When love turns to business…
When you build your partner, you build your home. When you cage your partner, you destroy your own peace.
This early morning, the peace wey dey our street scatter like broken calabash. Shouting and wailing from the next compound wakes everybody.
“Wetin dey happen again for Mr. Adugo compound?” Mama Nkechi asked, tying her wrapper tighter.
Na so all of us rush go there - curious, worried, some just dey go for gist but when we reach, the scene we met no be wetin anybody expect.
Adugo, the beautiful woman with quiet eyes, stood in the middle of the compound, her wrapper half loose, voice shaking but firm. Her husband, a tall man with eyes full of pride, dey point hand for her face.
“You think say because you dey sell small goods for market, you don turn boss lady? I go show you who bring who come this town!” he barked.
The crowd murmured. One man whispered, “Ah, na wetin again? This man no dey tire to disgrace him wife?”
Tears rolled down Adugo’s face, but she no stop talking. “He brought me from the village to town, now every little thing, he go remind me say na him bring me! He go say I was struggling, that my family poor, that I for still dey fetch water for people if no be him!”
She turned to us, her voice breaking:
“He even told me to pay him back all the money he spent bringing me here… imagine! My own husband.”
The man hissed. “And so? Did I not spend money? Did I not suffer? You think this Awka life easy?”
People gasped. One old woman muttered, “Tufiakwa! Which kind man be this?”
Adugo continued, her pain flowing freely now, like river after heavy rain.
“He’s jealous of me because my business dey move! He told me with his own mouth that he will never allow me to rise or progress. He started small business for me, yes but when customers started coming, he became angry.”
She paused, wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“He said, ‘You wan dey bigger than me? Never!’”
The man shouted back, “Yes! because you don dey forget say na me bring you from village! Na me set you up!”
The crowd shifted uneasily. Someone tried to calm him but he pushed the person away.
This man, wey suppose be her covering, had become her storm.
He works in Enugu, and his family home is in Awka. According to neighbors, he only comes back every three months, stays one month and during that time, the compound no dey rest.
Each time he comes, he no buy even bread for his children. He’ll go out every night, flex with friends, spend money on drinks and bragging - but never drop a dime for feeding.
And yet, he expects Adugo to feed him and the kids with her small business profit.
If she refuses or the money no reach? Na beating.
“Sometimes,” Adugo said softly, her voice trembling, “he’ll eat my shop money, then still accuse me of being disrespectful. Last time I told him to drop something for feeding, he beat me in front of the children.”
The crowd fell silent.
Even the men among us could not defend him.
Adugo’s last words broke everyone:
“He told me, ‘You will never see progress in this life unless I allow it.’”
There was a heavy silence. Some women began to cry quietly.
My people, when did love turn to business?
When did husband and wife become competitors?
Marriage no be investment wey you go expect monthly profit. Love no be trade by barter. When you choose someone, you choose to grow with them, not control them.
Today, many people marry for ego, not love. They marry to prove point - not to build peace. The Bible says that “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” — Ephesians 5:25
Tell me, where is the love that protects, covers and uplifts?
Where is the love that forgives and helps to build?
Now, instead of being her shield, Mr. Adugo turned to her shadow. Instead of lifting her, he clipped her wings.
Jealousy became his poison. Pride became his prison.
But this man forgot that truth. He thought dimming his wife’s light would make him shine brighter. He forgot that when you pull down the pillar that supports your house, na your roof go collapse first.
You see, Adugo’s story is not just one woman’s pain — it’s the story of many women around us.
Some are crying silently behind closed doors.
Some can’t even talk because society go tell them, “Endure. Na marriage.”
But at what cost?
How many women must suffer in the name of endurance?
How many children must grow up learning that love means pain and silence?
Every time Adugo’s husband beats her, he kills a part of her soul.
Every insult he throws becomes a seed of bitterness planted in the heart of his children.
One day, those children will grow up and what will they learn?
That love mean control? That marriage means one must dominate the other?
Think am.
We clap for men who oppress their wives and we call them “real men.”
We mock women who speak out, and we call them “disrespectful.”
The truth is simple: love without respect is abuse.
I watched Adugo that day tired, broken but still standing.
I thought to myself, this woman is strength in human form.
