Stay With Me

The final chapters resolve the aftermath of the political and personal turmoil in Lagos following the 1993 election annulment, exploring the impact of the climactic moment on the characters. Written in the present tense and shifting between narration of present events and reflection, the immediacy connects past and present national and personal struggles.

Yejide attends the funeral, not to honor tradition or pay respects to her estranged father-in-law but because she recognizes that The Pressures and Limitations of Tradition no longer have any power over her. In rejecting her traditional role as wife and mother and supporting herself independently for the last 15 years, Yejide has proven that she has control over her choices and that traditions cannot tell her who she is or what her experiences, hopes, and dreams should be. She plans to have Akin show her Rotimi’s final resting place, reasoning that since the “worst has happened to [her] more than once” (257), flouting the tradition will bring her no worse luck than following traditions has. Though the climactic phone call from Lagos broke her ability to hope, removing herself from the situation gave Yejide the time to grieve, process, and grow, as evidenced by her willingness to return and break tradition again.

Akin has also grown significantly as a character: His passivity and selfish insecurity are gone. Rather than accepting defeat in Lagos during the military occupation, he put Rotimi first and braved the guns to save her life. He has dedicated himself to her well-being ever since. Upon learning Yejide’s whereabouts from Iya Bolu a year before the funeral, he wanted immediately to reunite, but instead of acting selfishly on his own impulses and feelings, he deferred to Rotimi. When Rotimi was too nervous to go through with the planned trip, he canceled the trip without reproach.

Significantly, Akin also never maligned Yejide for leaving and has told Rotimi only good things about her. Hoping that one day they might reunite, Akin refused to allow Yejide’s flouting of tradition and her role as mother to limit Rotimi’s opinion of her or to define who she is. He has learned that the pressures of keeping with tradition can undo a person; he supports Rotimi in her choice to change her traditionally given name to “Timi,” understanding her desire to separate herself from the monument to her deceased siblings. Though he has reservations about whether Yejide will attend the funeral, he holds onto hope and remains brave for Rotimi.

Despite her convictions and newfound understanding that tradition cannot define her, Yejide is still hurt when she hears gossipers accuse Akin’s wife of being a wicked woman who drove a wedge between him and Dotun, not realizing who she is. Their storytelling rattles her, and she loses some of her conviction, a reminder that though one may flout convention, the social consequences and pressure can still feel overpowering. However, unlike her younger self, she is no longer people-pleasing and meek to avoid offense. Instead, she shows her growth by refusing to let any gossip dissuade her. When she sees Rotimi alive and well beside Akin, the moment rekindles a flame Yejide thought dead. Though she acknowledges the difficulties ahead and regrets that, like herself, Rotimi has grown up without a mother, when Rotimi calls her “Moomi,” Yejide cannot help but recognize the “promise of a beginning in this one word” (268).

Yejide’s acceptance of the unquestioned joy of the moment and her hope for a future with Rotimi and Akin reveal how far her character has come, suggesting that despite The Vulnerability of Hope Amidst Tragedies, this vulnerability can still be overcome in the right circumstances. Just as the new Nigerian democracy promises stability and prosperity, Rotimi’s survival against the odds promises a better, more hopeful future.