Happy Sunday evening! I watched the Nigerian movie 'Ashabi Child' produced by Bolaji Ogunmola. It's a story of an unhealed woman who always transfers aggression to her daughter at every opportunity she gets. Before I review, let me narrate the movie.
The movie starts with Enitan, the daughter of Ashabi (Bolaji Ogunmola), bullying her classmates in school. She was beating her friend and told another friend to record her so she could post it online. Her teacher came out and met them and asked what happened, and the two friends confessed that Enitan was bullying them.
The next day, the teacher called her mother to come to school, and they told her that Enitan was found bullying her friend and therefore she is expelled from school. Her mother begged the teacher that they should allow her to do her final secondary exam, and instead of staying in the hostel, she will be coming from home. The school management agreed. Enitan went home with her mother Ashabi, and Ashabi began to call her daughter names and abused her. She called her uncle, Uncle Dotun, to come and talk to her. Dotun loves her niece so much, and he came and asked Enitan why she was bullying her friend. She told him she was talking to her boyfriend, and Dotun was shocked that a secondary school student was fighting because of a man.
After Dotun left, in the midnight of the night, her mother beat Enitan, abused her, and cursed her. The next day, Enitan felt sick, and Ashabi took her to the hospital. On getting there, the doctor confirmed Enitan is pregnant. Enitan already knew her mother would kill her, and Ashabi was so disappointed. She was crying, and on their way home, she said all kinds of words to her. Ashabi called her daughter and asked her who impregnated her, and she told her it was her boyfriend in school. But Ashabi thought she was lying and thought it was Dotun, her uncle.
She called Dotun to come over, and on getting there, Ashabi accused Dotun of having a relationship with her daughter. Dotun was shocked and asked her sister what she meant. She started raising her voice and saying she can't be like her mother, that's how her uncle raped her when she was young, and her mother didn't believe her. Then they flashed back to when she was young, when Ashabi's uncle raped her and got her pregnant with Enitan, but her mother failed to believe her. That's when Dotun knew her sister was speaking from pain and hurts.
After some time, Dotun and Enitan calmed her down, and she narrated how everything happened. So, she thought that what happened to her is what happened to her daughter too. Then Enitan asked her mother why she hated her, and she told her she doesn't hate her, she was just angry because her uncle raped her, and no one believes her. Dotun advised her to visit a therapist with her daughter.
The storyline was interesting, and there's a lesson to learn from the story, especially for single mothers and people who have been raped and think that the child born out of it is a bad luck for them. No child is a mistake, and every child is a blessing from God, whether born through rape or not. Is the child at fault for coming to the world? So, why the hate? Those kinds of children should be shown genuine love and not transferred aggression to. Healing is very important; it can be hurtful, but we should always allow healing. If we need to visit a therapist, we should do it.
I rate the movie 8/10 because it teaches a tangible lesson.
Pictures gotten from the movie.