One

PROVENANCE

David Adewale Edatomolakosi Adenuga was born on 24th September 1950 in the ancient town of Gbongan in present day Osun state, in south-western Nigeria. His mother told him that he was born in a hospital run by one Dr Babawale. This had been the family hospital for years before he was born. It was about six miles away from Gbongan on the way to Ode-Omu.

His mother told him that he was born a little past midnight and that it was a normal delivery without complications. As elders from his Yoruba ethnic group in south-western Nigeria would say, he was born on a day when birds chirped away like birds will do, and rats chittered true to type. Despite the normal delivery, there was an interesting story surrounding his conception and birth.

Very early in 1950, his mother, Lydia Adeyanju Adenuga, found herself in a dilemma. She had missed her monthly period and was obviously pregnant. A few months earlier, she had given birth to her first child, a girl whom they named Iyabo. Iyabo was still a nursing infant, and this explained the anxiety of her young mother, barely 20 years old, about the new pregnancy. She wondered how she would explain another pregnancy so soon.

To spare herself the “embarrassment” and the wagging tongues of nosey neighbours, Lydia Adenuga decided to terminate the pregnancy on her own. She would neither visit a doctor nor confide in a family member. Rather, she settled for a procedure which would have been funny, if not for the seriousness of her situation. She went into her room, climbed a table and jumped down. She repeated this several times, hoping that by some chance the process would truncate the pregnancy and free her of the burden for which she was least prepared.

While this silent scene was playing out, her mother, popularly known as Iya Eleko, walked in, much to Iyabo’s discomfiture. Iya Eleko was a strong, enterprising woman and one of the leading lights of her native Ijebu community. She made and sold the popular corn pap (eko) and was respected for her mastery of the trade. She seemed to have a secret recipe that made her eko very popular in the neighbourhood. She was also influential and respected in her community. Naturally, she sought to know the reason for the odd behaviour.

Shamefaced and unable to make eye contact, she told her mother that her “monthly visitor” had not come, and she did not know how to explain to her husband, her mother and others how she had become pregnant when she was still nursing a baby.

Contrary to Lydia’s fears, Iya Eleko’s reaction was one of the most reassuring expressions of love and understanding that Lydia Adenuga ever received in her life. Knowing her mother’s strictness, she had imagined that what she just told her mother would draw some caustic and hurtful rebuke.

But Mama was quite understanding and sympathetic. After listening attentively to her daughter, the middle-aged woman shook her head in empathy and reached for her right hand and spoke to her with a mother’s love and intuition. Drawing from her own motherhood experience, she allayed her fears and encouraged Lydia to keep the pregnancy with an adage that only God knew why He chose to bless Lydia with another pregnancy so soon. She promised to assist in looking after the babies, and also said she would speak to Lydia’s husband to reassure him as well if he was unhappy about the pregnancy.

On the contrary, the news delighted Mr Joseph Adenuga. He loved children and had always wanted to have as many as possible in his home.