Dad once slapped me for speaking English at home – Tiene Akpabio

Weekly Trust: What is like being the daughter of a prominent Nigerian?Tiene Akpabio: It often comes with its challenges, surprisingly. There is a pressure, a good kind, to achieve greatness. I call it good pressure because it keeps me on my toes. Then there is the bad sort where people automatically assume you should be […]

Weekly Trust: What is like being the daughter of a prominent Nigerian?
Tiene Akpabio: It often comes with its challenges, surprisingly. There is a pressure, a good kind, to achieve greatness. I call it good pressure because it keeps me on my toes. Then there is the bad sort where people automatically assume you should be a certain way.
WT: Your dad is seen as a go-getter. Is he that way home?
Akpabio: He is so much of a go-getter that it is beyond just perception; it’s more of a fact now. It’s a very interesting watching him when he brings up a new idea, because he motivates you almost instantly. He reads a lot and is very up-to-date with things happening around the world. Sometimes I marvel at the amount of things he knows. He is inquisitive and adventurous and once he gets to know about something and it interests him he will follow it through.  He does this a lot with gadgets.
On his love for bikes, he probably saw one somewhere one day and was interested. It excited him and he got one, learnt how to use it and got every single thing related to bikes, from the correct clothing to accessories and books on it. When he gets excited about something, he involves everyone at home and makes us excited about it too.
WT: What’s his temper like, if he’s got one?
Akpabio: He gets angry and he has gotten angry with each of us once before. A perfect example which will probably apply to three of us is the language issue. Now, my dad believes that everyone is to know how to speak their native language. He therefore gets irritated when someone can’t speak theirs. I share the same view because English is no-one’s first language Nigeria.
Our first language is Ibibio and that is all we speak at home. The only two times he slapped me since I was born was because I was speaking English at home, after he had warned me not to. I am certain that he has scolded my brother and sister for this same issue. Now at the time I was in shock as to how I was getting punished for such an issue, and could never see his point. I mean it’s just a language. But I am very grateful that he did this because we all know how to speak Ibibio and can go back home and communicate perfectly.
WT: What are some of the fond memories you have of your dad while growing up?
Akpabio: I have so many of them that choosing some to talk about may mean cheating on other very interesting ones. My dad is a very interesting person and loves to have fun and enjoy life’s little moments. We travelled a lot when I was little. We could travel from one state to the other over the weekend and be back in school on Monday. That was very interesting. I was also very close to him when I was little and will go with him to the office and spend the whole day with him. He gives me anything I want while my mum is the strict disciplinarian. He’s a truly hands-on father and no matter how busy he gets, he manages to ensure he spends time with us.
WT: Your dad being an ever-busy person, how does he relax?
Akpabio: He goes on walks with the dogs, travels, plays all kinds of sports and generally goes out to recreational places with us.
WT: What are your dad’s likes and dislikes?
Akpabio: He likes little interesting innovations, things that you won’t normally see around. He will be very interested in a phone app that does something funny and extraordinary for instance, will get drawn to buying a selfie stick, a watch that has extra features, a container that has so many compartments and all that. He is probably an innovator’s best friend. When we go shopping, he and my brother get easily distracted and sometimes cannot just pass a gadget shop.
He dislikes disorganization. He is very organized, neat and extremely meticulous and hates when things are disorganized. There is a way his clothes are laid out in his cupboard, a way he folds his USB cables, and so on.  
WT: What is his favourite fashion accessory?
Akpabio: He likes wristwatches.
WT: What is his favourite meal?
Akpabio: Okro soup with any swallow is a perfect meal for him. But the Okro has to be very fresh with dry fish and prawns and not overcooked.
WT: Tell us one cool attribute your dad has that the society isn’t aware of?
Akpabio: He is a mobile house! (Laughter) He moves around and travels with everything you can possibly need, in little compartments and different bags specific to that item. An iron, an extra tooth brush, sewing essentials, a complete tool box, gum, hand wipes, air freshener. When I am with him, I know my phone battery will never run out because he moves with every phone charging cable you could imagine.
WT: What are some of the attributes you think you inherited from your dad?
Akpabio: I think I inherited a lot of his mannerisms as I get told that a lot. Other things like organization, meticulousness, generosity, his enterprising mind, creativity, adventurousness, kindness, etc. As you may have noticed, I am basically listing all his positives and believing I inherited them (laughter).
WT: Other than a businessman, what other job do you think you father would have been good at?
 Akpabio: He would have been good at many other things. This is a funny question because he makes statements very often in that direction. It makes us laugh because he says it when someone, a maintenance personnel for instance, is telling him the obvious impossibility of something.
WT: What have you learnt from your dad, which you will imbibe in your family?
Akpabio: I’ve learnt a lot from him, so there are many things. For starters, I will teach my kids Ibibio. Not doing that will be inexcusable.