Segun Ozique

The generator at Ola’s house is finally off, and for a moment, the silence is beautiful. But it doesn't last. Ola is looking at a colour-coded calendar on his fridge that looks like a flight manifest for a major airline. ​"Look at this," Ola says, pointing to a slot at 4:30 PM. "Coding at 4:00, Mandarin at 5:00, and Violin at 6:00. If he misses one, he’s behind. The world is competitive, Jide! I’m just trying to give him an edge." ​Jide looks at Ola’s 7-year-old son, who is staring blankly at a wall, looking like he’s just finished a double shift at a factory. "Ola, you aren't giving him an edge; you're giving him a nervous breakdown. You’ve scheduled the 'child' right out of childhood." ​Play Summary: The "Achievement" Trap ​In our rush to build "Super Kids," we have inadvertently declared war on one of the most important educational tools ever invented: Unstructured Play. We treat "doing nothing" as a was...

 The Scene : The group has gathered at Ola’s housetoday. In the living room, Ola’s kids are glued to a tablet, laughing at a YouTuber with a thick American accent. Outside, the usual noise of the neighbourhood - Lagos’ rhythmic chaos - continues, but inside, the air feels like a different continent. ​Ola looks at his son and asks a question in his native tongue. The boy looks up, blinks, and replies in perfect, polished English: "Sorry, Dad, can you say that again?" ​Elder Ephraim sighs, his hand resting on his cane. "You see, he said, "We are building beautiful houses, Ola, but we are raising strangers under the roof." Ofspring we are raising are turning out to be a community of sociocultural Aliens." ​The Play Summary: The Thinning Social Cord: ​A "Community Alien" is someone who looks like their ancestors but thinks, speaks, and dreams in a language and culture that is entirely foreign to their roots. In the rush toward globalisation and urban...

The scene at Ola's house is quieter than usual, but not because the group are tired. Everyone, including Ola is staring at their phone, scrolling "news" they won't remember in five minutes. Across from him, Ola's teenage son is doing the exact same thing. They haven't spoken in twenty minutes. ​Nne walks by and taps the table. "Ola, are you waiting for a call from the President, or is that phone just part of your hand now?" ​Ola looks up, dazed. "I'm just checking something quickly," he mutters. ​"You've been 'checking' for half an hour," Nne retorts. "And look at your boy. He’s not even eating his suya; he’s feeding his eyes on social media postings. You’re not raising a son; you’re raising a mirror." ​Summary : The Dopamine Mirror ​Digital addiction isn't just a "kids' problem" - it’s a family ecosystem issue. While we worry about our children becoming "screen-heads," we...

The overhead fan at Evking’s Bar is clicking rhythmically, almost like a metronome for the heated debate at the corner table. Ola is leaning back, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Say sorry to my son?" he asks, incredulous. "If I apologize every time I lose my temper, he’ll think I’m his mate. A father’s authority is based on being the pillar. If the pillar says it’s sorry, the whole house shakes!" ​Nne shakes her head, smiling sadly. "Ola, the house isn't shaking because you apologized. It’s shaking because you screamed and slammed the door. The apology is the only thing that puts the bricks back together. If you don't say sorry, all he learns is that power means never having to admit you're wrong." ​ The Lead: Authority is Not Infallibility ​The "Old School" African parenting model often treats the parent as a semi-divine figure who can do no wrong. In this world, an apology is seen as a surrender of power. But the mode...

Play Opening: The evening at Evking’s Bar has taken a serious turn. Oluebube, the bar owner's daughter is standing by the counter, her voice trembling with a mix of tired laughter and genuine anger. "My brother finished his food at home sometimes," she tells the group, "and he just sat there, looking at his empty plate, then looking at me. He expects me to help him pick it and wash. While goes to spent the whole day roaming the streets with his friends, and I spent the whole day cleaning. Why is his freedom a right, but mine is a chore?" ​Ola shrugs, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Ebube, it’s just how things are. A boy needs to see the world to become a man. A girl needs to know the home to become a wife. We keep you inside to keep you safe." ​Nne slams her hand lightly on the table. "Safe? Ola, look at the numbers. We 'keep them in,' yet girls are twice as likely to get HIV and five times more likely to die in childbirth before twenty....

The rain has slowed to a drizzle outside Ola's house where the Dynamic Group is gathered. Inside, the atmosphere is heavy. Ola is in mid-sentence, loudly venting about a "useless" business partner and a mountain of unpaid electricity bills. His 8-year-old daughter is sitting nearby, her eyes wide, tracing the patterns on the table. She isn't playing; she’s listening to the frequency of his panic. ​Nne taps Ola on the shoulder. "Ola, look at her. She’s already calculating how much rice that bill could buy. You aren't raising a child right now; you’re recruiting a CFO for your problems. She’s eight, but her brain is already forty." ​ The Lead: The Theft of Time ​We often praise children for being "so mature for their age," but in many homes, that maturity isn't a gift - it’s a survival tactic. When children are drafted into the "infantry" of adult warfare (money issues and stress, marital fights, and family gossip), they undergo...

