CHILD MARRIAGE

It was one of those days in November at Daura, that you woke and you start wondering why you have to get up from your warm and cozy bed to venture outside. It was a chilly day, the harmattan session was just a month old. Its cold had been biting to the bones. It was a hazy day and the visibility within the dusty town of Daura was very poor due to the thick and dusty harmattan haze that hung ominously on the air like some sword of Damocles. Halimah was returning from the stream where she had gone to fetch water. She had just turned 11 years old some weeks back and she was preparing for her impending marriage coming up the next day.



          Halimah has been engaged to Mallam Isah, a middle aged farmer since she was two weeks old. Their modest compound at the outskirt of town was already wearing a new look for tomorrow’s big occasion. Everywhere had been meticulously swept. All the goats and chicken that use to roam about the compound had been confined to a make shift abode. Fellow extended family members and well wishers alike were busy preparing food that will be used for the marriage celebration tomorrow.

          Halimah met her mother at the entrance to their compound.

          “Why did you stay for so long at the stream? I have told you several times not to be playing on your way to the stream. But you have chosen to ignore me. That is how you will go to your husband’s house and start disgracing yourself and not me”. She ranted at her.

          “Mama, there were so many people at the stream; it was very difficult for me to even fetch the water am carrying”. Halimah replied in her childish voice.

        “Lies, you are always telling me lies, bundles of lies”. Her mother scolded her.

          “Anyway, your father has been looking for you for a long time now. So when you have deposited the water you are carrying into the earthen pot, you should go and answer him”. Her mother continued.

        “Halimah carried the water to their kitchen, where they store their drinking water. She started wondering why her father was looking for her. It must be in connection with her impending marriage she thought. She was very apprehensive about this marriage, but her mother had assuaged her of all her trepidation. She had always informed Halimah whether she cared to know or not. The fact that she married herself at the age of 8 years and that Halimah being 11 years old have nothing to be apprehensive about. Some consolation she thought. After depositing the water she fetched, she went looking for her father and saw him in company of some visitors. He smiled on seeing her and beckoned her to come closer. He informed her that some league of Muslim spiritualists has come to pray for her.



        After prayers, Halimah went to join the other women in preparing food for tomorrow’s occasion. Marriage is usually celebrated in a festive convivial atmosphere with all pomp and pageantry in Africa. It is considered a very important event, whereby two families are being joined together by marriage. It is an event for the whole town folks. Infact there is a saying that goes that nobody is turned away from a marriage feast in Africa. It requires a lot of financial commitment from both the bride and the groom’s families. Where any family does not have enough financial wherewithals to shoulder the cost of the feast such family often resorts to borrowing.







              On the following day, Mallam Isah arrived with members of his family, friends and well wishers. Mallam Isah already has three wives, and they all accompanied him to the marriage ceremony. Halimah is going to be his fourth and last wife. Mallam Isah is a devoted Muslim one that boarders on fanaticism. Apart from being a big farmer in the reckoning of the community members of Daura, he was also an ardent Muslim, very vocal on the affairs of Islam and well respected within the community as an Islamic scholar. He had a resounding knowledge of the Quran and the Hadith and other Islamic texts. Halimah’s parents felt strongly contended with the marriage of their daughter to Mallam Isah. The fact that Mallam Isah was a prosperous farmer by the community’s reckoning only meant one thing. That there daughter will be adequately taken care of and well provided for. The story goes that the day Mallam Isah approached them when Halimah was just two weeks old, for her hand in marriage. Halimah’s father was so happy that he got drunk that day. The first and last time in his life time. Halimah’s father is also a farmer but fortune has not smiled on him like the way it smiled on Mallam Isah. Halimah’s mother a housewife helps out in the husband’s farm.

Halimah is the eleventh child of her father, she is still a primary school pupil and Mallam Isah had promised that she would still be attending school even after marriage. Halimah has just reached the age of puberty, sings of womanhood were beginning to manifest in her tender body but not yet in a pronounced manner. Throughout the week preceding her marriage, she did not attend school. She was very glad when her mother informed her that she will not be attending school until after her marriage, in order to help out in the preparation for her marriage. She has been teased incessantly by her school mates because of her impending marriage, but she did not confide in her mother. Infact she dreaded going back to school after her marriage. The last day in school has been so miserable for her that when she returned from school she had engaged her mother in a question and answer session.

