MY FATHERS FARMLAND Episode 1 – 6 by Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

MY FATHERS FARMLAND Episode 1 – 6 by Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

They were three. Kikiolaoluwa, Idiopemipo and Oluwasomidoba were the three kids of Baba Jenriayegbe. The Trio were simply called Ola, Ope and Oba.

Kikiolaoluwa( Ola) means “I have God’s Wealth in abundance ”

Idiopemipo ( Ope) means “I have a lot of Reasons to Praise God”

Oluwasomidoba ( Oba) “God has made me a King”

The trio were the children of Baba Jenriayegbe, who was a poverty stricken fellow. The trio didn’t enjoy any luxury while growing up, coupled with the fact that their mother had died in their early years.

Fate decided to show how cruel life could be on one side of the world when the only person who gave them hope died.

Their father died when Ola and Ope were 16 years old, while Oba was 18. Ola and Ope were twin girls, while Oba was the eldest. Their Non Yoruba speaking friends preferred to call them using the English interpretation of their name. Ola was called WEALTH, Ope was called PRAISE, while Oba was called KING.

The trio’s father didn’t leave a pin for the trio and the few things that they had in their little room was sold to give him a decent burial in the family compound.

However, if Baba Jenriayegbe failed in everything, He didn’t fail in raising his children in the way and in the fear of God.

By the age of 15, the twin girls had finished the New Testament of the Bible Twice, while Oba the eldest and only boy had read it 4 times by the age of 18.

Therefore, after Baba Jenriayegbe’s death, the trio found solace in God and in a very short time, Help and Favour had sought them. This was how it went…

Immediately their father Died and had been buried, Oba ( King) called his sisters to a family meeting…

“ Wealth and Praise , I know we are still mourning father’s death, but it’s high time we moved on. Even though we don’t have an earthly father anymore, we still have our Heavenly Father who can take us places. I see this as a way for us to throw all our eggs in God’s basket.

As it is, we have no one but we have God. You know the Scripture that says “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”.

That Arise means we need to Get up before our shining can take place…We need to Get up and take charge of our lives… So first things first… We need to go on a three days fasting and prayer program for God to reveal His mind to us, and to hand over our lives to God for Him to be our father at this point…

“ 3 days fasting after losing our father?” Ope ( Praise)had said looking very surprised

“ Same question running through my mind” Ola (Wealth) said too…

“ This is what we must do and I can assure you, it will yield great results”

The twin girls were definitely not buying into Oba’s idea. Fasting and prayer was not close to what was on their minds, they had just lost their beloved father and starving themselves for 3 days was going to cause further depression into their lives…..

“ How does going into spiritual exercise after losing someone make sense?” Ola ( Wealth) Wondered silently…

PART 2
“MY FATHERS FARMLAND”
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

Oba ( King) as His name suggests had a way of making people do his bidding. He cajoled his sisters into the fasting and praying program.

Ola(Wealth) and Ope (Praise) joined Oba in the fast and it was a humbling time for them. They wept before the Lord and prayed with all their heart.

They were so broke that they didn’t have money to buy food to break their fast on the third day.

Ola ( Wealth) who was the business minded one, decided to go look for a means of making money. As weak as she was, she walked straight to one of the beautiful houses in their environment. She knocked at the gate and surprisingly to her, it was the Madam of the house that answered…

“ Good Afternoon ma!” Ola had said

“ Yes, Good Afternoon !” Miss Johnson said with a puzzled look for lack of recognition

“ Ma, my name is Kikiolaoluwa and I live down the street, I am not here to beg you for money, but I need money for my siblings and I to eat, so please ma, is it possible for me to wash any dirty clothes you have, to earn a little cash…” Ola had said pleadingly

“ Wow!,… unfortunately I use a washing machine that takes care of my laundry”

“ What about sweeping the compound, I can see your compound needs some sweeping” Ola said with desperation in her voice as she was simultaneously stretching her neck in other to have a good look at the compound..

“ Hold on young lady, is this about you getting money to eat, if it is about that, I can give you some money.”

“ Aww, That is so nice of you ma, but I would love a permanent work, something that will fetch me regular money. My siblings and I just lost our father and my brother asked us to wait on God for three days for God’s guidance, Today is the 3rd day and we don’t have anything to break our fast… That’s why I took it upon myself to do a menial job to get money…

so if you give me money right now, it might not be enough to sustain us for days..” Ola said

“ Are you saying, you and your siblings have not eaten for three days, because you were fasting and now you have nothing to break your fast ?” Miss Johnson asked

“ Yes!”

