PONMILE
A short story inspired by reminisce ponmile
Mama aminat groaning in pain on the floor, baba aminat was sweating profusely, yet he shouted on his wife“get up , this useless woman, I will kill you today, oti ri nkan nkan” this was a family that has never known peace, ever since they moved to this neighborhood 5 years ago, a day hardly passes by that noise doesn’t emanate from their home, a neighbor reiterated to passersby as they take their turn to glance at mama aminat who has been lying helpless on the floor for about 10minutes.
Baba aminat through his usual habit after beating his wife had gone to the bathroom to take his bath, only for him to meet a handful of people trying to resurrect his wife, seeing this brought his senses to reality that his wife of 15 years and mother of his 3 children is about to die. For a family of five to have survived for 15 years then something must have gone wrong somewhere. Here is their story.
Baba aminat during his youth days was very nonchalant; h disturbs the neighborhood that no one dares to mingle with him. Mama aminat on the other hand was his opposite, she was humble, gentle and kind. Then one begins to wonder what made her marry him, the truth of the matter is that she married him out of pity, when she saw that no one dares to mingle with him, she had to force herself on him thinking she would change him, but all this while she was wrong. In the beginning, there was no love, but there was a mystery somewhere? How did they survive for 15 years? The reality is that trouble started when they moved to the neighborhood 5 years ago. Baba aminat has always been a promiscuous man but his wife coped with him for 10 years. However, after they moved in, baba aminat rose to the rank of general in extra marital affairs and by this time, mama aminat couldn’t cope again but she stayed because she thought she didn’t want to hurt their children but all this while she was wrong, her children seeing this happen to their mother had a psychological effect on them that their first child aminat vowed never to marry that she isolate herself from any gathering that involved male while her younger brothers at a tender age took after their father and they have been expelled from two schools respectively on the ground of beating a girl to stupor.
Back to reality, mama aminat after lying helplessly for 20 minutes gave up the ghost because the beating was much and the last time she visited the hospital, the doctor had warned her that she has survived much internal injuries that any slight beating again might lead to their her death. Baba aminat after seeing what had happened tried to flee but he was held back by onlookers who later handed him over to the police and he was later sentenced to death by hanging on the grounds of domestic violence and murder. SAY NO TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

SIGNIFICANCE
The reality is that there has been an increase in the rate of domestic violence in the past few months. I was skeptical when reminisce released this song but in the end reminisce proved me wrong and huge credit goes to him for putting out such song. The truth is that most marriage start on a happy note but along the line, couples have little issue that when they couldn’t manage, escalate quickly into things that may lead to something tragic. Taking clues from reminisce song, love shouldn’t be out of pity or force, one should have genuine feelings for one partner and also make sure that such feelings is reciprocated before one goes into marriage.
One more reason for the huge increase in domestic violence is the social media. According to the magic bullet theory which states that “The theory explains how media controls what the audience views and listens to and the effects, which can be immediate or later in future.” young couples today get carried away with pre-wedding photos, bridal shower and the likes forgetting the fact that wedding is just for a day but marriage is a lifetime contract that needs dedication and love when it matters most. Many might argue this, left for me when one sees that a marriage isn’t working, one shouldn’t be afraid to walk out of the marriage, instead of trying to endure which left for me is good but at a point one feels the endurance isn’t working or why try to engage in extra marital affairs when you know the dangers in the end, all in the name of keeping your marriage.
The end result of domestic violence is that it never ends. Children who experience such things tend to suffer psychologically and there is huge tendency they follow that path only few individuals who experience this does not follow this ugly trend. In the end, genuine love conquereth all. SAY NO TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE