Jason Hamaan It’s a thing to worry sometimes to hear my phone ring.
Because it’s more than likely that it’s a call from the family.
They call when something has happened or when they need something.
To become a man in Nigeria is a major challenge.
Childhood is short for the male child. You’re taught in ways that are not woman.
In no time the full weight of the family rests on your shoulders even before you’re ready.
As a man, the required age for you to wage those responsibilities become less and less. Some Nigerian kids have been the sole provider of their families before they even got to eighteen.
You’re a man! Be a man! You’re no longer a child!
These are all dreadful phrases for the Nigerian man, it’s a reminder that it’s high time you became responsible.
People don’t necessarily care if you have a job, they just want you to be a man.
- You’re to settle your sisters disputes with their husbands.
- Dad’s medical bills are all on you.
- Mama’s new Ankara is on you.
- Family contributions and meetings are all on you.
- Community development and contributions are all on the man.
- Your wife’s family responsibility is sometimes on you.
- Your immediate family; wife and children’s needs are all on you. Unless your significant other is supportive which automatically makes living easier for the man.
- The men have the fewest of personal belongings in most homes.
The Nigerian man lives a life of sacrifice immediately he’s old enough.
They say life expectancy is short for the Nigerian men. Well, it’s because there are so many things wanting to kill the Nigerian man.
They say men die in silence, that we want to be the heroes by not sharing our problems, by trying to solve them all by ourselves, that a problem shared is a problem solved. But to whom do we share them with? Some see complaining as viral misery, that it doesn’t spread sunshine.
Sometimes countryman needs only a little push to get back on track but too ashamed to ask for help because he would feel worse if they would consider him weak, if he won’t get the help he needs.
I praise men, most times your inputs are deeply buried in the every day noise of life but as a man I know it’s not easy for shi shi.
Being a man is difficult, but being a man in Nigeria is twice as difficult still.
