Babatunde could not deny his father’s disappointment in him.
Year after year, a large wall of distrust grew higher between them, and it started on the day he went into his father’s office and told him he was quitting university. He often wondered if Bolu would have been compelled to finish school if he had not set that precedent.
When Suleiman came into his father’s life, Babatunde saw his face light up in a way he had not seen in years. Mr Kosoko found every occasion to talk about the young man who was “doing great things in business.” Jealousy had cut into his heart like a hot knife on butter, and when the young man took off with his father’s money, he felt a little better about himself than he had in a while. He would never admit it, but all Babatunde wanted was for his father to be as proud of him as he had been of Suleiman.
He just needed some money in his life. His thoughts returned to Saheedat as he wondered how he could achieve this. Maybe he could be friends with her and learn how to make some more money. Or maybe I want her to be more than my friend?
“What are you thinking about?” Mrs Coker interrupted his thoughts. “You don’t pay me to know what I’m thinking.” “Exactly. I don’t pay you to think, so if you’re thinking, you’re not earning your money. You’re just so distracted today.” He forced a smile onto his face and turned to her. “I’m not distracted anymore.” But it was too late. She sat up on the bed offended. “When you come here, you come to make me happy. What the hell am I paying for if you will come here squeezing your face? How are you different from my husband?”
“Angela, I’m sorry…” “This is what you did the last time. Please leave this place.”
“Angela, I said I’m sorry…” “Get out! Who is Angela? Am I your mother’s mate? I said get out!” When he stepped out of her compound, he got a credit alert. She had sent him ₦10,000.
Just then, Mawon sent him a text: We need to talk. Can I call you? Babatunde met Mawon at her aunt’s house. It was a three-story apartment building constructed in the early 90s, with louvres and red bricks. Dry algae laced the furrows between the bricks, giving the building a faded appearance. Mawon stepped out of a door as he navigated the narrow path that led to the back of the building, where the entrance to her aunt’s apartment was. Her eyebrows creased with worry, and she looked relieved to see him.
“Hey, what’s up?” He had spent the last few hours wondering what the issue could possibly be, hoping she hadn’t somehow found out about him and Mrs Coker. She led him out of the compound and didn’t speak until they were inside his car. “I need to leave this place,” she blurted out.
As far as Babatunde knew, she was happy at her aunt’s, but as Mawon spoke, he realised he was mistaken. Mawon’s aunt, Aunt Yeneyom, was her mother’s second cousin who had been in Lagos for thirty years. She had come as a maid and managed to turn her life around, gaining her independence, getting an education, and becoming employed as an administrative staff at the Lagos Polytechnic.
When Mawon came to Lagos one and a half years ago, she had thought her aunt would support her dreams, having crossed her own hurdles to reach the life she now had. All
had been well, until she got a job as an executive assistant at an architectural firm in Victoria Island. Aunt Yeneyom began to change. It had begun with little requests like buying eggs on her way back from work with a promise of reimbursement to bigger requests like paying her kids’ school fees because it was her responsibility as their elder kin and the least she could do after all she had done for Mawon and her family.
Things worsened when Aunty Yeneyom was diagnosed of high blood pressure. She closed her small business and relied solely on Mawon. Her husband was a printer who fared worse than she did, so there was no hope with him.
Slowly, Mawon realised that she had become the breadwinner. Her salary could no longer sustain all the demands, and she was constantly broke and in debt. “This is extortion!” Babatunde was outraged. “Why don’t you tell your parents what is going on?” Mawon had, but they’d told her to be grateful she could be of help in the first place and try to make more money.
A family meeting was called, and Mawon was accused of making things tougher for her aunt. “That means you need to leave this building.” “How? All my money is going into all these bills I don’t even understand, and when I try to explain that I don’t have money, she just starts crying until I promise her I will help. The solution is just to make more money. I need to find another job.” “No, the solution is to have a financial plan to get you out of this mess…”
“Financial plan?” Mawon laughed quietly. “Are you now a finance guru?” Babatunde wanted to tell her about Saheedat and the financial advice she had shared, but he feared that if he did,
his feelings for the woman would show. “We need a financial plan,” he simply said. “Maybe we should start with a budget.” “Do you have a budget? I don’t even know how you spend money.” “Wait, are you judging me now?”
Reflections
Child Trust
A trust is a legal arrangement through which an individual, called the “Settlor”, appoints another party, called the “trustee”, to hold and administer assets, and effectively transfer these assets to certain persons, called “beneficiaries”, named by the Settlor.
The trust is governed by a document (called the “trust deed”) which contains terms and conditions, as well as instructions of the Settlor, which the trustee must fulfil. Flowing from the above, a child trust is a product created to help parents and guardians preserve liquid assets (that is, funds) towards securing the education and maintenance of their child/ward.
How does the child trust operate?
The operational arrangement of a child trust is pretty simple. As the Settlor, all you need to do is pay in the funds you would want to put in trust for your child and specify the conditions on which these funds can be paid out. It is the responsibility of the trustee to see to the effective management of the mutual fund and ensure that disbursements are done in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed. Unlike a regular investment account, a child trust also serves as an estate planning instrument as the provisions remain in effect even after the death or incapacitation of the Settlor. This means that even when the Settlor passes, the education and maintenance of the beneficiary will still be provided for, to the extent the trust is equipped to cover.
What are the benefits of having a child trust?
Like we just mentioned, a child trust protects and preserves the trust assets for the future of the beneficiaries. It ensures that in the event of the parent’s death or permanent incapacitation, the child is still provided for, especially for education and maintenance. With a child trust, there is no fear that the funds in trust can be accessed by creditors of the Settlor as the funds which are held in trust no longer belong to the settlor from a legal standpoint. With regards to estate planning, a child trust reduces the risk of litigation on the estate upon the death of the parent; and since it is a private arrangement, external parties do not even need to be aware of the existence of the trust.
How do I know if I am qualified to have a child trust?
The good news is, every parent or guardian is qualified. You can start today with whatever funds you have, of course considering your objectives for the trust and what you would need, in terms of funds, to achieve those objectives. While we all hope and pray for longevity of life, it is pertinent that we make arrangements for our loved ones.Arrangements that are solid and fool proof, arrangements that will ensure that no matter what happens, your children or wards will be well taken care of.
