Iya Rachel: Grief over Street Sweeper’s Death

Ladapo Kolade

Finally, her remains were laid to rest in Olokuta, a little town tucked in Yewaland, Ogun State, last Wednesday.

The cortege of sympathizers mainly from Ejigbo where she lived for the past three decades, bid her farewell.

They included members of the three communities she served so well – the All Progressives Congress party, where she served as the women leader of the zone of a caucus; the Apostolic Church, Ona Iwa Mimo Street, where she was a chorister, and the street sweepers, her fellow workers who would miss her dearly.

One after another, they entered the bus that they used to convey her corpse in a hastily made coffin to the town and headed back to Lagos to resume their hustle in the bustling city.

The residents of the Orioke-Ifelodun community are still in shock over the death of Mrs Lydia Amusan, commonly called “Iya Rachel, (Rachel’s mum).

As of the morning of Monday, August 2, this year, she was just getting out of a brief illness which first became noticeable on July 24, the date of the local government elections in Lagos State.

She had joined a tricycle conveying residents to the polling booth that morning but the vehicle could not get close to the booth because of the rough terrain of the street.

When others disembarked and she still stayed back, they had to ask what was the problem. She told them she was a little under the weather.

But, as Joke Onakoya, her neighbour and colleague, recalled, she regained herself quickly and was at her duty post on Monday.

“We live in the same compound. She woke up and left for work earlier than I that morning. We normally resume work at 6am and close at 1pm. She finished work in the afternoon. On her way home, she bought some fish to cook. She met me at home. It was while she was seated, preparing the fish that she fell. I ran to her and asked what went wrong. Her left hand and right leg were stiff, her lips were affected. She was not breathing well.

“First, I took her to the BeWell Hospital on Ona Iwa Mimo Street but was advised to try a general hospital. Then, I took her to the General Hospital, Isolo. There, the staff at the Emergency Unit told me there was no bed to put her in and advised me to go to the general hospital at Mushin or the one at Igando. I finally took her to the hospital that I use, Hobe Hospital, off Hostel bus stop, Egbe where they agreed to treat her. They asked me to pay N80,000. I rallied and deposited N12,500.

“I started reaching out to our party leaders, church leaders, fellow sweepers and some members of her family to raise the balance. We were still raising the balance when I was told she had given up.”

Segun Banwola, a youth leader in the Orioke/Ifelodun community who chairs the zone of the Mandate caucus of the APC where the late Lydia was the women leader told ECHONEWS that she was her big sister because both hailed from the same area of Yewaland.

“Iya Rachel was very generous. She would cook and invite me to have lunch or dinner. Despite her meagre savings, she made sure that she contributed to any fundraising that we did in the group. She was also very reliable in carrying out tasks. She maintained very good relations with the women and co-ordinated them very well.”

Banwola thanked political leaders for their quick response in raising the funds for the burial of the deceased.

“ I am very proud that our political leaders, including the former Honourable Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, the chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Hon. Monsuru Bello Obe, the financial secretary of the party, Alhaji Tajudeen Sanni donated funds to facilitate the release of the remains, transportation to Olokuta and the burial. I also thank the Christ Apostolic Church and street sweepers for their donations. It was this community that showed that we appreciated her by giving her a decent burial,” he said.

 Another resident, Mrs Rachel Alegbe told ECHONEWS that she became friendly with Iya Rachel about five years ago and both became confidants.

Popularly called Iya Bobo, Mrs Alegbe said she knew her as a gentle, easy-going person who avoided disagreements with people.

“She was very gentle and easy-going, and she liked to give from the little she had. When she felt someone had done something to her, she would prefer to ask me to mediate than confront the person.”

ECHONEWS learnt that the late street sweeper was previously married to Alhaji Salihu Sumonu, an indigene of Ejigbo.

Both lovebirds met in Olokuta, Sumonnu’s parents farmed in the town where Lydia was born and bred.

The marriage would have been in the tune of the times because the bride followed the groom to Ejigbo with her little bride in tow.

Unfortunately, the promise of the fruit of the womb did not come till her husband passed away.

In line with the traditional belief that women who want children could improve their chances by nurturing the children of other parents, Lydia began to take care of her junior sister’s daughter, Rachel, and that gave birth to “Iya Rachel” as she was called.

However, she never gave up the dream of having a child of her own.

A concern, said Banwola, that made her sad and depressed.

“Although she loved to take care of the children of her relatives, she was always depressed whenever their parents decided to finally take them back. It made her remember what she didn’t have.”

Onakoya recalled an incident when the mother of a 10-year-old child staying with her guided her child on how to leave the house and return to Olokuta without telling her.

”It took three days before we traced the child to his parents,” she said.

Ahe continued, “Although she added to her schedule as a sweeper by taking up house cleaning jobs, It is believed that it was not the hectic nature of her job that led her to develop high blood pressure.

“It was the depression that came with her challenge of becoming a mother. Her case raises critical issues about how our society reacts to the women in her situation.

“Without societal support and the refusal of relatives to let their children grow with such women, the only alternative is to adopt a child.

“Such an option could have been provided by a social worker, a solution that could probably reduce her exposure to brooding over her fate and saved her life.

“For those still grappling with this twist of fate, it is never too late to try. A stitch in time saves nine.”

Other observers believe she could have survived the stroke if the emergency unit staff of the General Hospital, Isolo had attended to her. The rest is now history.

“Our society is responsible for the death of that woman, said anthropologist, Dr Adeyinka Olarinmoye.

“It is a society that does not care. First, why would the emergency unit of a general hospital refuse to treat an emergency? Isn’t that curious? But the larger issue is the way we handle women with this challenge of getting the fruits of the womb. We don’t give them the social and emotional support needed to adjust to the situation. Relatives are often afraid that such women have adopted their children and want to re-establish ownership by taking the children back.

“There is no provision in our social welfare system to reach out to them to counsel them and give them options. I hope your report will stir the government to take it seriously. Many women are dying in silence.”