LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER 4

Dear Rose

Letter To My Daughter 4.

                                                                                                                                                At Home,

Dear Rose,

                      How are you? How is everything? How is the US, hope the winter is not affecting you too much? Even here in Nigeria, the cold is almost unbearable and I can imagine what you people in the US are passing through. How your friends- Raymond, Mary and Chika; are they all fine? How is your preparation going about your visa renewal? I hope everything is under control? If so, glory be to God.

I want to sincerely apologize for sending this little amount of money to you. I understand the fact that you need a lot more but for now, this is what your mother and I can afford, please manage it. By God’s grace, if the government decides to pay our salary before the month runs out, I’ll send more. It would have been very good if the exchange rate between Naira and dollar is not too wide but it is unfortunate that as much as two hundred thousand naira sounds here in Nigeria, it will mean a little less by the time you eventually change it into USD.

In our last letter, I promised to bring you up to date on the latest and current happenings in Nigeria. Well, nothing much is really happening here in Nigeria except of course, the perpetual poverty which keeps spreading daily, terrorism by both Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen, whom the president claimed came from Niger. Then of course we have the political upheavals, especially the one between the incumbent president and the former vice president who contested this 2019 election (Alhaji Abubakar). These two political gladiators are battling out the result of the last election with everything they’ve got.  The former vice president is claiming that the president has stolen his mandate to rule. Whatever the case may be though, many average Nigerians don’t care at all because there are more pressing issues than the personal ambition of some old men. On my part, I don’t care a hoot about who wins between them; I don’t see any difference anyways.

Buhari and Atiku Picture.

Aside from all the political happenings in Nigeria, there are some positive issues. For instance, this past week, a taxi driver in Lagos returned a bag of money and international passports that a passenger left in his car to the security post of the Muritala International Airport. The money was enough to change his life forever but he decided not to tow that line, instead, he chose the honest path. He returned the money and many newspapers, social media; radios and TV stations wrote documentaries on him. That was an example of a Nigerian who is gradually going into extinction. The poverty and corruption in the country had make liars out of honest people because they are desperate to survive. When I read the news, I couldn’t make up my mind on what I would have done if I were the cab driver. I will most likely not return it (chuckles) especially when I think of the fact that you are in another country and probably hungry. I might have taken the money and send everything to you to at least make sure that you are living well. Don’t laugh at me or think little of me but to a man who truly loves his family, his family will always come first before any other consideration.

The music industry in Nigeria is perhaps the only thriving thing in the country. Our artistes (though many of them don’t sing with common sense), are now gaining international recognition. Did you know that Wizkid, that guy that sang holler at your boy your favourite track when you were still in Nigeria will likely be nominated for Grammy awards? Well, because of his recent collabos with internationally artistes like Drake and Beyoncé, he is more likely to be nominated in one of Grammy’s categories. This is the news buzzing all over the social media now and everyone is expecting the nomination and possibly a win. I personally don’t fancy his music. His songs are below my intellectual expectations and his voice is not melodious enough to capture my attention. But because you seem to fancy his songs, that is why I am sharing this piece of information with you.

Ehn-ehn! I almost forgot! Your grandma is sick. It is nothing serious but she keeps mentioning your name and that she wants to see you before she ‘passes on’. She thinks she is about to die but we keep telling her that she has just malaria and typhoid fever according to the doctor’s diagnoses but your grandma keeps speaking about how she sees her husband (your gramp) in her dreams and how the two of them keep playing in her dreams till she wakes up each day. We are tired of assuring her that he still has more than ten years to live but she may quit these talks about death if you could write to allay her fears.  She listens to you and you are the only one whose judgement and opinion she values well enough. Please, in your next letter, I want you to tell her that nothing will happen to her and that she still has more years than she could imagine to live. I am sure that such words from you will comfort her and make everyone rest easier.

Wizkid

 I have started applying to a hospital in the UK as a medical consultant. I submitted the application yesterday and I am expecting a reply in a couple of days by God’s grace. If everything goes well, I’ll be employed by the hospital and I’ll leave Nigeria here and start living at UK. In a few years’ time, I’ll take your mum and brothers along and finally your grandma and all of us will begin living in a society where things truly work. We will finally be able to put the poverty and social dysfunction behind for good.  People are leaving here in droves, especially those who can afford the expenses. Those who cannot are passing through the desert and the Atlantic Ocean. Many lives had been lost this way yet; people are undaunted in leaving Nigeria. Don’t believe much of the things you hear on social media, that things are getting better, they aren’t, most of them aren’t real. I don’t mean to sound so pessimistic but this is the fact that we deal with on a daily basis in the country. Imagine government owing we the doctors some of our allowances and arrears, how can we treat patient when we are sick ourselves? This is why I want to see employment opportunities beyond the shores of this country to provide a better life you, your mum and your brothers, these are my duties as a father and I must do them.

Get the cheapest deals on Jumia. 

• Finally, I want us to leave Nigeria before your brothers are old enough to start seeking admission in a University. Nigerian academic certificates are treated with disregard outside the shores of this country. That’s why we have graduates with first class in Nigeria who traveled out of the country to become cab drivers in foreign lands. Many of them are cleaners and gate men.  The women among them are used as maids and for other petty jobs. Jobs that even people without any level of education can do. To what purpose then is the Nigerian degree if only it will be useful in washing toilet? Many people argued that it is not the government’s fault that vibrant Nigerians are leaving the country to work as slaves but I say it is the fault of the government. Yes, government cannot provide jobs for everyone but there should be an enabling environment which will help a fresh graduate in creating a job if he is unable to find any. Therefore, your brothers’ tertiary education will have to wait till we finally relocate to the UK. Then they can attend a renowned university whose certificate can guarantee them job anywhere in the world, just like you are acquiring your degree from a US university. 

If giving all of you a standard education is what your mother and I can do as parents, it’ll be enough because true education is invaluable. So, pray along with us that the job come through so that we can start the moving process.

Take a very good care of yourself and extend my greetings to your friends. Tell them to be good ambassadors of their families and the country where they came from. Don’t do anything that you will not be proud of saying outside and stay away from trouble. I love you endlessly.  

Yours Sincerely,

Your dad.

Love from your father.