I was thinking this morning..... As I drove towards an office complex last Friday, the gate was opened by a senior man probably in his late sixties. For some strange reasons, he reminded me of my dad as my mind drifted to the mid eighties. It was a difficult time for my family. My dad worked as a service personnel at an Oil terminal in Delta state. His salary was not enough to feed the family not to mention paying our school fees. Yet, we looked to him to perform the magic.
How can he meet all the needs of the family with his meagre income? To us as children, that was his headache. My dad will leave for his offshore work with empty suitcase but return with a 'provision store.' How? For the 4 weeks my dad will be at work, the meal meant to nourish him and give him strength to do the job, he will exchange for canned/non-perishable foods, so he could take home for his family not to starve. He did not eat his meal because he wanted his children to eat. He sacrificed his needs to fulfil our wants. Real fathers are heroes because their code is family before self.
Real fathers love and care for their wives and mother of their children. I once drove a pregnant woman in labour and her husband to the hospital. As the would-be father used words to sooth the pain of his wife, she snapped and slapped him saying 'No be you do am?' Chai! What fathers go through. After the baby is born, the mother will be given maternity leave but no one thinks of the father. He doesn't even get paternity leave to rest from his labour.
The most heartbreaking of all is that after years of fathers sacrificing their energy and time fending for the family, at retirement most fathers are ignored. While mothers go for 'omugwo' around the nation/world, fathers remain at home with care-givers. They are now fatherless fathers. Oh fathers!
As I remember the role fathers play, I am reminded of the greatest Father of all, our Father in heaven. I couldn't but hum the song of Mosun Olaitan 'Olorun to Tobi Olorun Baba Agba' 🎼🎵🎶
Fathers, stay hopeful. God no go shame us.
Happy Fathers Day.
......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey
Fathers deserve to be celebrated. The quality of a father can be seen in the goals, dreams and aspirations he sets not only for himself, but for his family.
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