Despite everything, she still provides for her children.
Despite everything, she still prays for peace in her home.
Despite everything, she still wears her wrapper with dignity.
For how long can one person bear such weight?
Dear men, if you’re reading this, hear me well:
When your wife shines, it does not reduce your light. Her success is your reflection. Her laughter is your crown. Her peace is your legacy.
Dear women, never let anyone make you feel guilty for growing. God didn’t give you the talent to hide it. He gave you strength to multiply it.
To society - yes, to all of us - we must stop glorifying suffering in the name of tradition.
Marriage no be war zone. It’s partnership.
Two people walking hand in hand, not one dragging the other through fire.
Let’s start teaching our sons that being a man means protecting, not oppressing.
Let’s start teaching our daughters that love should heal not hurt.
Let’s start speaking up when we see abuse - not saying “it’s their private matter.”
If we keep quiet, we become part of the problem.
As Adugo wiped her tears that day, she said something that still echoes in my heart:
“I just want peace. I just want to live without fear in my own home.”
Her voice trembled but her courage was louder than her pain.
Mama Nkechi told her, “Adugo, you go be fine. Your pain no go last forever because God no sleep and tears wey drop in secret, heaven dey record.”
Then Mama Nkechi hugged her tight and whispered:
“Remember, you are not what they call you; you are what God created you to be - strong, precious, unstoppable.”
Morals of the Story:
Love is not business. You don’t invest to control; you invest to grow together. An Igbo adage says that:
“Anyuko mamiri onu, ogba ufufu”(When people urinate together, it foams).
No true love thrives where there’s fear. No real man beats the woman he vowed to protect.
When the storm clears, the rainbow still shines.
May every Adugo find her rainbow.
©️ Elizabeth Akudo All Rights Reserved
Follow @ElizabethAkudo for more stories that touch the soul and awaken hearts. #ElizabethAkudo #RealLifeStories #MarriageMatters #WomenInspire #StoryWithMoral #NigerianStories #EmotionalTruths #BibleWisdom #IgboProverbs #RelationshipTalk #StopAbuse #ReflectAndChange #StorytellingNigeria
When you build your partner, you build your home. When you cage your partner, you destroy your own peace.
This early morning, the peace wey dey our street scatter like broken calabash. Shouting and wailing from the next compound wakes everybody.
“Wetin dey happen again for Mr. Adugo compound?” Mama Nkechi asked, tying her wrapper tighter.
Na so all of us rush go there - curious, worried, some just dey go for gist but when we reach, the scene we met no be wetin anybody expect.
Adugo, the beautiful woman with quiet eyes, stood in the middle of the compound, her wrapper half loose, voice shaking but firm. Her husband, a tall man with eyes full of pride, dey point hand for her face.
“You think say because you dey sell small goods for market, you don turn boss lady? I go show you who bring who come this town!” he barked.
The crowd murmured. One man whispered, “Ah, na wetin again? This man no dey tire to disgrace him wife?”
Tears rolled down Adugo’s face, but she no stop talking. “He brought me from the village to town, now every little thing, he go remind me say na him bring me! He go say I was struggling, that my family poor, that I for still dey fetch water for people if no be him!”
She turned to us, her voice breaking:
“He even told me to pay him back all the money he spent bringing me here… imagine! My own husband.”
The man hissed. “And so? Did I not spend money? Did I not suffer? You think this Awka life easy?”
People gasped. One old woman muttered, “Tufiakwa! Which kind man be this?”
Adugo continued, her pain flowing freely now, like river after heavy rain.
“He’s jealous of me because my business dey move! He told me with his own mouth that he will never allow me to rise or progress. He started small business for me, yes but when customers started coming, he became angry.”
She paused, wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“He said, ‘You wan dey bigger than me? Never!’”
The man shouted back, “Yes! because you don dey forget say na me bring you from village! Na me set you up!”
The crowd shifted uneasily. Someone tried to calm him but he pushed the person away.
This man, wey suppose be her covering, had become her storm.
He works in Enugu, and his family home is in Awka. According to neighbors, he only comes back every three months, stays one month and during that time, the compound no dey rest.
Each time he comes, he no buy even bread for his children. He’ll go out every night, flex with friends, spend money on drinks and bragging - but never drop a dime for feeding.
