Mugisa. Mugisa. Mugisa. Where are you? You did it. Went a loud voice calling out my name. It was a Tuesday afternoon in 1996.
I had just gone to fetch water from a nearby open well. In the era of no mobile phones, communication was tough. I saw my elder brother running towards me excited.
“Fr. Cosmas Adyebo is at home looking for you. Hurry”, intoned my brother.
I knew Fr Cosmas. He was our Head teacher at Munteme Fatima College. I was expecting my Senior Four (Ordinary Level) results. I left the water full Jerrycan with him and ran as fast as I could back home. In a short time, I was at home. If you were nearby you would have seen the excitement. Adyebo hugged me. Lifted me up in the air. “You have done it. You passed very well. I knew you would make us all proud.”I had passed the ordinary level Senior Four exams very well as top student in our class, and among the top in the district. Life is about conquering the current key challenge at each stage of your life. At that level of my life, passing senior four exams was the most pressing challenge. I did not waste my time. I read hard and it paid off.
“Never let me down.”
I attribute my success to Mama, Prukeria Nseka. I have had many women in my life. She is one of them. Four years prior, I had delayed applying for a position to join senior one at Munteme Fatima College, after grandpa had advised me to. I went with Mama to see the Head teacher. She left me outside the office and went in there to beg for me. An hour later, she called me in. I found three teachers inside, all men. She had been begging them admit me. The truth is, I had performed poorly at Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and they did not want to take me. They asked me a few questions, and I answered. She had persisted. Begged. And they finally gave in. She got the admission for me. That was Mama. Never relenting.
As we walked home, Mama put me in her gaze and said “You saw what I have just gone through. Never let me down.”
It stuck in my head. “Never let me down.” Every day of my school day, I went to class with the words, never let me down.
What are you telling your children?
As she joined us to celebrate my achievement, Fr. Adyebo let the cat out of the bag, thanks Mama for letting us admit this brilliant boy. In fact, she had gone to beg in the head teacher’s office (Fr. Adyebo) to allow me start attending class without making the first deposit on the school fees! The issue was not my PLE scores. But the school fees first deposit.
As we celebrate the women’s day,
Let’s join hands to celebrate the mothers of the world. You are special.
Let’s rise up to the women. Happy women’s day.
