Later that afternoon on February 10th, 1934, at the maternity section of the Ijebu Ode hospital, my dad paced anxiously in the waiting room as he awaited my mother to give birth. In those days, men were not allowed into the birthing area. His anxiety wore on, especially anytime he saw a nursing sister come out of the room. The relief on his face was evidentwhen thedoctor came out and said, “Congratulations, Mr. Gadegbeku, you have just had a bouncing baby boy.” Among the Yorubas, where my parents lived, male children were considered an exceptional blessing, especially since my parents already had five children. It was a mark of prosperity, and everyone was happy for them. By now, our friendly neighbours and friends had already heard the news and were coming in their numbers, bearing the favourite Yoruba meal of Amala and Ewedu soup, amidst shouts of “Papa Bomboy, Congrats!” “Mama Bomboy, Congrats!” My parents named me Ralph Kwame Gadegbeku. Shortly after giving birth to me, my parents sent all their children back to Ghana. In their opinion, the Ghanaian standard of education was better than the Nigerian one, and they wanted us to have a good foundation. Denu “You, this young child, are very hard of hearing,” the old man said to me as he pulled me by my ears towards my grandmother’s house. At that time, I was in elementary school in Denu. I had noticed that there was a small carved statue in front of each hut in the village. At that time, I loved soccer and would practise with anything that came my way. That was how I got into the habit of kicking these statues in front of people’s huts, oblivious to the fact that they were their protective idols. When my grandmother found out what I had been doing, she must have been terrified. She probably felt someone could place a curse on me. She must have sent a message back to our parents in Nigeria because not long afterward, our parents came to take us back to Nigeria. As a child, I was quite carefree, playful, and prankish. Back to Ijebu Ode Now that the whole family had relocated to Nigeria, we, the children, began schooling. Having already finished elementary school in Ghana, I went straight to attend Ijebu Ode Secondary School. Before we knew it, my siblings and I had already mastered the Yoruba language, which was predominantly spoken by the Ijebu people. Early each morning, our mother would arrange different wares and put them in pans, which we carried on our heads to go hawking before going to school. We did the same in the afternoon and during weekends. It was a way of helping our parents make ends meet, as well as a means of raising funds for our school fees. My father was a strong disciplinarian, so we were very careful to behave well whenever he was around. On the other hand, my mother was very quiet and soft-spoken. She was a lovely person. Altogether, Ijebu Ode Secondary School was very interesting. For one thing, I wasn’t the only Ghanaian there; there were a handful of us. Again, I was really smart and bright and excelled in Accounting, which was my favourite subject. I also loved football and would play for my school from time to time, and of course, I made a lot of friends there. 8 The Birthday Journal
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