Classism;

Nigeria as a nation is unique in many ways and this explains why some people will tell you for free if you care to listen that they cannot live anywhere else in the world apart from Nigeria. At best, they can visit any foreign country of their choice when they want to see the world.

One of the many perks any rich person can enjoy in Nigeria is the service of “maids”.

Some of us have consistently argued that the tag of “maid” used on these domestic assistants often dehumanizes them and takes away their basic human dignity.

Living in Nigeria gives you the privilege to acquire as many domestic assistants as you may want, once you can leverage on their poverty to promise them a better life which in most cases are not fulfilled.

While this is an unfortunate reality, many families in Nigeria have exploited a lot of poor people in the guise of offering them a better life as their “maids”.

These families often send these “maids” to relatively substandard schools when compared to the ones they send their own kids, which are often excellent schools.

So having as many “maids” as possible is a way to show that you have arrived in Nigeria, in most cases.

My conversation with Mr. Agu that startled me;

Often times, in building relationships with people, I prioritize men who have regard and affection for their families. Mr. Agu is one of such men and that was one of his attributes that endeared him to me when we met earlier.

Mr. Agu hails from the Nsukka axis of Enugu state and was among those rarely blessed men to have a wife from Mbubo, Isiala Ngwa north axis of Abia state.

Having married a high-flying wife who has always had ambition to play on the international sphere of her profession, she had long wished to further her education overseas.

My friend who as a medical laboratory scientist plied his trade while in Nigeria in the Non-governmental organization space in Akwaibom state made his wife a promise that once she is done with childbirth and basic grooming of the kids here in Nigeria, that he would see to it that the whole family moves overseas.

Owing to his work schedule while in Nigeria, he needed someone who would assist his wife with domestic errands at home while he was away to make and earn the money that would be used for the running of the family.

Search for a domestic assistant;

The need for a domestic assistant that would assist his wife in Nigeria made him reach out to friends, asking for recommendations as no one would want their kids to be destroyed by their domestic assistants.

After some prolonged search, this young Benue state girl child was suggested to the Agu’s family. After doing his due diligence on the girl, he took her in and has lately transformed her life in ways that are not routine.

One of the first things Mr. Agu did was to sort out her deficient academic background.

The girl was later got integrated to be a member of the family such that the kids of Mr. Agu have not spared him since they relocated from Nigeria, as they consistently asked their parents of their domestic assistant.

These domestic assistances are humans and deserve some dignity too;

During my conversation with Mr. Agu, he told me clearly that one of the things he achieved this year was to enrol his domestic assistant for West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the processing of her Nigerian international passport.

When I asked Mr. Agu after the girl, being that he and his family have relocated overseas, he shared with me something that really touched me.

He said, “KaTcHy, I sent the girl to be with my parents in-law in Aba for now. The plan is for us to support her to write her necessary examinations while we file for her to come over here and join us”.

At this point my mouth beamed with smiles and my eyes shone in amazement of the quality of man and woman this couple is.

Consistent pattern with most women especially of Igbo extraction;

As an educated and enlightened mind who understands why I should not stereotype people with my scholarly works, there is also a need to say some truths that we have come to see as our reality overtime irrespective of whose ox is gored.

Why we deliberately as a brand celebrate women of Igbo extraction who go all out to show sincere love and extreme affection to their domestic assistants is that in this part of the world, it is a big deal in every sense of it.

Most women literarily take these domestic assistants in and turn them outrightly to slaves, taking advantage of the fact that most of these kids always come from indigent homes where no one can stand up to speak for them.

This explains why we cannot stop telling stories of Mr. Agu’s family and how they are deliberately about to transform the life of their domestic assistant who has now become a family member owing to the quality of service she offered the family.

Conclusion;

The sole aim of this publication is to remind as many people as would see these publications that, turning kids you took from their parents to live with into slaves is wicked and barbaric. This is also to let you know that you can pick a child up from anywhere and give them the gift of a better life without your being a billionaire.

The Agu’s are a regular family doing their best to make ends meet. Here they are about to turn the life of the daughter of a rural akara balls seller around for good.

Finally, as a man married to your wife, it is also part of your duty beyond conjugal ministration, to see to it that your wife treats the domestic assistant in the care of your family well. Once you know that you cannot handle the excesses of this kid you have brought in to live with you after many attempts at grooming such a person, please send such a person home and do not be caught in the madness of inflicting all sorts of emotional, psychological and physical injuries on these chaps.

The great seeds of kindness we sow into the lives of others has a way of finding unimaginable expressions in our own lives, one way or another. Looking at the favour the Agu family is randomly receiving overseas, you would understand the meaning of the word – GRACE!