It was the morning of the Pink Ball and there I was sweating the small stuffs! I was restive and needed to shake off a cloud that hung over my head and left me brooding. I was having something akin to bridal jitters. Hmmmmmm!

Then came a text message from my aburo Aisha. It was full of inspiration like the many that came in earlier, except that it ended with instructions that I should go out and give alms to the poor. Wha- a-a-t? On a day like this? I exclaimed under my breath. I dismissed that part of the text and tried to settle down; after all, I couldn’t hold back the hand of time. It was D-day – ready or not.I took time to reflect on my life since the first Pink Ball and all I could think of was, what have I gotten myself into? My heart pined after my quiet life as a dutiful wife and devoted

mother. “Fre-nemies,” Alero had called them. Indeed, the Pink Ball had suddenly become an albatross and cynics have become a distraction. What haven’t we heard? I am supposed to have enriched myself through this charity, smiling all the way to the CBN! Oh, there are so many tales of my feeding off the Pink Ball. One is that I acquired a Jeep; another one, spearheaded by someone close to “G”, had it that our new home was a spin-off from the

Pink Ball. Oh wait; there’s more: Soon after the first Pink Ball, I was supposed to be in a dalliance with our special guest who arrived at the ball in a “Pink Babariga!” He was supposed to be the reason I dressed better, and

looked affluent! One of my friends had stoutly defended me in the gathering where this was an after dinner discussion. She had called me up and said “Betty, dem say you’bi so and so girlfriend o” and we laughed and laughed – it really was funny! Where do these Fre-nemies get off? C’mmon get a life! After the 2009 Pink Ball, I thought I’d be a little mischievous and change my car to one of those monstrous Nissan jeeps and brand it Betty. Then I thought “Nah girl, keep your eyes on the ball and that’s what I choose to do.”

Back to the day of the ball. My restlessness took me back to the text from my aburo urging me to go out and perform ‘zakat’ (almsgiving). If that would checkmate my restiveness, I thought “why not?” At that moment, my

friend, Omowunmi walked in and I asked if her driver (He is Hausa) could take me out. “Yes,” she agreed. “Do you know where I can find some beggars and be back in the hotel in 30 minutes?” I asked him as we drove out. He nodded. So, armed with crisp notes, we went ‘beggar-hunting.’ The time was 3pm – four hours to the

ball. You’d never believe that that turned out to be beggars day off? We went from street to street in Victoria Island but no luck! And then just before I gave up, at the Akin Adesola/Adeola Odeku streets junction, we finally found

a window cleaner and a young beggar – a girl. I motioned to the driver to stop while I beckoned on the girl (obviously not more than 12 years of age) and handed her some wads of Naira notes. She took the money, said nothing

to me but went to the driver’s door and tapped on the glass, indicating she wanted a word with him.

“You’re Hausa?’ she asked. “Yes,” the driver nodded. “Tell the woman who just gave me money that God will bless her and whatever she lays her hands on will be blessed by God.” The driver interpreted her words to me as we drove back and my eyes justmisted. I leaned back on my seat and inhaled – a deep, satisfying breath

and an inexplicable feeling of self-content streamed through me. I felt lifted

as I hurriedly sent a text to my aburo saying, “I have done zakat,” and she replied “Watch what will happen tonight.”

By 7pm I was ready and hanging on the arms of my daughter and fired up by hundreds of inspiring texts, we left for the ball. As we entered the venue, she exclaimed excitedly, “look mum”! Then I saw the breathtaking hall and all the

guests and at that point the words of the young beggar flooded my memory: “Tell the woman who gave me money that God will bless her as well as my aburo’s text; Watch what will happen tonight ” It all seemed to add up. At that

point, I took another deep breath and inhaled the positive energy and goodwill of the night. Nothing else mattered! I was intoxicated with goodwill. I should carry out more acts of kindness, afterall charity should begin with all

of us. I thought. Perhaps that was the lesson I needed to learn and I couldn’t have learnt that better than on a day devoted to charity. *Remember, what other people think of you is not your business. What you

think of yourself is all that counts!