Women You Should Know: Alhaja Asiata Onikoyi-Laguda

Alhaja Asiata is a 92-year old woman currently reported as the oldest person living with sickle cell disease in the world. According to a report in 1994, the life expectancy for sickle cell patients was 45 years for males and 48 years for females whereas in the early years, precisely 1973, the average lifespan was 14 years.

Survivor

This warrior and survivor was born on November 1, 1925 to Prince AbdulYekeen Ishola Onikoyi of the Onikoyi Ruling House, Lagos, and Mrs Alake Onikoyi who was from Kudeti, Ibadan, Oyo State, being the second of her parent’s four children. At the age of three, Alhaja Asiata began to experience crisis as a result of her sickle cell condition. However, the rate of illiteracy at the time made her parents and other people oblivious to her condition. Instead, they suggested that she might be an ‘emere’ (evil spirit). Mama reminisces how her father pampered her and cared for her with so much sympathy and empathy, so much that he made her eba with sugar in it. She also recounts sitting by the fire to keep warm. Sadly, her father did not live long. Upon his death, her mother was saddled with the responsibility of caring for her alone. Mrs Alake, Alhaja Asiata’s mother, strove and made sure that she was educated. Her several bouts of illnesses and crises hindered her from commencing formal education at an early age. After fighting her way through primary school, she eventually got enrolled into Queen’s College, Lagos, at the age of thirteen. After having four children for her husband, she set to leave Nigeria to England for further studies. She left the shores of Nigeria on September 30, 1960, the eve of Nigeria’s Independence. While at England, she had her fifth child.

Woman of faith

Alhaja Asiata, at the age of 92, is still agile. She is a devout Muslim, giving herself to the reading of the Holy Quran as well as the Holy Bible. She believes in the potency of prayer and has performed the holy pilgrimage to Mecca thirteen times and has gone for Umrah six times. It was only after she clocked 88 years that she stopped joining in the annual Ramadan fasting and prayer – largely because her children urged her stop because of her age. Although, her early years were filled with pain, Mama says she does not feel those pains anymore. She is not restricted to a particular kind of food too – she eats anything she wants. However, this was not always so as she had to adhere to the dos and don’ts of her condition, including staying warm at all times. Moderation, she says, is also one of her models. In the early years, she said she used to walk from Ilasamaja where her house is to Oshodi and then to Mushin where the hospital was. This was her way of exercising her body and keeping fit. In addition to these, her husband, who she met during her days at Queen’s College, became a medical doctor and he made sure she got proper care. Currently, her grandson, Bolaji Alakija, is her caregiver. He cooks, cleans and washes for his grandmother. He believes that she is his angel and heroine, and is hoping to write a book about her someday. Mama is hoping to live up to 125 years.   References: www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.vanguardr.com/2017/10/92-yr-old-woman-sickle-cell-disorder-hopes-live-125-years/amp/ www.thecable.ng/worlds-oldest-sickle-cell-patient-onikoyi-celebrates-90th-birthday/amp www.ncbi.nlm.nhi.gov/pubmed/7993409