        “Mother”.

        “Yes”.

        “Why can’t I marry Mallam Isah when I grow up”?

        “What do mean by that silly question”?

          “I mean when I must have finished my education”.

          “What do you need an education for? You will end up eventually in a man’s kitchen with or without your education”.

          “Besides you are grown up enough, remember that I married your father at the age of eight and I do believe that you are much more older than 8 years”. Her mother continued.

        “But mother that was a long time ago, things are a lot more different now”.

          “Nothing has changed. The only thing that has changed is the children of nowadays. Who does not want to take the advice of their parents. That is all that have changed”.

        “My friend Aisha said that she is going to marry after she has graduated from the university”.

        “Your friend’s parents are rich enough to send her to university. Where do you think your father and I are going to find the money to send you to university”?

        “You should consider yourself very lucky to be marrying a wealthy farmer like Mallam Isah. Besides he has promised that you will continue your education after marriage”. Her mother continued.

        “I dread to go back to school after my marriage”.

        “Why”?

        “My school mates are making jest of me. I can no longer bear such humiliation”.

        “Do not listen to their foolish talk. They are jealous of your marriage to Mallam Isah”.



          Halimah took her mother’s answer in good faith. Maybe she is right, everyone in this community knows that Mallam Isah is one of the richest person in this town so who wouldn’t be glad becoming his wife. Perhaps, marriage at such a tender age afterall, is not as terrible as her school mates are portraying it to be her young mind reasoned.

            After the traditional marriage ceremony, Halimah accompanied Mallam Isah to his house. She was allocated a room in the house, which was already prepared in anticipation of her coming. She packed in that evening with her properties which she brought with her from her father’s house.

        The main reason why Halimah had been apprehensive about this marriage is the first sexual intercourse with her husband. Her friends in school had told her horrible stories about such first sexual intercourse. Those of her mates that were already married regaled stories of how painful it was. Now all she dreaded in her life was the moment it will be her own turn to go through one of the horrors of being born a woman in Africa. She had refrained from asking her mother about it, so that she will not label her a prostitute. However, she had been prepared for such early intercourse by her mother. She had always inserted her fingers into Halimah’s vagina whenever she was giving her a bath. This her mother had done right from the time she was eighteen months old. It is a common practice.

       





        On that fateful night, she was rescued from her fears by her elderly co-wives, who rallied round her, and boasted her moral by their assurances to her. The tied a strong rope around her stomach which they claimed helps to reduce the pain. Mallam Isah was gentle and caring but how gentle and caring can a man be to an eleven year old child. Despite the lubricating cream he used, Halimah screamed her lungs off in pain and agony. But it was her night of a thousand stars, her night of womanhood, forced upon her by an uncaring society and its uncaring culture. 



        After spending another week at home in her husband’s house, Halimah resumed school. Her friends gathered around her during the break time, to enquire how it all went. But Halimah refused to talk to them. It was only her best friend Aisha that she did talk to after school on their way home.

        “Was it painful”? Aisha asked

        “Yes at the first time it was, but afterwards there was no more pain, the initial pain was the one that I thought will kill me”. Halimah replied.

        “So you are no longer a little girl anymore, I hope that we will still continue our friendship despite the fact that you are now a married woman and I am still a single girl?

        “Don’t be silly, Aisha, nothing can separate our friendship”. Halimah replied.

        “I will pay you a visit later in the day; I hope your husband will not object”? Aisha asked.

        “No, he won’t”. Halimah replied.





          Halimah was treated more or less like Mallam Isah’s daughter, by the elderly co-wives and Mallam Isah himself. Most of Mallam Isah’s children were older than Halimah. But they still respected her as their father’s wife. However, they did not find it comfortable to call her mother as their custom requires.



          After three months stay as Mallam Isah’s wife. Halimah was informed that she was pregnant by her co-wives. She didn’t know how to take the news, because she knew it was going to affect her education.

          The next day at school she informed her friend Aisha.

        “Will you continue your education”? Aisha asked.

        “Of course I will”.

        “What about during delivery and after the birth of the baby, will you still be attending school”?

        “I will discontinue school to have my baby; afterwards I will continue my education.

          “I am determined to continue my education after child birth and nothing on earth can stop me”. Halimah concluded resolutely.



