Former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has said his father shares some remarkable circumstantial attributes with the late Queen Elizabeth.
Chidoka noted that while he watched the funeral rites of the late Queen, he couldn’t help but think about his father, who is alive and would turn 96 in November this year.
He disclosed this via a post on his Facebook page, while the queen’s funeral rites were ongoing.
In a poetic form he wrote, “I am watching the funeral of late Queen Elizabeth
Could not help but think of my father
She was born April 1926
My father was born November 1926
Their births couldn’t be more different
She a Princess
Him without royalty
She became a Head of State
He became the Head of his Family
A few days ago their paths diverged further
She died at 96
My father will turn 96 on November 9
They both lived through tumultuous changes
The great depression of 1929
The second world war
The Holocaust
The detonation of atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth
The decolonisation of British colonies
1948 the year Prince Charles was born
My Mother named Victoria, was born the same year, her parents paid no bills at Island Maternity as the crown paid for all delivery at the Maternity in honour of the Queen’s delivery
The civil rights movement
The landing of Man on the Moon
The Nigerian/Biafra Civil war
Great technological innovations
They survived the Coronavirus
An eventful life
A period of monumental changes
Yet they remained the constant in our lives, publicly and privately
As the Queen is interred
And my father looks to his 96th birthday
We pray for long life
A life of honour
Like my father, I pray to live through changing times
healthy, lucid and joyful
The Queen lived in service of her people
May we live in service of our life’s ordained duty:
Amen”.
