Pain, suffering of women inspire me to write books – 11-year-old writer, Audu

Etim Ekpimah

An 11-year-old writer, Jemima Audu and student at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Secondary School, Ikeja, Lagos State, said after observing her mother and other women in the society, she got a clear picture of what women are going through to ensure their family success.

Audu in her book, Volume 2, entitled: “The Nigerian Woman,” a collection of heroism, talks about “Onuche” an orphan who got married to a wealthy and successful farmer, “Ejura The Orphan.” The book is filled with interesting topics like, “The Meeting in Chapter Three”; “The Wedding in Chapter Four; “The Joy of Marriage in Chapter Five, and many other interesting topics in the following chapters.

The book is divided into three parts; the first part has eight chapters while the second part beginning with Belikisu, “The Amazon” has five chapters and the last section, “Abigail, The Virtuous Woman” has five chapters.

Audu noted that a typical Nigerian woman usually struggles, and hustles on the roads to keep their children alive and to provide a better future for them. “Those who work, still run other businesses to augment the family meagre earnings for the betterment of their households,” she said.

The kid writer, who is always glued to her mother, added that whenever her mother goes to the market, she often accompanies her and observes what other women are going through.

She opines, “What inspires me to start writing books, it’s how I see women. I can use my mother as a paradigm. I’m often with her whenever she’s going to market. While on the roads to the market, apart from the market women, I also see women on the roads struggling and hustling to eke out a decent living for their families.

“And inside the market, one still sees the women hawking soft drinks, food, and other things. Some even serve as link women to vendors. At the end of the day, they’ll have something like N10,000 to take home so that she and her family can feed and still put aside something such as children’s school fees and rent.

“Those that work like my mother, will return from work, go to market, get foodstuffs and come back home to cook for the family. I also notice that women’s work does not end until the children go to bed, yet they still wake up intermittently to monitor them.”

Audu, however, criticizes how women are treated in society, noting that girlchild is treated as a second-class citizen.

She, however, advocates for equal rights for both male and female children, adding that women’s destinies should not be anchored on their husbands.

“People should give equal rights and privileges to the girlchild because, in those days and even today, a lot of people only prefer male children. They don’t pay attention to their female children. Female children always need love and respect. And if they continue in this manner, I foresee danger coming.

“The maltreatment and underrating of girlchild in the contemporary society saddens me. This is why I write the books to project the pains and sufferings women go through.

“I also urge teachers to give equal love and respect to both male and female children in their classes,” she noted.

The book summarizes the story: ‘It is good to listen to our elders because a lot of times, they know better than us. They are wiser because of some experiences they have had in life.

“We should be careful of who to trust to come into our homes.

“Domestic violence is wrong. We must not abuse others or remain in an abusive relationship.

‘No matter what we go through in life, we should be positive and trust God for a better tomorrow.”