Overdose of blessing

Paul Omokuvie, Bauchi

Fifteen years. That was how long the family of Luka Bot Balewa and his wife, Nyarum Luka Bot, from Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, had to wait before setting their eyes on their first child. 

But when their joy finally arrived, it came in multiple folds. When the babies finally arrived on July 3 this year, the couple’s cup was filled with multiple blessings, and it was running over. The babies were three girls and a boy.

“It was the handiwork of God,” Luka, a retiree, told the reporter at the family’s residence in Sabon Kaura, Bauchi. “We were married on December 4, 2004, and since then we had been expecting, to no avail.

“It is natural that, when you get married, the expectation is that the blessing of the womb would be there. After some years, two, three, four years, we were thinking it was something that was going to happen five years at the most. But to our greatest surprise, it was not forthcoming.”

Luka said, together with his wife, he resorted to praying and fasting and also sought medical help.

“We kept going to the hospital to see whether there was anything medically that might be the reason. We visited several facilities, beginning from where I was working, the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

“There was a time we were referred to a consultant, Dr. Mellah, who was coming from Gombe then. My wife also visited the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Gombe. From there, we went to JUTH several times. We saw some consultants there and did series of tests and so many investigations: radiology, scanning, gynaecological investigations and so on. We have also been to a private clinic in Kaduna, because so many people have had testimonies of how God did it for them at the clinic. Sometimes, if we went and tried for one or two years, you would feel somehow tired and would decide to rest. But even while resting, you would get so many suggestions.”

But he said every result they got showed that both the husband and his wife were fertile.

“There was no medical problem as to whether my wife or I would not be able to give birth to a child,” he said. “All the investigations did not indicate that this was the reason she wouldn’t be able to conceive. Maybe it was the work of God.”

The problem appeared compounded as Luka did not get married on time.

He said: “l got married in 2004 but I have been working since 1983. I remember, even before I got married, people often asked, ‘what is wrong with this man? Is he a normal person? Is he well?’ They wanted to know whether I was impotent. The worst of it all was if you had a girlfriend that you didn’t sleep with. Some people would come specifically to test me. I didn’t even know this.

“At the place where I was working, my colleague said one of my friends came because she was inquisitive to know whether I was straight. The girl came to my room and did all her display. But if your mind is not there, you would not even bother. That gave the impression to many people that possibly I was impotent. That was before I got married.

“When I got married, the problem was compounded when children did not come. So, I have heard many stories of people calling me impotent. Several people would tease me. I had so many challenges.”

After several years of trying, the couple eventually succeeded after a visit to a fertility hospital.

“That was not the first fertility hospital that we went to. It was after the visit to that facility that it worked for us,” he said. “There was scanning, but, to some extent, the doctor in that hospital told us that he was sure that two of the eggs would survive. He was not sure that the other two would survive. As God would have it, we got the news when she was two months pregnant. But it was something we decided to be quiet about. If you have got many disappointments, you would not want to announce that your wife is pregnant. So, we didn’t share the story.”

He expressed his joy at being a father, saying he was full of appreciation to God. In his words, the conception and birth of his babies was the handiwork of God.

Hear him: “If there is any happiness that I have to express, it is the happiness that God is close to us. I did Theology, and decided to become a part-time preacher of the word, apart from the normal secular work I was doing. I asked God, how do you want me to go and preach your word, and your word says that no one should be barren? If I am barren, how would I preach the word? In the course of the ministry, I should be able to encourage people facing this kind of challenge. But He has proved that he is God.”

The proud father of quadruplets said the babies were delivered on July 3 when they were just seven months. He said a surgery was performed on his wife.

But catering to the needs of four babies at a go has not been an easy thing, as the retiree and his unemployed wife have discovered.

He explained: “You can imagine that they are taking baby formula. We were buying the smallest tin for N2,500. But of recent we have been buying the same product for N2,150. In a day, they consume one tin. It means that, in a day, apart from the mother’s milk, they consume a tin of the particular brand. And the mother will eat well also. So, it has not been easy.

“I just retired and, for now, God has been helping us. We have been living at the mercy of Good Samaritans. A lot of people have heard our story and would just say, please, give me your account number. Apart from that, those that are coming to greet us bring baby diapers, food and other things. I have just retired and I am yet to receive my gratuity and pension.”

He appealed to good Nigerians within and outside Bauchi State to help the family with whatever amount or any gift items that would be useful to the babies and their mother. He also pleaded with the state governor and his wife to come to the aid of the family.

His wife, Nyarum, also spoke with the reporter. She said, in spite of the long wait, she never gave up her faith in God: “l always believed that God would do it at the right time. I belived that everything was possible with God, so I kept believing him.”

Nyarum noted that it is a traumatic experience when couples are waiting for the fruit of the womb. But she was grateful that those dark days are over for her.

“People said many things,” she recalled. “But it is someone that has experienced delay that knows how painful it is. People just talk as if it is easy to get a child. Since they have children, they think you can just have it. I heard many nasty things people said concerning my situation. But l give God the glory because he has put them to shame.”

She said, at first, it was difficult for her to believe that the pregnancy test was positive, “But, with time, I gave God the glory for doing it. I was so happy, I couldn’t explain how happy l was at that time.”

And like her husband, Nyarum is appealing to Nigerians for help.

She said: “To take care of these babies is not easy, as you have heard from my husband. And he is not working. He is now retired. We have other children with us who are in school. It is not going to be easy. What I am saying is that, if it is possible, I am appealing to the government to give me a job. I have a diploma in Environmental Health. If it is possible, let them employ me so that I can help my husband to take care of the babies.”