At the end of this story, you���ll get to decide: Did Mayowa fuck up or not?

This is Mayowa���s dilemma as told to Betty

I started supporting my family financially before I even graduated from university. I mostly did side gigs then, so whenever I made some money,  I���d take a portion of it and give it to my parents. I didn���t mind helping. I knew they had sacrificed a lot for me, and helping them felt like my way of giving back. They were always appreciative, but over the years, their requests slowly became demands.

That became obvious this year when my younger brother asked me for a new phone.

He���s in his third year at university and has been using the same phone for three years. It had started developing problems, so he asked my parents if they could replace it. They told him they couldn���t afford to.

He eventually came to me, and I agreed to get him a phone in June. I couldn���t buy it immediately because I���d promised to replace my parents��� faulty pumping machine, and I had other financial commitments. By July, though, I had enough to buy him a  used iPhone 12, so I sent it to him.

He was so happy and sent me a sweet thank-you message. Later that evening, my mum called.

I thought she was calling to thank me for getting my brother the phone. Instead, she questioned why I���d spent money on him.

She asked why I would buy a phone for a young boy who would only use it to scroll the internet when I hadn���t bought one for my parents, especially her. I explained that my brother needed the phone for schoolwork and his old phone was barely working, but she wasn���t interested in my explanation. 

Then she gave me an ultimatum. I had to replace her phone as soon as possible, or she would collect my brother���s new phone. That was when I got angry.  I���d spent almost a decade helping my family whenever I could. I had never complained about giving them money or helping with a problem. But now, after I���d bought my brother a phone, my mum was telling me what I should spend my money on and threatening to take something I had bought for him.

I told her I didn���t have the money for another phone and that I wasn���t buying one for her. I also told her not to take my brother���s phone.

She saw my refusal as disrespect and reported me to my dad.

He tried to persuade me to start saving towards my mum���s phone, but I told him I couldn���t. I also need to replace my own phone, and buying three phones in one year isn���t realistic on my income.

Instead of understanding my point of view, he suggested I postpone buying my own phone until next year and use the money to make my mum happy. That made me even angrier. 

I never intended to become my family���s breadwinner. I wanted to help where I could, not become responsible for meeting every financial need that came up. So I told my dad I wouldn���t postpone my plans, and I still refused to buy my mum the phone.

Since then, the relationship with my mum has grown tense. My dad told me to apologise for how I spoke to her, which I did. But even after my apology, she has remained cold towards me.

I���m still torn about what to do next. Part of me thinks I could buy her a phone next year and let the whole thing go. Maybe that would restore the peace at home. But another part of me wants to maintain the boundary I���ve drawn so my family doesn���t become even more entitled to my earnings.

I don���t regret telling my mum no. I just didn���t expect one refusal to create this much tension at home.

Now I���m left wondering if I fucked up by refusing to buy my mum a new phone.

Read Also: 6 Nigerians Share How Their Parents Still Support Them Financially as Adults

For Sunken Ships, Ifunanya talks about holding on even though she felt repeatedly excluded, and the last straw that led her to end the friendship.

How did you and Damilola become friends?

We met at university after I changed my course to Chemistry in 200 level. I already knew of Damilola because she was in the same department as one of my friends, but we didn���t really talk.

Damilola was the one who decided we should be friends. I don���t make new friends easily, but she kept finding ways to get close to me. She���d text me about classes and even walk me back to my hostel. At a time when I was new to the department and didn���t know many people, she made me feel like I belonged there.

Damilola was thoughtful and generous, and before long,  we started doing almost everything together. 

Sounds cute. And how did the friendship progress over time?

We grew even closer. A few years ago, I had a bad falling-out with a close mutual friend, Rhoda*. Damilola knew what had happened, but she didn���t want to take sides. 

I was upset because I felt I would have tried to fix things  if two of my close friends fell out. Still, Damilola supported me through that loss. 

That period actually brought us closer. I started seeing her as my best friend, not just someone I was close to.

When did you start noticing a change in the friendship?

It happened gradually after she started dating her now-husband.

