May 6, 2013 — Ajoyo
May 6, 2013 — Ajoyo
The morning is different today. It’s 7am , and I’m glad I did not have to open my eyes earlier. Yes! There’s the sun shining through the window, and I’m still rolling 4 feet across the bed, since my wife occupies the other 3 feet.
I am not going to work today, so I start the day reiterating my frustrations for the umpteenth time to my wife, who’s looking at me through her swollen eyes. I begin by calculating the cost of the hundred litres of petrol we consume every week. Of course, we both know the figure by heart, after living in an area without electricity for eight months. Who should be complaining? I brought her to this part of Ibadan in the first place, but she loved the convenience of living alone in a well-secured bungalow without neighbors who might be kids who might peep when we make love, or parents who would want to know everything about the other family. Here we are with no electricity. So much for these neighbors we never had!
I’m upset with the estate agent in charge of the house we are moving to. She ought to have told us earlier that the house would not be ready by now. To think we had paid for a house with neighbors, who did not greet when we went for inspection; must be terribly full of themselves. Not surprised though; the average educated Nigerian has a swollen idea of their rotten personae until someone bigger shows up. I am an educated Nigerian? God help me.
It is now 8.30am, and I wonder why my wife has to assist her consultant with medical research, when she should be on holiday as I am. How much is the pay anyway? Inflation may be dropping, but being the only income earner in your home can be a tough job. That’s reality.
‘What time are you expected in the hospital today?’. I ask.
‘Can we get to our morning devotion?’ She smiles at me knowing I could rant all day.
‘Yes we can! Let us skip to the healing part, and pray for goodluck in Nigeria!’
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By day Ajoyo Sowande works with a bank as an account officer because he likes to talk people through their problems, and talk them into letting go of their money for the bank to manage. By night, he dreams of telling stories through pictures. In reality, he writes and directs stage plays in church, and posts stories on his blog, The Passion Chronicles.