What Being Female in Nigeria Really Means From One Man’s View Point
Sharing his personal experiences, a Twitter user and father of 2 sons, Rosanwo Babatunde (@rosanwo) took to his handle to highlight the inequalities between a male and a female in Nigeria. During the 2 months that he spent in Nigeria, Rosanwo revealed he witnessed daily how women are unfairly treated against in relationship to their male counterparts.
He wrote:
”I spent 4 weeks in Nigeria between March and April. Some of my observations left me wondering why? How? When? If?
So women complain about how tough it is to be a female in Nigeria, the daily experience and the abuse they suffer in the hands of everyone. It is very easy to live in Nigeria and become accustomed to these things. My experiences on this thread all happened in Lagos.
About 11pm, I went to Opebi to get roadside food, I wanted a taste of the Hausa guy’s noodles & eggs with salad plus Suya. As usual Opebi was bubbling with life on a Friday night, girls lined up the street doing their business. Suddenly the girls started running off the streets.
The policemen arrived with a van, arresting the girls at random. The policemen did not harass 1 man for being out at midnight, they boastfully said “ what are women doing outside at this time of the night”
A friend later told me she was arrested in Lekki while waiting for Uber. The police claimed she was a prostitute. One wonders how the police arrive at this conclusion without the girls soliciting. On another day, I was leaving the hotel in Ikeja at 2pm, a young lady in her 20s was checking out and we both ended up at the hotel gate.
She was waiting for Uber, I was waiting for taxify. To my surprise, the security man told her to leave the gate entrance cos it will appear the hotel had prostitutes at the gate. I asked the security man why did he not apply the same rules to me, he had no answer.I told the lady to ignore him until her Uber arrived.
On several occasions in company of female friends, the security men & staff at restaurants greet me and ignore the lady. I kept asking what was wrong, was the lady too short to be seen or what? How did we get here?
One afternoon, a lady took 2 guys (including me) out in Lagos, she drove us in her brand new car. We the guys till date have not acquired brand new cars. At the restaurant she asked for the bill, guess what? The waiter gave the bill to me. Told the waiter she asked for the bill cos she is paying for the meal.
Why are you surprised a lady is paying for the meal with 2 guys? Why give me the bill when she asked for it? We left the restaurant, the boys at the car park wanted money. With the lady in the driver’s seat, they ignored her & asked we the guys for money.
Again I asked, “can you ask Madame for money, she owns the car & paid for our lunch” You need to see the jaw drop, reluctantly they went over to her but she had enough of it already, she ignored them. Most security men assume women don’t know how to park cars.
If a man is parking or driving out, all you hear is “Oga sir, well done” If a lady is doing same, the security men are running commentary like they have driving instructor’s certificate.
The default position is to call a woman a prostitute for driving a car. We need to do better as a society in.”
Sad reality of a Nigerian female.