The day I realized my father was not just a trader

I remember one evening in Kano, my father come back from a trip to Onitsha. He look tired but he sit down with me and my brothers. He bring out a small notebook and start writing. I was small then, maybe 10 years old. I ask him what he dey write. He say, 'Amina, this is how I track who I trust and who I don't.'

He show me the notebook. Every name get a mark. Some names get two marks. Some get nothing. He say, 'The ones with two marks, dem don fail me before. The ones with one mark, dem still get chance. The ones with nothing, dem never give me reason to doubt.' I ask him why he still dey do business with the ones wey fail him. He laugh small and say, 'Because even a broken pot can hold water if you know where the crack is.'

That notebook follow him for 20 years. When he die, I find it inside his old bag. I keep it. To remind me that trust is not about who smile for you. It is about who show up when the price of tomatoes drop and everybody dey run away.