Nollywood actor Bucci Franklin has opened up about how growing up without a father shaped his life.
In a recent appearance on the WithChude podcast, posted on YouTube, Franklin explained that although his father was alive, he was completely absent from his life.
He revealed that this absence left him susceptible to negative influences while growing up.
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Franklin honored his mother’s efforts as a single parent and expressed his “maximum respect” for all single mothers, while highlighting the crucial and irreplaceable role of a male figure in a boy’s upbringing.
“As a kid, I had my woman shege. Like I said, it is not easy to be a single parent. She had to go to work. I had mates. Not having a father figure is quite difficult,” he said.
“Maximum respect to other women out there taking care of their children by themselves. You need a man in your life. If you do not want to get married, you need a brother to take your life. You just need a father figure for those boys.
“It is easy for girls as a mother. But for a boy, an African boy, a Nigerian boy, an Igbo boy… it is not easy.
“As a teenager listening right now, look for a role model, not for himself, the society, and I do not mean thieves, but someone of a father figure. The man that I am today, and that I would continue to be, is because of Mrs Joy.”
Franklin admitted that the lack of a father figure led him to fall in with the wrong crowd. He confessed to underage drinking, smoking, and getting involved in illicit activities with girls, often returning home “completely wasted.”
“(I was into) girls. Drugs. And by drugs, I am saying cigarettes. Drinking beer at a very young age. Coming back completely wasted,” he said.
“My dad is good, but he was not in the picture. Now I see him for the man that he is, not for the man that he was. And I have also forgiven him. Nobody is perfect. I do not pray to be such a man, but maybe I would have done worse if I were in his shoes.
“He never told me (why he was absent). Frankly enough, I do not care. I just honour him for the human being that he is. Thank you for not using a condom or jerking me off.
“As a teenager, I did not want to hear anything about him. I went to school and came out. I started working.”
Watch him speak below…
