Most town folks remember vividly their introduction to Lagos life. So, do I of my first trip to Lagos aged 11 in 1981. Mummy was my mum’s younger sister and she had come to take me to Lagos for my very first holiday away from all I knew – except she was to me, another mum. And so, she was till this August past.
Which aspects of the love and care, the discipline and the unspoken guidance that was there in her conducts and associates should I now dwell? Throughout my undergrad in Unilag in the late eighties, I knew to go home to her whenever I had run low on money and never, not once, did I need to ask.
I leave you to imagine the dreams a young man could conjure up when transported from “ilu oke” into this mesmerizing city and made to feel at home. Safe to say it’s the stuff that sets a young boy on the quest I have been since that period of my life. And I pray, may I leave such an impact on at least one before my time. Mummy’s work here is done and those of us she brought up bear witness that she indeed fought the good fight and kept the race and now has gone to meet her Lord whom she dearly loved. May the Lord comfort all of us she left behind.
OLUSEYI AJAYI – BOSTON