Once upon a time, news from my family in Nigeria centered on the dead or dying. Tired of all the negative news, I sent out a fatwa: give me news of deaths and risk instant death! My folks knew I didn’t mean literal death. They also knew the sharpness of my tongue. A family member once said (unfairly, I might add) that if I were goat meat, he would eat everything except my mouth!
I didn’t mind that ‘yabis’ because the avalanche of negative family news ceased... I remembered a family member recently and realised I hadn’t heard about her in ages. When I asked my mother, she said the woman had since passed away. “Why wasn’t I told?” I asked with mild indignation. My mother retorted: “I thought you didn’t want to hear news about death.” Touche! I can’t eat my cake and have it, can I?
I didn’t mind that ‘yabis’ because the avalanche of negative family news ceased... I remembered a family member recently and realised I hadn’t heard about her in ages. When I asked my mother, she said the woman had since passed away. “Why wasn’t I told?” I asked with mild indignation. My mother retorted: “I thought you didn’t want to hear news about death.” Touche! I can’t eat my cake and have it, can I?