They were always on the phone. Sometimes, Damilola and I would make plans to spend time together, but she���d spend most of that time talking to him. I noticed it, but I didn���t want to be the friend who complained about her relationship.

One day, I joked that if she ever had to choose between us, she���d pick me. Her partner didn���t find it funny. I didn���t think much of it then, but looking back, I sometimes wonder if that affected how he saw me. 

After a while, I also started feeling excluded. 

In what ways?

Damilola���s partner is wealthy, and on Valentine���s Day in 2024, he surprised her with a car.  He also invited some of her friends to celebrate with them, but I wasn���t invited. 

I only found out when I saw the videos online.

I was hurt because I considered myself her best friend. I didn���t necessarily expect to be at every event in her life, but I thought I would at least know about something that big. When we eventually talked about it, she said I wasn���t invited because I was out of town. I accepted the explanation, and we moved on.

Right. But did it happen again?

Yes. A few months later, Damilola casually told me her partner was coming to pay her bride price soon. 

Then, one Sunday night, I opened WhatsApp and saw videos of him proposing to her. Our friends were there, including Rhoda, but I wasn���t.

I was shocked. My best friend was getting engaged, and I was finding out at the same time as everyone else.

People who knew how close we were would have expected me to be there. I couldn���t understand how we had gone from doing almost everything together to me watching her engagement on WhatsApp.

Did you ask her why you weren���t invited?

Of course. She said she didn���t know she was going to be proposed to, so she couldn���t control who her partner invited. I understood that part, but what bothered me was that she didn���t seem sorry that I wasn���t there, and that hurt me even more.

I initially decided not to attend her traditional marriage ceremony. Then she came to my hostel and said she didn���t want to go through with the ceremony without me. So I went.

I did her makeup and helped with the ceremony. Rhoda was also there on the aso ebi train, even though they weren���t particularly close. I was emotionally exhausted by the whole situation, but I still showed up because I didn���t want one painful incident to end a friendship that meant so much to me.

Did things get better after that?

Not really.  Our relationship became more strained. After Damilola moved into her marital home, she kept telling me she���d invite me over, but she never did.

Then, in December 2025, her husband planned an outing with her friends for her birthday. One of Damilola���s newer friends, Somto*, lived in the same hostel as me, so I called and offered to pick her up since the venue was far. Somto declined and said she was at a friend���s place and would find her own way there.

When I arrived at the venue, Damilola, her husband, her siblings and Somto all came in the same car. I was confused because Somto had just told me she was somewhere else.

I asked them about it, and they denied that Somto had been at Damilola���s house. Later, I privately asked Damilola���s cousin what had happened.  He confirmed that Somto had been at the house. He even said that when I called, Somto had asked Damilola whether she should answer me or not.

I was embarrassed. My supposed best friend had never invited me to her home, yet someone she had only recently become friends with was there. Worse, they���d all lied to me about it.

What did you do after that?

I started putting more distance between us. But I couldn���t bring myself to end the friendship completely.

 Whenever I tried to pull away, Damilola would do something kind that made me reconsider. Like when I fell ill for instance, she sent me food. Those gestures made me believe our friendship was still worth saving.

So what finally made you give up?

After graduation, we got internships in different states. We congratulated each other, but we barely spoke or texted like we used to.

Then Damilola suddenly messaged me to say her wedding was coming up and that she���d love me to attend. 

She didn���t invite me to be a bridesmaid or to be involved with the wedding. It felt like such a strange and casual way for someone I���d considered my best friend to invite me to her wedding. I took some time to sit with how I felt about it, and eventually decided I wouldn���t attend.

Did you tell her?

I did. And she just said ���OK.��� 

She didn���t ask any questions or try to press further. When the wedding came around in August 2026, I watched everything online. 

Rhoda was there. So were people Damilola barely spoke to in school.

Almost everyone I knew seemed to have been invited. Meanwhile, I was still wondering whether the message she sent me even counted as a proper invitation.

I felt discarded, to be honest.

I���m sorry.

It was one of the worst things I���d ever experienced. Some of our classmates even contacted me because they couldn���t understand why I wasn���t at the wedding. They knew how seriously I took our friendship. It made me question whether I���d misunderstood my place in Damilola���s life all along.