          After school that day, Halimah took permission from her husband in other to go and visit her mother. She informed her that she was pregnant.

          “I am very happy to hear this piece of good news. Your Father will also be delighted. That goes to show that Almighty Allah has answered the prayers your father and I has been making on your behalf”. Her mother enthused.

          “Mother, I don’t think I fancy this pregnancy”. Halimah replied.

          “What! Have you gone crazy”?

          “No, what I meant by that statement is that this pregnancy is going to interrupt a lot of things in my life”.

        “I think you have gone crazy”.

        “Every married woman prays for the fruit of the womb as a blessing from The Ever Merciful Allah”. Her mother continued.

          “Mother, I am thrilled at the prospect of having my own child. But, this marriage is going to affect my education, my ambition and my personal development”.

        “What do you need all this ambition and personal development for”? Her mother asked.

        “Your husband is well to do and is capable of providing you everything you need. Sometimes, I think you are being ungrateful to Allah for providing you such a wealthy husband”. Her mother concluded.

          “But, mother, I am only eleven years old, and I am not matured enough to bear children”.

          “Where did you get all this crazy notions from? It must be those friends of yours especially that Aisha. She must be the one that has been feeding you with these crazy ideas”.

        “Nobody is feeding me with anything”.

        “Child bearing is more painful than the first sexual intercourse. How am I going to cope with such pain”? Halimah continued.

        “But I had you when I was younger than your present age and I didn’t even have a birth attendant in attendance”.

        “Mother, things are different now. Many women die at childbirth, especially young girls”.



          Halimah left her mother as dejected as she came. She had thought she will receive some succour from her mother, but how wrong she was. She could not understand why her mother does not always reason along with her; maybe it is because of her lack of education. All the things she had learnt about sex and child bearing has been from her friend Aisha who was in turn instructed by her mother.

        Each time she sought such instructive dialogue with her mother, she had always met a brick wall. Her mother became abusive and unnecessarily hostile; consequently she has not been able to gather any valuable piece of information from her mother. The only thing she kept hearing from her was the fact that she married at the age of eight. And that she should be grateful to Allah for giving her a rich husband. Sometimes, she suspects that her mother was jealous that she married a well to do farmer. Some of her friends like Aisha were quite close and friendly with their mothers. But the reverse is the case for her. Even her husband’s first wife was more disposed to educating her about how to be a woman and a wife. Without her advice, Halimah wondered how she would have coped as a wife.

        She really envied her friend Aisha; everything seems to be working for her. Her parents are well educated and her father has only one wife, Aisha’s mother. There was always peace and absolute tranquility in their home. Each time she visited Aisha, she was always impressed with the way Aisha relates with her mother. She doesn’t have such relationship with her own mother. Their home was always in a constant state of disarray. Her father married two wives and has seventeen children. Aisha was more knowledgeable than her school mates. She knew things which girls of her age are not aware of. Her mother does not hide anything from her.

   





          Right from primary one, Halimah had shared the first position in their class examination with Aisha. It had always alternated between both of them. But despite this rivalry, the two of them had become best of friends. Infact they have become inseparable.

            However, Halimah continued with her education despite the pregnancy. Even when her stomach got enlarged, she still carried it to school unperturbed. That was until her seventh month of pregnancy. She returned from school one afternoon and discovered that she was bleeding from her private parts. She reported her discovery to the most senior wife who promptly alerted their husband . Mallam Isah rushed her to a nearby clinic, where she was hospitalized for two weeks.

            “You have to discontinue your education, until after your delivery”. Mallam Isah told Halimah after she was discharged from hospital and was on bed rest at home.

          “But I feel alright now and I can continue going to school”. Halimah replied.

          “That is out of the question. The doctor prescribed complete bed rest for you until you deliver. You nearly had a miscarriage and the doctor has advised that you should stop school for now or you might loose the baby, if you continue to go to school”. Mallam Isah said.

          Halimah broke down and started crying.

          “Aisha told me that her mother said that eventually, I will have to discontinue my education. Now it is playing out just like she had predicted”. Halimah said.

          “Don’t cry my dear, everything will be alright. You will still continue your education after delivery. I have promised your parents that and I am a man of my word”.

