This is the feminisim we mean.

I cringe anytime I remember that period in my life. Life hadn't always been this good, I still remember Mbuotidem the onyibo miss road as I sometimes called him because of his seemingly European facial features. He was short, had a slightly bulging tummy, a reddish complexion and the coldest grey eyes I had ever seen. I didn't have any friends during that period as I was very quiet and even shy. But today if you were to watch me in the market supplying foodstuffs you would think I was a bossy no nonsense type of woman. Whatever the reason or cause of the shyness was, it seemed to have been lost in that period of my life. Only the memories of that period remain and I still fan those memories like embers from a dying fire from time to time and the flames leap to life and I relive them with the relief of one who knows she wouldn't have to go through such an ordeal again.

I was about 19 at that time, a sophomore student at the University of Calabar, my mom struggled to take care of seven of us, it was a bitter period for me, my dad had just died a few months back and I was about to write our first semester exams in a few weeks time and I was very worried about my fate in the forthcoming exams, I knew I wouldn't be allowed to participate in the examinations since I hadn't paid my fees. I looked around the miserable self-contain I lived in, the foodstuffs corner was half empty, I didn't have to worry about food thanks to my hard-working mother and I hadn't even used up to half and most of it had gone to Mbuotidem. My house rent had expired and the constant drip of water from the leaky ceiling was a constant reminder of how miserable my apartment was and it drove me nuts. I turned on my bed with a heavy sigh and picked up my cheap Android phone to call my mother, but what would I tell her, that I had a piling debt to pay in school of which she already knew about and was doing everything in her power to gather the money for me. I stared at the dirty discoloured wall, was it supposed to be blue or green I wondered. My mother was already overwhelmed with my 6 siblings I didn't want to put more pressure on her. Instead I decided to login to Facebook, I had been using Facebook free mode for the past two months because of my financial situation, since there weren't much pictures to see when using Facebook in free mode I actually took time to read people's posts especially the short ones. I had been seeing a particular girl's post on my news feed for the past two months and the word that stood out from her articles was feminism but because they were too long I didn't take time to read them I had seen those words lots of times but I never bothered with it and I had only a vague idea of what it meant, weren't they a cult of women who hated men or something like that? Now when I remember this I laugh at how silly I had been. But this time while going through my news feed I saw a post from her, it was short but in capital letters it read: THE FUTURE IS FEMALE. I wondered why, all these feminists sef! I rolled my eyes and sighed.

I was still scrolling through my news feed on Facebook when I heard a plop beside me, I turned to see what had fallen beside me, another piece of rotten wet wood from the ceiling? It wouldn't be a surprised, the building was already falling apart. For a split second I thought it was a rotten piece of wood but when I realized what it really was I screeched in fear and shock, it was a snake! and I didn't even know how I found myself outside in the cold with my phone still miraculously in my hand. Outside I felt dizzy, I felt like I would faint, seeing that snake had really shaken me, I decided to call Mbuotidem and tell him I was coming over he grumbled for a while then finally agreed. When I got to his house he gave me a once over probably to ascertain I wasn't going to stay there for more than one night and then he let me inside grinning. His small boxy room was very untidy, if I had the strength I would have cleaned it for him but I didn't. Once inside I told him I was tired and went to lie on his small bed, he came up to me in only his boxers, he had stripped, I stared at the erect mound between his thighs and knew what was to come, he was grinning and I stared at his slightly yellowed teeth, "now you'll be doing as if you don't like it" he said as he pushed down his boxers and proceeded to grope my breasts underneath my blouse. He entered into me and after a few seconds rolled off me I got up and went to clean up in the bathroom. I came back a few minutes later and went to lie beside him. I waited a few seconds to sum up courage before asking him to borrow me about twenty thousand naira I said I was going to pay back as soon as I could. He laughed, he knew my financial issues, he said he would see what he could do and started a long tale about how almost all the girls he had met in his life were after his money and even called me a prostitute because I asked him for money right after we had sex.

He called me one fateful day about a week after the night he called me a prostitute and asked me to meet him at a lecture hall near the school's library. He had still not given me the money but I was hopeful he was going to give me that day. When I got there he squeezed a one thousand naira note into my hands, smiled a thin lipped cruel smile and said "it's because you asked for it like a prostitute, that's why I won't give you the twenty thousand naira" I looked at him and my eyes burned with hot tears and rage I went back home humiliated and bitter.

I laid on the bed wallowing in self pity and hating myself for ever knowing Mbuotidem. What was left of my dignity had been cruelly trampled on by Mbuotidem. Sadness had blanketed me and tears flowed down the sides of my face. I went on Facebook again and this time I saw an article posted by Oghene Efe the girl whose articles were decorated with the word feminisim. It was about being financially independent as a young woman, I loved it so much I visited her profile and read lots of her articles on feminisim, I felt goose pimples and I felt a tickling sensation in my heart I would later describe it on my online blog as my heart being filled with the joy of knowledge. I felt so happy with the realization that I and Mbuotidem were equals and he had no right whatsoever to treat me the way he had because he was a man or my boyfriend. I now knew what feminisim really meant, it meant the empowerment of women, the equality of both men and women and most of all it signified liberation for me. That night I called my mother with hope in my heart and a million dollar idea in my head, I had found a way to maximize the profit of the produce from her farm. And that day Oghene Efe had earned an admirer and a social media follower.

Nigerian slang used in the story:

Oyinbo = White woman or white man.