My mum would’ve made a great psychologist – Yashua Alkali

Weekly Trust: How was growing up the child of a famous parent like?Yashua Alkali: It’s nice, I must say. Being a daughter of a professor,…

Weekly Trust: How was growing up the child of a famous parent like?Yashua Alkali: It’s nice, I must say. Being a daughter of a professor, I have had the opportunity to grow up under her shadow and learn from her. I have also had the opportunity to train under her, not only as my mum but also as somebody who is very talented. My mum was a very busy mum, so we had to learn to contend and grow up with that. I learnt a lot from her because she was hard working. She always told us that hard work never kills anybody, so that is what I do today and also tell my staff to do.WT: What was a phrase your mum would always use, that has impacted your life?Alkali: There was no day that went by without my mum telling us ‘Hard work never kills anyone’.  If you go complaining to my mum of how hard something is, she would tell you to go and do it because working hard doesn’t kill. So each time my mum uses that phrase on us, we end up doing whatever must have been hard for us.WT: What memorable moments do you have of your mother and father together?Alkali: Unfortunately, we lost my dad in August. But they complemented each other. They were highly intellectual that when you sit with them while they discuss, you’d learn a lot. What they discuss is never shallow. Listening to them makes you appreciate the beauty of intellect. My dad supported my mum when she was writing her books and going on book tours, which was very important for her. One thing I always remember when I think of my mum is the living room and the books. We were basically buried in piles of books. Everywhere we went to in the house had bookshelves with books in them. So when I remember my parents, I remember books. That, on the other hand, thought us to appreciate literary works. I could spend hours in a bookshop going through books just because of the love we had for books from a very young age. We literally lived books. WT: Can you remember a time when you offended your mum and your dad had to save you?Alkali: It happened all the time and vice versa, so we always used to play them off against each other. We would report to one of them if we offend the other. It was fun, really. I also remember injecting trees with chemicals – my dad bought me a chemistry set – and of course I was spoiling things and mum was always angry, but my dad had my back. But everything they did, it was to support us. While dad gave us that empathy and strength, mum gave us energy to move.WT: What impact did your mum have on your career choice?Alkali: I was basically an aberration at that time. My dad was a professor of History and my mum a professor of Creative Writing and English Literature and I just declared that I wanted to read Medicine. It was a bit out of the blue, but my desire to read Medicine was basically because I felt that I could work as hard to do it. My dad was another reason because he had this empathy and always worked with people, so I thought to myself what other way is there to honour him by showing that empathy and love he had working with people, so I thought medicine was the best way. The good thing about my parents was that when I told them I wanted to read Medicine they supported me. They never pressured me or any of my other siblings from doing what we didn’t want to do. WT: To the public, your mum’s a cool person. Has she ever lost her temper with you while you were growing up?Alkali: A lot of people say celebrities have a different public personality compared to their private one, but the truth is that my mum is a very cool person, likewise my dad. My parents, especially my mum, never believed in punishment and all of us children turned out well. My mum has just one personality which is visible both at home and the society. She is one of the coolest mums one can ever think of.I do remember a certain time when my mum spent the whole day making a special dish for her friend. She did the shopping and cooking and my job was just to take a few steps carrying the food to her friend and at the door to her friend’s house, I spilled the whole thing. My mum was very angry with me that time! I don’t know if she can still remember but she didn’t speak to me for days after that incident. I remember offering to cook it again for her but she was so angry and refused.WT: Has being the daughter of a famous writer opened doors for you?Alkali: Absolutely. In some ways, a lot of things have come my way because her and a result of the hard work she instilled in us while we were growing up. I learnt how to be hard working from my mum but the networking is also important. That said, you do have to raise yourself to a certain level by yourself, so everything flows. WT: How would you describe your mum, aside the writer people know her to be?Alkali: My mum is a very tolerant and open person. She doesn’t see ethnicity, religion or any other thing as a reason to be biased. She is also deeply spiritual and she taught us a lot about belief and faith. The she’s also very humble even with her status. She gives everybody their deserved respect.I always tell people that my mum laughs very loud. You can hear her laughter from a distance. She is such a happy person and enjoys moments wholeheartedly. She also loves to watch movies like westerns and dramatic series popularly called ‘bestsellers’. She doesn’t have a favourite actor or actress; she watches all of them as long as they’re good. There was a time we had a marathon of Dallas, the popular American TV show from those days. When I travelled recently, I got her the boxed set of the DVDs. There was a time she was into ‘Desperate Housewives’ too.She also likes to be surrounded by happy and positive people and people who give her strength.  Conversely she doesn’t like negativity and any form of discrimination, she also doesn’t like losing people.WT: What is her favourite food?Alkali: My mum likes okra soup and Semovita but can also eat the soup with anything. I remember a period when we travelled overseas and we kept eating okra that I had to complain that even in Nigeria we don’t eat that much of it.WT: What other job can you say your mum would have been good at if she wasn’t a writer?Alkali: I read one of my mum’s books and I was astonished that I had to ask her how she did it; she told me it was a gift. My mum has a gift for writing and I don’t see her doing anything else but having said that, my mum would be a good social worker because she works and relates very well with people. I think she would have made a very good psychologist, too. WT: What values your mum used in training you and your siblings have you imbibed in your own family? Alkali: Humility is number one. I always tell my children – my daughter in particular – that no matter how privileged you think you are, you have to be humble. That is one important value I picked from my own mum.WT: What types of books does your mother like?Alkali: She likes autobiographies a lot. She also reads a lot of fiction novels as well, anthologies, poetry and prose. She is more of a mixed bag but I know that when you look at her shelves, you see more of autobiographies. WT: Does she have a fashion item she can’t do without?Alkali: She likes her lapaya to date. It is something she adopted from the Caribbean countries. She also likes her nice little conservative coloured covered shoe from her days as a lecturer. These two things are her fashion statement I would say, but over all she dresses simply.WT: What misconceptions would you want to change about your mum?Alkali: My mum was not a controversial person. She’s not only a literary person, but has other things going for her. One would expect that at a certain stage, one should retire but it looks that she has just started. She wants to start a school. Recently she was shuttling between two states in two weeks. I had to talk to her because it was a bit much.

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