By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
At just a tender age, little Aisha is already donning the robe of responsibility,not with complaint, but with a smile that lights up the quiet art of early motherhood. Her gestures speak of love, her composure of a heart already learning to care deeply.
It was a typical Friday morning in the Gadumo New Layout of Lokoja when our correspondent witnessed a scene that could melt even the hardest heart. There was Aisha, gently backing her toddler sibling, her tiny frame swaying gracefully with each step, humming a tune only she seemed to know.
With a calmness well beyond her years, she moved with quiet pride, the sleepy child clinging to her back, secured with a small wrapper that looked almost too fragile to hold. Yet Aisha walked with the steady assurance of someone who had done this many times before.
Every now and then, she paused, adjusting the baby’s weight with hands that had already grown skillful in the act. At one point, an elderly woman, touched by the sight, stepped in to help her readjust the wrapper for the baby’s comfort and for Aisha’s.
Passersby stopped in their tracks, drawn in by the simple, innocent beauty of the moment. Some smiled knowingly; others nodded quietly, transported back to memories of their own youth. But Aisha, seemingly unaware of the attention, remained focused,an image of calm devotion and quiet dignity.
“She does this every morning,” shared a nearby shopkeeper, watching the scene unfold. “Her mother runs a small food stall. Aisha helps by carrying the baby so she can attend to customers. She’s a good girl,very mature for her age,” the woman in her late 40s and a mother of 4 said, admiring the Aisha,the proud “baby mother” with great tenacity.
Aisha’s quiet act of care represents a gentle reminder reflecting the fact that,the seeds of motherhood are sometimes sown not in adulthood, but in the tender soil of childhood.They are watered by love, nurtured by necessity, and bloomed in the everyday lessons of family life.
Ahmed in the publisher of The Reporters.
ahmeddada008@gmail.com.
