When Lanre Animashaun’s wife delivered Nigeria’s first Octuplets at Lagos Island Maternity, he thought he was dreaming. In a daze, he heard the voice of doctors and nurses congratulate him on making history by fathering eight babies at a go!

“You are so lucky, Mr Animashaun.they are very beautiful babies”, a tall doctor with warm eyes enthused

“..and very healthy too”, another with thick glasses chipped in

“Congratulation, your new name should be Okunrinmeta…the man with the strength and verve of three agile men!!,”a short nursing sister who has short jerry curls joked, still basking in the euphoria of achieving this medical feat on African soil.

Even in his confused state,Lanre knew he ought thank the medical ingenuities who saved his wife’s life like any responsible man should. So he opened his mouth but was surprised at the sound of deep croaking laughter that came of there:

“Hehehehheeeheeehehahahhahaahhahahaahaha!!!”.The laughing voice rang out clear and loud startling the medical team who stared at him amazed as he continued laughing hard till fat drops of tears splatter down his laughing cheeks. Nearby, a cleaner who was dusting an empty leather chair by the window stopped his work and smiled as he commented”..Eeya..De man happy no be small…”.One disapproving stare from the medical director stopped him from saying more and he quickly resumed dusting. The medical team continued watching the young man who is now holding his stomach as he laughed on. When a virile young man like this suddenly retort to hearty laughter in the face of serious issues, then all is not well. Several decades in the medical field have taught each one of them that.Each mused if the young father was suffering from schrophrenia or some sorts of brain disorder.Feeling the startled eyes of the medical team,Lanre Animashaun ordered his stubborn mind to stop laughing or can a man be laughing when his heart is totally confused?.Yet his determined mind refused his summon as it ordered his mouth and throat to laugh out at the work of the supernatural who gives a poor “London tailor “like him octuplets while rich couples with million in bank accounts cry for just a child!.Can’t the angels see that he patched cheap clothes for a living?…That his wife, Abike is a petty tomato seller in Oshodi? He commenced another round of laughter but the medical ingenuities have had enough. The tall doctor with warm eyes went up to him and shook him hard

“Are you alright Mr Animashaun?”, he asked concerned

Another round of laughter met his enquiry but the now irritated doctor shook him harder. The laughter subsided gradually and now drained; Lanre slumped into an empty chair, staring pensively into space. After few moments passed, he raised tired eyed feeling really ashamed before speaking:

“I have to go home to pick up some baby clothes and also inform our relatives..I will be back very soon”

Relieved that the young man had finally said something sensible, they allowed him take his leave, watching his slumped back as he walked out of the maternity before they went back to their offices, still very baffled.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As Lanre rode on the okada motor bike to his one room apartment in Ejiwunmi Street,Mushin from Lagos Island Maternity, temptation whispered to him in the breeze slapping his face and like the Nazarene, he rebuked the tempting voice of sin..

When he entered his sparse dingy room, the voice became bolder and clearer. Shaking his head to clear it,Lanre began to pack the cheap clothes he had made for the baby…who would have known there were eight babies in Abike’s womb!.A sharp knock broke the silence and Adamu, his childhood friend entered without invitation. A tall lanky man with a loud voice, Adamu is a” London tailor “like himself .They usually walked together on the streets of Lagos sourcing for customers who would patch cheap clothes for few amounts of money.Today,Adamu spoke with an unusual slurred voice:

“I hear wetin happen”

“Na so we see am o”,Lanre replied pensively

“We tin we go do now”, whispering now

“I no know o..i don die o,dis na slow poison!!”,Lanre sobbed softly

“I pity you ,my friend..How u go fit feed dem?..Ha! wahala don come o”,Adamu joined his friend weeping over looming poverty they could almost touch with their fingers..How would he pay the school fees and feed nine stomach with his petty tailoring business?.After the weeping subsided, the two friends stared pensively for a long time before Lanre heard temptation speaking clearly again. This time, temptation was Adamu’s unusually soft voice:

“I think you should run away till things settle down”, seriously

“What!!!”, he exclaimed feigning surprise

“Yes, run to my hometown in Kaduna. I won’t tell anyone I saw you..My uncle ,Salisu will help you hide”

He brought out folds of naira notes before continuing “this is all i have now with me, go now before you die in poverty”

By now,lanre had stopped feigning surprise.Adamu is his best friend and could read his mind like a book.Quickly,he packed his few clothes into a black polythene bag, avoiding Adamu’s eyes as he took the folded notes including the “No 17,Sabon Gari Market” address Adamu wrote on a slim paper before he ran out heading for the Motor park in Jibowo.He hope he could still catch the Kaduna bound ABC bus before the whole world knows of the “history” the dumb doctors said he just made..!

