The best stories are usually the true ones. The
following story is not only true but it is also
revealing and remarkable. Please fasten your
seatbelts, sit back and patiently read it. You never
know, you may learn something from it. I
certainly did. Here we go

Someone asked me the other day where I got the
inspiration to write my poem titled "The Power of
a Woman". I told him that it came from the Spirit
of God and that I also drew on so many
experiences that I had had with women over the
last 53 years of my life and the experiences of
many of my male friends too. All in all the poem,
in my view, far from being an attack on
womanhood was in fact very charitable to them
and confirmed the view, held by many, that they
are extremely complex beings that need to be
treated with tender love and care at all times.
Funnily enough most of my closest friends today
are women: this is because I find them to be far
more loyal and generally speaking much deeper,
more far-sighted, more sensitive and more
discerning than men. But let me share something
here that happened to me just a few years ago
when I was still in government and which shocked
me beyond belief. It also made me extremely wary
of members of the opposite sex. A good friend of
mine who was, and still is a leading and well known
politician, was put in detention during President
Obasanjo's administration. He was facing some
very serious criminal charges (he has long since
been cleared and acquitted by the courts) and he
was detained in prison for many months. I was
reasonably close to him at the time and I used to
speak with him regularly when he was there and I
did all I could to help him with his case. I also used
to visit his family regularly to encourage them and
do whatever I could for them.

He and his wife were very close and I always saw
her as a dutiful and loyal wife. She seemed to be
totally devoted to this man. Then came the shocker:
one day when I went there I noticed that she
seemed a little more restless and agitated than
usual. She offered me a generous shot of vintage
''Remy Martin'' brandy and I reminded her that I
don't drink hard liqour. I noticed that she was
getting a little too familiar with me and she wore a
flimsy gown that night. I was getting very
uncomfortable and hot under the collar and told her
that I had to leave. She then told me that she had
prepared dinner and that she cooked it herself just
for me and that she had told all the househelp
to retire early and the children were all away at
boarding school- in short, she told me that we were
completely alone in the house. At this point I
protested strongly and told her that I had to leave
right away. She then told me that she had
something to tell me and something to give me. I
asked her to go ahead: she told me that I should
stop worrying about her husband and that after all
how do I know that he didn't commit the said crime?

She told me that he is a very ''harsh and wicked
man'' and that the only reason that she was still
with him was because of the children and because
he had plenty of money and power.
She then broke down and wept and said that she
was so unhappy in the marriage and that the only
way she could be free was for him to die or to be
jailed. She said that she did not want him to ever
come out of detention and that that was her secret
prayer. At this point there were goose pimples all
over my body and a very deep fear gripped me. I
sensed that I was in mortal danger and I started
praying under my breath. I told her that I did not
want to hear such things and that I was leaving.
She then got up and ran to the front door and locked it from within. She told me that I could not go until she had given me the gift she had promised me and that she would now go upstairs to fetch it for me. At this point I had come to the conclusion that this lady was mentally unstable and I actually feared for my life. Was it a gun she wanted to bring or was the food drugged or poisoned? All sorts of things were racing through my mind. She then went upstairs and came back five minutes later and you know what?
She was completely naked! She told me that this
was the gift she had for me: her body. She told me
that she had loved me from the first day she saw
me and that she was ready to do anything for me
there and then. I was shocked beyond belief.
I then picked up my cell phone and sent an SOS text to my chief security officer who, together with his team, were in the compound by the cars.
Immediately they cordoned off the house, brought
out their weapons, rushed to the front door and
started demanding to see me. They actually thought that perhaps I had been poisoned or shot or something. It was at that point that the lady relented, unlocked the door and I was saved. I left the place safely.

What shocked me the most was that when the man was released I went to see them and this lady was once again playing the role of the devoted
and dutiful wife. She was doting on him and
showering him with love and praises, which is, of
course, how it should be. She even insisted on
leading the prayers thanking God over and over
again for his release from detention and final
acquittal. I was happy for my friend but at the same
time unhappy for him. I was happy because he had
been released but I was unhappy because he had
no idea about the type of wife he had.
I learnt something that day: I learnt that when the
bible says that “the heart of man is desperately
wicked, who can know it?" that it is true. I also
learnt that when William Shakespeare wrote that
"there is no art that can see the minds construction
in the face" that he was right. And this goes both
ways: men can be as deceptive as women and
more often than not they are. It is just that men are
not nearly as good at it and more often than not
they are very obvious. You see it was not the
suggestion of infidelity that shocked me the most
(because that is common enough) but rather the
deep-seated hatred that this woman secretly had
for her husband. That is what I found frightful. And
as bad as that was, I am sure that he must have
brought that beast out in her by not treating her well over the years. So perhaps it is not entirely her
fault. I cannot judge her or either of them (in any
case who am I to judge anyone) but the morale of
the tale is surely this: we must treat our wives and
our partners very well indeed and then we can
leave the rest to God.

We must give them a new reason to love us anew
every day. We must light up their fire, touch their
souls and lift up their senses. We must treat them
as if they were princesses and queens so that they
will love us forever and not run to another or
secretly wish us dead. We must ensure that the
beast does not rise up in them by giving them all
that they could possibly want, whether it be
emotionally, spiritually, physically or financially. My
friend is still with his wife and they appear to be
very happy too. I am happy for them and
particularly for his blissful ignorance concerning his wife's inner-most thoughts. Well maybe she has changed her mind about him now and maybe she truly loves him again. I really wouldn't know and that is none of my business.
I have never spoken about that incident with that
lady and I never will. Whenever we see each other
we just smile and say hello: she knows that her
secret is safe with me but I do pray for both her and her husband. I pray for their marriage because we are all vulnerable from time to time and we all have our moments of weakness. And neither will I ever tell anyone the names of this interesting couple.
My lips are sealed forever on that and neither is it
relevant. May God help us all, particularly we men,
for we have no idea about just how deep, powerful
and complex women can be. That is the power of a
woman! And it is partly that shocking experience
that led me to write that highly celebrated
and controversial poem.
For those that are interested in reading it and
learning more about the fairer sex just google the
title or look it up in the poems column of my
website- www.femifanikayode.org . You never
know- you may learn something new. I certainly
did. Shalom.