Thisday Tell:

*THE EXCHANGE* *Episode 8* In the middle of our argument, Brother Kola...who had stayed outside to discuss with Baba T, said he had some good news. He said he had a chat with Baba T during the wedding and he promised him a job at their company. The job was in Lagos, paid like four times what he currently earned, and came with an official car and some other benefits. He was to come over in a week to have a formality- type interview as Baba T already offered him the job. “Now I can finally get married” my brother screamed as he jumped up and clenched his fist in celebration like someone that won a race.  I could tell that my mum was confused and happy at the same time. “How? When?” those where my questions for Brother Kola. He said Baba T asked what he studied, when they met at the wedding and said he would be a good fit for their company. "He confirmed it just now when I saw him to the car" my brother continued. There was another brother of mine at home (brother Dipo); he r...

*THE EXCHANGE*  *Episode 7* Laide told me they were travelling to Paris for their honeymoon and wanted me to stay for a few more days until she travelled. I sent my mum to Tunji to let him know I would be staying for 3 more days and I would see him as soon as I got back. I helped Laide to count how much money she was ‘sprayed’ while dancing…my God! Let me just say that I made close to ten thousand naira (trust me, that was a lot of money back then…I had never even had or handled that much money in my life); that should give you an idea of how much money Laide was ‘sprayed’. Baba T offered to drop Laide and her husband at the airport and I came with them. After they departed, Baba T offered to drop me at Abeokuta; it was already evening so I opted for public transportation. He insisted that he would drop me at home but I was scared as I didn’t want him to know where I lived and I also didn’t want any issues with Tunji. He wouldn’t listen and just kept driving towards Abeokuta…he s...

*THE EXCHANGE*  *Episode 6* When we talked about my late dad he felt sorry for me, I could see the sincerity in his eyes…he said he could imagine life if he had lost his dad and told me the story of how his dad helped him to overcome some challenges that could have gotten him expelled from school while studying abroad. Baba T dropped me off at our own hotel later that evening. As he was leaving he said “I think I like you”, all I could say was "thank you" as I hurried into the lobby. Laide was already very angry because she had no idea where we were. I quickly apologized and blamed it on the best man. She later told me that Baba T’s mum had been asking questions about me and wanted to know things about my family. “Don’t mind them, they are looking to add an extra to the wife they already got” I said as I made my way into the bathroom. The following day was super busy, it was the day of the traditional wedding and I was with Baba T for the most part. We were running aroun...

*THE EXCHANGE* *Episode 5* It was at the restaurant that,  the would-be best man started to talk to me. He told me his name …Babatunde, but said everyone called him Baba T. He seemed like a nice guy but I could sense some form of arrogance in him. He said we needed to be friends to make the wedding beautiful; he was funny and made us laugh a lot. I got to know, as we talked, that Baba T’s parents were even richer than Laide’s parents-in-law. The amount of money they (Bola and Baba T) were discussing scared me…they talked about how they wanted to take their parents’ business to the next level and make it even bigger. They had both studied in the United Kingdom and returned to work in the family business. After lunch, it was time to go back to where I came from. Bola was going to drop me off at the motor park but his cousin volunteered to…he said it was on his way and he also wanted to get to know me. He didn’t say much on our way; he was just being funny and explained what I nee...

*THE EXCHANGE* *Episode 4* My relationship with Tunji was more or less an engagement but nothing was official…I’m sure if people gave engagement rings back then, I would have been wearing one. I was considered ‘marked’, everyone knew I had a boyfriend…my mum would introduce him as “Ǫkǫ Àfęsǫnà” which means Fiancé in Yoruba Language. Later my mum started suggesting that we should get pregnant but Tunji would just laugh and tell her not to worry, that we would give her all the grandchildren she was looking for. Tunji made a vow of chastity with me and had said we would wait till our wedding night before we ‘did’ anything. He would say “What’s the point of rushing to have a taste when you can easily have the whole pot for keeps” Not long after that, a cousin of mine, Laide, who lived in Lagos was getting married and it was going to be a big party…that was the first grandchild of my maternal grandmother that was getting married so the whole family was all agog. Laide and I were ve...

*THE EXCHANGE* *Episode 4* My relationship with Tunji was more or less an engagement but nothing was official…I’m sure if people gave engagement rings back then, I would have been wearing one. I was considered ‘marked’, everyone knew I had a boyfriend…my mum would introduce him as “Ǫkǫ Àfęsǫnà” which means Fiancé in Yoruba Language. Later my mum started suggesting that we should get pregnant but Tunji would just laugh and tell her not to worry, that we would give her all the grandchildren she was looking for. Tunji made a vow of chastity with me and had said we would wait till our wedding night before we ‘did’ anything. He would say “What’s the point of rushing to have a taste when you can easily have the whole pot for keeps” Not long after that, a cousin of mine, Laide, who lived in Lagos was getting married and it was going to be a big party…that was the first grandchild of my maternal grandmother that was getting married so the whole family was all agog. Laide and I were ve...

*THE EXCHANGE* *Episode 3* Tunji came the next day like he said he would and that was the beginning of our relationship. It was like a match made in heaven. My dad was the last person to warm up to him in my family but it didn’t take long at all. Tunji had this charisma that made people like him; he‘s soft spoken, calm and focused…all the qualities of a young man well brought up. Tunji was an orphan that had lost his parents at an early age…he had been passed around different family members’ homes while growing up. At a point, he lived with one of his teachers; who took him in because he didn’t want him to stop school. Tunji was a very brilliant student...he wanted to study Medicine but he didn’t have the financial capability, so he opted for engineering. That must have been another thing that endeared him to my father. About a year after we started dating officially, Tunji completed his Higher National Diploma. Back then, only University graduates were allowed to go through the Na...