How We Wear Ourselves – Part 3 There’s something that happens when a Nigerian name enters a room before its owner.People pause. Frown. Repeat. Misspell. Apologise. Ask for “a shorter version.”And slowly, over time, we begin to edit ourselves. You start life as Chijioke, and by university, you’re CJ.You were born Oluwadamilola, but now your…
How Nigerian Men Are Styling Freedom, One Shape-Up at a TimeHow We Wear Ourselves – Part 2b There was a time still very much alive in many corners when the Nigerian man had exactly one hairstyle: low cut, no wahala. Clean. Modest. Predictable. A little boring.But safe. Safe for school. Safe for church. Safe for…
How We Wear Ourselves – Part 2aFor the women who endured kpatewo, wore gel like armour, and now rotate lace-fronts and twist-outs like jazz. This one’s for you. It starts with the wooden cutting comb. You know the one brownish red, shaped like an instrument of spiritual warfare, with teeth so close together they might…
How We Wear Ourselves – Part 1 Some people pack culture into their suitcases.Nigerians? We wear it to the airport. From the moment you arrive abroad, style becomes a kind of language. Before your accent says a word, your outfit might already be in conversation. And for many Nigerians in the diaspora, that’s the point….
Final Chapter We began this series with a quiet confession: that most Nigerian men are carrying more than they can say.In Part 1, we sat in that silence—the performance of manhood, the expectations passed down like heirlooms wrapped in shame. In Part 2, we exposed the hustle that became identity. The grind that didn’t just…
“You Too Soft”: What Happens When Men Choose to Change. It always starts small. One man says he’ll be back home by 7pm to bathe his child cue side-eyes in the group chat.Another shares that he’s been in therapy for three months, and someone chuckles, “Hope say na woman therapist dey help you, sha?”Another posts…
Part 2: The Hustle We Worshipped There’s a look some men wear that isn’t quite exhaustion, but something close. A kind of restless sharpness in the eyes. Alert. Ambitious. Slightly haunted. The look of a man who has learned how to keep moving, even when everything in him is begging for pause. From Surulere to…
Part 1: What We Were Told a Man Should Be They never really say it outright. What they give you instead are looks. Tones. Phrases passed down like family recipes. “Be a man.”“Don’t talk too much.”“You’re the first son—you know what that means.” So, you learn. You learn how to hold your breath and call…
We love a good women supporting women moment. The hashtags, the empowerment brunches, the Instagram captions filled with “My sis, my blood, my backbone” energy. The speeches about how we should uplift one another, break generational cycles, and create a world where Nigerian women stand hand in hand, lifting as we climb. It sounds great….
Independence is supposed to be the dream. The ultimate win. The proof that you’ve made it. As Nigerian women especially those in the diaspora we have fought for this independence, built lives on our own terms, earned our own money, created options that generations before us never had. But somewhere along the way, in the…
