Femi
Fani Kayode probably needs no introduction. He was once the Aviation Minister
in Nigeria. And is known to be very expressive on social networks. Well, he has
written a story which he says is a True Story.
The
best stories are usually the true ones. The following story is not only true
but it is also revealing and remarkable. Please fasten your seatbelts, sit back
and patiently read it. You never know, you may learn something from it. I
certainly did. Here we go.
Someone
asked me the other day where I got the inspiration to write my poem titled
"The Power of a Woman". I told him that it came from the Spirit of
God and that I also drew on so many experiences that I had had with women over
the last 53 years of my life and the experiences of many of my male friends
too. All in all the poem, in my view, far from being an attack on womanhood was
in fact very charitable to them and confirmed the view, held by many, that they
are extremely complex beings that need to be treated with tender love and care
at all times.
Funnily
enough most of my closest friends today are women: this is because I find them
to be far more loyal and generally speaking much deeper, more far-sighted, more
sensitive and more discerning than men. But let me share something here that
happened to me just a few years ago when I was still in government and which
shocked me beyond belief. It also made me extremely wary of members of the
opposite sex. A good friend of mine who was, and still is a leading and well
known politician, was put in detention during President Obasanjo's
administration. He was facing some very serious criminal charges (he has long
since been cleared and acquitted by the courts) and he was detained in prison
for many months. I was reasonably close to him at the time and I used to speak
with him regularly when he was there and I did all I could to help him with his
case. I also used to visit his family regularly to encourage them and do
whatever I could for them.
He
and his wife were very close and I always saw her as a dutiful and loyal wife.
She seemed to be totally devoted to this man. Then came the shocker: one day
when I went there I noticed that she seemed a little more restless and agitated
than usual. She offered me a generous shot of vintage ''Remy Martin'' brandy
and I reminded her that I don't drink hard liqour. I noticed that she was
getting a little too familiar with me and she wore a flimsy gown that night. I
was getting very uncomfortable and hot under the collar and told her that I had
to leave. She then told me that she had prepared dinner and that she cooked it
herself just for me and that she had told all the househelp to retire early and
the children were all away at boarding school- in short, she told me that we
were completely alone in the house. At this point I protested strongly and told
her that I had to leave right away. She then told me that she had something to
tell me and something to give me. I asked her to go ahead: she told me that I
should stop worrying about her husband and that after all how do I know that he
didn't commit the said crime? She told me that he is a very ''harsh and wicked
man'' and that the only reason that she was still with him was because of the
children and because he had plenty of money and power.
She
then broke down and wept and said that she was so unhappy in the marriage and
that the only way she could be free was for him to die or to be jailed. She
said that she did not want him to ever come out of detention and that that was
her secret prayer. At this point there were goose pimples all over my body and
a very deep fear gripped me. I sensed that I was in mortal danger and I started
praying under my breath. I told her that I did not want to hear such things and
that I was leaving. She then got up and ran to the front door and locked it
from within. She told me that I could not go until she had given me the gift
she had promised me and that she would now go upstairs to fetch it for me. At
this point I had come to the conclusion that this lady was mentally unstable
and I actually feared for my life. Was it a gun she wanted to bring or was the
food drugged or poisoned? All sorts of things were racing through my mind. She
then went upstairs and came back five minutes later and you know what? She was
completely naked! She told me that this was the gift she had for me: her body.
She told me that she had loved me from the first day she saw me and that she
was ready to do anything for me there and then. I was shocked beyond belief.
I
then picked up my cell phone and sent an SOS text to my chief security officer
who, together with his team, were in the compound by the cars. Immediately they
cordoned off the house, brought out their weapons, rushed to the front door and
started demanding to see me. They actually thought that perhaps I had been
poisoned or shot or something. It was at that point that the lady relented,
unlocked the door and I was saved. I left the place safely. What shocked me the
most was that when the man was released I went to see them and this lady was
once again playing the role of the devoted and dutiful wife. She was doting on
him and showering him with love and praises, which is, of course, how it should
be. She even insisted on leading the prayers thanking God over and over again
for his release from detention and final acquittal. I was happy for my friend
but at the same time unhappy for him. I was happy because he had been released
but I was unhappy because he had no idea about the type of wife he had.
I
learnt something that day: I learnt that when the bible says that “the heart of
man is desperately wicked, who can know it?" that it is true. I also
learnt that when William Shakespeare wrote that "there is no art that can
see the minds construction in the face" that he was right. And this goes
both ways: men can be as deceptive as women and more often than not they are.
It is just that men are not nearly as good at it and more often than not they
are very obvious. You see it was not the suggestion of infidelity that shocked
me the most (because that is common enough) but rather the deep-seated hatred
that this woman secretly had for her husband. That is what I found frightful.
And as bad as that was, I am sure that he must have brought that beast out in her
by not treating her well over the years. So perhaps it is not entirely her
fault. I cannot judge her or either of them (in any case who am I to judge
anyone) but the morale of the tale is surely this: we must treat our wives and
our partners very well indeed and then we can leave the rest to God.
We
must give them a new reason to love us anew every day. We must light up their
fire, touch their souls and lift up their senses. We must treat them as if they
were princesses and queens so that they will love us forever and not run to
another or secretly wish us dead. We must ensure that the beast does not rise
up in them by giving them all that they could possibly want, whether it be
emotionally, spiritually, physically or financially. My friend is still with his
wife and they appear to be very happy too. I am happy for them and particularly
for his blissful ignorance concerning his wife's inner-most thoughts. Well
maybe she has changed her mind about him now and maybe she truly loves him
again. I really wouldn't know and that is none of my business.
I
have never spoken about that incident with that lady and I never will. Whenever
we see each other we just smile and say hello: she knows that her secret is
safe with me but I do pray for both her and her husband. I pray for their
marriage because we are all vulnerable from time to time and we all have our
moments of weakness. And neither will I ever tell anyone the names of this
interesting couple. My lips are sealed forever on that and neither is it
relevant. May God help us all, particularly we men, for we have no idea about
just how deep, powerful and complex women can be. That is the power of a woman!
And it is partly that shocking experience that led me to write that highly
celebrated and controversial poem.
For
those that are interested in reading it and learning more about the fairer sex
just google the title or look it up in the poems column of my website-
www.femifanikayode.org. You never know- you may learn something new. I
certainly did. Shalom.
What
do you think?