“ Wow!…where do you live?” Miss Johnson asked

Ola pointed towards her house and Miss Johnson told her to take her to their place. She wanted to know the authenticity of Ola’s claims. As Miss Johnson walked behind Ola, Ola knew Oba( King) was not going to be happy with the development. Oba didn’t like asking people for Favours. Ola had always told him, he was proud, but Oba would say “It is Self respect, I know my worth, I may not be where I ought to be, but I must not sell myself cheap because of where I am today!”

“ …eat at my place” Miss Johnson was saying but Ola only heard her last words about eating at her place…

“ I am sorry, I didn’t get you ma…I was lost in thoughts”

“ Oh!, I was saying that if I can verify your claim, then you and siblings will follow me to my place to have a decent meal…”

“ Oh!, thank you ma’am, that’s really thoughtful of you ma’am. May God bless the work of your hands and may your children find help wherever they find themselves…”Ola said beaming with smiles

“ Amen..” Miss Johnson said returning Ola’s smile

At that point they were already in front of the Trio’s room. It was a very small dark room with the only source of light finding it’s way into the room from a miniature window. The rooms had no furnitures except for a wooden shelf of books belonging to Oba. They had sold everything sellable, but Oba being an avid reader could not do away with his wooden shelf that housed his books. They also had two mats on the floor; the twin girls slept on one while Oba slept on the other mat. There were sacks neatly placed in a corner. The trio had neatly arranged their clothes in there…

Oba was lying on the floor reading a motivational book about leadership, but Ope had a small mp3 music player in her hands with her earpiece tucked in her ears… Oba sighted the visitor first and on seeing her, he jumped to his feet wondering what his sister had done…

Miss Johnson looked around and could not believe people could still live in houses like this, Eben, Her security man who she had sent on an errand earlier that morning was not even living in a room as terrible as what the trio was living in..

“ Hello…” Miss Johnson said

“ Good Afternoon ma” Oba and Ope said looking at Ola for answers as to why they had a visitor in their room…

“ Emmm… Madam lives down the street… I went to her place to see I can get a menial job in other to fix food for us, but she asked to know my house to be sure of how genuine I am “ Ola said…

“ Ok .. Ma.., she is very genuine.. She is our sister …”Oba said taking full responsibility as always

“ Oh!, You are a twin!” Miss Johnson said when she noticed Ola and Ope were identical.

“ Yes ma”

“ Wow!, I have always prayed to have twin girls, I totally adore twins… It is well, Your sister has told me about your recent loss and I am very sorry for your loss, But whatever I am able to do, I will do for you, especially for the fact that you know the Lord. What challenged me about her, was the fact that she said you all took it upon yourself to wait upon the Lord after losing your father…, that is a bold step I must say. For that reason, I won’t hesitate to show God’s Kindness to you..” Miss Johnson said…

“ Ok ma, thank you ma’am!”

“ So what do you say?” Miss Johnson asked

“Was this woman asking if she could help them?” Oba wondered silently…

“ Yes ma!, we will be glad to accept your God centered kindness towards us…” Oba said stressing and Emphasizing the “ God-Centered”. His intention was to let the woman know that though they were poor, they were not willing to compromise by doing anything that doesn’t glorify God…

“ Ok, let’s start with you breaking your fast at my place. I will have my maid make something for you!” Miss Johnson said with a smile.

Ola was the first to return the smile, followed by Oba, but Ope was the meticulous one. She was always very careful about trusting people. She was the deep one among the trio, she spoke few words but had deeper insight than the other two…

“ Can’t she give us the money and we sort ourselves out?” Ope whispered in Oba’s right ear…

Oba gave her a reassuring look, that they would be fine…

Oba, Ope and Ola went with Miss Johnson to her house and …..

PART 3
“ MY FATHERS FARMLAND”
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

Oba, Ope and Ola went with Miss Johnson to her house and they had the best meal of their lives. They were served Hot custard with Fresh Fish pepper soup.

