I heard my dad say those words some days ago. he has worked with the Power Holding company of Nigeria for the past 27 years, starting his career with the Generation sector which is most suitable for mechanical engineers. By the way, he is one. He had his pupillage training (something like the management trainee programme most companies do nowadays) at the Afam Power station in Port Harcourt. Fortuantely, I was born while he was there at the Aggrey Clinic. He had a brief stint with the generating station, two years to be precise. He left for the headquarters office where he served in the works/services division. I still remember when he was a manager, I and Tayo would go with him to the office (from primary school I mean) and we'd jolly-lolly around his ground floor office, at the back of an artwork sculpted beautifully on a wall opposite a model of the electricity distribution in Lagos. This model can still be found at the reception area of the Eko Electricity Distribution company. Though the position has been changed to the left side on entering the building.
I have gone on and on talking about the place of work, not minding that you were looking for why he said the words 'never mind'. All join. He left there. That's what I'm trying to say. Anyways he said it because some weeks ago, workers in the power sector were released from service. Civil servants having spent a number of years. They were paid off also. Though some people stayed back having got another letter by the new owners (Yes, the companies were sold, don't know if Nigeria made history in this). He was called by a colleague who wanted to find out if he was interested in his old position. My dad, having spent a three weeks leave before now, away from the job, uttered the words over the phone. 'Never mind'. He was tired of it anyway(my saying, I saw this in him). He could do well without it. He'd found something else. Something he could do. Something that gave him drive. Something worth working at. His business.
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