I’m not sure I’m prepared to follow anyone to the market yet; not even if they invented #FollowMeToTheMarket. I might as well accept an invitation to my own funeral. Right now, I’m quite busy – watching market forces, keenly aware that in domestic affairs, what goes up stays up.
As I grew older and became more independent, I found my way around Mama’s maze of inexplicable rules. I just followed my heart. That included discarding the maternal canon of bathing before dinner; but believe me, I still keep short hair because she said long hair – my own long hair – had the tendency to grow into my mouth.
I sent daggers from the corner of my eyes, but they didn’t deter her. Again, she said that I would follow her to the market next time. Why? Then her stream of questions became a torrent, and the torrent, a dam of JAMB-like questions and answers.
But knowing she had told me this kind of story over and over in the past and I didn’t pay attention, she made up her mind this time that only a spousal rebellion would get my attention: She is happy to go to the market any day, but I would follow her and pay as she shops! The International Crisis Group reported that since January 2018 when country-wide violence escalated, 300,000 people have fled their homes. If you add that to the disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic and the radical escalation of violence this year that has left scores dead, then you’ll begin to understand why one finger of bell pepper, which sold for N200 last year, has nearly doubled.