If Wishes Were Horses

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When your wife gives birth to a female child, your fellow men would say you aren't strong enough. On the contrary, when your wife is put to bed and he is a male child, they pour accolades saying *you are a man indeed*. For Solomon, his wife Prisca, went to the labor room, seven times, out of which six were girls and the last one a male, Chris.

For the six times Prisca came home with a female child, she frowned. It's a world where the male child carries more relevance, hence when a female child comes through, the rejoicing isn't hyped.

Felicia, Faith, Fanny, Funmi, Fola, and Feyi had a strong connection and would always stick with their mother's desire. She brought the girls up to lead simple but adorable lives in preparation for a future good home. Felicia's wedding was held in a low-key to an entrepreneur who saw the simple nature she displayed each time they came to church.

The remaining five girls and Chris heard from some of their folks how it is been said about their sister Felicia, being a good example of who a modern wife should be. It was a virtue they would be proud of, to say the least.

Solomon's eldest brother had been selected to be crowned king in their village and everyone would have return home. Prisca had never supported taking her children to her husband's village because there are too many old men and women there.

Since this would involve family, there is no excuse for not traveling. To make matters worse, schools have closed for the year and wouldn't be re-opening until after a four months holidays.

The girls and their mother, Prisca began to prepare for the journey. They washed and ironed their clothes and arranged spices that may not be gotten in the village and whatnot. Felicia who had been married was contacted, she was to be on the ground on the day of the coronation.

It was a long and stressful journey as people from all parts of the country returned home for Christmas, new year and other festivities.

Traffic jams made the journey slow and tiresome and by the time they came to the middle of the journey, it was already dark. The driver pulled through and came to Onitsha, the entrance to the eastern part of the country. From here, it will take another four hours before they could reach Nkalagu, their hometown.

All passengers had to pass the night at Central Park with one eye closed. There had been news that some jobless fellow in Onitsha we're always on the lookout for travelers to humiliate and loot their goods. So, the sleep that night wasn't a complete one.

As early as 6:00 am, they set out on their journey. By the time they arrived at Nkalagu, it was already 11:00 am.

Everyone was tired. Solomon and Chris just had a warm bath and retired to bed. Faith and Feyi probably had some sound sleep at the park, they cleaned up the house and made okra soup, ate, and set out to visit their old-time village friends.

One thing they found common was that all the village maidens are either with children or pregnant and most of them happened out of wedlock. This didn't go down well with the duo. There seemed not to be enough campaign on the need for female child education here. In this twenty-first century where women are already taking the lead in top careers around the globe. Faith and Feyi went home agitated and disappointed.

Before they reached their house, the other girls had already gone to see the Abadaba lake. This lake is famous for its unique reserves. It has warm water throughout the season of the year in one part, and cold water in the other. The species of fish in one differs to the other. While one of the halves is salty the other is freshwater. The girls wanted to find out more about the Abadaba lakes.

Luckily for the girls, they met a group of foreigners from Australia with an old man who narrated all that surrounds the lake. The old man is the village historian. He is also as famous as the lake. His name is Baba Abadaba.

He told the tourists as the girls joined in that where the lake is currently located used to be the house of the king of Nkalagu. He had two wives where go were never in agreement.

Since they were always at war between themselves on the flimsiest excuse of who is to do what or not, they served the king food at the same time. One of the foods served was poisoned and the other wasn't.

Before the king could find out through a magic chain he always wore, he had eaten part of the served poisoned food. It was at his point of death that he cursed his two wives for cutting his life short. They became a stagnant lake whose habitat and inhabitants must not be eaten by mortals.

On the day of the coronation, there were so many guests. Felicia was also around with her husband. It was more like a family reunion. These holidays have given them an ample opportunity to reunite with relatives they have seen a very long time ago.

Faith was the one who gave a speech for all the maidens. She addressed a lot of issues in her five minutes speech. Her talk centered on education for the girl child.

If a girl child isn't as important as her male counterpart, God wouldn't have created her. This coronation should not close without addressing the issue of keeping the girl child out of school.

There was a standing ovation as she stepped down from the podium having raised some cogent issues bedeviling society.

Solomon was so proud of his daughters. They have made him realize that female children are not push-asides in the scheme of things in modern times.