Nigerian comedian Bovi recently discussed the limitations of Nigeria’s dating culture, highlighting its impact on adult relationships and marriages, on an episode of The Honest Bunch Podcast.
“Most parents don’t want to hear that their children have boyfriends but when they get to a certain age, they start asking them to bring their husbands home. From where? Children aren’t even allowed to date!
“I said something one day on a TV and people were coming for me for saying that young children should be able to go on dates and all.”
Bovi shared how the rigid upbringing in many Nigerian homes prevents youths from going through the usual dating phases.
“Our parents didn’t encourage that behaviour so we used to hide our boyfriends and girlfriends from them. Do you know how many stages you jumped? You didn’t go to the cinema to see a movie harmlessly; you didn’t stroll on walks and write letters.”
Bovi jokingly recalled how Nigerian parents often dramatically overreacted to even minor displays of affection or romance.
“If they saw us with love letters back then, they’d shout at us, and you’d wonder what you did because they raised an alarm.”
“We criminalise the dating culture for too long in Nigeria and now we’re complaining that marriages are breaking. Marriages are breaking because people have unfulfilled dreams of dating. There is the extent to which you’d date people, as a single man, that when you marry, you know you’re not missing anything because you’ve done it all,”