Maryam

She is not representative of our women.

If we look at them through her prism, we are not just to them. They tolerate us so much. Whatever their position in society, they condescend to the traditional level of housewives, doing whatever would satisfy us, which we take for granted and hardly acknowledge.

I am saying ‘we’ emphatically because I know yours truly is among the leading culprits here. They deserve our silent prayers for abundant reward in the hereafter, even though most of us find it very difficult to even say thank you to them when they serve us food or water. Allah ya biya ku dangin nono.

Of course they have their shortcomings, like we do. But sure, murder is not among them. The murderous act of Maryam can best be located in the domain of our shared inhumanity that could be triggered by so many things which drive us senseless, including wealth, drugs, love, hate, mental sickness, etc. These things have created such deviants before even in the traditional, peaceful northern homes where different persons were victims: sometimes a step child, sometimes a co-wife, sometimes the husband himself.

After coming this far, a distance of 56 years and experiencing so much, I will still grade our women ‘A’ averagely. That does not exclude the Maryams that would surely deserve an F.

Let this gruesome incident not make us lose sight of the millions of our ‘A’ grade sisters, whom I would never change for any other.

‘Danmama’
22 November, 2017