(By Jude Idada)

The mother of an old friend of mine lives alone in Okokomaiko.
An Urhobo woman in her late 70's.

Embittered.

And frowns so much that a deep furrow lies permanently between her brows.

Including my friend, she has five sons.

And a wealthy husband who is so debonair and exposed, unlike her, who holds a degree in Classics from the University of Ibadan, but prefers to speak in Pidgin English most of the time and hobnob with the most rural of people.

In the days of yore, when we all lived in Ikeja, we called her Margaret Thatcher.

Strict was her byword.

No nonsense her dictum.

So draconian she was, that she boasted of her control over her husband and her sons far and wide.