          “Apart from loosing the baby you might also complicate your own health if you decide to defy the doctor’s order and continue with your education”. Mallam Isah continued.

        “Allah knows what the best is for us, if we completely put our trust in Him. If it is Allah’s wish that you shall become a medical doctor nothing on earth can stop you”. Mallam Isah concluded.



            Halimah was devastated by this piece of information that she will have to discontinue her education until after her delivery. However, she arranged with Aisha to bring her schoolwork home to her after school everyday so that she can study them on her bed. She was so determined not to be left behind by her classmates.



          When Mallam Isah saw the seriousness, which Halimah took her education, he paid an impromptu visit to Halimah’s father for some serious talk.

          “You know that I have fulfilled my promise to let Halimah continue her education”. He began.

          “Yes, you did well”. Halimah’s father replied.

          “My daughter attaches so much importance to her education. It will greatly please her”.

          “But I believe that she is carrying it too far”.

          “The doctor recommended a complete bed rest for her for the duration of her pregnancy. But she has chosen to study on her bed, in complete disregard of the doctor’s advice”. Mallam Isah said.

          “That is why I have come to see you. You will have to talk to her, because I do not see the reason why she is so obsessed with going to school. Allah has blessed me with enough financial resources to take good care of her. Now that she is going to become a mother, she should concentrate more on how to be a good mother and a good wife. You know it is practically impossible for her to combine the role of mother and wife on one hand, and that of going to school on the other hand”. He concluded.

          “You are right my in-law”. Halimah’s father replied.

          “I will talk to her. I know Halimah will make a good wife to you, there is no doubt about that. I also know she will make a good mother too. You are right; she needs to concentrate on those two things. I would have sent her mother to go and talk to her but my wife and Halimah cannot have any meaningful discussion for ten minutes”. Halimah’s father said.



            Halimah’s father paid an unexpected visit to her. She was glad to see her father, she had a better relationship with her father than the one she had with her mother.

          “How are you feeling my daughter”?

          “I am feeling better, infact I should not be lying down on the bed all day long doing nothing but I have no choice. The doctor has recommended it”.

        “You know my child, that child bearing is not a matter to be taken lightly”?

        “Yes father”.

        “That is why I have come to talk to you”.

        “Your husband is very worried that you are not taking this pregnancy serious”.

          “There is no cause for that; I am determined to have this baby. Allah forbids that I should loose this baby”.

          “Then why do you have all these books surrounding you”? Her father asked.

        “To keep up with my school works, I don’t want my classmates to leave me behind”.

          “I don’t move about, my friend Aisha brings these works to me everyday after school. Which I copy and study on my bed. I do not exert myself at all”. Halimah continued.

          “You are going to be a mother very soon, with all these books surrounding you; do you think you are going to have enough time to breast feed your baby? Talk less of taking adequate care of the baby”. Her father asked.   

          “Haba father, reading books will in no way impede my role as a mother”. Halimah replied.

        “What about your role to your husband”?

        “I do perform my role as a wife or is my husband complaining”?

        “He does not have to complain, anybody who enters this your room, and see how untidy it is, will deduce that you are not performing your role as a wife properly”.

          “How many times have you been to your husband’s farm”? Her father asked.

          “But father the school is still in session. It is only during school’s holiday that I can be able to help out in the farm. Besides you are forgetting the fact that I am pregnant”.

        “Then you do not know that it is the duty of a wife to help out in her husband’s farm at all times. It takes precedent over education; it is only your health that comes before it”.

        “Yes I know”.

        “Then when I say that you are not performing your duty as a wife, then am right”.

        “Mallam Isah is a pious man, he need not complain about your inability to be an adequate wife. It is our duty as your parents to point it out to you. I did not raise you up for you to become an embarrassment to me in your husband’s house. Your first obligation now goes to your husband. You are a reasonable and bright girl and I have always been proud to have a child like you. So if you know you can effectively combine the role of a wife and a mother together with being a student. Then by all means carry on with your education. But if not, then by all means try to concentrate on being a good wife and a good mother. Only the Almighty Allah knows why he made me poor or I would have taken care of your education to any level you desire in life. For I am indeed very proud of your academic excellence. But sometimes the things we wish for in life are those things we can never have. But in any situation we find ourselves, Allah must be praised”. Her father concluded.