“Of a truth, God is a good God” Ola thought silently. As she continued with her meal she took the time to look around the house, this was her dream,to be a wealthy woman, she knew someday she would be as rich as this woman. She looked around trying to get more details about the woman, there was no family portrait, it was her picture that filled the whole house. Ola kept turning around to see if she could see another picture…

“ Looking for something?” Miss Johnson said from where she sat

“ Not really ma, I was just admiring your pictures…” Ola said half of the truth…

“ And?” Miss Johnson asked

“ Why don’t you have the pictures of the other members of your family here ma?” Ope blurted out. Ope was a person of few words, but times when she decided to talk, it was straight to the point…

Oba and Ola looked at Ope strangely, with the expression that said, what she just said was uncalled for…

“ Oh that!, I am not married, or better still I have never been married, I have a disorder that can not make me get pregnant, it is called PCOS meaning Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). it is a hormonal disorder, it causes infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods or excess male hormone (androgen) levels. The ovaries develop numerous small collections of fluid and fail to regularly release eggs, thereby making me Infertile….So I decided to remain single than face the trauma of getting married and waiting endlessly for a child..” Miss Johnson said with a smile and continued with the book she was reading.

The trio could not eat anymore as the words they just heard hit them really hard…

“ How Ironic life was! This woman had enough money to cater for 10 kids in this house but unfortunately she has none, meanwhile their own father had 3 kids and could not feed even 1” Oba wondered silently

“ What’s happening?” Miss Johnson asked.. “Don’t tell me you are feeling bad, come off it, God has been good to me and I am glad .. Not having kids is not the end of the world. I have channeled my energy to helping motherless children. They need me and I need them. I pay the school fees of 10 university students, 25 secondary school students and 54 Nursery and Primary school students. Isn’t that much more than I can ever ask from God… Besides, God has decided to add 3 more to my list. He brought you to me…, So eat up and let’s discuss.” Miss Johnson said and continued with her reading…

Oba was dazed at the level of faith the woman had. He had only read this level of faith from the Bible.

“This PCOS she was referring to must be like the disease the woman with the issue of blood in the Bible had… Excessive Menstruation or no menstruation at all….Hmmm, but God can heal her!” Oba thought silently

“This woman must be a true warrior”Ola thought silently

Ope on the other hand suddenly felt compassion and had tears in her eyes.

After their meal, Miss Johnson sat with them in the living room asking them about what their individual visions were…

“ I want to go into politics, I believe that someday I will be the governor of my state…” Oba said

“ I want to work with my hands and make money… I love to do business” Ola said

“ I love singing, I love arts generally, I love to write, sing, play instruments, Draw, make movies and all that… My vision is to be on the big screen!” Ope said with high enthusiasm. Whenever Ope spoke about Art, her face would always light up…

“ Very good dreams I must say, but you know you need education and training to achieve this?”

“ Yes ma, and that has been our limitation” Oba said…

“ What if I am willing to help, would you accept my offer of help?”

The trio looked at each other surprisingly, amazed at the level of humility the woman had. They were also shocked at how God was set to help them in such a short time…

Miss Johnson fulfilled her promise and got them into private universities after they had written all the necessary examinations. This was two years after they had met her. Within those two years, they had learnt different vocations. Miss Johnson insisted they each learn a craft. Oba became an apprentice at a Mechanic Workshop, Ola started working at Miss Johnson’s store as the supervisor, while Ope went to a Music school .

After two years of living with Miss Johnson, they each got admitted into the university to study the course of their choice. Oba went ahead to study Political Science,While Ola went ahead to study Business Administration and Ope went for Mass communication.

Trouble however reared up it’s ugly head when Miss Johnson’s case became critical and She was diagnosed of Cancer of the Uterine lining.

The trio realized their hopes were about to be dashed, as they had just gotten into their second year in the university, and Miss Johnson was the only one they had….

PART 4
“MY FATHERS FARMLAND”
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

It felt like a red carpet had been pulled from under the trio’s legs. They had been living a good life, eating good food, dressing well, having someone they could call “Mother”, But all of a sudden their Angel in human form was under serious health attack.

Oba took it upon himself to sensitize his sisters on the need to pray. They started their 3 days fasting and Prayer in school praying for God to heal Miss Johnson by His Healing power…

The trio took the program very seriously, but on the third day, they heard a bad news. Miss Johnson’s PA had called Oba that Miss Johnson wasn’t getting any better and needed to be flown outside the country for better health treatment. The P.A told Oba, Miss Johnson asked to see him.

Oba and his siblings travelled down to see their Angel in human form..

Oh my!, Miss Johnson looked like a shadow of herself, she looked so frail… Ope couldn’t control her tears as she kept wailing… Ola and Oba were also tearing up…

“ Why should bad things happen to good people?” Ope kept saying very loudly amidst tears..

Miss Johnson didn’t have the strength to say much, all she said was…

“ I am traveling to get better treatment and I hope to come back soon by the Grace of God, but If I don’t, I want you to take care of yourselves… As part of fulfilling my promise, I have made provision for your one year school fees. Hopefully, I will return before the end of the session God willing…” Miss Johnson said as her P.A handed over a brown envelope to Oba.

The trio knew this was an indirect Goodbye to Miss Johnson, they knew she was settling them. Looking at Miss Johnson on that bed, the trio knew it would only take God’s Grace for her to survive that phase…

Ope hung on to her crying…, Ola did same but Oba faced the wall in tears…

“ God, please for the sake of the good this woman has done, please save her life…”

“ Jesus did a lot of good things, but when it was time for him to leave his disciples for a while, that they may grow… I took him away…” Oba heard those words very clearly in his heart. He froze on the spot. He had never heard God, he had always followed his conscience in doing the right things, but for the first time, He heard God speak to him…

“ Did God know about this sickness, Was God permitting Miss Johnson’s exit from their lives?”

Oba Couldn’t Help his tears… He started wailing, even more than his sisters..Miss Johnson and her P.A also joined in.

He knew this was time for him and his sisters to brace up. God had given them temporary relief from their pains, but now was the time to grow and take charge of their lives. Miss Johnson was a “ Stop & Rest Inn” on their road-trip.

The trio left Miss Johnson after about an hour because other beneficiaries were waiting at the reception to see her. The Trio understood that Miss Johnson wanted to settle all her beneficiaries before she embarked on her trip as she may not return…

From what the trio gathered, Miss Johnson had sold some of her properties as the treatment of the cancer had gulped her finances.

“ No matter how much money one makes in this life, when you are about to die, you won’t take it along with you..” Ola said out loud as she was the one who always thought about money as the ultimate thing to have in life…

“ I will always remember that in my quest for money!” Ola said, still the only one talking as the trio walked towards the park.

“ No wonder Bible states that Vanity upon Vanity..” Oba said…

Ope was the most shattered amongst the trio. All she could think about was her vision about the media. How was she going to fulfil her dreams???

“Why is God so unfair to us, Why????” Ope screamed out in the middle of the road as she broke down crying…

She wanted to die, She wanted life to just end?

“Where were they going from here?What if Miss Johnson did not survive this sickness, how were they going to complete their education? She had only given them school fees for a year, what about the remaining two years…?

PART 5
MY FATHERS FARMLAND
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

The trio returned to school with heavy hearts. Ope kept casting glances at the bag Oba was carrying on their way back in the rickety interstate bus they had boarded. She was wondering how much Miss Johnson had given them, but her mouth felt too heavy to ask any question.

None of the trio could sleep in their different hostels.

Early the next morning, Oba called the twin girls to meet him at the General Lecture Theatre.

“ I have counted the money and it’s N500,000, which will pay our school fees for a year, with 50,000 extra for our upkeep, but my question is after this , where are we going to get the next…?” Oba asked

The sound of the birds Chirping around the theatre hall became amplified because for almost five minutes, the twin girls had no reply for their brother’s question…

“ God who has started it will complete it…” Ola eventually said

“ Hmm.. I know that and I have strong faith in God too, but I love to work on the realities we can see. God has been good to us no doubt but I want us to think wisely on what to do!”

“ You have something in your mind already, Let’s hear it” Ope said knowing her brother’s approach in handling issues.

“ Well, I was thinking that we could speak to the management of the school, explain to them our predicament and ask for permission to defer our admissions for two years. In the meantime, we will use the two years to invest this money wisely and make profit that will see us through school”. Oba suggested

Ola and Ope exchanged looks…

“ Like stop school and return after two years?… Oba, do you know how old we will be by them?” Ope blurted out…

“ Yes.. Oba we are girls, it is easy for boys to study even when they are 50 years old, but we ladies have a plan for our lives… Although your idea is great and I would love to buy into it but will coming back to school be easy for us?”

Oba wasn’t sure of the answer too as he kept mute…

“ Let’s do it this way, I will drop out for you both. Give me my own share of the money. I will go do business with it…” Ola said…

Ola was the compassionate of the trio, she was always willing to go out of her way for the trio…

“ No, it’s either none or all… We either all defer our admission or not…” Oba said…

Ope had been quiet all the while as dropping out of school was not an option for her. She was the most ambitious of the trio…She put her hands over her ears as she wasn’t willing to listen to the other two’s ranting…

Without saying a word to either of them, she collected the money from Oba , counted out her own part of the fees and returned the rest to Oba.

She stood up and walked away from them…

Oba and Ola knew Ope too well, She had just told them, all the talk about dropping out of school was not for her.

