I think that most children of Nigerians will agree with me when I say that Nigerian parents are amazing teachers. They keep the life lesson coming (OVER and OVER again lol)!
These are a just few things that my parents made certain to instill in my siblings and I:
The Importance of a Relationship with God
My parents and extended family were always adamant about prayer and a relationship with God. I know it's the reason that I'm where I am today and I continue to grow in my relationship with God daily. I appreciate their strong faith and the fact that they passed it on to us. Faith in God is something I will pass on to my future family.
The Value of Family
My dad always talked about how his family was close and my parents also made sure to encourage my siblings and I to be close as well. As immigrants, most of their family still lives in Nigeria, so our local support circle was pretty small. They also emphasized the value in upholding the family name. Every time that I did something wrong I was worried about disgracing the family name. Their favorite line was "Stop making it look like we're not training you!"... Y'all, they took that so seriously! But it made me think twice about my actions and it made me respect my family name and what we stand for. To this day, I still think a lot about my actions and their "potential to disgrace".
Respect
I mean, this word pretty much sums up my upbringing! You weren't gonna disrespect your parents or your elders (your elder sister, elder brother, aunties, uncles, etc.) and all of my parents friends were referred to as "uncle" and "auntie". Also, if a cousin was much older than you, they were "auntie" and "uncle" as well.They would have had our behinds if we interrupted an adult conversation and if we said something inappropriate where another adult could hear, you were gonna get hurt (feelings and body)! I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Come on, shut up!" And I can't forget those lectures before we had visitors and the threats before we left the house! Mannn! However, I definitely get it now and those experiences taught me how to be respectful in academic and professional settings, which is a life skill (BTW).
Note: It may feel like Nigerian parents are overbearing and nitpicky, but the values that they share are so ESSENTIAL and you'll want to hold on to them forever. There are so many other things I've learned from my parents that I will share at a later time.