The thing about being a real man is that when you are faced with what looks like your fate, you either fight to change it or accept it and move on. Either ways, two things become possible. First is, the one who fights etches their name in history with their story told like “the man in the arena”. However, the one who moves on becomes subject of multiple definitions, more often, very denigrating and too open-ended for others to fill in the blanks.
Mrs Nonye Soludo’s unanticipated come-back is a firm refusal to allow mischief makers to fill in imaginary blanks. Stepping forward to pose a spiritual and temporal challenge — an oath of fidelity and a paternity test for the offsprings she birthed for her husband and ONLY lover — is enough proof that there is still “balm in Gilead”. That’s the kind of intentional living devoid of prevarications that we all define as healthy and fit in upholding the dignity of humans.
About Ekwunife, who by her response has simply confirmed that we should fill in the blank spaces. So, it’s true that 3 of her 4 offsprings were birthed by and for other men, not her uninterested husband who perhaps has grown to accept his fate. This is not normal, not in a conservative Society like ours where polyandry is not the norm.
In a world where we are at liberty to seek whatever we desire, it is only expedient to choose what would edify over the inanities of power and privilege. For a woman who has further confirmed not to have dignity, any and everything is possible. Including fabricated paternity. In the end, no one cares. But, exceptions like Nonye Soludo has made are quite necessary to remind young people that authentic living is possible!
– Mazi Ejimofor Opara PhD