It is 9 O’ clock, do you know where your daughter is?
The original phrase “It is 9 O’ clock, do you know where your children are?” was made popular by Frank Olize, the then host of NTA’s weekly magazine programme-Newsline.
Then, I wondered why he always asked that question. Well, that was then. Now I know why. Akiode Street very close to Omole phase one is one place I can vow some parents do not know where their daughters are at 9 pm.
Welcome to Akiode, a street made popular by the bus stop. The name of the bus stop is Akiode. Akiode is a very long and busy street. From the beginning of the street to the end of the street, you would see men and women who run all kinds of businesses to keep body and soul together.
To have a fair idea of the population of people in Akiode, you have to go to the bus stop as early as 7 am. The person that came up with the word ‘mammoth crowd’ must have lived in Akiode before. Chineke nna! To go to Ojota from Akiode once it is 7 am is not a child’s play and definitely not the kind of dance you dance clutching a box of tobacco in one hand.
Frank Olize’s question reverberated in my head as I walked the length of the street in one of those nights. I decided to acquaint myself with the street I just moved into. As I walked the length of the street, lo and behold, I saw young girls cornered at different parts of the street. It was already past ten in the night and these girls were still on the streets playing with boys.
After spending some months on that street, a particular girl caught my eyes. On my way from work, I would see her cornered by a particular guy. It was an everyday affair. The pair would stand by the corner of the street with the boy always holding her at some unholy places. The mother of this girl sells food not too far from their meeting point.
Few months down the line, I saw this little girl with a protruded belly, she moved about with the pregnancy unashamedly. She eventually gave birth to a boy.
Every night in most streets in Lagos, one sees see little girls playing with boys on the streets when they are supposed to be inside their parents’ houses. The question that comes to mind whenever I see them is the question Frank asked in those days; “it is 9 pm, do you know where your children are?”
