Childhood in Nigeria? The games, fun and memories. Yippee!!

I am clocking 23 soon and at times I just want to go back to being a child again. I want to go back to the worry free life, no pressure, no responsibilities, just food! play! sleep! and food again. Is that too much to ask? Childhood play was not a ” class” thing, may be a little different from how the game goes in various areas but we all had a good time then. It was all shades of awesome, annoying because of some parent and purely insane. From the street football in the rain, suwee, tinko tinko, ten ten, etc.

Did you do mommy and daddy, then cooked rice with sand and use small stones as meat, leemao. I was always doing daughter because I was very tiny then. We were just too smart because I wonder why we assumed the tiny person should be a child and the taller ones were mommy and daddy. Did you build a house with your leg and the sand at the beach? These days child’s play are now mostly online such X-box, PlayStation, etc. Aside from being fun, the games built social interaction, physical team coordination and even helped in strategic thinking at times.

Some of these games were played alongside our parents, we use to play After Round One with our mommy, she also use to help us hide during boju boju. The more the number of participants, the more interesting and exciting the game gets. Rolling tyre in the mud, skipping rope, I call on, Bread and butter, who is in the garden, police and thief, etc.

It was more fun in the streets than playing indoors with your siblings alone, more fun in the streets than playing in the estate. Street play was everything, you get to meet different peers and even make more friends, at times, we form groups and even have a leader. very funny. But you see, there’s a Yoruba adage that says “Ogun omode ko le sere fun ogun odun”, meaning ” 20 Friends cannot play together for 20 years straight “. How many of those friends am I still in contact with now? very few, sadly! Do you have a close friend of over 20 years today? Its just life and we just have to keep moving, right? My favorite game then, was Ten ten and boju boju. Which was your favorite?

Childhood, no doubt was an amazing experience. Tell me about yours in the comment section!

Childhood in Nigeria? The games, fun and memories. Yippee!!