If mum asked you to clean her bathroom, you were best advised to go over it with a fine toothcomb. Her eagle eyes would unfailingly spot that area th… - Beatrice Aboyade

Without consciously realising it my mum was my first female role model. Seeing her just get out there and doing it meant I never once thought of myself as a disadvantaged female. She gained her Ph.D in Literature in English after her first three children were born. She became a professor (one of the first five female professors in Nigeria) and reached lofty heights all of which I took for granted and thought was the norm; indeed, as I grew up and entered the world of employment it was a rude shock to realise that the reality was far different for many women. By then it was too late for me to think of myself as anything but able, unhampered by the little detail of being female. For that I am thankful.

My mother was strong-willed, but calm and patient. And I, well, I was just plain old stubborn and impatient to boot. There were some, uhm, memorable fights, but generally she was the calm to my storm.

She was my greatest cheerleader, supporter and critic, especially after dad passed. I am grateful to God that she lived to see me elevated to the Inner Bar.