I was about twelve having grown to watch my dad come home quarterly from Abuja to empty his purse in order to offset all the backlog of bills cum fulfill all the wish lists of his four children. For my mum & siblings this is part of the responsibility of being a Dad. #Fatherhood
In as much as I loved my dad for being responsible having lived within his means as an executive civil servant or repute, I’ve wished to believe all that he did. His impeccable records and life of integrity can’t be erased but the truth remains that our world has changed.
In my father’s days, working as a bureaucrat was a life purpose that rewards with gratuity and life pensions once you put in the work and advance in your career till retirement. But those jobs are extinct now. Even where their shadows exist, no promise is guaranteed.
If your definition of responsibility or fatherhood is the ability to pay bills or offset backlog of dues then imagine what losing the job you have done for over a decade does to your self esteem and identity as a human being wearing different hats in society.
How many people in their 40s or 50s can humble themselves enough to learn anew how to write CVs that targets available opportunities in the 21st century workspace? How many of them can cope with modern day requirement void of rigid structures?
How many people above 40 can unlearn your relearn enough to strategically reposition their career for impact and influence? How many people can survive disengagement from a proven structure that may have molded them for decades? So you can understand the bereavement that follows.
The responsibility of fathers and leaders in the 21st century is beyond rearing dependents, paying bills and waiting for retirement and possibly death. For sustainable fulfillment you may need to find means to play a role in society that keep your name on the lips of strangers.
Jesus Christ didn’t walk the earth to create a cult. It was about the Kingdom of God on Earth. Making the culture of Heaven that of Earth. It is about sacrificial love with our society instead of getting lost in the egotistic argument on western relativism & permissiveness.
While we battle ourselves about ideologies we were coerced to believe via indoctrination, inequality is growing like cancer & to cross the line we simply scheme to be politically correct as a strategy towards instant gratification. Little wonder role models are becoming extinct.
We now normalize injustices and sweep them under the bulging carpet of our unconscionable partisan wars. Atrocious violations of human rights are simply wished away with political statements forgetting that these are injuries that need healing & treatment & not common stains.
How can we begin to bridge these gaps to avoid the inevitable damnation should this trajectory remains our course. How do we help the victims of torrential job losses clip the wings of grief by creating the much needed transition point & launch pad for purposeful impact?
The workplace space is shrinking no doubt and there is nothing we can do to stop the bleeding. Both businesses and people will have to re-invent themselves to survive the 21st century workspace. Afterall, the business of every business is to remain profitably in business.
This is what makes shareholders happy. This is what keeps business competitive and this is what makes them stand at par with their global contemporaries. They are charged to work leaner & meaner for relevance in the space. Change is consistent whether you’re ready or not.
My father wouldn’t have been a happy man in today’s world were he to keep his belief in the system that is currently failing his peers. It is now a reality that pensions are conceptual cum contextual bubbles. You can’t live for them because the economy itself is undulating.
What are the responsibilities of firms and corporates in engaging the inevitable. What would they be remembered for? Will they be seen as hypocritical brands inundated by cold hearted souls or one that make executive decisions & follow through with a heart? 
...End of Celestial Observation...
Chris Rock was quoted to have said “Only women, dogs and children are loved unconditionally. A man is loved on the condition that he provides something.” However funny, it is true. Imagine what happens to a man who’s suddenly lost the ability to provide for his family.
It is worse than a death sentence if there is no hope in sight to reposition him to take advantage of other opportunities that may be abound. We all need that intervention at some point in our lives. Even those yet to receive their own letters. Think about it. #Selah
