MY NEIGHBOUR, DADDY FABIAN IS A GOOD MAN

There are still good people in this world; my neighbour Daddy Fabian is one of them.

Daddy Fabian and his newly married wife moved into the compound where we lived; we have lived in the compound for about three years before they moved in. My husband and I have two lovely kids.

My husband worked for one of the new generation banks before he was laid off following a downsizing exercise. Before the downsizing, life looked up for us; our children attended one of the best schools within our area. We enjoyed the good things of life. We also had a wonderful relationship with Mr. Kenneth as we used to call him before the arrival of their kids. His wife and I bonded very well; she would run to me to help her out in preparing her husband’s favourite local menus.

Other tenants, especially newer ones found it difficult to believe we are not related or that we met in that compound. We are that close.

After my husband lost his job, things became difficult since I wasn’t gainfully employed at the time the downsizing happened.  The little savings we had were spent on my husband transportation to different part of the country where he had gone for interviews. One year after, there was no job in sight, savings had gone; we were wrecked.

We could not secure any financial help from anybody to start a business to sustain us except for daddy Fabian and wife who supported our feeding. They made sure we did not lack food though Daddy Fabian was a junior worker where he worked then.

When the situation became unbearable, we decided to look for support in the church we worshiped. My husband met the Welfare Department after we had applied to be considered for a loan to start a business. The meeting with the Welfare Excos came at the right time; the time it looked like the worst would have happened if we didn’t get any help.

The Welfare Excos approved a loan of two hundred thousand naira for us to start the business we had presented to them. The amount was very substantial. It was enough to finance the business and to take care of other exigencies. We were expected to start repaying the loan after six months.

My husband delved into palm oil business. He would travel to the some part of the East, Delta and Edo to source the commodity; which he would then transport to Lagos. He had some wholesalers in the market that he supplied. Life started looking up after he had done the business for about three months and half.

We started repaying the loan ahead of the time we were given to commence the repayment. Hope was restored, expectations grew.  At a point, we started making more money than my husband made when he was in paid employment. As the business expanded, the number of times my husband had to travel increased. Sometimes, he would stay away from Lagos for one than one week. The quest to get palm oil at very cheap prices took him to very remote communities.

One Saturday afternoon, on his way back from one of his trips; my husband was involved in a fatal accident.  We battled to save his life for seven days, he didn’t survive. My husband passed away. I was devastated. I couldn’t sleep for more than six days; the kind of thoughts that occupied my mind couldn’t have allowed me to sleep. It took the intervention of Papa Fabian and my elder sister who came around that period for me to sleep. They got a doctor who forcedly injected me with a substance that knocked me off minutes after I was injected with it. That was how regained my sanity.

After the burial of my husband, we returned to Lagos to continue from where my husband stopped. I did not know some of the people that owed my husband before his demise. Although, some of them out of pity stepped forward to pay up, some didn’t care.

The money we gathered at the end of the day was not much coupled with the fact that a good quantity of the palm oil was lost when the accident happened. We were back to almost square one.

The Welfare Department of the church was magnanimous enough to write off the remaining debt. I started trading with the little money we were able to gather from my late husband’s debtors. I started going to Mile 12 to buy bags of garri which I sold in front of our house. The money I made was not enough to pay the fees of my two kids. We had withdrawn our kids from the schools they were attending before my late husband was relieved of his appointment with the bank. I couldn’t afford to pay the fees of the second school.

I decided to withdraw the children from the school until I find another school I could afford to pay their fees.  Daddy Fabian got wind of the situation, he sent for me for a discussion. At that point, Fabian had been born; he was almost a year.

He told me to send my kids back to school that he would take care of them. I was so happy to hear that. I stood up and hugged his wife for allowing her husband to take such a decision.  He told me to always bring to his notice whatever the school demanded and promptly too. We ended the meeting there. My kids were extremely happy when they heard they were going back to school. They stormed out of our flat and rushed to daddy Fabian’s flat. From my flat, I could hear them scream “thank you sir, God bless you.”

The following day, daddy Fabian called me on the phone. He requested I send my account number to him. I did. After a short of period time, my account was credited. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the amount of money that had been paid into my account.  I picked my phone and called daddy Fabian, he didn’t not pick.

When he got home that night, he sent for me. I was about telling him that he must have made some mistakes in the transfer he made to me when he said the money he sent to me was for my kids’ school fees and the next house rent when it was due.

I did not know how to thank this angel in human form. I saw the wife standing by the door smiling. I raised my hand to the sky and wept. I asked God to bless daddy Fabian and his family. I greeted them heartily and returned to our flat. For the first in a long while, I slept like a baby. Peace enveloped my heart.

Two months afterwards, daddy Fabian got a new job, a big one at that. He had to leave the part of town we stayed to a high brow area. Initially, I was afraid their movement would mark the end to his help to my kids; he didn’t relent at all. The wife always called and visited us whenever she could.

Six months later, the couple invited me to their new apartment. During my visit, the couple told me that they had opened a couple of salons in town; that they needed somebody to manage the business for them. After reading out the lengthy requirements, I was informed I had been chosen to manage the business on their behalf.

I stood rooted to the ground not knowing how to respond to the offer; I pinched myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.  I was told I was going to understudy the business for two months before I would resume. I managed the business for some years.

By the time I was ready to leave the business, we had opened three more outlets and had made the business a major source of income for daddy Fabian. I was able to train my children in one of the finest secondary schools around town. They are doing well in the universities now. I have since opened a big retail business that is taking care of my children and my workers.

My neighbour daddy Fabian is a good man.