If Only She Knew Who Steals Her Clothes... . AI-Generated.
If you have ever lived in a Nigerian public compound before, you will understand that sometimes the real battle is not paying rent or sharing one bathroom with 12 people. It is protecting your property from neighbors who believe that borrowing without telling you is a normal way of life. That was the exact wala she was facing in her own overcrowded compound in Ouyo. UI was a young seamstress in her mid-20s. She was so hardworking that she could sew a full anchor gown in one night and still find time to laugh with her customers in the Morning. Her room was small, and the space was just enough for her wooden bed, her sewing machine, a big plastic drum of water, and a row of neatly folded fabrics she guarded like treasure. She worked from home most of the time, which meant that she saw a lot of compound drama in life, from Mamay's endless quarrels with her husband to the caretaker's daily habits of drinking broku from morning till night and still swearing that she was just tired and not drunk. Now, if there was one thing I loved, it was her.