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Have never spoken about it before, but I had ADHD as a child. The bad kind. Bad enough that I couldn't remember an instruction given to me 2 minutes ago. I was trouble every time. I mean, so restless, hyper-active and prone to injury. One week one wound.
And oh I destroyed tons of things - mutilated furniture, picked electronics apart. I remember how my brain used to work back then: "what would happen if I nacked this transistor on the ground?" and I'd go right ahead and do it. 
Shit was bad! Was always going to the hospital. Tetanus injection, Procaine Penicillin and wound dressing/suturing 
and me. Parents used to warn their kids not to play with me. I chopped plenty koboko from my dad and from teachers.
and me. Parents used to warn their kids not to play with me. I chopped plenty koboko from my dad and from teachers.
Only thing I excelled at was my academics. Had a very little interest in reading but somehow, always came out top of the class. Had dem legendary primary and secondary school academic performances. My dad loved (LOVED) coming to my Speech and Prize-giving days.
My parents struggled to cope with handling me. My mom said so many harsh things to me out of frustration. I remember during one of my mischief missions, I had pressed "record" on the cassette player over one of my dad's favorite Orlando Owoh tapes...
My mom gets in, finds me having not done a single chore out of the ones she assigned to me before she went to work. She beat the devil out of me and said some unprintable stuff. Then one day, my dad was listening to THAT Orlando tape and the part I recorded came on. Mahn...
By the way, I suddenly fell "ill" with terrible stomach ache once I saw my dad select that tape for Saturday morning rocks. Mom was soooooo embarrassed to hear the playback. Of course, my dad immediately understood why I "fell ill". Came to the room ìwás in, told me to get up..
Because he doesn't think that I was ill. Meanwhile, I had used the excuse of being ill to request all my favorite meals that I had been dreaming of. By 1pm,i had canceled 4 special dishes. FOUR!!! God forgive me sha.
When I was studying ADHD in med school, I suddenly self-diagnosed my childhood issues. I felt super sad that no one even thought of this as a possible diagnosis. One of our neighbors (a woman) nicknamed me "Ekwensu". Yep.
My mom couldn't cope with watching me for every second of the day, along with caring for 5 other kids. I was always being shipped to summer holiday camps or things of that sort. Remember when I escaped from one of those places and ran home one Saturday...
Mostly because I wasn't getting enough food to wack. Can never forget the shock on my mom's face when I showed up. She didn't even let me sit down. She grabbed me right at the gate, chartered a cab and took me straight back. My jail break failed 
.
.
How did this resolve? Puberty saved me. The transformation during my adolescent years was a shock to everyone. I simply transformed into this ultra-introverted, gentle, home-dwelling teenager. Nobody heard from me again. I was just supremely calm. I come "born again" on top join.
One last memory: I remember one day when I volunteered at my dad's staff clinic. The nurse who used to treat me during my "one week one wound" days walked in on me on the doctor's chair and became totally SPEECHLESS for like 5 minutes. When she came to, she kept screaming:
"YOU??? A DOCTOR??? SO YOU CAN SIT IN ONE PLACE IN THIS LIFE???" The shame I felt that day no get part 2. It was also a very hilarious event that often recall to make myself laugh. I was such an "Ìpátá" child.
I'd also like to use this opportunity to highlight the fact that we don't nearly enough child psychologists. When I came across my lovely lecturer, Prof Olayinka Omigbodun, in med school I always wondered how much it would have helped if I had seen someone like her as a child.
