Hearing a child call his father an Icon or hero is not a new thing.  particularly those who have a wealthy one who has never withheld his generosity towards their upbringing.

When I say my father was an Icon, that was just it. 

I could remember growing up under the tutelage of a very caring, diligent and supporting father.

If any one could see any positive traits in me, I would say they were all passed down to me by my parents.

I would be mentioning the ones pertaining to my Late Dad.

My Dad was not a rich man when it comes to making references to number of lands, fleet of cars, houses built and owned by him. The reasons were not due to laziness. 

My father was a very diligent man. He believed so much in performing his roles effectively as a father. He did not believe in cutting corners in order to make an end meet.

He was very disciplined, humble, respectful and also godcentric.

He did not believe in not training a girl child. He treated all his children as being equal. He gave all, male and female alike same opportunities to grow. He was not of the believe that male children are more superior to their female counterparts.

May be if not, I might have not gone beyond secondary school.

I could remember University of Ibadan tuition was increased from barely 500 to fifteen thousand naira in 1998. That led to indefinete close down of the school then as a result of students protesting against this unjust increase.

Having had a senior brother in his final year in the same school, the unexpected rise in school fees at the time I was to join  really had a sudden effect on my Dad. He never thought the school fees would be increased to that extent even if there would be an increase.

I knew some students had to defer their admission due to this sudden hike in fees.

My passionate father never  supported this idea. He had to strive so hard to raise my fees and that of my brother.

Like i earlier mentioned that my Dad was not rich in material as he was just a civil servant in one of the Government offices; The National Library of Nigeria. The primary source of his income was just his meagre salary. No plan B. The salary was not even enough to take care of the family without the support of my mom from her petty trades. The main reason why that sudden hike in the school fees had a deep toll on him.

The most passionate thing about my father was that he was ever ready to sell off any valuable items in the house any time there was an urgent need to pay our fees and he was not buoyant.

He really believed in giving us all qualitative education. He believd that is the best inheritance he could bequeath to us.

He always said, if he used the money meant for our training on material things such as car, such would become obsolete by the time we grew up of age and would not be useful. Hence, his reasons for prioritising our educational needs above all other needs.

I could remember my Dad once sold our refridgerator to raise money for my brother's final year project.

Like he always said, if we were to still have the refridgerator, it would have been very rickety and old fashioned by now.

My Dad did not believe in a child struggling for himself. He believed for as long as a child was still under him, he owned such a responsibilty of caring and providing his needs.

 

Dad did the toiling, no wonder he was struck down by hypertension. The stress was too much . If he had wanted us to be ordinary, he might have not put in so much and may be would have been alive by now. And I wouldnt have been in a position to share this.

There are so many beautiful testimonies that could be picked from the memories and lifestyles of my late Dad.

Daddy..........if money could buy life, we would have bought one for you even if it would demand us taking loan.

You were a genius, victor,mentor,father, icon and trail blazer.

Continue to rest in the bossom of your Lord.

@ADDY DAMMIE