FEATURE: Growing up as the daughter of Femi Adesina, by Tosin Adesina

What didn't they say about my face accurately mirroring my father's familiar face?

Spitting image. Carbon copy. Detach the old block. I heard everything. When I was young, and we went out a lot, people would see us and say, “Ah, ah. You thought your dad was running away? Why do you look so much like him?"

Let's get started. I was born and raised in Lagos over two and a half decades ago. Originally from Ipetumodu, Osun State, I have lived all my life in Lagos, with the exception of a few stays abroad: France, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, Ghana , and many other places.

I grew up knowing my father, Femi Adesina, as a journalist. The house was a forest of books and journals. Books, books. Newspapers. Newspapers. And I started reading them. Scratch that, dad forced me to read because I preferred watching TV (LOL). Little Red Riding Hood changed it for me - now it's a family secret.

In the beginning, dad was doing a report for Weekend Concord. I didn't like the fact that he was away from home most of the time. We would plan a family vacation and at the last moment, dad couldn't go. Something or the other had come to work. Me and my brother, Tobi, my eldest by two years, loved going to Ipetumodu, spending time with our grandparents, but most often we went with mom, because dad was busy with work. This is the life of a journalist, which I was going to live briefly.

Mom is a nurse. A passionate and dedicated. She is a matron of a private hospital in Lagos. She has always been there for us. Firm, pious and devoted. I remember Tobi and I nicknaming her "Mrs. Oboye” behind his back. How did it happen? We attended Caleb International College in the Magodo district of Lagos, and a Mrs. Funmi Oboye was the principal. Rigorous and strict. Every morning, at the Assembly, she subjected us to the lessons of the word of God. As young people, we thought his homilies were too long and we often complained. When we came on vacation, and Mom also took all her time in the morning devotion, we looked at each other and whispered: “Madam. Oboye."

Tobi is a pilot and has been for nine years. He is a Boeing 737 specialist, having been trained in South Africa and Sweden. He also has the airline transport pilot license from the Boeing Center, Miami, Florida.

Dad was managing director/editor of The Sun newspapers when he was asked to serve as special adviser on media and publicity to former President Muhammadu Buhari. We are a private family. Although he was a journalist, my dad wasn't loud and honestly he hasn't really changed from who I knew him to be. He lived a quiet, modest life, and raised us that way. It doesn't matter how people describe it in the media and social networks. Suddenly, working with the president brought him there, into the glow of the nation. And there was the good, the bad and the ugly.

There were times when people would meet me and say, 'Adesina? Ah, you look like the media man from Buhari. I kept quiet about our relationship for most of the administration because I really wasn't interested in the hassle that came with it. The good times opened up opportunities for us that we might not have didn't have without this job. Thank God for everything. The bad and the ugly were people who said all kinds of nonsense about my father and could not trust anyone. At first, I was worried about it. But later, the Holy "Spirit helped me through all this. Dad really loves Buhari. No doubt about it. He would defend him anywhere, anytime and on any issue. At home when he was in family, we could feel his loyalty and his love for his boss. He speaks well of him everywhere. In the office and outside, dad is a buharist at heart.

I studied French at the University of Ibadan. Lived in France at different times, did my NYSC as a reporter and presenter with Channels Television. I was then given a job, which I held for about a year. Now I have a media and publishing company called LOTW Group (Living Out The Word) which owns LOTW Network, LOTW Kids, LOTW Studios, LOTW Pub...