          “So father, what you are saying in essence is that I should stop my education”?

            “Well, I leave that in your hands. Mallam Isah is a pious man; he will never breach his promise. But don’t push him into hating you because of your inability to be a good wife to him. There is a limit to what he can tolerate”.

          “Then it was my husband that complained to you”?

          Her father remained silent, and after a while he got up and bade Halimah good-bye and left.





          “So I have been a bad wife”

Halimah thought after her father had left. She thought Mallam Isah under stood her ambition and quest for education. How wrong she was. She was counting on his support for the difficult days ahead. When she will really need his support in order to continue her education. How wrong she had been all these while. Now nobody seems to be behind her. Even he father too, who had encouraged her in her school work has lost interest. She remembered the day she told her father that she wanted to become a medical doctor. How her father had shook his head and replied that if it is Allah’s wish for her then definitely she will become a medical doctor. Her mother had never supported her ambition. She never failed to remind her that she does not need any education because her would be husband is capable of providing all her needs. She had always considered Halimah as being stupid and irrational for wanting to continue her education.





            Halimah was unable to eat through out that day. Despite the attempts of her co-wives to cheer her up. When their husband came back from farm in the evening, they quickly informed him. He went into Halimah’s room.

          “Haba, my wife, why are you feeling so down? I understand you have not eaten anything today”.

        “What is the problem”? Mallam Isah asked as he sat down on her bed.

        “I have been a bad wife to you”.

      “Who told you that”?

      “My father came here today, he said so without mincing words”. Halimah replied.

      “So he did”?

      “Well, don’t mind him. I am your husband and my opinion should be more important to you than that of your father. And before The Almighty Allah, am telling you now that you are a good wife to me. Infact a man could not ask Allah to give him a better wife than you. So cheer up and let them bring you something to eat”. Mallam Isah continued.

              “But continuing my education will not make me a bad wife and a bad mother”.

            “Don’t talk about that now. The doctor has advised you to observe complete bed rest. So the question of school does not arise for now”. Mallam Isah said.

          “But that is really what is bothering me that you no longer support my going back to school after my childbirth”.

          “Well, my dear, that is not completely true. You know that as a nursing mother, you will not be able to combine school activities with that of a nursing mother”.

          “But I do not intend to resume school immediately after my delivery. I intend nursing my baby at home for some months before starting school”.

          “That is the reason why I am studying on my bed. So that if the doctor will allow me to go and sit for the examination, then I won’t miss much when I resume school after nursing my baby”.

          “That is out of the question. The doctor will never allow that”. Mallam Isah said.

        “Why don’t you allow me to ask him”?

        “If that will make you happy, then go ahead and ask him. But we must have an agreement here”.

        “What is it”?

      “That if the doctor denies you your request you must accept it in good faith as the will of Allah”.

          “Yes I will”.

          “And you must cheer up and you won’t miss your meal again”.

        “I promise I will”.

        “And one more thing, no more word about school until after you have nursed your baby”.

        “I agree”.



          The next day, Mallam Isah accompanied Halimah to the clinic. Halimah went in alone to see the doctor and after some minute’s interval the doctor called in Mallam Isah and informed him to allow his wife sit for the forth coming examination.

          “But, doctor, you are the one that recommended complete bed rest until she delivers. Why are you changing your mouth now like a chameleon changes its colour”.

          “That was when she was in a critical condition. But she has stabilized rapidly. Even beyond my comprehension. Therefore restraining her from sitting for her forth coming examination will be an act of cruelty. Because there is no danger to her health or that of the baby”. The doctor replied.

        Halimah was so elated about her change of fortune, that her entire mood and countenance changed when she returned home. It was in such mood that her friend Aisha met her when she visited after school hours.

          “Tell me what happened? You look so excited”. Aisha pumped her for an answer.

        “Well, you can inform our class teacher tomorrow, that I will be taking part in the forth coming examination”.

        “I can’t believe it. You are pulling my legs”?

          “No am not”.

          “Please tell me what happened”?

          “My husband and I went to the hospital today and the doctor gave me the permission to sit for the examination”.

          “Wasn’t it the same doctor that confined you to bed rest”? 

          “Yes it was”.

          “Please tell me what happened”?

