There's this Yoruba adage"Eshin iwaju ni teyin wo sare" and in English translation means " The horse follows the example of the one before it in a race".


Literally, it means you follow examples of your elders, predecessors and those who have gone farther than you but can a horse follow the example of the one before it in a race if it isn't paying attention to details?

I could remember vividly many years ago when my dad left home with his last statement being ; "If you need me, you know where to find me".

Deep down, I thought it was a joke cos my dad isn't the kinda person who would go days without seeing his children..up until age 11 thereabout, whenever he comes back, we all would run to go greet him and he'd lift us up one by one saying I miss my boys..yeh ,we were 3 boys then as my beautiful sister who just clocked 16 was a toddler then(suckling on Mom's breast)

So I thought it was just one of his aimless threats but mum probably knew it wasn't one of his threats as she replied him saying" I'd rather become a head porterage (Alabaru) then for me and my children to come look for you.

Days turned into months , and it seems reality was beginning to dawn on us as we were running outa resources and dad in his sometimes wickedness terminated my mum's contract at supplying frozen foods to them at Sheraton hotel and went with her phone(including her sim), and there wasn't anything like sim retrieval then or backup , yeh, my mum was industrious,(she ran a boutique, a video club, running a school and supplies frozen foods) ,mention it , there's literally nothing my mum can't do to survive,(She really was the pillar to my dad's early days success).One thing every guy should look out for in a woman(Ability to fast trackyour success)

Things became rough and tough, my dad literally went away with everything and we had to start from scratch (story for another day), I mean we started from the abyss.
Yeh, we started from point 0, days of Chiquita and Tantilizers were over, we had to make do with what we saw, and thank God we moved to the rural area where it wasn't hard to get fruits and fresh vegetables without paying a dime( oh, bad old days, we were getting fresh in poverty), as a boy who grew up with not a so-golden spoon but never a plastic spoon, it was hard before I could blend to that lifestyle(O pé o) , I'd always nag and complain while my brothers who didn't seem to care were enjoying the new development.(Yeh, we had dogs then, The dogs were like me (butty) , the only difference was I didn't die..lol).

Mum resulted to doing menial jobs just to be able to fend for us( We had no choice then to join her), isn't that what good children are supposed to do?Before she agreed nko(My mum my mum; she hates it when children suffer). I'm just her first child (she's mothered a whole lot of children before me(storyfor another day) ).

Things became better atleast we made daily money from fetching of water which was my favorite then, to filling of sands and other annoyingly stressful jobs but we were beggars then, we obviously didn't have a choice.(how easy it is to transit from Grace to grass).
I tell people I'm not scared or failure,neither am I scared to climb the ladder of success ( I've been at the extreme of both ends).

One sunny afternoon like that, I just came back from my aunt's place (She was always helping (God bless her) )
I met mom wobbling in her tears and my siblings weeping in sync with her.. Obviously I was bothered and disturbed but I wanted to go play ball in the other street that sunny afternoon ( The only street thing people think I can do, wonder why people still call me butty even after everything I'd gone through)
So I didn't really care, I Sha dropped what I brought from my aunt's place and told her I was going to play ball( Like magic, she stopped crying and mumbled some words I still remember up till this very moment(I know I can be mean and heartless if I Wana be..yes, but then there are some things you don't say to your children cos they tend to live with them for a long period of time, if not till the very end)).

Yeh, mum said , "like Father like Son", maybe that's one reason I still detest my dad..I wouldn't know but I have a feeling I'd hug him when I get to see him( Sad reality of life, we don't always do what we wish).

Like how'd she compare me to a seemingly heartess and sinister father.(The word sinister-I learnt from my dad, it's no joke, my dad is one hell of a smartass and his spoken English-Topnotch)(I remember the day he slapped me for speaking a bad English)
That word still keeps me going cos I don't Wana be like him, not in this life , not in the life to come,
That's what happens when one bad deed overwrites all of the good deeds( isn't that the kinda world we live in: a world where people tend to forget all of the times you were there for them but rememebr that one time you said No)

My dad on his good day, will make up for the best dad in the world ..trust me, he doesn't joke with his family , not even his wife( I mean what man goes into the labour room with his wife)..Wish I could sit him down to ask why he decided to change route( It's imminent though).

If there was prodigal son in the Bible , it won't be bad to have a story of the prodigal father.lol
The truth is there isn't anything sweeter than a loving family(That which my both parents know but I think their pride is greater than their love for each other)
I'll never marry a lady whose pride is greater than her love for me and if I'm not ready to give up my pride for our love, just know I'm not your Mr right( I think I should have a write up -When Ego is greater than love).

There are just so many stories in between but I'd write on them as I remember..

The truth is against all of these odds, all of these sufferings, amidst the dark clouds and nights,

My mum struggled to give us a life we truly didn't deserve , yeh , she could have decided to walk away like our father did, but she chose to stand by us and watch us get those lives we deserve as children.

She didn't mind starting all over from scratch, ostracised herself from family , friends and did what a real woman would do.
How many real mothers do we have in this present world, how many fighters do we have in this present world?

I finished from one of the top universities in Nigeria, studied one of the best course in the university, finished as one of the best,

I have two siblings in the university, one in his finals already , and my two sisters are doing extra ordinarily well as secondary school students..We were able to achieve all of these just because our amiable mum never gave up.
I almost gave up , I could have given up, many youths did give up .
But I thank God for the grace to continue holding on.Even when there was no1( my final year, a story for another day).

If you're to be rewarded by your good deed, my mum surely would be one of the richest in the world and her pure heart , second to none.

I remember when I was close to starting Yahoo( In her words, You're trying to escape excruciating pains of suffering, why put people in that same situation for you to leave it) .She wouldn't stop having issues with my lil bro who seems so obsessed with making money( I'm glad he changed ways)( My siblings-story for another day)
That word still keeps me going , what you don't want, you don't wish for others( No hatred on those doing it, it's a means of survival and who am I to castigate you for doing what brings food to your table).

This is just a little piece from my heart,

I'm sure you now know a bit of my journey so far , we aren't there yet, but we sure are on the right path, don't give up, never say never,
The history is yours, no ours to be written.

Why are you people not commenting??