I eventually deleted Damilola���s number and the numbers of her siblings and parents. I didn���t want to see any more wedding content. I also removed her from Instagram. That was the end for me.

How has the friendship breakup affected you?

The pain is still fresh. A part of me wonders if I was the problem, but I know I was a genuine friend, and I always did my best for her. I showed up for Damilola even when I felt excluded.

Sometimes, I wonder if she only valued me because I was useful to her in school when we became friends.

Has this affected the way you view friendships?

Yes. I���m much more sceptical now.

I���ve met amazing people since moving for my internship, but I tell them I don���t completely trust anyone. I���m afraid someone else will change without warning and leave me questioning what I did wrong.

Would you reconcile with Damilola if she ever reached out to you?

No, I think our friendship has run its course. I never imagined that she���d treat me the way she did, and I don���t think I can ever move past it.

Here���s a round-up of what these lovebirds got up to this week.

Hilda & Dapper

Hilda celebrated her birthday surrounded by her friends, with her man by her side. We���d say that���s a pretty cute birthday accessory.

Adekunle & Simi

These lovebirds only had eyes for each other as they danced the night away. Every night is date night when these two are on the dancefloor.

Femi & Simi

Femi and Simi are currently vacationing in Malta and they’re kind enough to let us in on everything we���re missing.

Tobi & Anu

Anu celebrated her birthday with family, and these loved-up photos with her husband might just be our favourite part of the celebration.

Deacon Famous & Mawusi

Deacon Famous and his wife Mawusi dedicated their first son in church, and the whole family looked especially dreamy in blue.

Ibrahim & Linda

Ibrahim and Linda are proof that love is sweeter when you marry your best friend. They kicked off Ibrahim’s birthday celebration with this cheeky video.

Timini & Bimbo

Timini and Bimbo know how to get tongues wagging. Are the onscreen couple hard-launching a ship? Are they teasing a new movie? We’ll have to wait and find out.

Chidi & Treasure

Time flies when you’re in love. Chidi and Treasure celebrated their first wedding anniversary and they looked very much in love.

Chris & Dara

Guess who was on this week���s Love Life episode spilling the beans? You guessed right. Read their Love Life interview here. 

Toolz & Tunde

Our longtime favourite couple steps out together to celebrate love, and it’s a pink-themed affair.

Which couples should be on our next edition of Baewatch?

Read Also: 7 Nigerian Celebrity Couples With the Cutest Post-Wedding Glow-Up

Bisola* (29) and Omolola*(28) had been her best friends since university. So when Bisola lost her job in 2024, she trusted Omolola to help her find another one. But when she found out that Omolola had been keeping job opportunities from her, she decided to give her a taste of her own medicine.

At the end of this story, you���ll get to decide: did she fuck up or not?

This is Bisola���s dilemma as told to Betty:

Omolola and I met at the university in 2016 and became close almost immediately.

She was a year behind me, but we did almost everything together for the rest of our time there. We cooked, studied, and spent the holidays together with my family. By the time we graduated, she had become more than a friend to me.��

Even after I moved to Lagos, we stayed close. She lived in Ibadan and visited me often.

Then in 2024, I lost my job unexpectedly. 

I was worried about how I���d pay my rent later that year. As soon as she heard, Omolola came to Lagos and stayed with me for a few days. She encouraged me and promised to send me any openings she found.
At first, she made good on her promise. Several times a week, I���d wake up to job application links from her. She was also looking for a new job, so she asked me to send her anything I found. This gave me extra motivation because it felt like we were in it together.

But after about three weeks, I noticed I was sending her far more opportunities than she was sending me. I figured work was keeping her busy, so I didn���t think too much of it.��

Then Ann*, one of my friends, called me about an opening she thought I would be interested in. She said she���d already messaged Omolola about the role and asked her to tell me to apply, but Omolola had told her I wasn���t interested. I never said that.

To make matters worse, Ann casually mentioned that Omolola had received two job offers. I was shocked. We spoke almost every day, and she hadn���t mentioned either of them. One of the offers had even come from an application I���d sent her.

Only two nights earlier, she���d listened to me complain about another rejection email and encouraged me not to give up. I called her immediately.

