People told me to run away — Father of quadruplets

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Paul Anani, father of the newborn quadruplets, tells AYOOLA OLASUPO why he did not listen to the advice that he should abandon his wife and the new babies in the hospital

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What is your relationship with the mother of the quadruplets?

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I am Mr Paul Anani, the father of the newly born babies.

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Being a commercial motorcycle rider, how do you intend to take care of them?

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The truth is that we never expected that they were going to be four. We were actually expecting two babies because all the scans that we did only told us that they were two. It was so sudden when we learnt that the babies were four.

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We have to give glory to God, but I don’t have the capacity to take good care of all of them, including their mother. That is the reason why I am seeking help from people because it is not easy for me right now. I also have a daughter before, so it will be difficult to look after all of them with the kind of job that I do.

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Were you not scared when you heard that your wife had four babies?

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What came to my mind at that moment was, ‘Where am I going to get the money to feed this family?’ Even to take my wife away from the hospital has been difficult because of the bill.

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How have you been coping since your wife was delivered of quadruplets?

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Well, I’m coping with it by the grace of God. Whenever I go to do my okada work, the little money I make is what we manage. Sometimes, I will quickly come back to give my wife N2,000 so they can use it to get something to eat before I go back to work.

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Sometimes, I also leave the okada work to work at building sites, where they pay me N4,500 or N5,000 daily depending on how we work. That is how I’ve been coping because I cannot leave them alone. They are my family. I’m just seeking assistance from people to help me out because this is too much for only me, and that is the reason why I’m struggling now.

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Where are you based?

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I’m from Togo, but I was born and brought up in Nigeria. Although my wife is from Cross River State, we both reside in Igando in Lagos State.

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I learnt the hospital is not releasing her and the babies because of the bill.

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Yes, they are requesting N3.4m. I was even complaining that the bill is too much but the hospital insisted that we must pay the bill. The first day we got there when a caesarean section was carried out on my wife, they said it would cost us N750,000, so we begged them and they concluded that everything would be reduced to N500,000.

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At that time, my babies were all taking oxygen, and they were calculating the amount for the oxygen every day. The last of the four babies has also been inside an incubator since that day till this moment.

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I was told that he would spend 14 days inside the incubator, so they calculated everything for us. They also said the baby inside the incubator would be taking oxygen and some drugs. Those things also added up to make it N3.4m.

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Your wife said the naming would be done after she’s discharged from the hospital. Is there any plan towards that?

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My father told me that since they are four babies, we need to give them names one after the other; I mean one week for the naming of each of the babies for four weeks. That means we are going to name them within the space of one month.

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When do you intend to start that?

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We are supposed to start by April, by God’s grace.

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Is it true that the naming was pended because the hospital hasn’t released the babies and the mother?

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The problem is that I have not informed my wife about our decision, so she might not know what we intend to do about the naming yet. Although the hospital bill is still there, that is one of the reasons why we haven’t told her yet. I want our bill to be cleared before I tell her our plan.

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Why didn’t you run away like some men do?

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Some men would have run away when they found themselves in this kind of situation but I am here because of my wife. I’ll never do that to her because these babies are my children. Although I am still managing and do not know how to go about it, I’ll stand by them.

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I believe that one day, God will do wonders for us. They should help me in whatever way they can. I’ll gladly appreciate it. People said, ‘Why can’t you run away?’ But I said, ‘I can’t do that because they are my family’.

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I see this as a blessing from God because many people are looking for this kind of blessing and their prayers have not been answered yet. I don’t have anything and I’m not rich but God did this for me and we are coping by God’s grace. Sincerely, it is a blessing for me, and I believe that one day, things will be better for us.

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Have you been receiving support from some people?

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I would thank God for that because many people who heard about the news brought some diapers for the children. Some gave us some money too to buy some things and sort out whatever is required for us to buy in the hospital. That is how we’ve been coping since they were born.

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I know that this is a very huge blessing from God, but I still need help because I can’t do it alone. I want people to help me and my wife because it has not been easy for me at all, but I know that it is easy for God to do. I also know the way things are in the country, but I need help so my family can come out safely from the hospital.

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They can also help in terms of assisting me to get a sustainable job that I can use to take care of my children.

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I am a painter and also a POP expert and I work at building sites. I want to promise that if people can help me find a good job, I’ll be able to help my family.

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