Once again, brother, I think Nigeria is lucky to have you. Your thoughtfulness and wisdom, your curiosity about what drives human behaviour - all of it is going to help your fellow nationals but also those of us, around the world in other cultures reading your words.

Thank you very much for your kind words. 😊😊

I love that you're thinking about and talking (writing) about what role you can take in changing this. So much. That is how change occurs.

Thank you very much. It just amazes me how people prefer talking about trivial stuffs here in Nigeria. We all wait on the government and influential figures to start the movement on things that matter while neglecting the fact that we ourselves have the power to bring about change. I just hope many people come to realize this in the coming years.

Women who end up in abusive relationships of any kind, but especially with the man who is supposed to love and protect them, feel worthless (or some version of this) and may even feel like they deserve to be treated this way.

I've never actually thought about this before but it's true. This is more reason why one shouldn't just jump into a relationship without proper evaluation of who they're about to commit themselves to. Abuse needs to be talked about more often and no one should have to endure any form of abuse (emotional or physical).

I can only guess (as I haven't seen the data, but my understanding of psychology suggests) that there is more domestic violence in cultures where the men make all the money (or far more money) and where they (men) have better access to education than women do. If you layer on top of that shaming of people who separate or divorce then it will be common for women to be ill-treated. And if you layer in this point you made about women being expected to be docile and compliant to their husband's wishes/desires/expectations, it's a recipe for disaster.

You're very correct. One of the reasons why women choose to stay in abusive relationships is because of the uncertainties that awaits them outside their marriage. The country is tough and nobody wants to be thrown into the wilderness. Lack of information is also a factor, I say this because many women do not know that there are several government agencies that can help them get away from their abusive husbands.

If one day you raise little girls of your own @monioluwa, or even get a teaching role (which you would be amazing at, by the way) with young children then teaching girls that they are precious and deserve to be respected and that they are powerful and they have a voice, will make so much of a difference. At the same time, if you teach the boys the same but also treat them to respect girls/women you will create ripples of change through your community.

Exactly. Violence is so common over here that children grow up to believe that it's a normal thing. Boys and girls that witness violence between their parents also tend to be violent towards their partners.
I try to educate people with any chance I get and I'll keep doing that with every platform I can use.