And yet, he expects Adugo to feed him and the kids with her small business profit.
If she refuses or the money no reach? Na beating.
“Sometimes,” Adugo said softly, her voice trembling, “he’ll eat my shop money, then still accuse me of being disrespectful. Last time I told him to drop something for feeding, he beat me in front of the children.”
The crowd fell silent.
Even the men among us could not defend him.
Adugo’s last words broke everyone:
“He told me, ‘You will never see progress in this life unless I allow it.’”
There was a heavy silence. Some women began to cry quietly.
My people, when did love turn to business?
When did husband and wife become competitors?
Marriage no be investment wey you go expect monthly profit. Love no be trade by barter. When you choose someone, you choose to grow with them, not control them.
Today, many people marry for ego, not love. They marry to prove point - not to build peace. The Bible says that “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” — Ephesians 5:25
Tell me, where is the love that protects, covers and uplifts?
Where is the love that forgives and helps to build?
Now, instead of being her shield, Mr. Adugo turned to her shadow. Instead of lifting her, he clipped her wings.
Jealousy became his poison. Pride became his prison.
But this man forgot that truth. He thought dimming his wife’s light would make him shine brighter. He forgot that when you pull down the pillar that supports your house, na your roof go collapse first.
You see, Adugo’s story is not just one woman’s pain — it’s the story of many women around us.
Some are crying silently behind closed doors.
Some can’t even talk because society go tell them, “Endure. Na marriage.”
But at what cost?
How many women must suffer in the name of endurance?
How many children must grow up learning that love means pain and silence?
Every time Adugo’s husband beats her, he kills a part of her soul.
Every insult he throws becomes a seed of bitterness planted in the heart of his children.
One day, those children will grow up and what will they learn?
That love mean control? That marriage means one must dominate the other?
Think am.
We clap for men who oppress their wives and we call them “real men.”
We mock women who speak out, and we call them “disrespectful.”
The truth is simple: love without respect is abuse.
I watched Adugo that day tired, broken but still standing.
I thought to myself, this woman is strength in human form.
Despite everything, she still provides for her children.
Despite everything, she still prays for peace in her home.
Despite everything, she still wears her wrapper with dignity.
For how long can one person bear such weight?
Dear men, if you’re reading this, hear me well:
When your wife shines, it does not reduce your light. Her success is your reflection. Her laughter is your crown. Her peace is your legacy.
Dear women, never let anyone make you feel guilty for growing. God didn’t give you the talent to hide it. He gave you strength to multiply it.
To society - yes, to all of us - we must stop glorifying suffering in the name of tradition.
Marriage no be war zone. It’s partnership.
Two people walking hand in hand, not one dragging the other through fire.
Let’s start teaching our sons that being a man means protecting, not oppressing.
Let’s start teaching our daughters that love should heal not hurt.
Let’s start speaking up when we see abuse - not saying “it’s their private matter.”
If we keep quiet, we become part of the problem.
As Adugo wiped her tears that day, she said something that still echoes in my heart:
“I just want peace. I just want to live without fear in my own home.”
Her voice trembled but her courage was louder than her pain.
Mama Nkechi told her, “Adugo, you go be fine. Your pain no go last forever because God no sleep and tears wey drop in secret, heaven dey record.”
Then Mama Nkechi hugged her tight and whispered:
“Remember, you are not what they call you; you are what God created you to be - strong, precious, unstoppable.”
Morals of the Story:
Love is not business. You don’t invest to control; you invest to grow together. An Igbo adage says that:
“Anyuko mamiri onu, ogba ufufu”(When people urinate together, it foams).
No true love thrives where there’s fear. No real man beats the woman he vowed to protect.
When the storm clears, the rainbow still shines.
May every Adugo find her rainbow.
©️ Elizabeth Akudo All Rights Reserved
Follow @ElizabethAkudo for more stories that touch the soul and awaken hearts. #ElizabethAkudo #RealLifeStories #MarriageMatters #WomenInspire #StoryWithMoral #NigerianStories #EmotionalTruths #BibleWisdom #IgboProverbs #RelationshipTalk #StopAbuse #ReflectAndChange #StorytellingNigeria
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