Mary Slessor, the woman who stopped the killing of twins

Mary Mitchell Slessor:

Mary Mitchell Slessor, the woman who stopped the killing of twins in Nigeria was born on the 2nd day of December, 1848 in Aberdeen, Scotland into a family of nine comprising of father, mother and seven children.

Mary's parents were poor, and as a result, they lived in the ghettos of Dundee where she was raised.

Mary started working at the age of eleven even though she was still a student at that time. She lost her father and brothers from a disease that affected their lungs (pulmonary disease). After their demise, she lived with her mother and sisters during her early years of growth and development.

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After years of study in Scotland and now 28 years of age, she was assigned to work in the Efik region of Calabar, southern Nigeria. During this time, various superstitious practices were prevalent in the land. Some of these include:

• Taboos relating to the birth of twins.
• Taboos relating to albinos.
• Taboos relating to physically challenged infants and so on.

Please read more on various harmful traditional practices in Nigeria here.

By looks, Mary Slessor was a red hair and blue eyed woman. She lived a simple life in a part of Efik called Okoyong. Interestingly, she related so well with the natives with regards to their culture. Infact, she loved their food, understood the people's values and was able to speak their language. Meanwhile, understand that the native language of the people of efik can be quite tough to learn and comprehend, but regardless, she was able to understand it in a short while of her stay.

Please read more on values here.

During her stay with the locals of Okoyong, She confronted various pertinent issues. Some of these include:

1. Lack of western education in the land.
2. Determining guilt by making suspected persons drink poison.
3. The sacrifice of human beings at the death of a village king or elder. (They believed that these will serve the king in the afterlife).
4. The killing of twins.

It is noteworthy to state that Mary Slessor went to Okoyong with the knowledge that previous missionaries had been killed there.

During her time in Okoyong, the birth of twins was considered a grave evil and curse. The people of Efik believed that the father of one of the twins was an evil spirit and thus considered one of the infant to be of evil spirit's origin. They also believed that the mother of the twins had committed an unknown grave sin.

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Since they were not able to determine which twin was fathered by the evil spirit, they adopted the tradition of abandoning both babies (the twins) in the bush, inside a clay pot to eventually die.

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This superstitious threat against twins also spread to a town called Arochukwu in Abia, an eastern state in Nigeria, and a borderline on the west of Calabar.

The red haired brave woman evangelized to the people concerning their evil act of twins killing but none cared to listen, especially the elders. To buttress her rescue mission for newly born twins, she pleaded with the chiefs of Okoyong on her willingness and dedication to take the twins into her home in an attempt to prove her point. She was said to have acted in this manner because of her religious beliefs. Unfortunately, she wasn't granted her earnest request at this time.

For the sake of her love for children, she summoned some courage (against the will of the chiefs of the land), and adopted some of the abandoned twins she could find in the land. She was able achieve this mission by sending out people (referred to as twins' missionaries) to find, protect and care for any discovered twins at the mission house.

At one time, Mary saved a pair of twin, a boy and a girl. Sadly, the boy eventually died. However, she adopted the girl as her daughter and named her Janie.

In addition to her mission of saving twins, she also went on foot from home to home, preaching the gospel and praying for the sick. God blessed her mission by performing healing miracles through her prayers.

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During this time, Mary helped heal the sick and also stopped the superstitious practice of determining guilt where the suspects are forced to drink poison. It is noteworthy to state that Mary also settled disputes among the people, supported the establishment of educational institutes and churches during her time in Okoyong. Unfortunately, she received news that her mother had died during this time.

Photo of Mary Slessor, the lover of children

With regards to her heroic exploits, she became known as the 'white queen of Okoyong'. Her achievements were broadcasted throughout Britain, and this increased her global popularity.

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Mary became a key figure in the establishment of the Hope Waddell Training Institute (HWTI) in Calabar. This non governmental institution provided practical vocational training to the natives of Efik.

In 1892, Slessor became the vice-consul in Okoyong, where she presided over the native court. She was pronounced vice-president of Ikot Obong native court in 1905.

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In 1913, she was awarded the Order of St John.

Mary's health began to fail at her latter years. Now, the people of Okoyong looked up to her as a leader, and was well respected and loved by the people who had eventually stopped the killing of their twins and some other superstitious practices.

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Mary Slessor took Calabar as her home. She remained in Calabar, where she died in 1915 at age 66. Her death was mourned by the entire villagers. However, her funeral was quite massive as it was graced by some senior British officials.

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Honours of Mary Slessor:

Her work in Okoyong earned her the Efik nicknames:

• Obongawan Okoyong, which means queen of Okoyong.

• Eka Kpukpru owo, which means: 'everybody's mother'.

To this moment, she is still recognized with those titles in Calabar.

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Statue of Mary Slessor in Calabar

Several memorials in Calabar reflects the value placed on her work. Some of these include:

1. Mary Slessor road in Calabar.
2. Mary Slessor roundabout.
3. Mary Slessor Church.
4. Statues of her (carrying twins) at various locations in Calabar.

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Other honours accorded to Mary Slessor includes:

• A high school named in honour of Slessor in Arochukwu.

• A female hostel in the University of Nigeria Nsukka, named Mary Slessor Hall.
• A girl's house (Slessor House) was named after her in Achimota School, Ghana.

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• She is a part of the hall of heroes at the National Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland.
• A new city centre park in Dundee named Slessor Gardens.
• She is the first woman to be featured on the back of the Clydesdale bank's £10 note, depicting her work in Calabar. The note also features a map of Calabar.