70 •
The Lion King
• April - June 2017
THE LAST WORD
LIVE
AND WORK
BY OYINDAMOLA AGBENIGA
F
ather was a hardworking man who
delivered bread as a living to sup-
port his wife and three children. He
spent all his evening attending classes,
hoping to improve himself so that one
day he could find a better paying
job. Except for Sundays, father hardly
ate a meal together with his fam-
ily. He worked and studied very hard
because he wanted to provide his
family with the best money could buy.
Whenever the family complained that
he was not spending enough time
with them, he reasoned that he was
doing all this for them.
The day came when the examination
day was announced. To his joy, father
passed, with distinctions too, and got
a better job as senior supervisor which
paid handsomely.
However, family still did not get to see
sometimes he had to go to work on
Sundays, entertaining clients. Again,
whenever the family complained that
he was not spending enough time
with them, he reasoned that he was
doing all this for them. But he often
yearned to spend more time with his
family.
As expected, father’s hard work paid
off again and he bought a beautiful
condominium in a high-brow area. On
the first Sunday evening at their new
home. Father declared to his family
that he had decided not to take any-
more courses or pursue any more pro-
motions. From then on, he was going
to devote more time to his family.
Father did not wake up the next day.
father for most of the week and he
continued to work hard hoping to be
promoted to the position of the man-
ager. He enrolled for another course
in the open university and family keep
complaining but he still give the same
reason.
Father’s hard work paid off and he
got promoted. Jubilantly, he decided
to hire a maid to relieve his wife
from domestic tasks and also felt their
3-room flat was no longer big enough,
it would be nice for his family to be
able to enjoy the facilities and com-
fort of a condominium. Having expe-
rienced the reward of his handwork
many times before, father resolved to
further his studies and work at being
promoted again. The family still did
not get to see much of him. In fact,
Photo credit: Nopparat_Hiring / Freepik
