THE NATION
Everything around their abode typifies squalour — a windy road dotted with craters, stray dogs charging at passers-by, a junk of cars-swathed mechanic workshops and kiosks of liquor vendors with men on drinking binge. The distressed couple, Emmanuel Olawale Jacob and Muibat his wife wallow in hopelessness in their dingy room at No 14 Ola Mummy Street, Pipeline area of Aboru, Lagos.
But neither Jacob nor his wife was excited at the news of the arrival of a set of triplets because they never planned to add any more to the four they already had. They, however, suffered a disappointment as the family planning treatment Muibat underwent at a public hospital failed and she got pregnant again only to be delivered of three baby boys.
“We didn’t plan to have seven children. It was the family planning treatment I received at a public health centre in Alimosho that failed me,” Muibat said.
“It was my fourth attempt at family planning. I had done three before and they failed, but did not result in pregnancy.
“I was assured by the health centre’s doctors of the treatment’s efficacy. I was told that it would expire by the end of 2024. I was however shocked last year when I became pregnant and was delivered of a set of triplets in December 2023.”
Muibat is a street sweeper attached to the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). She used to sell foodstuff until she lost her capital after her husband suffered the misfortune of being displaced from his auto-mechanic workshop some years ago.
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