Just Friends: Or Not?

I am friends with a young man who has been sheltered for most of his life; he has little if any relationship experience. He totally confuses me at times because he says he wants to be "just friends" but he acts like he wants more.  Having the "talk" with him is not an option because it didn’t work in the past and he is so awkward that he makes me nervous. Overall he is a wonderful guy but I need to know if anyone has experienced anything like this before? My experience tells me that he would not spend time with me “talking and sharing” if he wasn’t interested
We are spending time together and other people (his family and mine) have started to gossip and assume. He is Nigerian and I am not. It is clear that there are some cultural differences. I want to pursue this relationship but I also don’t want to get hurt. Please help! I would love advice from men on what to do. 

@ 190,  sharrap dia, we all know you can read,  ,  all to well infact!

@ poster, please just step back, and keep your feelings/emotions/actions to yourself, it does not seem he is truly  'ready'.   

@Poster,
Keep your Options Open,Who Knows?. . .

what you wrote is very confusing, to say the least.
i am not following you so, please, explain some things to me like i was a 10yr old.

you say that you are friend with a young guy then afterwards you say that he confuses you when saying that you are "just friends"?!
is it not what you are?! FRIENDS

are you attracted to someone that you can't communicate with and that "makes you nervous?!"

your experiences are with men that have experiences with women, this one is different and being wonderful shouldnt be a reason to go ahead and try to be with someone. talking and sharing is called being polite, friendly or else but it is not a sign that he wants to marry you.

then at the end you wrote: "i want to pursue this relationship", WHAT RELATIONSHIP?!
I think you are the one confused and jumping into conclusion, for all you know maybe that guy doesnt like you.
i suggest you try sitting down with him and having a proper discussion and letting him know how you feel about him and see what is his reaction.
communication is the key and without it, your little adventure is already doomed.
you WILL get hurt entering into a relationship with someone you absolutely dont know anything about.
what does he like? what does he want? spend a little more time with him, see if he is a good person, see if you have some common compatible  goals in life, forget about what your family thinks and see if HE is THE ONE, spend MUCH MORE time with him, discover him, know him, get him to open up etc etc
thinking of marrying such a person is like playing russian roulette. for all you know, he could be only interested in a steady booty call?!

please be more specific. you have been hanging out?! what did he bring up/do/say that made you feel you were more than just friend?!
you are saying that the man cant give you a straight answer, so let go!!!!!!
what more warning signs do you need?
when he comes out of his shell and confusion then make plans to get to know each other, let alone having a relationship or more.