The Shackles Of Success

PROLOGUE

She dropped the pot of soup from the "Ákïnà"-charcoal stove and rushed inside saying on top of her tiny voice "Ôñyámi épéwú àvárirâ ôō"-My mother, your soup is near to burn, her mother ran outside immediately to see for herself and she laughed and said; "Àvór iñyá óziógu óziòtáiki, wáwó inyá öyizå" -Her mother rained praises on her for dropping the pot of épê páparà-egusi soup on time before it got burnt. She gushed shyly and responded: "Àvør ònyámi"-Thanks mother.

Oyiza is her name, she's one of the most beautiful maidens around. She was known for her beauty and well culturedness. She's average in height, fair in complexion, has rounded face with a pointed nose and a tiny lovely eyes. She smiles a lot and very jovial to everyone. Oyiza is from a middle class family background and was raised by a single parent. She lost her father at a tender age. She's in her early twenties and the only child of her mother.

Oyiza in the Ebira dialet means "Blessing". It's a popular name among the Ebiras that's being given to a child. 70% of Ebira women/girls bears the name because of it beauty and lovely meaning. And there is something amazing about the name "ÓYIZÀ", every girl child that answers the name are mostly beautiful, attractive and intelligent. Without doubt, the name is loved by many and even those that are not from the Ebira tribe.

Oyiza and her mother were best of friends and people find it difficult to believe that she gave birth to her because of her rapid growth. She and her Mum shares the same height, complexion and body size. They are often seen together and admired by all.

Her mother runs a small business to keep herself and her daughter surviving. She works tirelessly to see that Oyiza attain both religious and western education in other to become someone great in the future as she admires educated women a lot but never had the opportunity to attend school during her youth. So she wants her only daughter to become that person she always dream of becoming and she's trying her best to see that her dream is actualized.

Oyiza on the other hand has always wanted to make her mother proud. So she was so dedicated to her studies and resists all forms of distractions. She never engaged herself in anything that will drag her family's name to the mud but rather she does as taught by her religious ethics and stay away from the prohibitions. She dresses decently, covering every part of her body from head to toes. The only revealing part is her face and hands.

She was just at the age of 18 and many suitors from every corners have started pouring in at her door step to seek for her hand in marriage but she turned down every request with the excuse that she wants to finish up her tertiary education before considering marriage. Her mother supported her idea due to the trust she had for her daughter and believe she will never engage in any act of indecency before that time. Oyiza was so determined and she's a dogged fighter that always put in so much efforts to see that she tackle every challenges she come across in her journey to attain greatness.

She just graduated from senior secondary school and she made all of her papers. She's a science student and has always had that burning desire to save life right from the age of 7. Her mother use to remind her of how she was made to act the role of a doctor back then in her primary school days and her performance was mind bogglingly beautiful which made her the topic of the town for couple of days. She still have that auspicious day fresh in her memory and vow to make it a dream come true.

Initially, Oyiza wanted to become a nation builder (Teacher) but her choice changed since after her performance at that young age. Her change of mind never stopped her from admiring the teaching profession.

Immediately after her secondary school, she didn't stay at home for long and was granted admission into her first choice of school to study her dream course which is medicine and surgery due to her brilliant performance in all her examinations.

When she heard the news of her admission into her favourite university and the course been given to her, she jumped in excitement and shouted "Ómôrihi Àvór"(Praise God). Her mother who was cooking at the backyard heard her daughter's voice and she rushed inside the house to confirm what the joyous shout was all about. Oyiza quickly revealed the good news to her mom and she hugged her dear daughter so tight and rained countless of prayers on her. She later concluded her prayers with "Ómôrihi ósérèwu mí"(May God bless you for me) and Oyiza happily shouted "Aameen".