Kolawole…
When you are a tenant; as in when you do not own your humble abode; as in when you are renting, the Yoruba, recognizing the impermanence of your situation, will always advise you that it is not meet to name your child Kolawole.
For if and when the landlord has need of his property and serves you the dreaded one-month notice, what happens to the wealth and good fortune which your child’s name boastfully tells the world have been deposited in your home?
The landlord says carry your “ola” (wealth/good fortune) and go and the whole world now knows that the said home in that name isn’t yours. The impermanence of your permanence is exposed and you gnash your teeth in the face of public shame.
I repeat: Kolawole – never announce to the world that wealth and good fortune are rushing into your home via this name if you are renting.
Hajia Desinatu entered the transient rental space of political appointment. She entered the rental spaces that are the Petroleum Ministry and the NNPC.
Mistaking impermanence for permanence, she settled in that rental space, sat down yakata, and named all her children Kolawole.
Now, a no-nonsense landlord is in town and has given her till May 29, 2015 to k’ola e jade.
Kurukere kurukere to Minna
Kurukere kurukere to Abuja.
Last time she was spotted at the Villa, General Abubakar was leading her into her boss’s office.
The General said he was on a peace mission. A peace mission between employer and employee?
Whatever the outcome of this latest peace meeting, Hajia Desinatu will always remember the day she moved into the rental space of political appointment, forgot the impermanence of permanence,
And named her children Kolawole…