Yejide
Kilanko
The path
of womanhood is not an easy one. A woman must withstand the heat of oppression
under her feet and overcome the obstacles of gender bias ahead. At the same
time, detours and derailments can determine a woman’s fate—they can make her either
victorious or a victim of circumstance.
Yejide
Kilanko’s coming-of-age novel, Daughters
Who Walk This Path, introduces us to Morayo, the heroic narrator who indeed
walks that path of oppression and gender bias among women in Nigeria. Growing
up, Morayo had to deal not only with having an albino for a younger sister, but
also with the social and traditional stigmas of femininity imposed by her
conservative parents. As she walks this path of womanhood, Morayo is definitely
not prepared for the derailment concocted by her cousin, Bros T, and the effect
it would have on her in the long run.
But one
cannot walk such a hard path alone. Morayo’s cherished aunt, Morenike,
befriends her. Morenike has walked a similar path of abuse and shame, but lives
to steer Morayo on the road to empowerment.
As a
Ghanaian, I can relate to Nigerian conventions, such as conservative parents
who favour males over females when it comes to breadwinning. But through
Morayo’s obstacles Kilanko does a great job highlighting gender issues in
Nigeria. The novel is broken into five parts. Morayo narrates the majority,
while Morenike’s account is described in third person. Kilanko does a great job
switching from first-person to third; both characters go through the same
struggle, but it is Morayo who lives on with the lessons learned.
Daughters Who Walk This Path indeed encourages women to
determine whether they will be victors over or victims of the obstacles in
their lives.
- Raynika
Awotwi
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