Nov
15th
GRANNY CATHERINE.
By chayoma
i went with a friend to visit the old peoples' home last week &
we were opportuned to meet one of the aged occupants of the
home. an old woman of 96 years old called granny
catherine. we chatted with her & she was so lively & at the
same time so lonely, she showed us her pictures, the ones she
took when she was young & the ones she took in her middle
& old age, she was such a lovely woman, so beautiful as a
young girl & she narrated her life story to our curious &
anxious ears.
granny catherine grew up in the sourthern part of nigeria, she & her husband maxwell were living in the northern part of nigeria with their 4 boys before the nigerian civil war broke out, her husband was enlisted among the soldiers that fought during the civil war, amidst pleas & tears her husband was torn away from her & the children, the war was so fierce that family members were torn away from each other, everything was in disarray, the whole nation was scattered & torn apart, people were running helter skelter, wives were hiding their husbands to prevent them from been sent to the war front.
granny catherine fought hard too to prevent the government from taking her grown sons away from her like they took her husband, she hid her sons every day in the house, when the war got fiercier & houses were being burnt every day she decided to run away from the city with her children to her husband's home town in the east for safety. there was no vehicle those days for long distance journey like it is nowadays, so they had to trek, when it's night fall, they rested in a place & continued the journey the next day. these went on for days & turned into weeks, when they got closer to the middle belt they were accosted by some uniformed men who held them hostage for some days & later released her with only the two smaller kids & told her that they will need the services of the two grown boys that they will stay with them to fight for their nation.
amidst tears & entreaties she pleaded but her pleas were not accepted, she left her two sons in the hands of the soldiers, she continued on her journey with the other two kids, along the way the youngest took ill because of malnutrition & lack of good sleep for months, eventually the child died before they could get to their destination. she & her only surviving child later took shelter in a nearby village after treking for many weeks. the war was still raging on, every village in nigeria at that time, experienced the effect of that singular diseaster.
granny catherine later lost the only child she had with her & she never saw her husband nor her sons again. after the war she tried to locate her husband's village but she couldn't because everywhere has been burnt, houses have been destroyed, there were just heaps & heaps of debris & ashes. she went back to her former base & tried every thing in her power to see if she could re-unite with her surviving family members but she never was ever able to re-unite with them again. she decided to start life afresh, she was 57 years old at that time.
she never re-married, the memories of the war still lingers on, she became unstable, some times losing her memories & acting strangely, she was psychologically disturbed, when she got older some one brought her to the old people's home, because she didn't have anyone to take care of her outside & she has been staying there for some years now.
that's the story of granny catherine, the diseatrous effect of the nigerian civil war still lives with some people, many died then & many are still living with the negative effects in their lives. many of us here in tansali have not been born then, we may not know what the effects of that particular war have caused some people but am sure that by the history we read & heard of, it was really a devastating, diseatrous & dangerous terrain to have been trailed.
to all those who passed through the effects of the nigerian civil war, the ikeja, lagos state bomb blast & all kinds of natural diseasters that have ever happened in any continent, words are not enough to express how deeply compassionate i feel towards all the victims of these kinds of calamity, but i share your pains & miseries, & i pray the lord gives you the heart to get over this & move on again.
to granny catherine, i owe you a constant visit to the old peoples' home & i cherish those beautiful toothy smiles you gave me when i hugged you & kissed your beautiful face with those gracious old age wrinkles. the sun shall always shine.
granny catherine grew up in the sourthern part of nigeria, she & her husband maxwell were living in the northern part of nigeria with their 4 boys before the nigerian civil war broke out, her husband was enlisted among the soldiers that fought during the civil war, amidst pleas & tears her husband was torn away from her & the children, the war was so fierce that family members were torn away from each other, everything was in disarray, the whole nation was scattered & torn apart, people were running helter skelter, wives were hiding their husbands to prevent them from been sent to the war front.
granny catherine fought hard too to prevent the government from taking her grown sons away from her like they took her husband, she hid her sons every day in the house, when the war got fiercier & houses were being burnt every day she decided to run away from the city with her children to her husband's home town in the east for safety. there was no vehicle those days for long distance journey like it is nowadays, so they had to trek, when it's night fall, they rested in a place & continued the journey the next day. these went on for days & turned into weeks, when they got closer to the middle belt they were accosted by some uniformed men who held them hostage for some days & later released her with only the two smaller kids & told her that they will need the services of the two grown boys that they will stay with them to fight for their nation.
amidst tears & entreaties she pleaded but her pleas were not accepted, she left her two sons in the hands of the soldiers, she continued on her journey with the other two kids, along the way the youngest took ill because of malnutrition & lack of good sleep for months, eventually the child died before they could get to their destination. she & her only surviving child later took shelter in a nearby village after treking for many weeks. the war was still raging on, every village in nigeria at that time, experienced the effect of that singular diseaster.
granny catherine later lost the only child she had with her & she never saw her husband nor her sons again. after the war she tried to locate her husband's village but she couldn't because everywhere has been burnt, houses have been destroyed, there were just heaps & heaps of debris & ashes. she went back to her former base & tried every thing in her power to see if she could re-unite with her surviving family members but she never was ever able to re-unite with them again. she decided to start life afresh, she was 57 years old at that time.
she never re-married, the memories of the war still lingers on, she became unstable, some times losing her memories & acting strangely, she was psychologically disturbed, when she got older some one brought her to the old people's home, because she didn't have anyone to take care of her outside & she has been staying there for some years now.
that's the story of granny catherine, the diseatrous effect of the nigerian civil war still lives with some people, many died then & many are still living with the negative effects in their lives. many of us here in tansali have not been born then, we may not know what the effects of that particular war have caused some people but am sure that by the history we read & heard of, it was really a devastating, diseatrous & dangerous terrain to have been trailed.
to all those who passed through the effects of the nigerian civil war, the ikeja, lagos state bomb blast & all kinds of natural diseasters that have ever happened in any continent, words are not enough to express how deeply compassionate i feel towards all the victims of these kinds of calamity, but i share your pains & miseries, & i pray the lord gives you the heart to get over this & move on again.
to granny catherine, i owe you a constant visit to the old peoples' home & i cherish those beautiful toothy smiles you gave me when i hugged you & kissed your beautiful face with those gracious old age wrinkles. the sun shall always shine.
Viewing 1 - 1 of 1
