“Daniel, send me pictures this morning or I’ll be in lagos in the afternoon. I don’t know if you are alright”.
I’ve been missing my Dad’s calls lately, this morning by 5:27am, he called and did not even let me speak before he passed his instructions and cut the call.
Anytime he speaks complete English without pidgin or Igbo entering, he is deem serious.
But here it is…
Having people who love you is one thing. But having people who still love you when you are a burden, still love you when everything is a mess, and still love you when you are in the wrong, those are your people. To be truly loved is to be loved even when it is inconvenient.
Sitting in your own mess is one of the hardest things to do. Realizing all the situations you put yourself in. All the ways you could've and should've protected yourself. All the mistakes and bad decisions you made against your boundaries. The moment where you sit and realize that other people don't deserve the full blame & that you were a part of your own destruction. Sitting in it is hard but forgiving yourself is harder, Growth is not linear. There will be days like this, Sit in it but don't stay there.
If you must quit something this year, quit the habit of spoiling people's name at their back and shining your dirty teeth and ugly face when you see them.
i think one of the healthiest things i've ever learned is that you should allow others to reintroduce themselves to you, even your closest friends. Give people space to become who they are without assuming you know who they are just because you've been friends/family for years.
I shed tears of pain two weeks ago, the first time this year. I do not recall crying last year.
My good friend and colleague, Justice John (@legalbreed01), lost his wife, Mrs. Akudo Lovelyn John, in a very questionable circumstance.
I attended their civil wedding a year ago, precisely on Wednesday, 18th December, 2024.
Justice and I have been good friends since we met in the Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus.
My friend, Justice, is seeking justice.
Below is the personal account of the tragic death as written by Justice .
THE AGONY OF LOSING MY BELOVED AND NEWLY WEDDED WIFE AT GYNESCOPE SPECIALIST HOSPITAL, LEKKI
My wife went to Gynescope Specialist Hospital, Lekki for childbirth and died from mismanaged Primary Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH). The same hospital where she registered and had her antenatal care without any underlying illness.
In her third trimester, during one of the antenatal visits, the Consultant and attending doctor, Dr. Joseph Aliyu Yahaya, disclosed the considerable size of the baby. We raised concerns regarding safe delivery options and the possibility of an elective Cesarean Section (CS) owing to the fetal size. The Consultant dismissed CS and insisted on SVD.
On Wednesday, 3rd December 2025, my wife went into labour. The Consultant performed episiotomy on my her, and our baby was delivered weighing 4.2KG. Immediately after delivery, the consultant left the labour ward and my wife’s episiorrhaphy was done by his subordinate.
My wife complained of a dripping sensation inside her body. After observation, the Consultant noted that the vulva was unusually swollen and the sutures were too tight. The Consultant re-sutured her. After this second procedure, my wife looked lifeless, pale, and unconscious for hours, while the bleeding continued unabated.
The Consultant confirmed she was bleeding internally yet took no active steps in referring or seeking specialist help outside the primary facility. There was a clear 15-hour window between the delivery of our baby and my wife’s eventual passing. Blood transfusion was done without first identifying and repairing the source of bleeding.
At about 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, 4th December 2025, my wife complained of discomfort and began convulsing. It is important to note that at this critical moment, no medical personnel were in sight. Minutes after I screamed for help, doctors and nurses arrived from the ground floor. There was notably no oxygen in the ward where my wife was admitted. At this time, I requested for a transfer of my wife to another facility, but the Consultant said no facility would accept her without a pulse. Minutes later, the Consultant then agreed for her to be moved.
MY OBSERVATIONS DURING THE EVACUATION OF MY WIFE
Firstly, the Hospital brought a stretcher without side guards or straps to evacuate my wife. While moving her, she fell off the stretcher onto the hard floor of the tiled walkway on the 3rd floor. (I have challenged the Hospital to release the undoctored CCTV footage of the 3rd floor showing when my wife was being stretched out in the early hours of Thursday, 4th December 2025). I rushed to help lift her back up. The staff seemed confused about whether to use the stairs or elevator, thereby wasting valuable time during such an emergency.
Secondly, upon reaching the ground floor, I expected the ambulance to be positioned at the entrance of the hospital door, ready to receive her. Sadly, the ambulance was stationed about 80 metres away, still covered in a tarpaulin showing no readiness. Only then was the cover removed. When I asked the driver to open the ambulance, I heard the most shocking thing - the keys were with Human Resources (HR) Manager. It took considerable time to retrieve the keys. When the driver finally opened the bus, he stated he needed to connect the battery. Throughout this chaos, my wife lay in the open on a stretcher, unattended and without oxygen.