On Suspicion That He Could Snatch Their Wives, Writer Tosin Silverdam Narrates What Men In Kano Did To Him
Nigerian writer, Tosin Silverdam gained popularity sometime in 2015 for his rather feminine looks which caused him to suffer harsh criticisms by people who called him gay as a result. He has moved on from all of his body image issues but is in the news again for another moral issue. He took to his Twitter handle @TosinSilverDam to narrate his weird experience in Kano state North-West Nigeria.
READ ALSO:For Defying Cultural Norms, Northerners Put Hausa Actress, Rahama Sadau Under Fire
The blogger revealed in his post that he had recently relocated to the city of Kano, possibly from Lagos-a less conservative city. According to him, he decided to take a walk in his new city of residence, but there was a problem. The problem was not his decision to relocate nor was it his need for a walk, it was for something less intriguing.
Tosin said his decision to take a walk wearing shorts turned out to be a bad idea as the locals especially men kept staring at him and made him extremely uncomfortable.
Kano is the most populous city in Nigeria with over 9 million residents and a thriving Islamic culture laced with conservative northern accents. A commercial hub and home to Nigerians from diverse ethnic groups, welcoming and peaceful for the better part, yet Kano city has a long history of being volatile on religious and moral grounds.
Kano men are typically dressed in long kaftans with trousers, a modest approach to dressing is a lifestyle in the ancient city and people who leave the southern part of the country to live there will experience some type of culture shock.
The city is known to be extremely sensitive to new ways from outsiders who come to settle and many such seemingly small matters have led to major riots leading to loss of lives and properties, so the writer’s experience resonates.
According to him, the stares were so much that he had to return home because he was told he could be attacked for wearing shorts by the men who might fear that he could arouse the interest of their women by his ‘exposure’.
Makes it even clearer how truly diverse Nigeria as a country is. According to him, he found out men, particularly bachelors are not allowed to wear shorts and they may be sent away if they fail to yield to those kind of subtle stares.
Read Tosin’s account below:
“Relocated to Kano 3 weeks ago__ So today, I decided to take a walk, wearing a short. To my surprise, the people were staring at me, especially the men, I was so uncomfortable. The stare was just too much, I kept on wondering why they were staring like that.
I just had to quickly rush back home. Do you know why they were staring? It’s because i was wearing short, it’s because the men are scared and threatened I might snatch their wives. Men are not allowed to wear short, especially bachelors.
As a matter of fact__ If I’m not careful, the men in the community could hold a meeting and ask me to leave the community if I should continue to wear short. Just because they don’t want me to snatch their wives…”
See screenshot below:
The writer’s experience is funny at its best but it could have dire consequences at its worst, so take a cue and prepare to live as a citizen in a new country-even if you are still within your own country.