Readers are leaders so do people say and believe. I have come to term and agree with this saying because today reading has really put me in the spotlight and I now realized there is always something new to learn each moment I read and I still have more rooms in me for improvements. Was I a keen reader when growing up? No! But I started reading the day my late dad pulled a big one on me that birthed the reader in me. Before we move further let me tell you a little about my late dad. My dad, Mr. Folorunso Adekunle Baiye (1937 – 2002) was a very complex man, too complex to be described as an enigma but yet, very loving, fatherly, supportive and friendly. I call him a social animal for his love for fun and socializing and he was highly respected for his super intelligence, humor and kindness (I am always happy and a bit jealous when people say they are yet to see a man as nice, straight forward and neat as my late dad, because I really want to be better than him). Through out his life time he only struck me thrice, he has won our hearts (my 3 older sisters and I) in such a way that you don’t want to get me angry or disappointed so we try at all times to be good.
Don’t let me paint you a picture of a flawless man for he has his weakness and negative sides too as a man. You know I said I call him a social animal right! My dad drinks, and when I say he drinks I mean serious drinking but even at that, our proper upbringing, good education and happiness were top in his heart and he was ready to do all to see that we got the best. So back to the gist about reading. My dad came home late one night after a drinking spree with his friends, he called my immediate sister and I (the other senior ones were away in their various schools of higher learning). He called for our textbooks and to our surprise, he was asking questions from the texts, he explained some topics to us, he would correct and explain till around 2:00a.m when finally released us to go to bed. I know my dad to be a very brilliant man, there is this game he plays with us, he would ask us to bring different version of the dictionary and you call out any word from A-Z and he would spell the word and tell you the meaning, at times he might not get it right, not because he misses it totally but maybe he juxtapose the letters or meaning. So over time his brilliancy was no longer new or news to us, he was a brilliant dad. I had always believed before this time that his skills with word and good command of language was because of his job, he was a newscaster (English and yoruba) with FRCN. This latest string my dad pulled was just amazing; he treated nearly all the subject except mathematics. Ssshhh, listen carefully, promise me you will not tell my dad this, it is his top secret, my dad does not like mathematics so don’t just go there at all. Did we enjoy what our dad did to us this faithful night he pulled the string? Well the truth is Yes, because his action made us realized he loved and care for our success and No, because it was late at night and moreover we were not use to reading then.
Few days later my sister discovered something she called my attention to. In one of her textbooks, we saw our dad’s writing stating the time he started reading the book and the time he stopped. It was now cleared to us, our dad has been picking our textbooks reading them through becoming prepared and well informed on every of the subject topics. So when we see write on any of our books we quickly picked them and read because you never can tell when he would pull another surprise, remember I said he was a complex man. Was there a side effect to his action? Of course yes. His action made become so disturbed that if my dad who is through with school can be so discipline to pick our books and read them both day and night what excuse then do I have not to read. Today I am a skilled writer, an author, columnist and a prolific speaker. I have series of write ups yet to be completed, I at time need a professional touch of someone better than me and the man that comes to mind is no other than my late dad, at moments like these I cry, smile, miss him a lot and not wanting to disappoint him I pick up my pen and give it my best because that was what he gave me, his best.
Why did I title this write up SOMETHING BETTER THAN THE BEST: Intelligent dad vs. brilliant dad? Though my late dad gave his best by carefully selecting our schools for good education, he gave us something far better by not just leaving us in the hands of our teacher alone, he was a teacher at home too. He was a brilliant dad yet intelligent enough to know his involvement and time spent with us will make a great difference in us. He wasn’t just the shouting, scolding and correcting type, he believed in teaching us with pictures, w always se this man reading and writing. There is nothing that has a beginning and no end except for God and His blessings. On April 2nd 2002, my super intelligent dad, Folorunso Adekunle Baiye bade the world goodbye. Though my late dad left no houses, cars or bank accounts for us to share but he left something better – he gave us quality education, his quality me, his fatherliness and above all his sincere friendship. Houses can be sold or gutted by fire, cars can be involved in accident and accounts can be frozen or squandered but the things I picked from my dad will outlive me – I packed all his books and they are well kept with the ones I have acquire with time waiting anxiously to hand them over to my own children continuing the legacy my father gave which is the chain of not just being a brilliant dad but an intelligent dad. Remember, there is always something better than the best things you buy with money for the kids; it is the quality time you invest in their growing up process.
These are my questions to you today:
- How much do you spend on books?
- What makes the bulk of the papers in your homes? Sport magazines?
- Is there a dictionary in your home?
- What is our reading habit? Do you read at all?
- Are you involved in your kids’ education?
Think about it.
See you @ The TOP
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