Opeyemi Omidiji

Let’s talk about how difficult it is for Nigerian parents to say sorry. We need to chastise whoever wrote that constitution. This lockdown has caused so many things to happen in many homes especially Nigerian families. If everybody could write their experiences, I’m sure most of us have many things in common. It’s okay for us the children to own up and say sorry but it’s never okay for them. Rather they’ll be asking questions like what would you eat, maybe cook for you or even bring back sins from God knows when years ago just to justify their actions.

Well, I think my parents have outgrown the rule that says do not say sorry. I mean, my parents legit apologized to my younger brothers. O happy day! Lol… It’s still funny I’m excited about this. Maybe because my younger sister and I were the advocates (I just need to also study law like she’s doing) and we won this case.

Here’s the gist

One thing I’m sure you can also relate to is the way gas finishes in the house. It’s either at night or when you are cooking (and very hungry of course). I don’t know who also made that rule. That’s how gas finished while they were cooking that morning. I had not removed my tooth then (a painful experience I’m definitely sharing soon by the way) and it was as if the spirit spoke to me. Rather than wait for rice, I opted for eba that morning. I had prepared my eba and was already eating when I heard ‘gas has finished’ o. You can already tell the kind of joy I felt (I’m not wicked, you would feel the same too so dhorr).

It was not a free day so my dad could not go and fill the gas (since he does not allow us to drive because he’s not sure we can). After a very long back and forth, we remembered there’s this place close by which means my brothers could go. They just could not carry the big cylinder, because they were going to trek. All this while, I had already finished eating and I was smiling like a fool. Lol

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The misunderstanding

We have two small cylinders and like 4 burners and we didn’t know the burners were faulty until this day. We had even abandoned one of the small cylinders because we thought it was bad. To be on the safe side, my dad told my brothers to take the burner we were using along to test the cylinder before filling it. He just wanted to be sure the cylinder had no issue.

Long story short, my brothers went and came back (atilo atide kinda situation because they saved the day). Only for my mum to light the burner and it didn’t come on. You know how mothers can be now, she didn’t look for alternatives before she called my dad. The question was thrown to my brothers, didn’t you test the burner before filling? They were like since we thought it was the cylinder that had issue, the person that filled the cylinder tested it with his own burner. Lobatan o.

I saved the day

My dad got pissed (I’m sure hunger was part) and he raked for my brothers. In his defense, they should have tested both the cylinder and the burner. In my brothers’ defense, they thought it was the cylinder that had issue so they didn’t bother. I saved the day by simply trying all burners to see if any worked which one did. Yea I saved the day. Lmao…

After we put the food back on fire, my brothers were not happy because they trekked with their empty stomach and even carried something heavy only to be told they didn’t use their common sense. I mean, anybody would feel bad. I felt bad too and so did my younger sister.

Advocacy

That was how we started our advocacy o. You would have thought we were in the court. Thankfully my parents listen to us and allow dialogue anytime there’s an issue. So we went on and explained to them how it was just a case of misunderstanding and ineffective communication. He didn’t clearly explain what he wanted them to do, my brothers went with a pre-planned mindset that it could only be the cylinder. My dad felt they could have used their common senses. I explained to them how assumptions can cause big problems. Never assume a person would know just because you know. Save yourselves the stress and explain explicitly.

Though they didn’t want to agree at first, my younger sister and I sort of blackmailed my parents. We told them how stressful it would have been for the boys to go, how bad they were feeling at that moment, and other stuff. Next thing we heard sorry. I mean my dad called their names and said he was sorry and my mum did the same. You would have thought we won the lottery the way we shouted. I never experreddit, lol. As you can already guess, my brothers also apologized and that was the end.

Did they die?

No. I mean, they said sorry and nothing happened to them o. I guess if anybody says Nigerian parents don’t say sorry, I can boldly say mine is an exception.

If only Nigerian parents learned to say sorry, many fights would not have ensued, many children would not hold grudges against their parents. I feel we need to do better. If their generation doesn’t say sorry, ours should do better.

Before you point accusing fingers, how easy is it for you to also say sorry?

As I have given you the gist, you also owe me so share your experiences with your Nigerian parents with me in the comment section. I’ll be waiting to read. Do well to like and share this post if you found it interesting and relatable. It’s the only way to say thank you for my hard work.

With love,

Opeyemi Omidiji

Read Also: A Typical Day In My Life – Lockdown Update

18 Responses

  1. Loool,I can relate, but funny enough I’ve forgotten most of my experiences just because I don’t expect them to say sorry as usual, but the funniest part is the fact that they use food or gift to cover their mistakes 🤣🤣. What will you eat,or give you Malt drink that they kept in their room🤣🤣,just for you to forget the scenario. If you are expecting my dad to tell you sorry, my dear you are on a long thing, rather he’ll try and justify himself.

  2. God when??
    😂😂😂😂 Nigerian parents apologizing is like a miracle. I’ll share my testimony when I experience this.

  3. I can absolutely relate to this story. I think my Father only ever said sorry to us once. I don’t remember my mum ever saying sorry for the many times she was wrong. You would think adults could never be wrong.
    There was a time I was wrongfully flogged by her (she is a Teacher and that is what they do) and when the real culprit was discovered (my immediate younger brother) she just moved to him like I deserved the beating and not an apology. No sorry, no remorse.

    Thank God we are grown now and things like this don’t happen again.

    We should ensure that we are not like that with our Children too. We should all learn to apologise when we are wrong even to our children. 👌🏾

  4. Lol… I personally don’t think I’ve ever heard my mum say sorry, (if she has I definitely don’t remember) she’ll just call me and be like “have you eaten?”, ” how much did you say you needed?”🤣🤣. But sha Nigerian parents are the best

  5. This is why I love my parents💃💃💃Dad and mum I’m super proud of u guys😀😀 Nice 1 ope lol

  6. Smiles
    Mine is a different scenario entirely, just this evening, my mum and sisters had some sort of issues and my mum was practically at fault, she almost knelt down to apologize to my sister. So when my parents are wrong, they dont hesitate to say sorry.

  7. 😂😂😂😂This is so funny. I’m trying hard not to wake those around me😂😂😂 sorry na August visitor for my house. In my house when you hear “so ti jeun?” “o ni wa jeun ni 🙏” “kilo ma je” just know it’s sorry o and you better grab the opportunity fast or else… (i think you know how the story should end)

  8. I am laughing my intestine out… cos I can totally relate. African parents need to start admitting that it’s not only them that can get hurt. We get hurt too. We are not so much of indaboski… we get emotions.
    They will offend you, and you’ll be the one to say sorry cos of how they will blackmail you emotionally.

    The day I changed it for her. Guess how she said I’m sorry? Ki lo fe je?

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