The Words Finesse

●Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim is a Nigerian poet and playwright. He writes from Gombe state, Nigeria.

A beautiful term has been coined for women- a baby machine. Women have been subjected to discrimination across all ages and it is still waging strong. A woman had her duties outlined for her once she is born. She graduates from a daughter to a wife and then a mother. As a wife she can only be considered as being fulfilled when she performs her duty of procreation and this brings to mind the story of Nnu Ego in Buchi Emecheta's "The Joys of Motherhood", what was expected of her, how she went about her ordeals and how she became a perfect example of a baby machine.

Men have a house but a woman turns it into a home, and as such they are to be celebrated. It is quite erroneous to assume that the only thing a woman is useful for is procreation and men are simply to provide for the family. You only know the value of something only when you have lost it, don’t lose your wife before you realize she is much more than a baby machine because you will be shocked when you find out how tiresome it is to care for those children you dumped on her.

However, men are not the only one guilty of subjugating their spouse, some women are too, because it has been said that people will make of you what you’ve made of yourself. It is not surprising that the moment some women get married, they turn themselves into old women around the house, even though they are still in their mid or late twenties. Perhaps these kind of women are of the opinion that their youthfulness ends the moment they get married and enrolled themselves into the category of old women. Their sole aim in life is then to get pregnant and fulfil their responsibility. As a woman, your youthfulness continues in matrimony, let your husband see traces of the woman he chose to marry out of the many out there.

One of the mistakes women make is to ignore their husband once they become mothers, deliberately turning themselves into a baby machine. Many a husband has complained of being ignored for his child by his wife in the sense that she gives her attention to the child while neglecting the father. This has been a cause of rift in many families, where the husband gets jealous of his own child because his wife has made him feel unwanted. Some women are only concerned with having children because of the belief which has been drummed into them since childhood as being what was expected of them.

Women are not to be regarded as baby machines, not by their parents, themselves nor their husbands. The function of a woman in a home is more than taking care of the house, her husband and children. The belief that has set women apart for discrimination must be rejected and the men should see other importance of their wives apart from procreation while the wife should know how important she is in the house and that her duties is not limited to her children. 

Oppression occurs in different forms and it is hypocritical to blame someone for it when you are practising it as well. A society where discrimination is enthroned will find it impossible to grow. Take care of that helper in your home and those wonderful issues.

● Yetunde Lois Ogunshola is a Nigerian, living in the city of Ilorin. She is a University undergraduate of the prestigious University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria, where she is studying English, with her specialty in Literature. She is an author and has published some stories online.

It was a darling outing for artistes and art enthusiasts last Saturday in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria, as a house of young talented 'gods' hosted poets, spoken word and entertainment artistes to a memorable session of becoming the gods on MIC and connecting with one another afterwards for future opportunities and greatness.

The Open MIC and Writers' Connect sessions organized by Pen Warriors Inc was a well charged synergetic scene that saw the convergence of young stars in the arts and literary space as well as in the music and entertainment industry, showcasing their god-given talents to the delight of all and sundry at the event.

The Open Mic session handled by Penwarlord and an upcoming model, Sophia Elias, captured the young talents seizing the free moment to perform their pieces that revolved around various themes such as love, lust, politics, youth, tradition, nature, emotion, life, city, nation, reformation and natural phenomenon.

The event which recorded impressively dynamic arts pours and musical flows from all the young talented performers, also welcomed an inspiration and motivational talk by a young storyteller,  Stephen Adedoyin.

Members of Pen Warriors such as Ahmad Saliu Toyin (Penwarlord); Jalaludeen Assayouti (Jalal Poetry); Sakeenah Jatto (Tranquil Pen); Muib Shefiu (Sagacious Ink); and Lateefat Suleiman (Golden Thought) were not left out in airing their views on the MIC, through poetry and spoken word.

Members of Pen Warriors Inc

Other poets and spoken word artistes that graced the event with their series of mind-blowing poetry and spoken word were: Abdulhafeez T. Oyewole (Prince H.T.O); Umar Saidu Isa (The Dynamic Galvanizer); Shehu Abdulsalam Aladodo; Akanbi Habeeb Oluwadamilare (Damilare Mapper); Koyum Kolade Afolabi (KK Awesome); Ahmed Durojaye; Bamishe Ibrahim; Sakeenah Abdulkabir;  Optimistic Smart; Aminat Abdulsalam (Talented Sense); Naimah Raji; and Awoseni Adegoke Israel.

There was also distinct musical performance from: a singer, drummer and a musical producer- Temitayo Daini (Bass Billy); an artiste- Borlex; a rapper- Jam Shan aka Gangstar; and an artiste- Ayantola Ayobami Ahmed (H-wise).

Ealier speaking on behalf of Pen Warriors Incorporation, one of the organisers, Miss Sakeenah Jatto, thanked everyone for making time out to attend their one of a kind event, adding that it takes courage, love and kindness to write, rise and come forward to celebrate with fellow humans.

She said that the event was conceived by their organisation as a way of preserving arts, saying, "We are doing this in an Aristotelian way: Art for Art Sake."

"Regardless of the resources on ground, we are breaking bounds. Solely for one purpose: so that our voice and your voice will be heard," she added.

Angle shot of audience at the event

According to Jatto, in reaching out to the world around them, some people don't need much, they only need somebody to show them love to be able to be on top of their world.

Speaking about Pen Warriors Inc, another member, Mr Muib Shefiu said Pen Warriors Inc is a writing house that consists of distinguished like minds with the intention of reinvigorating literary creativity through honing writers' skills and providing guidance in the literary world.

The writers organization headed by Ahmad Saliu Toyin (PenWarLord), has Jalaludeen Assayouti (Jalal Poetry); Sakeenah Jatto (Tranquil Pen); Lateefat Suleiman (Golden Thought); Muib Shefiu (Sagacious Ink); Aisha Muhammad (Umairah) and Zainab Oluwakemi Adewale (Chemodiva) as members.

Below are other shots from the event.

Wole Adedoyin is the President of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (SYNW) and the National Publicity Secretary, South, of the Association of Nigerian Authors  (ANA). In this interview with ABDULHAFEEZ T. OYEWOLE, he speaks on his writing  and how it becomes  the source of his selfless service to the growth and development of literature especially among young Nigerians.