(C)Oregbemi Olayinka

 

 


- Oregbemi Olayinka Modupe

When Lanre Animashaun’s wife delivered Nigeria’s first Octuplets at Lagos Island Maternity, he thought he was dreaming. In a daze, he heard the voice of doctors and nurses congratulate him on making history by fathering eight babies at a go!

“You are so lucky, Mr Animashaun.they are very beautiful babies”, a tall doctor with warm eyes enthused

“..and very healthy too”, another with thick glasses chipped in

“Congratulation, your new name should be Okunrinmeta…the man with the strength and verve of three agile men!!,”a short nursing sister who has short jerry curls joked, still basking in the euphoria of achieving this medical feat on African soil.

Even in his confused state,Lanre knew he ought thank the medical ingenuities who saved his wife’s life like any responsible man should. So he opened his mouth but was surprised at the sound of deep croaking laughter that came of there:

“Hehehehheeeheeehehahahhahaahhahahaahaha!!!”.The laughing voice rang out clear and loud startling the medical team who stared at him amazed as he continued laughing hard till fat drops of tears splatter down his laughing cheeks. Nearby, a cleaner who was dusting an empty leather chair by the window stopped his work and smiled as he commented”..Eeya..De man happy no be small…”.One disapproving stare from the medical director stopped him from saying more and he quickly resumed dusting. The medical team continued watching the young man who is now holding his stomach as he laughed on. When a virile young man like this suddenly retort to hearty laughter in the face of serious issues, then all is not well. Several decades in the medical field have taught each one of them that.Each mused if the young father was suffering from schrophrenia or some sorts of brain disorder.Feeling the startled eyes of the medical team,Lanre Animashaun ordered his stubborn mind to stop laughing or can a man be laughing when his heart is totally confused?.Yet his determined mind refused his summon as it ordered his mouth and throat to laugh out at the work of the supernatural who gives a poor “London tailor “like him octuplets while rich couples with million in bank accounts cry for just a child!.Can’t the angels see that he patched cheap clothes for a living?…That his wife, Abike is a petty tomato seller in Oshodi? He commenced another round of laughter but the medical ingenuities have had enough. The tall doctor with warm eyes went up to him and shook him hard

“Are you alright Mr Animashaun?”, he asked concerned

Another round of laughter met his enquiry but the now irritated doctor shook him harder. The laughter subsided gradually and now drained; Lanre slumped into an empty chair, staring pensively into space. After few moments passed, he raised tired eyed feeling really ashamed before speaking:

“I have to go home to pick up some baby clothes and also inform our relatives..I will be back very soon”

Relieved that the young man had finally said something sensible, they allowed him take his leave, watching his slumped back as he walked out of the maternity before they went back to their offices, still very baffled.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As Lanre rode on the okada motor bike to his one room apartment in Ejiwunmi Street,Mushin from Lagos Island Maternity, temptation whispered to him in the breeze slapping his face and like the Nazarene, he rebuked the tempting voice of sin..

When he entered his sparse dingy room, the voice became bolder and clearer. Shaking his head to clear it,Lanre began to pack the cheap clothes he had made for the baby…who would have known there were eight babies in Abike’s womb!.A sharp knock broke the silence and Adamu, his childhood friend entered without invitation. A tall lanky man with a loud voice, Adamu is a” London tailor “like himself .They usually walked together on the streets of Lagos sourcing for customers who would patch cheap clothes for few amounts of money.Today,Adamu spoke with an unusual slurred voice:

“I hear wetin happen”

“Na so we see am o”,Lanre replied pensively

“We tin we go do now”, whispering now

“I no know o..i don die o,dis na slow poison!!”,Lanre sobbed softly

“I pity you ,my friend..How u go fit feed dem?..Ha! wahala don come o”,Adamu joined his friend weeping over looming poverty they could almost touch with their fingers..How would he pay the school fees and feed nine stomach with his petty tailoring business?.After the weeping subsided, the two friends stared pensively for a long time before Lanre heard temptation speaking clearly again. This time, temptation was Adamu’s unusually soft voice:

“I think you should run away till things settle down”, seriously

“What!!!”, he exclaimed feigning surprise

“Yes, run to my hometown in Kaduna. I won’t tell anyone I saw you..My uncle ,Salisu will help you hide”

He brought out folds of naira notes before continuing “this is all i have now with me, go now before you die in poverty”

By now,lanre had stopped feigning surprise.Adamu is his best friend and could read his mind like a book.Quickly,he packed his few clothes into a black polythene bag, avoiding Adamu’s eyes as he took the folded notes including the “No 17,Sabon Gari Market” address Adamu wrote on a slim paper before he ran out heading for the Motor park in Jibowo.He hope he could still catch the Kaduna bound ABC bus before the whole world knows of the “history” the dumb doctors said he just made..!

(C)Oregbemi Olayinka

 

 


- Oregbemi Olayinka Modupe