The Nigerian economic policy expert and former minister of education, Oby Ezekwesili shared the story of how her father’s words shaped the rest of her life.
In a thread on Twitter, the economic expert, she revealed an event that happened when she was just three years old.
According to Oby, some of her parents’ friends visited their home and one of them said to her “OyiliNnaya, Come here. Did you not see your Mother’s beauty Queen face before you collected that of your Dad? Now see how you look like a boy!”
Oyilinnaya when translated from Igbo to English means “the one who resembles her father”.
This made her sad and for comfort, she ran to her father who was very fond of her, and reported what happened.
Touched by what happened, her father embraced her and threw her up in the air severally, making her go into fits of laughter.
Daddy to the rescue
Then he said to her “I want my O’geli to go back to the living room and tell Aunty:
‘What is inside me is more important than what is outside.’ Now go!”
In obedience, she went and did just what her father said and that was a turning point in her life.
She never had to feel inferior to anyone because her parroted response to anyone trying to say something to hurt her became “What is inside me is more important than what is outside”.
Finally, she encouraged father’s to be intentional about building the self esteem of their daughters, just like her father did.
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Ex-minister Oby Ezekwesili breaks silence on Tinubu’s victory
Meanwhile, Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, former minister of education, has finally broken silence on the recently concluded presidential and National Assembly election (NASS).
Speaking via a series of tweets on his personal and verified Twitter account, the Harvard University-trained economic policy expert told Nigerians to hold their peace.
Ezekwesili said the “certificate will be returned”, probably hinting at the possibility of a legal battle which may upturn the outcome of the February 25 electoral process.