When I asked why she���d told Ann I wasn���t interested in the role, she became defensive. She claimed she���d assumed I wouldn���t want it because the salary was lower than what I���d earned at my previous job. I reminded her that I was unemployed and worried about rent, so it wasn���t her place to decide which opportunities were good enough for me.

When I asked about her two new jobs, she went quiet. She admitted she hadn���t told me because she felt awkward. She knew I was struggling and didn���t want it to look like she was celebrating while I was still unemployed.

I didn���t buy it. I���d been sending her opportunities without worrying that she might get them before me. I couldn���t understand why she couldn���t extend the same generosity to me.

She apologised and insisted she hadn���t deliberately tried to block me from getting a job. She also promised she���d keep sending me openings. I accepted her apology, but the entire experience changed the way I saw her. A few weeks later, I finally got a new job. I was relieved, but I didn���t tell Omolola. I only shared the news with my family and Ann, who had continued to check on me and send me openings. Omolola only found out when I posted about my first day on my WhatsApp status.

She called to congratulate me, but I could tell she was hurt. She asked why she had to find out from my status like everyone else when we were best friends. I told her I���d simply followed her example. She apologised again and said she understood why I was angry, but she thought we���d moved past the issue. I thought we had too.

Then Omolola lost both of the jobs she���d gotten. They were remote, and she���d convinced herself she could handle both at the same time. At first, it worked. Eventually, she started missing deadlines and couldn���t keep up with both workloads. Within a few months, she was unemployed again.��

I felt bad for her. Whatever happened between us, I still cared about her. I called regularly, listened and reassured her that she���d find something else.��

Around the same time, Ann also started looking for a new job. I knew my company had an opening that suited her, so I sent it to her. She applied, got the job and was excited.

Then she posted a WhatsApp status thanking me for helping her land a new job, and Omolola saw it. She sent me a private message almost immediately. She wanted to know why I���d helped�� Ann, even though I knew she was job hunting.

I�� explained that Ann was the better fit for the position, but she didn���t believe me. She said I was punishing her because our positions had reversed. She reminded me of how she���d helped me when I first lost my job. I tried to explain the situation, but she wasn���t having it, so I backed off.

Now, we barely speak. 

Some of our friends think I should have prioritised her to prove there was no bad blood. Others think she only understands how much she hurt me because she has now experienced something similar herself.

I still care about her, and I don���t want our friendship to end over job applications. But I also don���t want to keep showing up for someone who has already shown that she might not do the same for me.

Read Also: Na Me F��� Up? I Left My Wife at Home for a Weekend Trip With My Friends

Here are our favourite marriage glow-ups.

Banky & Adesua

Banky and Asedua Etomi-Wellington are proof that falling in love with the right person is the key ingredient to levelling up your swag.

Adekunle & Simi

From friends and music collaborators to partners in happiness and forever. Adekunle Gold and Simi’s glow-up is proof that love is a legendary life changer.

Cynthia & Ebuka

One thing about the Uchendus? They always deliver. A decade later, they are still serving premium looks, and marriage is clearly their secret sauce.

Davido & Chioma

Davido serenaded Chioma into saying “forever” to him, and honestly, marriage looks good on them.

Stan & Blessing

Stan and Blessing Nze went from Nollywood colleagues to a married power couple, and the glow-up has been undeniable.

Emmanuel & Laju

Ten years in and looking better by the day. Emmanuel and Laju Iren prove that when you truly support your partner, the physical glow-up naturally follows.

Priscilla and Juma

They already broke the internet with their stunning wedding, but Priscilla and Juma���s post-wedding glow is the real star. Wedded bliss clearly agrees with them.

Read Also: We Ranked the BBNaija S11 Pairs Causing Chaos in Biggie���s House

From lounging on a beach in Benin Republic to seeing the giraffes in Kenya, here are eight African destinations you can book without spending as much as an iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Benin Republic 

If you want an international trip without spending half the weekend in transit, Benin Republic is an easy choice. Spend the day exploring Cotonou, trying local dishes and unwinding at Fidjross竪 Beach. You can also visit the historical sites in Ouidah before ending the day at a quiet beachfront resort.

