My greatest cheerleader - LOH #221

The other day I was watching a movie with my colleague, a Nollywood movie that portrays the ugly side of society. It shows what women go through and resort to out of desperation. I was watching that movie and I listened to how my colleague judged these women and I'm just like whoa! take a chill pill. You know it's very easy for judgemental people being at the privileged side of life to have opinions on how badly someone turns out.

But you can never really know if you don't experience it, especially experiencing it first hand. I watched that movie, I watched those girls and I'm quickly reminded of me. I'm quickly reminded of almost being in that same position about eight years ago. I was fresh out of Uni, done with my service to the country and looking for a job. My friend came up with one in the western part of Nigeria, I live in the South so it was quite a distance. Regardless, I went for the interview and I got the job. Imagine my excitement travelling back home to the south and receiving a text from the company that I have been hired. I was travelling back on a Friday and from the text, I'm expected to resume work on Monday. Meaning I have to travel back under such short notice.

I needed money to start up and everything was all so sudden. I didn't think my dad would come through for me under such short notice but he did. I travelled back, put up in a hotel and resumed.

My father had wanted me to know what my employment package was worth. From there we'd know how to go about getting an accommodation pending when I eventually start receiving my salary to continue with my rent. Everything was going well, going as planned till I started working and my employer refused to send my employment package via email.

Whenever I go to her, she's always posting me. So I started asking around what the pay was like from other employees and I gathered that my position is to receive 40k. Although the sum was meager, I talked to my dad about it and he insisted that I get the employment package first to be sure of what I heard. After working for a few days and nothing was forthcoming from my employer, I started having a double mind with the job, especially when I saw her physically assault an employee over an error that she made on the job. That moment I made up my mind to quit. I was already running low on cash and couldn't keep up paying for my hotel accommodation.

I didn't want to call home because I felt they've done enough and I should be able to kick start from there. I felt like a failure and I got so ashamed to even go back home after everything. I mean, given the widespread unemployment in my country, it's a thing of Joy to be employed and honestly quitting my job made me feel like I failed my parents. For a moment there I was desperate and I could do anything to remain in Lagos. But then I thought why don't I call home and inform my dad. Let him desert me first before I conclude it to be a hopeless situation.

So I called my dad, explained everything to him and after listening, he said to me, tomorrow morning get on the first bus to Delta state and come back home. I felt relieved and I was happy. That moment when my dad asked me to come back home took away the dark clouds and brought in sunshine, it brought in the rainbow and that's what my dad always does. His relationship with my mom gave me the perfect childhood memories. We grew up in an environment of love which has helped shield me from abuse in my adulthood.

Or was it when I went for service and they deployed me to an Island? It got really scary because I couldn't swim and I have heard so many gory stories on water accidents. Being that the service is mandatory and one can't be employed in most organizations without it, I could not flunk it. So I tried to lobby for me to be redeployed back to land.

The office incharge of redeployment was proving stubborn so again, I called my dad and he said, keep pushing. If the redeployment fails, come back home and be part of the family business you don't need the service certificate for that. Immediately, I stopped panicking and I wasn't going to go down the line of desperate times calls for desperate measures. My dad is my most favourite person and yes, you can call me daddy's girl. That man built me, for every time that I felt inadequate, he's cheering me up. When the tunnel seems to be dark and has no light insight, he's raising the lamp to guide my path. And when I seem lost, he's holding hands and leading me. For every time I feel things are going south, my daddy is receiving me in his arms and assuring me that everything is fine.

How about when I fall? Daddy is always there, picking me up, dusting me, adjusting my crown and with a peck on my forehead he's urging me on telling me, go get them tiger.

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