Maybe Tekno is right in his inspirational but rather sarcastic new song “Woman” where he sings about people saying that a woman’s place and ultimate purpose is only in the kitchen where she is meant to be frying all the chicken. Well, I want to candidly admit that Augustine Miles Kelechi popularly known as Alhaji Tekno, is not exclusively mocking the Nigerian Society. Why? because he uses a more generic term “people”. Indeed, Africa, as a continent should not be left out in this tragic situation. But in the same breath, I seriously admit that SlimDaddy is specifically pointing fingers at his motherland, because being a Nigerian by birth, he seems to have firsthand knowledge of the situation. Seeing they always say, is believing.

Although, the Duro crooner only seems to be advocating for equal rights for our female folks through his Afro-Highlife piece of music, I think that he is in fact, politely making a clarion call to the typical Nigerian woman out there dancing and tapping her feet to this perfect fusion of jazz, funk and highlife, that big dreams are not the ones you dream when you’re sleeping but rather the ones you dream when you’re awake.

This Afropop singer and producer did not only stop at saying that people want the woman to be in the kitchen frying chunks of chicken laps for the man to eat with his cohorts, he also added to his wordplay chorus that people do not want the woman to have a say in the meeting but rather she is to concern herself with all the cleaning.
Fellow Nigerian men, is there need for this? Now that the world beyond us has already grown out of this, should we really be lagging behind them? Also, if at this time that we Nigerians are searching for whom to lead us out of the mess that our past and present leaders have brought us into and there comes a sound woman with an agreeable vision to guide us out of it into a brighter and rewarding future nationally and globally, is there any need to deny her such opportunity? If she will eventually proffer solutions to Nigeria’s greatest problems in the first 4 years of being in office, does she not deserve 4+4? I think she does. It is high time we closed the gap. Former First Lady, Michelle Obama once said that “the measure of any society is how it treats its women and girls”. How is our society being measured by the outside world? Judging on a scale of 1-10, where can you possibly place Nigeria?

A woman can be anything in this world, a woman can be the President, a woman can be the richest person. A woman can be that thing she wants to be if she works hard to being it. There are no limits to what any human being can achieve. The only thing that is stopping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself every morning you wake up. Ben Franklin said, “you can do anything you set your mind to”. So why then are you looking up to one prophet or prophetess to tell you what you will be in future? Be the prophetess you will want to see prophesying into your life. You pray and you fast all day, asking God to send you one rich man to come take your hand in marriage. You attend all manner of services, valedictory service, youth service, mid-week service, just so you can meet Mr. Right. Can’t you be the Miss Right that will take one Mr. Wrong and refurbish him? Two wrongs they say, can never make a right meaning that someone can always right a wrong. Our female folks outside the country and continent are busy inventing advanced technology here and there, flying planes all over the place, doing what even our Nigerian men over here can’t do, but there you are hoping to buy one expensive ride and make one extravagant hairdo. My dear, the will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential, those are the keys that unlock the door to personal excellence. Oprah Winfrey said “think like a queen because a queen is not afraid to fail, failing is another steppingstone to greatness”

All the same, kudos to my favorite artiste and producer, Tekno for inspiring this. And to you that read this to the very end, I say a big thank you.

This article was written by Kense Patrusm, a 400l Law Student of the University of Uyo. He doubles as DJ, Songwriter and upcoming Record Producer.
Kense is an avid writer who only writes when he is truly inspired.