Earlier this week, a
teenager in Ebonyi state, Ikechukwu Oke, made headlines for fasting for 41 days
and collapsing.
In this interview with
Punch, his mother how poverty pushed him to carry out the action.
What really happened to
Ikechukwu Oke and what is his religious background?
My son, Ikechukwu,
collapsed after fasting and praying for 41 days on a mountain in Abakaliki. He
had gone to the mountain on July 23, 2019 without informing me or his elder
brother, Obinna, who lives with him in Ishieke village.
He has a very strong
religious background. As a Christian, he loves the things of God. He is a
member of the choir in his church. He believes that problems can be solved
through prayers. He often speaks to
other youths in our neighbourhood about the word of God.
Have you been compelling
him to fast?
No. I have never forced him
to fast. But I do know that as a dedicated child of God, he believes in the
efficacy of prayers. He has always told other people that God can solve all
problems. As a Christian, he must have picked up this habit of praying
ceaselessly from the messages preached in the church. The truth is that we have
been facing some challenges in our family and the need for a change may have
pushed him to pray and fast.
How old is he?
He is 19-year-old. He is
also an SS1 pupil of Ishieke Community Secondary School, Abakiliki. His elder
brother enrolled him in that school and he prays to become a lawyer.
Whenever schools close for
every session, Ikechukwu always works for me for a while before going to
Onitsha in Anambra State to spend the rest of the holiday with one of his
sisters. He usually goes there to sell
sachet water (pure water) and Gala to raise money for his school fees.
How long has he been
fasting at home?
Before now, he wasn’t
accustomed to fasting for too long. But I think the last time he returned from
Onitsha he looked very worried. He told me that he wanted to go to Ishieke to
see his brother. He promised to come back and harvest the cassava in our
farm. He wanted to process the cassava
into garri and take some of it to school.
Later I learnt that he left his brother’s place and instead of returning
to me as promised, he proceeded to the mountain, which is in Abakiliki, to fast
and pray for 41 days.
How does he relate with his siblings? Is he a
reserved person?
He relates well with his
siblings. He is a quiet person, but he is equally sociable. Ikechukwu is the
kind of person who will not speak out, if troubled. He would rather figure out
how to solve his problems alone.
After waiting for him to
return in vain, his brother decided to search for him in the village. But, like
I said earlier, I didn’t know he was planning to fast for 41 days on the mountain. Nobody else knew about it. We wouldn’t have
allowed him to do such a thing, if we had known. It is true that he has been
fasting, but not this long one that almost claimed his life.
What kind of problem could
have made Ikechukwu fast for so long?
I asked him why he had to
do that type of fasting and prayer without telling me and he said that he
decided to fast because of the condition of our family. He was supposed to be drinking water or
eating fruits during such fasting.
There was a time he told
his brother and me that he wanted to become a lawyer or a priest in the Roman
Catholic Church, but there was nobody to assist him financially. This led his
brother to enrol him in a secondary school.
Since my husband died in
1996, things have been very rough. It got to a point where Ikechukwu’s elder
brother, who is my first son, decided to assist me in training him. Right now
things are difficult for us. We are actually suffering. We started suffering when their father died.
To survive, I usually do
menial jobs. At present, I work as a labourer and get paid the sum of N1,400
per day. It is what I use in feeding my children and taking care of their other
needs. One day, I almost lost one of my hands in the process.
Although my son, Ikechukwu’s elder brother,
has asked me to quit working as a labourer, I don’t have another means of livelihood.
Ikechukwu always complains about poverty in the family and the fact that we are
not making any progress financially. He always fasts and prays because of this.
He started praying regularly when he was 11 years-old.
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