Finally, see what my daughter has done to me

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BY Dapo Thomas.

Omo yi ti get me finally. When my daughter, IbukunOLUWA finished her first degree at the Redeemers University in 2013, she went for her NYSC in Delta and came back in 2014. Instead of discussing marriage or job with her, I started talking to her about the importance of Master’s degree. But she said she wanted a job. I tried to persuade her to consider my postgraduate studies proposal. She refused. I got her a not too profitable job at a Radio Station as a programme Presenter. This was a deliberate strategy. I told the station not to pay her. I didn’t want her to be collecting salary so that she will not feel too comfortable. But I was paying her monthly allowance regularly. She eventually became frustrated and told me to look for another job for her. I pretended as if I was searching for another job for her. Before I knew it, she got herself a job with a TV company as a Presenter. Thank GOD, they were paying her a meagre 20k monthly. I knew she wouldn’t stay long in the company. After spending almost a year with them, she became frustrated not necessarily because of the meagre salary but because she didn’t find fulfilment in the job. She wanted something bigger than that. In order to up her professional profile, she decided to go for her Master’s degree. I was very happy because that was what I wanted for her. It was very convenient for me tactically. She did not know she was acting my script. She went to the Lagos Business School to do her Master’s Programme in Mass Communication. On the day of her graduation, right inside the event hall, I started discussing Ph.D Programme with her. I was happy when she told me she was interested. I was waiting for her to come and discuss it with me but the next thing I heard from her was how she got herself a job with a private television on Victoria Island. I pretended as if I was happy for her but I was not. When I probed her on the Doctorate Programme we discussed, she told me she was still interested, that she just wanted to boost her work profile because of the companies that are always asking for years of experience. I said okay. Before I knew what was happening she was back at TVC as a TV Presenter. I was still wondering why she was delaying the Ph.d but she still assured me that there was no problem. I believed her. But the very day I knew there was problem was when she came with one young guy, an architect, and introduced him to me as her fiance. Well, I said to myself, if she was introducing somebody to me in 2019 as her fiance, at least, it will still take 3 to 4 years before they could talk about marriage. I was guided by my own experience when my father demanded 7-year wedding notice after introducing my girlfriend to him. I never knew I was caught in the old school culture. My daughter came with her own fiance one Sunday evening in June 2019, that same day, in that same sitting room, during that same introduction, she and her fiance told me that they have chosen November as their wedding date. I curiously asked which November thinking they would tell me November 2026 going by father’s 7-year template. I was wrong: they meant November 2019 the same year of introduction, in short, six months after introduction. Can you imagine!!! I almost called my daughter into my room to know if the guy was Dangote’s son. I was wrong. She said his surname is AGBANIMU. I said no wonder “to wa gba omo mu”. Anyway, I followed them to play their script after asking GOD for HIS blessing on the union. After the wedding, I said let me give my daughter three to four months before discussing the Ph.d Programme. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to see her until this morning when her mum called me and said: Congratulations Grandpa. I just said to myself, finally, this girl has succeeded in changing my status dramatically from Dapo Thomas to Grandpa. The whole Ph.d Project was a scam. It was meant to put the Grandpa status in suspended animation because I still wanted to continue to pretend that I am still the same Dapo Thomas of Eko Boys High School, 4040 of Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro and Mujemu of the University of Ife. But now, I know that no matter how long I delay, the grandpa day will still come. In fact, it has come. Now, I have realised that the transformation of a man is not just about his physicality but also about the diminishing value of his mortality as a result of the number of days he has left behind. As for the Ph.d Programme, it is END OF DISCUSSION. It is no longer strategic to employ a strategy whose objective has been checkmated by a well scripted marital drama directed and produced by one Sammy AGBANIMU. I surrender.

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