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Writer | Speaker | Creative Voice. I tell stories, make calls & design confidence. @ Yabatech
Lagos, Nigeria
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Agbada and Other Silences
<p>They said it with authority no one questioned....</p><p><br/></p><p> “Àgbà kì í wà l’ọ́jà, kí orí ọmọ tuntun wọ̀.”. </p><p>(When elders stand in the market, a child’s head cannot go wrong.) </p><p>So when things cracked or failed, my head carried the weight.</p><p><br/></p><p>They would sigh, (“Ọmọ tí a kò kọ́ ni yóò gbé ilé tí a kọ́ tà.”.) The child you don’t train will sell the house you built.</p><p><br/></p><p> Training, they called it, but all I remember was shrinking, folding, Apologizing for thoughts I hadn’t finished.</p><p><br/></p><p>And when I tried to explain... gently, they would say: (“Ọmọ kì í mọ̀ ju àgbà lọ.”) A child cannot know more than an elder.</p><p><br/></p><p>I swallowed my words like hot food.... Burned quietly... Smiled politely.</p><p><br/></p><p>Some parents wear proverbs like agbádá Wide enough to cover their pride, Long enough to hide their wounds.</p><p>Culture is sacred, but sometimes, pride borrows its voice. </p><p><br/></p><p>I was not selling the house. I was trying to open a window. I was not disrespectful. I was observant.</p><p>Curious. </p><p>Becoming. </p><p>Now those proverbs no longer sound like verdicts.</p><p>They are echoes.... From people also raised not to question. </p><p>I forgive them, not because they were always right, But because I understand:</p><p>Difference is not disobedience. </p><p>A thinking child is not a threat.</p><p>Love should build a person, </p><p>Not silence one.</p>
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