ASAKE OKIN

I spoke with a friend earlier in the year, and she was sad about her inability to financially support her brother's master's degree. She felt like a failed older sister. So, I asked her, "Money aside, how did you support your brother before he departed for school? Her list included housing him, reviewing his application essays, coaching him for a visa interview, driving him to the embassy for his visa appointment, looking for an affordable ticket, organizing foodstuffs, packing his bags, and getting a friend to pick him up at the airport. It was not the first time a friend who is an older sibling complained about feeling like a failed first child. Our conversation made me realize that many people, especially eldest siblings, often measure their contribution by how much they give their families and communities. Maybe this is how their families see their contributions too. Growing up, my mom taught me that support comes in different forms. The person who helped us cross the

Have you ever encountered someone who steps up to help children in need when they lose one or both of their parents or guardians? Growing up, there was a family that always had a full house. It wasn't until I was in secondary school that I realized who their biological children were. This family was always ready and willing to assist others, particularly children who had lost a parent or both parents. I remember when a relative of mine passed away, leaving behind several children. None of her siblings could single-handedly care for all her children, so they divided the responsibilities among themselves. Each of the siblings took in one of the children. "Asake, I'm ready to get married now. My parents married early but struggled with infertility until their 40s. They had our youngest sibling when they were in their late 50s. I started working at a young age to help take care of my siblings, and now that our youngest is finishing up university, I feel like I'm in a posit

There is something about Q; it seems fine when your name begins with it 😊. But when it is not the first alphabet of your name, you have to expect that some people will misspell it. This post is an addendum to BILQEES (a blog post named after me on my blog). Some years ago, when I began my career, I noticed a couple of people would switch the “q” in my name with “g”. Whenever I reply to such a person, I would sign BilQees hoping that the person would pick up the hint. Most times, they did.   As long as I can remember, I always write my name in block letters on official forms as this was the usual instruction in Nigeria. Recently, I decided to write my name in sentence case. I am happy to inform you that after so many years, someone wrote my name with a “g”.  The mix-up is understandable because q and g when written in lowercase sometimes look alike.  Till next time, consider writing your name in block letters (capital letters) if your name contains letters that are commonly misspelled