child that is why he is treating her this way? Did God separate Eve from staying with  Adam in the Garden of Edden because she was a woman?", she was already crying when asking these questions but stopped when she happily saw Ayomide in her office, and she was brought by her class teacher who saw her crying in the street. So Mrs. Funke adopted her after reporting to the police.

It should have became a serious war and this would have worse than Nigerian civil war of 1966-1970 that's if the mother mistakenly hear about this incident, but sadly she died of snake bite while returning from her journey  home in Agwebe village. 

Mrs. Funke was informed about the news immediately it happened but decided not to disclose it to Ayomide so that she won't be distracted by it. She also told the staffs and students, including her household not to disclose it.

Before the burial of Ayomi, Mrs. Funke pushed Ayomide into a competition organized by Gani Fawehinmi  Foundation which she came out first  and granted a scholarship to study in Canada. So she was flied out immediately she won the competition.

After the burial of Ayomi, Chief Ogunde could not wait for like five days before replacing his late wife. He disrespected his late wife by getting married to a second wife just one week after her burial. 

Bamidele is still treated in the same way despite his countless times of failure in school because he is a male child and regarded as a first class citizen of the family. The school he attends could not keep his failure any longer because the image of the school is already tarnished, so the school authority made an execution by expelling him out of the school.

After Chief Ogunde was informed about Bamidele's expulsion from school, he sat him down and promised to establish a business for him. He gave him the sum of seventeen million naira to start up the business to sell clothes. He told the son not to have a plan by doing his business in the village, so he rented a big shop for him at Onisha market. 

Two months after, Bamidele visited his father with a news that his shop got burned and he loose everything. At this time, Chief Ogunde could not stand it but collapsed immediately he heard the news. But he was rushed to  the hospital whereby the doctor told his people that is only God that can save him because of the state of his health. He described a chronic disease which was said to have affected his heart.

Ayomide returned to Nigeria after completing her Ph.d in  Canada and with a honor of first class. When she arrives to the airport in Nigeria, she was received by the president for making a good name for her country which has never been brought by a man. She was also appointed as a Minister of Education, and numerous awards were given to her by all the states of the country.

Ayomide was informed for the passed away of her mother. This was done at the suitable time because she is already established and made herself a happy woman. Meanwhile, Mrs. Funke was already old and retired from work. So Ayomide built a house for her in the village and then also relocated her, including the family to Abuja to live in the new house she built for them.

Chief Ogunde was asked to be  transferred to Federal Medical Center in Abuja because of the critical state of his health, but his family doesn't have the money afford the bill..... even to pay the bill of the hospital he is. His second wife divorced him because she can't endure the pain of staying with him. But luckily, Ayomide came to the village just to take her brother to the city and then be told that her father is at the verge of joining his ancestors.

Ayomide at first decided not to show concern as she was badly treated by her father , but Bamidele was crying and begging her which she considered by helping the father.

Immediately Chief Ogunde saw Ayomide in the hospital, he began to cry like a rain of July. She started crying as she joined her father. She immediately paid off the bill of the current hospital and transferred him to the Federal Medical Center in Abuja where he was treated and regained his health. He then ended up saying that he made a regrettable mistake by making  Bamidele his favorite because he is a male child. Nature did not tell the difference that females should be treated inferior before men  because they are weaker venture, but expected to treat as half of a man which without he cannot be completed and that was the purpose of creating Eve.  But humans changed this arithmetic arrangement by nature and start by using it in a wrong way.