          “After you left yesterday, I was so depressed that I could not eat. So when my husband returned home, my co-wives informed him that I had not eaten all day. He rushed to my bedside asking what was amiss. And I was able to persuade him that we should go and see the doctor today. He was so certain that the doctor will never acceed to my request that he agreed. Then it turned out that the doctor agreed to my request”.

          “How did you get the doctor to change his mind”?

          “I told him that I wanted to be a medical doctor like him. That he will be doing a great disservice to the medical profession and to humanity because he was well aware that medical doctors are a scarce commodity in this part of our country. If he should confine me to bed. You should have seen the face of my husband, when the doctor told him that I am fit enough to sit for the exam”.

        “I am so glad for you. And am sure our class teacher will be delighted by this news”.



          Halimah went on to sit for the promotional third term examination with her class mates, despite the fact that she was absent from school for most of that term. There was no complication throughout the duration of the examination. She was under constant medical care of her doctor. She sat beside her best friend Aisha throughout the examination. She was quite an eyeful with her bulging stomach, which made writing on her wooden desk a bit tedious for her. Halimah had prepared for this examination like non before. It was their promotional examination from primary five to primary six.



        After their examination, Halimah spent most time on her bed resting on doctor’s order. Aisha now spends most of the day each day with her best friend. Their school had vacated for third term holiday.

          At exactly nine months ten days, Halimah started having labour pains and she was rushed to the clinic, where she had earlier been admitted. At the clinic, the pains continued but Halimah was unable to deliver. After three days of labour it was obvious even to an idiot that Halimah’s young pelvis could not deliver the baby normally. She was taken to the theatre where she was operated on and a baby boy was removed from her womb. The operation was a success as both Halimah and her baby were in stable condition. After about one week at the hospital, she was discharged with her baby. She was twelve years old on the very day she was discharged from the hospital.



On the next day after Halimah was discharged from the hospital. It was double celebration for the Isah family. They were celebrating the naming ceremony of the baby boy and Halimah’s twelfth year birthday. Friends and well wishers as well as family members were also there to celebrate with them. Aisha also came, and gave Halimah her result slip which she helped her to collect from school.

            “I should suppose that you came first after all these days I spent at home”. Halimah commented.

          “Why don’t you open it, so that we can see who came first. I have opened mine and I came second. Here you can have a look”.

            Halimah collected it and flipped through it.

            “So you see, if you didn’t take the first position, then someone else has beaten us to it”.

            Halimah finally opened her result slip, and there it was she had taken the first position with fantastic marks. It was a stunning performance; she had never had such marks before. She just couldn’t just believe her eyes.

She rushed off to show her husband.

          “That was a good one my sweat heart. You know something? You have really brought pride and sunshine into my family. Look at the wonderful baby boy you have given me. Now you have beaten your classmates in your examination despite the fact that you were confined to your bed for most of the term”. A happy Mallam Isah commented.

          “You are a lucky man Mallam Isah”. One of his friends said.

          “To be blessed with such a wife, beauty and brains, such a rare combination”. He concluded.

        “Yes, Allah has really endowed my wife; I agree with you, I am a lucky man”.



          Latter that night, Halimah enquired from her husband.

        “Are you serious about those things you said about me today in front of your friends or were you just trying to impress your friends by saying nice things about me”?

        “You know I will never say anything that does not come from my heart. I meant every word I said. You are a blessing to me no doubt about that”. Mallam Isah replied.

            ‘Does that mean that am free to resume school after the nursing period”?

          “Yes, of course you are”.

          “When do I resume school then”?

          “It’s left at your discretion”.

          “Well, I believe that six months from now is not too early. My baby will be taking other food supplements apart from breast milk. I can then prepare food for him and leave him with one of my co- wives while am in school”.

            “It’s all in your hand”. Her husband replied.



            After eight months of nursing her baby, Halimah resumed schooling. She was not allowed to be with her classmates. She did not take part in the first and second term examination. Unlike when she was pregnant, she could not combine studying at home with the task of nursing a new born baby. Besides, the school authorities insisted on her physical presence this time around. So Aisha stopped bringing school works home for her. When Halimah resumed school, it was just ten days before the state common entrance examination. For admission into state owned secondary schools. Halimah did not register for this examination. The federal secondary school entrance examination had already been conducted and Aisha with many other pupils took part in it. Halimah could not bring herself to join primary five classes. Besides, she had already passed her promotional examination from primary five to primary six. Consequently, she had no other option than to return home and wait for the next term.

