On the 22nd of the. 8th month
A total eclipse of my heart occurred
My hurt shut for a minute
It’s never beat properly again
Now it beats for you till eternity
Oscillations between space and time
My hurt became profound
You were too larger than life to die
In my head you can never die
When I saw your corpse I didn’t see you die
I just saw you sleep
I can bet you and even opened your eyes a bit
To see me like you alway do in your sleep
I tried to wake you up
But people will think I am crazy
And I want you to rest
It’s been some hurtful years
The sad part is I couldn’t kiss you like I will do
There was wool in your mouth
That honestly made me feel woolly
My feet became wobbly
Then I cried, then everyone told me not to cry
They say you would want me to be strong
In my mind I say they don’t know you like I do
So I tried calling you on the phone days after you passed
Till date I still check my phone to see if you will call me.
You always call back
I saw you in your favorite blue cap
In my mind I thought it was just another outing
But they said it’s your last outing
I told them you promised me forever
That was the bond of our friendship
I got calls that I lost my dad
I didn’t lose my dad,but I lost my friend
And my light.
I was bonny he was clyde
He was superman I was his kryptonite
All we did was to share moments lost in space and time
He became my friend at my most vulnerable
I had lost my champion and my compass
My mum had left me at a tender age
Then daddy sought to know me
people assume they know me
Parents assume they know their children
But he sought to know me
He knew me in conversations and love
He knew the most important thing about me was friendship
He knew I loved love and I needed to be assured over again
He knew I spelt love as time
He knew I was vulnerable yet strong
He knew my convictions and my vacillations
He knew my strengths
He understood my words and also my silence
He dared to be me and I dared to be him
Someone once said a friend is whom you dare to be yourself
Once we forged our trust
Then our friendship never weaned
And love became our anchor
I would do anything for him and he for me
He taught me what love is and love is not
His eyes glistened everyday he saw me
We shared moments that would last
We talked about endless dream
Then the visits
Then the sleep overs in the university
That made my friends quibble
One pesky fellow asked are you the only one that has a daddy?
When you got so busy and you couldn’t
Sleep over anymore
Then we talked endlessly on the phone
Conversations every time that deepened our friendship
Then the health scares
I remember your seizure and when people told you I saved you.
You laughed and said.Rufai will do anything for me
I remember our travels
You once said the downfall of a man starts with hubris
In Yoruba you will say majorara loju
I saw your selflessness
You were ready to help everyone
Everyone’s child is my child you will say
You had the heart of a child
You loved children a lot and laughed so hard
We danced a lot and we had lots of music
I remember your dance step, you will roll your hand back and forth
You accountability was supreme
You were my project manager on many projects and you will account to the last amount spent
In your last days you sent an account note book to me of a past projects through somebody
And I hold that dear
You loved learning and I can’t wait to build that museum and learning Centre we talked about
We increased my passion for photography.you loved to curate memories with the best lenses
You always talked about the excitement of turning the negatives into pictures.
Our friendship was forged in admitting mistakes.you will always say don’t be Labour a superior logic
You were a disciplined man but people didn’t get that
I remember when you turned a loss making local government farm around
You set up a viable piggery and poultry that made revenue
Accountability was your watchword a passion for society
You loved Nigeria passionately
You were born on the first of 1st of October
You also help in fertilizer delivery to farmers across the country
While you were a People’s champion you were my hero.
You told me my most important job was being Rufai’s dad
You looked for ways to help
And please you will have to bear with me
All of this experience has been unique
I have never buried a father before
I don’t see reasons to be happy like I do before
I have become a recluse
I don’t know how to move on
But I take solace In God that everything will be ok
But in all of this I thank God and thank you all because your words have been helpful on sad days
But trust me I miss my dad