Ope went straight to the Account department and paid her fees without thinking about how she was going to feed or pay for the rest of her years in school…

Oba and Ola didn’t know what to do next?

“Should we act like Ope or do what is realistic???” Oba asked Ola who also didn’t have the right answers…

Tears flowed down from Ola’s eyes as she silently whispered…

“ If only Miss Johnson was fine….!”

PART 6

“ MY FATHER’S FARMLAND”

©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

Ola and Oba decided to drop out of school.
“ You mean, you want to defer for two years?” The Registrar had asked Oba
and Ola.
“ Yes sir, please sir, that’s the only way out.” Oba had said
“ Why don’t you hang on, a miracle may happen when you get to your third
year. Destiny has a way of sorting itself out, whatever will be will be…” said
the unbelieving Registrar. The Registrar was an atheist, so hearing him talk
about having faith was quite surprising for the two.

“ You are right sir, but we would love to do our own bit of helping ourselves
while we rely on God to do the part we can not do by ourselves…” Oba said
“ Very well then, we will defer your admission.!” He said as the mention of
God was upsetting for him
The approval was given to both Oba and Ola to defer their admissions.

However, the student body got to hear about the development and there was
a sudden crusade amongst students…
“ Not Ola, No … Not Ola, Ola cannot drop out of school!”
Ola was the friendly one amongst the trio, she was well known among the
student body. Everywhere she went, she was always Favoured…

A money campaign started ….#KeepOlainschool… Students started
contributing their allowances, Others started calling their parents to send in
money to help their friend whose benefactor was ill and couldn’t sponsor her
education anymore… The love the student body poured towards Ola was
overwhelming. Oba and Ope did not receive such love except a few of their
concerned friends…

The students were able to gather another N500,000 for Ola which was to
cover her fees for the three years she had left to spend.
Ola shocked everyone by what she did…

Ola had called a meeting of the entire student body and said these words…
“ The love that has been shown to me so far has been beyond my wildest
dream. I never thought God Could raise this kind of help for me through your
hands. I am sincerely grateful and you all will forever be in my prayers …
Thank you…

I am sure you all know, that we are three siblings in this school. My twin
sister and my brother. Our benefactor gave us N500,000 and of which my
sister has paid N150,000 as her fee. We are left with N350,000.

By privilege
and God’s goodness, you all have been able to raise N500,000 to settle my
own education, but that leaves my brother and sister halfway. Ope needs
N300,000 to complete hers, While If Oba uses the N350,000 with him for
his own fee, he will need N100,000 to settle up as well…

Which means my siblings need additional N400,000 to complete their
education. These figures I have listed don’t have our feeding and allowance
fee in it. We will still need money for assignments, textbooks and other
miscellaneous.
With all these in mind, I came up with an idea which I would love you all to
embrace…

I am the industrious one amongst my siblings, I always get whatever I want,
it therefore, makes sense for me to sacrifice my education for few years in
other to double this money you all have given me, so I don’t become a burden
to you in future..”
The hall was as silent as a deserted graveyard…

“ In essence, I will crave your indulgence to please transfer this goodwill of
yours to my brother, while I take the N350,000 with my brother to go start a
business and I assure you all, by the time I get back in two years from now,
you won’t be disappointed”…
Everyone was silent…

Ope was tearing up. Oba had his mouth wide open in shock. His sister had
not discussed this with anyone, not even him. She had just told him that she
wanted to appreciate the student body…
Ola was a girl with a large heart…

Ope was tearing up because she saw who she was not. Her sister had a heart
of Gold. She was ready to sacrifice her education for her and Oba.
Everywhere was quiet as it felt like people were trying to soak in the
information, but from somewhere in the middle of the Hall, a young man
stood up on his feet and started clapping for Ola…

Others joined in and from
different corners, the students stood up till the whole body of students were
on their feet applauding Ola for her bravery and selflessness…

Ola heaved a sigh of relief, she was happy the students didn’t see her as an
Ingrate. She knew her plan was going to work… In two years, she knew she
would have doubled the money in her hands and even made more…

She received a lot of hugs afterwards but one was special. The first boy who
had stood up to clap for her had given her a big and long hug…

“ I wished we had more selfless people like you in the world, the world would
be a better place… I respect you!.” He had whispered to her when he gave her
a hug…
Thanks” Ola had said courteously
“ I will see you around” He had said and left…
Ola was celebrated that day by both students and lecturers who had heard
about her decision…
Yet as Oba stood behind his sister who was receiving hugs, he was not sure
he was going to let Ola go through with her decision…

MY FATHERS FARMLAND
#OpraDre

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