Ogbealu had just laid her mother to rest with an immensely befitting burial. Mama’s three children – Chike, Ufuoma, and Ogbealu (all of whom are accomplished and successful in their various fields of endeavour) had pulled resources together to give her a resounding burial. The cooperation and unity displayed by the trio in events leading to and during the interment of their mother – Mama Chike as she was fondly called, was not just commendable, it was palpable. It was the talk of the town. As she sat down to review the consolidated accounts of her restaurant chain, in walked her friend and colleague Fumbi. Fumbi ran a phenomenally successful catering outfit and had been part of the burial arrangements, Fumbi plonked her bag onto a chair, and could not hide her curiosity as to how Mama Chike’s children had achieved that level of collaboration that was glaring to all.

Fumbi started “Lulu, the unity and constructive collaboration displayed were incredible! You know, my only sibling, Simbo, and I can barely put up appearances when we must come together on any project. She was the egghead when we were growing up. Our parents’ golden girl. Whatever I did never measured up even though I was far better at domestic chores and cooking came to me naturally. My mother especially, never had any word of praise, it was always… “Fumbi, you will be lucky to end up as a successful street food vendor (a local mama put).” Simbo went on to get a prime job after university while I struggled to earn a living doing minor catering contracts and this continued for a while until, the multinational company at which Simbo worked packed up and left the country. It was a major catastrophe for Simbo who had to solicit my assistance until things picked up for her again. Whenever she approached me, I would remember the taunting during my difficult years and never failed to remind her that I was meant to be a street food vendor. I would gloat over her misfortune before rendering the needed help. Needless to say, she has since picked up the pieces and is doing well but there is a gaping gap in our relationship, we both know, and we are just putting up appearances when we deem it necessary.”

Ogbealu set down the books she was tallying and took a deep breath. “Fumbi, how can you guys live with such unnecessary baggage? In our home, Chike was our Einstein and went on to do well in Investment banking and Financial Services. Our mother however believed that every child has a gift and recognised mine and Ufuoma to be in the area of culinary and fashion respectively and she encouraged us to follow our passion and be the best we could. Needless to say, we had no excuse to envy each other as Ufuoma’s clothing label is going places now. Chike has also been of tremendous help to us both (Ufuoma and I) as we have leveraged him for financial backing to grow our businesses as well as investment advice. We have been able to work as a team to our mutual benefit on most projects.”

“My dear friend,” she continued, “you need to eat humble pie and apologise to your sister for the way you treated her in her time of need. After all, God has been good to you and has elevated you. Bitterness is a cancer that spreads and destroys everything. Do not allow it to fester in your heart. Find a place to forgive your parents and do not forget it was not your sister’s fault that she has the brains. God has endowed everyone with what they need to take them to where he has planned for them and because his plans for us are good, let us trust him and thank him for where he leads us.”

Havilah shares Ogbealu’s sentiments and wishes to add that often sibling rivalry is promoted by the handling of parents. We must all remember that  God created us all differently so that we can complement each other and that is the only way objectives can be realised. There is nobody created that is worthless. We must therefore learn to appreciate one another and look out for the merits of everyone. May the Lord help us all.

Love

Havilah