To my dearest husband, Adewale Olufunso Oyemade, as you turn 80 today, September 29, 2019.
My heartfelt gratitude to the Supreme Authority, God for His special Grace to celebrate you, Adewale Olufunso Oyemade, my darling husband today, September 29, 2019, your 80th birthday. It is the Almighty Father that made today’s celebration a reality and I am most grateful for this.
Looking back, I cannot but praise and give thanks to the Most High God for your life Death came knocking to snatch you away from us prior to your 60th and 70th birthday, respectively but God in His Infinite Mercy, Love and Compassion saved you from the claws of death.
If I have thousands of tongues, they are not enough to praise God for sparing your life and for all the wonderful things He has done and He is still doing in our lives. Great is thy faithfulness my God.
Our several decades together darling, have been romantic, beautiful and filled with genuine love, affection, happiness and joy. Daddy, as you are lovingly called, you are a husband in a billion and also a father in a billion. This rating is not exaggerated because you are over-caring for me and for all our children. You would do anything, anything at all, even if it means denying yourself of comfort, to see that Shola and all our children are comfortable and happy.
I remember the day, in the ’80s when KLM used to have Royal Class, we flew to Amsterdam to connect our flight to Lagos and because the flight from London was some minutes late, one of our seats had been given to another passenger.
As a result of this, one of us had to sit in the Economy Class as the Business Class was also full. You immediately, without hesitation, told the KLM counter staff to give me the Royal Class Boarding Pass and you, the Economy Boarding Pass.
You categorically told them that the comfort of your wife is of priority in your life. I remember the looks on the faces of the then KLM staff and I was sure that what was going on in their individual mind was how could an African man do what you did as it is always man first in African culture.
You work hard all the time even till now, to give us the best. Thank you a billion times. We all greatly appreciate you.
Daddy you are a God fearing man, a devoted Christian and a praying man. The first thing you do on waking up and make us do too, is morning devotion. You made us to know that we should put God first in our life before any other thing and you do not compromise on this.
You make sure we have a Chapel or a Dedicated Worship Space in all our homes (Lagos/London/Dubai) where we together worship. That daily one-hour early morning devotion is a must even at weekends, holiday periods and during illness when one would like to get up late for extra needed sleep.
I am glad this has become part of us and has been encoded in our DNA. Daddy, you are a man of high integrity, highly disciplined, honest, prudent, meticulous and orderly. Your administrative and financial management skills are superb. You always fulfil your marital and fatherly obligations promptly with joy.
Your home maintenance culture is unmatched. You always ensure that everything in our homes is in excellent working order. Should there be an unforeseen breakdown of any utility item, within minutes you will get it fixed and if it is not repairable, you will get a new one immediately? Yourexcuseforthis culture is “I don’t want wahala for any of you”.
Daddy, one of your accolades is “Mr. Fix it”. If you were a politician, I would have nominated you as Minister of Energy, Minister of Works as well as Minister of Finance. With you at the head of these ministries, Nigerians would have had uninterrupted electricity, good roads and excellent financial dividend. Nobody is 100% perfect Daddy.
The children and I do comment as follows:
(1) “Daddy is over-protective and over-caring – we are still kids as far as Daddy is concerned,” even me at almost 75.
(2) “Daddy is extraordinarily meticulous – all I’s must be dotted and all t’s must be crossed, nothing passes Daddy’s notice”. This quality has rubbed on us and made us to be excellent in whatever we undertake. You always want the best for us. We love you for being an excellent role model. You are our HERO.
A big thank you for your support at all times, your continuous prayers and encouragement. All these have been the strong pillars for my professional and entrepreneurial success.
Your support for my freedom to be who I want to be and to do what makes me happy – continuous learning and the personal improvement of others, is greatly appreciated. If I have to choose a spouse in another earth life, I will again choose you.
Congratulations darling. I wish you more years in excellent health, joy, fulfillment and abundance.
–Susan Shola Oyemade
