It was in 2013 when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body of Nigerian university teachers declared an indefinite industrial action.
I traveled home immediately to meet my parents. A few days after I arrived home, my dad started complaining of leg pain. We bought some drugs to manage the problem but it kept deteriorating.
It coincided with the beginning of a new farming season. He was concerned about his farm because that was his only source of income to feed the family. I took the work upon myself, thanks to the ASUU strike. For almost two months, I was working on the farm.
About a month into the work, he decided to visit the farm and check the level of work that I had done. He managed to aid himself with a walking stick to visit me in the farm while I was walking. He moved around the farm. He was full of praise for me.
While we were talking, a friend called me to inform me of the death of his father. We were both undergraduates of the same university. He was in 400L which was the final year while I was in the 300 level of a five years course. After consoling my friend over the phone and dropping the call, my dad asked me about the person that died. He heard my condolences. I responded that it was my friend's father that died. He asked me about the level of my friend in school.
When I told him his level, he went silent for a few minutes before making a comment.
"He is lucky that his father saw him through to the final year before leaving him. I wish you as lucky as your friend."
I was surprised at the comment from my father. It was scary.
"But you are here with me dad. God will not take you now. You will witness my graduation and beyond by the grace of God," I offered prayers.
"I hope so," he responded with a smile.
Till we left the farm that day, I was trying to understand what my father meant. Many imaginations ran through my mind including how life without my father would be.
"How would my mother and my siblings cope? What of our education? How would I finish my studies? I asked myself many questions.
"No, no, no, it's not going to happen now," I reassured myself.
My dad's health kept deteriorating and at one point, we were moving from one hospital to the other to seek a solution.
After many months of efforts of his loved ones and the medical team, he gave up the ghost. His visit to me on the farm was his last visit to the farm. What I fervently prayed against happened eventually. It dawned on us that the breadwinner of the family has gone.
I lost hope in virtually everything about life. I was strong initially but after his burial, I sat alone to think of the next phase of my life without my father and I cried my eyes out. The fear of the impending uncertainty nearly swallowed me.
Two weeks after his death, ASUU called off their strike. In another two weeks, the university released the timetable for examinations. I traveled back to school with the words of encouragement from my mum and other relatives.
Death hit me so hard that I couldn't take my mind off the loss.
I wrote the examination successfully with the constant psychological and emotional support from my mum and siblings.
Shortly after the examination, it was time to pay for the school fee of the new session. I sat down and thought of how I would go about the fee. I had no option than to face my fears.
"I will not drop out from this programme," I declared to myself.
I started working in construction sites to raise money. With the support that I got from my mum and sister, I paid my fee and continued my study. Some days, I would go to bed hungry but I didn't allow the situation to break me down. I faced my fear squarely.
I graduated two years later.
It was a rough ride for me within those periods but I made it through the turbulence.
