A short note to my father on Father’s Day
- Late Pa Chukwuma Anueyiagu
Father’s Day was celebrated yesterday, June 16. As my children began to make a big deal over this ‘special’ day; fusing over what I wanted, and where to take me for a meal, I too began to contemplate on my father and what he meant to me, my family and to the world.
I wondered what my father would make of this new phenomenon of choosing one day out of the entire year to celebrate fathers. Would he be grateful that he was celebrated, or complacent about this growing ritual? I could not make up my mind about what my old man would have thought. But I was sure that he may have laughed it off as a mere waste of valuable time spent on an errant issue.
Then came the frenzy that accompanied this event. I received hundreds of greetings and felicitations over the internet from known and unknown sources, each proclaiming how wonderful a father I have been. Messages came from many indiscriminate sources to us with some confusing my wife for a father, and wishing her happy Father’s day too, while plugging their products on the web.
I must confess that I thoroughly enjoyed the attention I received from my immediate family. They bought me a lovely mug with the inscription: “world’s No. 1 Dad”, cards, and then took me out to a nice French restaurant. It was, indeed, a lovely day, but my mind was, all day, fixated on my father; what he would have thought of this day, and in particular, of our Country Nigeria, a country he helped nurture to life.
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My father was born in 1915 and he died in 2015. One would confidently say that he lived a meaningful life and that he reached the pinnacle of everything he desired for himself. However, the state of the country at the time of his passing left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Chukwuma Anueyiagu, that was my father’s name, was a veritable philosopher, a great writer, an outstanding journalist, a consummate thinker and a wise, kind and compassionate man. He had stupendous moral character and was a highly principled politician and an astute businessman. He was a true nationalist who believed in one united and peaceful Nigeria, a country that must thrive on fairness, equity and justice for all. He was a founding member of the group that fought and won independence for Nigeria from Britain. He made tremendous personal sacrifices to found and liberate Nigeria from colonialism, including being locked up and abused by the colonial masters for writing in his newspapers what were considered seditious articles.
On this past Father’s Day I craved so badly a chance to speak to my father again. I wanted to hear his beautiful sonorous and comforting voice again. I wanted to ask him about his life and to thank him for all that he did for me and for others. I wanted to ask him why our mother called him “Nigeria First and Family Last”. I wanted to know if he loved his country more than he did us, his family? Why did he prefer to give all his time fighting for Nigeria than for us? What did he think of how the country he gave his all turned around and pursued him into Biafra, killing millions of his Igbo people and leaving the place in shambles?
As these questions kept unfolding, I began to think of writing my father a short note on this Father’s Day.
It began thus:
Dear Papa,
I miss you every day that passes.
I miss your charm, your sage advice, your wisdom, your kindness, your humour and your compassion to all.
I miss your optimistic position on the state of the country, even when it was clear that everything had collapsed. You tried to persuade me that despite the turbulence and evils that have befallen the country, that there was still light at the end of that ever dark tunnel.
Papa, you would not recognize your country Nigeria, now.
Do you know that the Churches or the Mosques are no longer sacred places? That a bunch of criminals, or as they call them, terrorists, entered a Church, a place of worship and killed over 50 parishioners who were on their knees praying to God. Yes, this must remind you of how Nigerian fighter jets, supplied by the same Russians and Ukrainians killing themselves now, flown by wicked Egyptian pilots bombed churches, markets and hospitals in Biafra.
You always told me that politics was a fair game played by principled persons of integrity and honour. But no, our politicians have become worse than prostitutes and armed robbers. I am sure you saw some parts of these incipient divagations in your old age. Ha! What you saw a few years ago, was child’s play. The country has gone kaput. The cupidity of our politicians’ ways is completely abstruse and parlous.
Papa, It is FINISHED.
If I begin to report to you about the happenings in our land, I may write a million pages without finishing. I will stop here, because I know that from Heaven you can see all that has become of your once beloved country.
I am happy that you were not as hopeless and useless as our leaders now are; that you were not as spineless as some of our people have become today; groveling under the feet of narcissistic haters and godless people.
Papa, while in Heaven, can you please ask God when all these evil against His people will end; when, if it is possible, will we get our lives back to live as a people created in His own image?
Thank you, Papa.
On this Father’s Day, I celebrate your love, your unselfish giving and sacrifices and the role you played in my life by inspiring me to be the person that I am today with utmost respect for myself and others.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY
Your Son,
Okey.
- Okey Anueyiagu, a Professor of Political Economy, is the author of: Biafra, The Horrors of War, The Story of a Child Soldier
