Generational wealth
When we got to the farm we started planting. The harvest would be in 6 months. We removed weeds, we cleared soil and put in seeds. Then we would eat at the farm. We never ate the best of our harvest. We sold, kept the tubers for replanting. Baba said that is how you reap bountifully.
The next morning, Baba woke me up by 5am. He had stems in his hands. I had never seen the stems before. “What stems are these?” I asked. He looked at me in the smart way he always did when I was to be taught a lesson. “These are our future” he replied simply.
We spent 4 days planting the stems. We had to dig deeper. We had to be more careful. It was hard work requiring patience. On the 5th day as we were returning home.. Baba said “I will not be around for the harvest of these ones. It will take 25 years to full maturity. You will harvest them.”
I wondered why anyone would plant a tree that he would not be there to harvest. Was Baba ill? But we walked home.
He nurtured the stems until they became young trees. Then one day he fell ill and died shortly after. I had grown up fully matured then. We buried him in the porch of the house. My siblings and I comforted our mom.
I recall the day we planted those trees today. A company was buying one for huge amounts. The land was tired. We needed new land. The money from the mahogany trees was going to make us very rich. Baba had secured our future with those trees.
As they were uprooted, I took my son aside and asked him, “what do we plant that you will harvest in due date to secure the future of the next generation?” He looked at me questioningly. Then I told him the story I have just shared.
We must think for the generations coming after us in all we do.
- Ademola Adigun