            She went back home crying. When she returned home, she went straight into her room still crying and refusing to speak to any of her co-wives. Her husband was informed when he came back from the farm. He rushed to her.

        “Haba, my dearest one, what is the problem, why are you crying like this, tell me what is wrong because I hate to see you like this”? Mallam Isah asked.

            “They won’t allow me to join my mates in primary six. They said I have to repeat primary five”.

          “Why should they do such a thing? But you passed your promotional examination in flying colours. Infact, you were first in that examination ahead of all other classmates”.

          “They said I didn’t take part in first and second term examination”.

            “But, everybody in that school knows that you are a very brilliant student. The fact that you did not sit for the first and second term examination, does not mean you can’t sit for the third term examination. Infact, you will even do better than all of them like you did before”.

            “There is no third term examination”.

          “Haba”.

          “It is the common entrance examination for admission into secondary school, which is coming up in ten days time. That is our third term examination”.

          “No problem it is still an examination, therefore they should allow you to take part in it”.

          “I did not register for it; therefore I am not eligible to sit for the examination”.

            “Look my dear; don’t worry about this entire registration thing. Tomorrow we will go and see the headmaster”.



            The next day, Mallam Isah accompanied by Halimah, went to see the school’s headmaster. Who promptly informed him, that there is nothing to be done about the situation.

          “Haba, Mr. Headmaster, how can you say that there is nothing to be done about this development. This is Nigeria; there must be a way to make late registration to include my wife’s name. I know it will cost extra money and I am prepared to pay. I just want to make my wife happy and if you can help my wife. I will forever be grateful to you. Go and ask anybody in Daura and they will tell you that Mallam Isah is one person that pays his gratitude”.

            “Mallam, there is nothing I can do about it. The examination is just nine days ahead and nobody can include your wife’s name not even the governor. Even if the registration is still open, it will not be advisable to register your wife when she did not prepare for it at all. So what I will advise her to do is to wait for the next common entrance examination coming up next year”.                                   





              After the birth of her child, Halimah noticed a change of attitude towards her by her co-wives. All the three of them. She was no longer pampered by them. She was initiated to the club of co-wives, and got introduced to the bitterness, animosity and unhealthy rivalry that prevail among co-wives in a polygamous home. Halimah couldn’t understand the sudden change of attitude. The most senior co-wife, that usually offers advice, stopped instructing young Halimah. There was a day she overheard her three co-wives grumbling about her madness for education as they put it.

              “That girl should sit down at home and nurse her baby instead of running off to school”. Her most senior co-wife said.

            “She has gone mad if not, are we not doing fine here. The three of us, without going to school”. The second co-wife said.

            “Anyway, am not going to nurse another woman’s baby. I have enough tasks on my hand as it is nursing my own children and nobody is going to dump hers on me”. The third co-wife said.

          “At first, I thought the girl was a reasonable girl, but I now realize that she is the most stupid person I have ever encountered”. The first co-wife said.

        “Even if our husband gives the order that I should look after her baby while she is at school, I will never accept such task”. The third co-wife said.

        “She thinks she is better than us. She doesn’t do any work at the farm, always crying about school. If she loves school so much, she should have stayed at her father’s house to continue her education instead of getting married”. The second co-wife said.

        “Even our husband has changed a lot. I think the girl has bewitched him”. The first co-wife said

        “Look at the way he is always bending to her wishes. My dear, my dear, every time, I don’t think he has ever called me his dear since I married him”. The third co-wife said.



            Aisha passed both the federal secondary school examination and the state common entrance examination. She got admission into Federal Government Girls College Sokoto. She will have to leave Daura to settle in boarding house at her new school. The day she came to bid Halimah goodbye, Halimah wept because she knew that her best friend has finally left her behind.

          “Don’t cry anymore”. Aisha consoled her.

          “I will be writing you often and you can write me as often as you wish. Besides, I will always come home for holidays”. Aisha continued to console her.

        “You will make new friends at your new school, then you will forget all about me”.

        “No, that can never happen, nothing can separate our friendship”. Aisha said.

          “However, if you choose Federal Government Girls College Sokoto, as your first choice in the next federal examination, then we will be together again. I know you will pass the examination”. Aisha continued.

