Oh there they are again, the biggest eyes I ever saw and don’t even get me started on those enormous hands. Oh here they come! Those huge sausage fingers that love to caress my cheeks. An alarming experience at first until it made contact and tickled. This made me smile and I made him smile. There it was a glimpse of his pearly whites, the most beautiful sight I had seen in my short time on planet earth. Almost immediately, his giant hands grabbed me, threw me up in the air, caught me and then the kisses came; on my forehead, cheeks, my tiny hands and then finally, my saliva glazed lips. As I smiled back into the eyes that gazed right back at me I knew the great big guy who just sent me down from the skies couldn’t have placed me in better care.
My dad is the number one guy in my life who I know loves me unconditionally. He once told me that he would rather go without clothes on his back just to make sure my siblings and I got the best education he was capable of giving and looking back all I can say is ‘Thank you daddy’.
Not so long ago, I wrote an article titled, ‘The story of my books’ where my love for books was fuelled positively by my father. At the end of every open day at school, with no regard to my grades that term, my father would buy me an average of three Enid Blyton books. As the years went on he continued this trend with other teenage bestsellers including the Harry Potter sequels. My dad spoiled me rotten with gifts every time he got back from his numerous business trips. The latest gadgets, the nicest perfumes, beautiful shoes and every fabulous item he came across.
As we all know fatherhood is not all about providing material things for your children. Although that is important, there is the emotional part which runs deep and creates an unbreakable bond of love and trust.
After a brief survey was conducted, it was discovered that the average Nigerian father does not say ‘I love you’ to his children. This isn’t surprising because as children, little boys are taught to not to display emotion which supposedly is an attribute of the alpha male otherwise they would be perceived as weak. Having learnt this way of life, the little boys grow up to be men who stifle emotion and starve their loved ones of love. This in turn has a domino effect because nemo dat quad non habet (you cannot give what you don’t have) and the sons act and teach their kids the same thing and this goes on thereby robbing generations of the true joy gotten from the expression of love. This is an unfortunate cycle so if you are reading this right now and you are guilty please make amends as it is for the sake of you generations yet on born.
I leave you with this quote from a book by Émile Gaboriau… “A father is the one friend upon whom we can always rely. In the hour of need, when all else fails, we remember him upon whose knees we sat when children, and who soothed our sorrows; and even though he may be unable to assist us, his mere presence serves to comfort and strengthen us.”
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!
Oluwaseyi Lawal