The debate at Evakings Bar today is louder than usual. Ola just finished a story about his son "refusing to listen" until he "roared like a lion." He looks around for high-fives, but Jide is just shaking his head while Jennifer, the psychologist, is already sketching something on a napkin. ​"Ola," Jide says, "you think you’re being a lion, but to that boy's brain, you’re a thunderstorm. He didn't 'listen'; he just went into survival mode. You're building a house on a foundation of cortisol, not character." ​The Lead: The Architecture of the Atmosphere ​Parenting isn't just about getting a child to "stop" a behaviour; it’s about what you build inside them while they are stopping. Communication styles act as a biological blueprint. Shouting creates a "survival" brain - high in anxiety and quick to flee. Conversations create a "safety" brain - wired for logic and emotional regulation. In a world ...

The fan at Evking’s Bar is fighting a losing battle against the afternoon heat. Ola is staring at a bank alert on his phone, his face a mask of frustration. "I sent this boy to the best private school in Lagos," he grumbles to the group. "I sacrificed my own comfort, wore the same shoes for three years, and now he’s telling me he wants to 'reinvest' his bonus into a startup instead of sending it home for the new roof. Is this the thanks I get? After all I’ve done?" ​Jide sets his glass down with a soft clink . "Ola, are you describing a son or a high-yield savings account?" ​ The Lead: The "Black Tax" vs. The "Love Gift" ​In many African homes, the line between parental sacrifice and a business loan has become dangerously blurred. We’ve inherited a generational mindset where children are viewed as "social security" or retirement plans. While the culture of communal support is beautiful, it turns toxic when love is ...

The generator at Evking’s Bar is silent for once, but the air is electric. Ola is looking genuinely flustered. "Listen," he says, gesturing with a chicken wing, "if my sister comes to visit and my 4-year-old son refuses to give her a hug, and I let him get away with it, my mother will call me from the village to ask if I’ve lost my mind. In our culture, 'respect' means you do what the elder asks. Now you're telling me he has to 'consent' to a hug?" ​Nne leans back, a sharp glint in her eye. "Ola, that's exactly how the trouble starts. We teach them that their 'No' doesn't matter if the person is older or 'family.' Then, when a stranger or a bad actor comes along, the child has already been trained to ignore their gut feeling just to be 'polite.'" ​ The Lead: The "Politeness" Trap ​In many African homes, the concept of Consent is often seen as a foreign, "disrespectful" import. We ...

The Sunday evening vibe at Evking’s Bar is a bit tense. Ola is nursing a cold malt, looking bewildered. "I don’t understand it," he grumbles. "The boy is in the choir. He attends every youth retreat. I pay for every church camp. Yet, this morning, I caught him lying to my face about where he was last night. What are they even teaching them in that church?" ​Nne leans over, swirling the ice in her glass. "Ola, the church has him for two hours on Sunday. You have him for the other 166 hours of the week. You’re expecting a weekly seminar to fix a daily environment." ​ The Lead: The "Spiritual Service Center" Myth ​Modern parenting has fallen into a dangerous trap: treating the church or school like a "character mechanic." We drop our children off, hoping a professional will "fix" their morality, while the home remains a place where those same values are discussed but rarely lived. Research is blunt: the home is the primary ...

The rain has finally stopped outside Evking’s Bar , but a new debate has sparked over a bowl of nkwobi. Ola is laughing, shaking his head at a news report about "Child Privacy Laws." ​"Privacy?" Ola chuckles. "In my father’s house, we were eight in one room. If you wanted 'privacy,' you went to the backyard to fetch water. In the ghetto or the village, 'privacy' is a word for people with mansions in Maitama, Abuja. For the rest of us, life is communal." ​ The Lead: The "Invisible Wall" in a One-Room World ​In the African context, physical privacy has long been viewed as a luxury of the elite or a "Western import." Our philosophy of Ubuntu ("I am because we are") naturally prioritizes the collective over the individual. However, we are currently witnessing a massive collision: the traditional communal lifestyle is meeting the digital age. Even a child living in a "face-me-I-face-you" apartment now ...

The generator at Evking’s Bar is humming a low, steady tune, but inside, the air is thick with a different kind of tension. Ola is showing everyone a picture of his nephew, who just won a math competition. "The boy is a star," Ola beams. "Never complains, never makes trouble. He’s always very 'quiet' - the best kind of child." ​Nne looks up from her drink, her expression unreadable. "Quiet isn't always 'good,' Ola. Sometimes quiet is just a child learning how to scream without making a sound so they don't 'disturb the guests.'" ​ The Lead: The "Angst" Alibi ​We live in a world where parents are often more concerned with the noise a child makes than the pain they feel. We mistake clinical depression for "teenage angst" and panic attacks for "attention-seeking." By the time many parents acknowledge a mental health issue, the "tire tread" of the child’s resilience has already worn t...