From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
As Nigerians joined the global community to celebrate Father’s Day 2026, the Creative Think Tank Group Nigeria paid tribute to Nigerian fathers as “unsung heroes,” while calling for a system that places the entire burden of failing public infrastructure on their shoulders.
In its Father’s Day message titled _The Weight They Carry Alone: Fatherhood in a System That Fails_, the group honored men who “rise before dawn and return late at night,” whose love shows in every school fee paid, every meal provided, and every roof kept over a family’s head despite odds that shouldn’t exist in a resource-rich country.
The Creative Think Tank Group stated that being a father in Nigeria today is like “swimming against a current that gets stronger every year.” It involves earning a salary eroded by inflation faster than it can be spent, and acting as the last line of defense against the collapse of a household and collapsing public services. Because the state has largely withdrawn, fathers are forced to create their own power companies, security services, emergency health funds, and pension schemes, the group explained.
It noted that fathers often face impossible choices: between medical expenses and school fees, between providing for the family now and saving for an uncertain future, or between staying in a town without jobs and leaving a family behind to pursue opportunities elsewhere. “This is not a criticism of fatherhood per se. It is a grievance against a country that has silently placed its own shortcomings on the shoulders of its men and then expects them to bear that burden in silence,” the group said.
Beneath the strength expected of men, the group identified a large silent crisis. Nigerian culture, it said, demands that fathers provide regardless of economic realities, stay calm amid uncertainty, and handle every household crisis even when they are unemployed, underpaid, anxious, and exhausted. There is no culturally accepted way to express struggles, and mental health issues among Nigerian men are still stigmatized, under-recognized, and under-treated. The pressure to appear strong, combined with harsh economic conditions, has created what the group called a quiet epidemic of stress, anxiety, and despair that many fathers bear alone.
The Creative Think Tank Group argued that a society that expects men to be unbreakable while forcing them to break the rules of daily life is not respecting fatherhood but abusing it. When the government fails to provide reliable power, fathers become the family’s energy source, funding generators, fuel, and solar systems at great cost to their income that could be used for savings or rest. When security is lacking, fathers become the family’s protection plan, deciding where it’s safe to live and which roads to travel. When healthcare systems fail, they serve as the family’s insurance, maintaining emergency funds and navigating private hospitals. When public education collapses, fathers become the family’s investment fund, paying private school fees that delay their own financial security indefinitely. “None of this represents fatherhood as it should be. This is fatherhood as crisis management,” the group stated.
If Nigeria truly wants to honor fathers, the group said, certain commitments must be made. It calls for a call to action: honest work should provide enough for a decent life, so no father has to work three jobs and side hustles to keep his family afloat.
It demanded infrastructure that bears the burden the government has neglected: reliable power, functional healthcare, quality education, and basic security, so that fatherhood can be about presence and guidance rather than logistics for survival.
It also called for “permission to be human”—stigma-free mental health support and communities that allow men to say “I am struggling” without shame, and a redefinition of strength that includes the courage to seek help.
The group reminded Nigerians that fatherhood is more than just providing financial support. It is about presence, mentorship, emotional availability, and character modeling. “A nation that measures fathers solely by what they can financially provide, in a country that makes provision unnecessarily difficult, overlooks everything else a father offers that no salary can replace,” it said.
Addressing fathers directly, the group said: “We see the man who hasn’t had a real day off in years because rest is a luxury his family’s needs don’t yet allow.
We see the man who has swallowed his own fear and exhaustion so that his children don’t have to carry it. You do not fail when the system around you fails. Regardless, you succeed every day, and that distinction is extremely important, even if no one says it aloud.”
In conclusion, the Creative Think Tank Group Nigeria wished every Nigerian father a Happy Father’s Day. It reaffirmed its commitment to ideas that serve the Nigerian people and to a Nigeria where fatherhood is supported, not just survived. “May all your labor never be in vain,” it stated.
