There is love and there is ‘Nigerian Love’. Love is that wonderful feeling you have towards another person that finds you giving, giving and giving again and again without asking for anything in return. Well, that is for the oyibo man/woman. For the Nigerian, love is a different ball game all together. Here are a few ways that Nigerians use to show they are really in love. There are always exceptions to every rule but the actions of the majority make it valid.
Money for Hand
Flowers, walk in the garden, along the beach, in the park and repeating ‘I love you’ all the time, all these are fine but the Nigerian will not eat them and be satisfied. If you know you really love a Nigerian, then, show it. How do you show it? ‘Money for hand, back for ground… after all, body no be wood.’
Cooking
Nigerian ladies know that the way to a man’s heart is through his tummy. So one of the things they do to show you love is to cook your favourite meal. She now doesn’t need to hear what you have to say as the look you give her alone would have told her everything. Even your friends are not left out, if they observe your woman is taking good care of your food needs, they always tell you that she must be in love with you very much to have done that.
Shopping
If you don’t take a Nigerian woman shopping, then don’t even think she believes you are in love. The measure of love you receive from a Nigerian woman will be in direct proportion to the size of the bag you came back with from your shopping expedition. You don’t go on a ten thousand naira shopping and expect a twenty thousand naira worth of loving. In Nigeria, that is not allowed.
Friends
As a woman in love with a Nigerian, who his female friends are, is none of your business. If you don’t want to be sentenced to losing your man for challenging ‘his authority in this house’, then stay away. A word they say is enough for the wise. As a man, any man who is not her relative should not be allowed in to see her. The Nigerian woman actually believes a jealous man must be in love with her very much to be ‘that jealous’.
Roles
The kitchen of a Nigerian woman is forbidden territory to you the man. Don’t go in there even if you are very hungry and she doesn’t seem to be feeling well. There is no faster way to kill romance with a Nigerian woman than you doing the dishes after she has fed you your favourite meal. Even if your next door neighbour calls to borrow something that is in the kitchen, call her to get it for him. That way you will not be barging into her ‘office’.
These are some of the ways ‘Nigerian Love’ is shown. However it may seem, Nigeria is still a country that deserves its own personal identity. If it’s citizens are okay with it, then, ‘money for hand, back for ground’.
