How I Love the Modern Naija Man

I don’t say this often but I lurrrrr me some Naija men. Not all, some. In particular, I’m loving me the modern ones. I so love them. Coming from me, this is strange. I am not usually one to shower praises on Naija men. In fact, I have a post titled “Why You Shouldn’t Marry a Naija Man” dedicated to my FACS (free and clear sisters). I never published it because 1. It’s not entirely fair. 2. I married one. 3. I knew I’d regret posting it.

That’s besides the point. Today, I want to declare that I love me some Naija men. For so many reasons too. Let’s start with my cousin’s husband. We were on the phone chitchatting and he tells me that he’s staying home with the kids now because his wife got a new job making more money. Unbelievable. This, coming from a Naija man’s man? I found it hard to believe.

For the past two years, he’s worked, no, toiled for his family. Working incredible hours while my cousin went to school and took her professional exams. He supported the family rather generously; she got a new car and her dream house, they took vacations without him and lived the good life while he worked his butt off. Now, apparently, she’s got a great job that requires a lot of traveling and he’s taking care of their babies while she moves ahead in her career. He said all this to me with no ounce of somehow-ness. As in, he was very proud of her and it was clear to me that he was beaming with pride on the other end. Now, that’s just fab. Of course he’s not sitting on his butt all day, he’s got his PP that he runs on the side that brings in a ton of cash but the main gist of the story is that he’s happy to take care of the kids while she does her corporate thing.

The thing that’s pretty appealing to me about this is that I know so many men that will do the same thing. They’ll let their wives forge ahead while they take care of the home front. By take care of the home front, I don’t mean sit down and just watch the kids. These men would want to do a little more than that. As I rattle of the list in my head, it amazes me that these are all Naija men that I am thinking of. That’s just wonderful. We’ve come a long way in our generation. We’ve got men that support us, men that are happy to take care of the babies, men that take pride in their cooking and most importantly, men that are truly responsible and take their duties as fathers and husbands very seriously. It is really awesome. My friend’s husband makes the best desserts and brings some over every time they come and visit. Ain’t that a trip? A Naija man that’s not afraid to show people on the outside that he cooks.

It’s so easy to get together with your girls and complain that our (Naija) men don’t do this or that. The truth is that they’ve come a loooooooooong way from their dads. They are not their fathers. They love their children and their wives openly and deeply. It’s just such a wonderful thing.