          “You know that will not be possible, who will I leave my son with while I am at boarding school”?

          “With one of your co-wives”.

        “Well, they are not willing to take care of my son while I am off to school”.

          “How did you know that”?

        “I overheard them say so”.

        “What about your mother”?

        “I do not believe that my mother is willing to make such sacrifice on my behalf”.

        “You sound different now. I hope you have not given up on your education”.

        “I really don’t know, everything looks a bit confusing to me right now. I really don’t know what my chances are”.

        “You have to take heart. It is only a year that you will be losing that is not much. So brighten up and start looking ahead to brighter days”. Aisha said.



          Halimah stayed at home for another five months before she started school. By that time, her son was a year old plus a month. Halimah engaged the services of her younger sister who was just eight years old to look after her son while she goes at school. School was not the same again for Halimah. She missed the absence of her friends especially her best friend Aisha, who have all passed out of the school. She felt old in her new class and was unable to make new friends. During the first term examination, Halimah had a week pass. She took fourty-fifth position in a class of fifty pupils. She had wavered in her concentration; she now has a boy to think about. Her co-wives were not helping matters; she was getting a raw deal from them at home.



            On the resumption of the second term, the headmaster invited Mallam Isah for a word.

          “Halimah is one of the brightest pupils to have graced this school. The headmaster began.

          “But, surprisingly, she had a weak pass at her first term examination. We do not know what the problem is all about, but we should not let such talent to waste. That is why I have invited you here today, to let you know that Halimah should be encouraged to continue with her excellent performance on her school works”. The Headmaster concluded.

            “Thank you Mr. Headmaster, for your interest in the progress of my wife. I am also greatly surprised that my wife did not take the first position as usual. Infact, there is no reason whatsoever for this poor performance because when she was pregnant and was confined to her bed, she came tops in her examination, beating all other pupils who had attended school”. Mallam Isah replied.

          “Then there must be a reason for her poor performance this time around”.

          “My dear, is there anything responsible for your poor performance”? Mallam Isah asked.

          “If there is say so now in front of the headmaster. So that we can all iron it out here”. Mallam Isah continued.

              “Yes, Halimah, if there is any problem you are having that has made you loose concentration in your studies say it out now. Your husband has permitted you”. The Headmaster interjected.

            “There is nothing responsible for my poor performance. I just didn’t study hard enough”.

          “You see Headmaster, it wasn’t my fault”.

          “I never said it was your fault”.



          When Aisha came home for holiday, she was surprised when Halimah told her about her performance.

        “I just can’t believe it that you of all people should take fourty-fifth position out of a class of fifty pupils in an examination”.

          “I don’t know what happened. It seems that I have lost all enthusiasm. You know it’s not the same feeling in my new class like it was when I was with my mates”.

          “That is the more reason why you should have posted a more spectacular performance. I thought that none of them will pose any challenge to you like I did”.

          “You don’t know what am going through in this house. Those co-wives of mine are giving me a lot of headaches. Beside, I now have a son to think of. I always leave him in the care of my eight years old sister and I can’t help wondering how they are getting on when am in school”. Halimah replied.

              “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy on you, but you had such determination that I thought nothing will ever make you to waver”. Aisha said.

              “Well I have resolved to work harder this term, so that I can prove to myself and to everybody else that I am still the same old Halimah they knew”.

            “How was it with you at your new school? I guess you did perform well in your exams”. Halimah asked.

            “Yes, I did well, I came first in our examination. I wish you were there, life in secondary school is a whole lot more different than that in a primary school”.



              On the resumption of the second term of her primary six, Halimah did as she promised. She threw herself at her books and started studying like she never did before. She started coming first in class texts and assignment. However, at the middle of the second term, Halimah realized that she was pregnant once more. And that slowed her down. She lost hope and once more the poor performance started coming. At the conclusion of their second term examination, her performance was even worse than that of her first term. She took the 47th position out of fifty.

            And for the first time in her life, she failed an examination.





          Halimah did not resume school with her mates for the third term of her primary six. She never went back to school. She stayed at home to have her second child.



Today, Halimah has four children all through caesarean operation. Aisha went on to become a medical doctor. Halimah became a housewife and a petty farmer, helping out in her husband’s farm.