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If you grew up in most Nigerian homes, you will know the adage that says "an elder never lies, says, or does something wrong."
In Nigeria, elders are largely respected for their age, experience, and contribution to society, and because of this, they are seen as trustworthy, custodians of wisdom and integrity.
I know a lot of elderly people that don't apologize for their wrongdoings, mostly if the recipient of their action is their child(ren) or someone younger than them in age.
Before now, if you were an elderly person and reported or complained about me or any of my siblings to my dad, he would believe without asking you if what the person said was right or wrong. He had this belief that an elderly person would not lie against child for no reason.
Growing up, I had this annoying uncle that loved respect, could complain about anything and everything, and could also lie very well. As much as I could, I tried to avoid the man; even when he comes to our house, I mostly pretend to be sleeping so as not to greet him and avoid his many problems.
There was this day my dad went to visit this annoying uncle of mine. On his return, I rushed out to greet and welcome him.
To my shock and amazement, my dad's response to my ecstatic welcome was a cold "thank you." He walked past me and went straight to his room.
Wow, for a few seconds I was dumbstruck; it was as though I felt into a trance; for a moment, I could not feel my legs. It had been a long while since my dad behaved in such a manner towards me; I am his favorite of all his children. I could not believe what just happened.
I went to the kitchen to serve him his meal, but I could not just wrap my head around what was wrong. Did I do anything wrong? Did someone offend him? What could have gone wrong? All these and more were the questions that raced through my mind.
I summoned courage and went to his room, greeted him again, and asked what was wrong. With anger and disappointment in his voice, he said my uncle told him how I disrespected him. My dad narrated the side of the story my uncle told him, and that was the reason for his anger.
In answering him, I shared my own part of the story, how I went to visit my uncle's family, and I asked his children if he was around; they said yes, but he was sleeping in his room, so I stayed in his children's room, gisting with them when this man came in and started raising his voice on me, raining insults on me that I don't have respect for elders. I came in and didn't care to greet him. As I was trying to explain to him that I asked after him but was told that he was sleeping, he asked me to shut up, threatening to beat me up if I speak back at him. I then explained to my dad how I had to take my leave to avoid getting physically assaulted.
I thought my dad would side with me or apologize to me for what I went through. To my utter shock, my dad got more infuriated and scolded me for walking out on my uncle, saying that that was not how he raised us and that my action was a slight on him, as though he did not do his homework as a father.
To say the least, I was disappointed and heartbroken, but what could I do? He was my father, and I could not argue my case any further; I just apologized and left the room.
THANK YOU FOR READING TO THE END š¤