Average budget for two: ���1.1馨

Ghana

Accra offers good food, thriving nightlife, beautiful beaches and enough activities to fill an entire romantic weekend. You could start your stay with a visit to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and stop by the  Independence Square for couple pictures. When you���re ready to slow down, head to Labadi Beach or find somewhere for dinner before checking out the city���s nightlife. \

Average budget for two: ���1.8馨

Togo

For a slower weekend, Lom辿 gives you beaches, local food and enough sights to fill two days.  Check out the Grand March辿, try Togolese dishes and spend an afternoon along the coastline. The city���s compact size also means you can experience several attractions without losing precious time to traffic.

Average budget for two: ���900一

Rwanda

Kigali offers beautiful views, peaceful surroundings and plenty of intimate places for couples who want an actual reset. Visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, shop for souvenirs at Kimironko Market and spend the rest of the day discovering the city���s caf辿s and art spaces. 

Average budget for two: ���3.4馨

Kenya 

A romantic weekend in Nairobi can include good restaurants, exciting nightlife and unforgettable wildlife encounters. Nairobi National Park offers a chance to see animals without leaving the city, while the Giraffe Centre lets you get up close with the giraffes. You may not have time for a full safari, but there���s still enough activity to make the trip memorable. 

Average budget for two: ���3.6馨

Egypt

Cairo lets you and your partner fit thousands of years of history into one busy weekend. See the pyramids, visit the Grand Egyptian Museum and take pictures with the Sphinx before winding down with dinner or a cruise along the Nile. Who would pass that up for a new phone?

Average budget for two: ���3.5馨

Tanzania

If your idea of romance involves doing as little as possible, Zanzibar has you covered. Spend your days swimming, eating fresh seafood and taking pictures on the beach, then make time for Stone Town and the spice markets. A sunset cruise or beachfront dinner can round off the trip, but you don���t need to fill every hour. Two nights won���t show you all of Zanzibar, but they���re enough for a proper escape.

Average budget for two: ���4.4馨

Senegal

Dakar offers art, music, great food and a striking coastline for couples who want their getaway to come with plenty of things to see and do. Visit the African Renaissance Monument, browse the city���s galleries and take a trip to the historic Gor辿e Island. Your camera roll will return from the weekend full of food sights and romance.

Average budget for two: ���4.2馨

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The event opened with an inspiring keynote address from Space Trade CEO Emmanuel Amure, who reflected on the company���s remarkable journey from a WhatsApp group to a fully registered and compliant business serving more than 100,000 users.

Attendees were then taken on a tour of the new headquarters, a thoughtfully designed space equipped with modern, state-of-the-art amenities and built to support the company���s continued growth and innovation.

Next came a live demonstration of the Space Trade app, showcasing the company’s work to simplify cryptocurrency transactions. Users can convert crypto almost instantly and complete peer-to-peer transfers without delays. The Space Trade team also teased several exciting features set to launch in the coming months.

Another highlight of the event was an insightful panel discussion titled ���Crypto & Everything In-Between.��� Panellists Justice Eneje, Nimi Adegbite and Samuel Linus explored the role of cryptocurrency in local and international business. They also discussed how businesses can use crypto to reach wider markets, scale their operations and create smoother experiences for customers.

The celebration concluded with a toast and cake-cutting ceremony commemorating the milestone. Afterwards, attendees connected, exchanged ideas and built new relationships bringing a fitting end to a day that celebrated Space Trade���s journey so far and the possibilities ahead.

For these Nigerians, flexible payment options provided a better way to manage major purchases without putting the rest of their lives on hold. From moving cities to furnishing new apartments, they share how paying in instalments helped them get what they needed without making them bankrupt.

���Paying rent monthly helped me move cities��� ��� Deja*, 29, F

Before I moved to Lagos in 2022, the biggest barrier I faced was the cost of relocation and, most especially, rent. I���d tried to save up for it, but I hated the idea of spending all that money on rent, then dropping another bag on moving my things between states.

Thankfully, I came across a serviced building online that accepted monthly payments with a low registration fee and in three weeks, I was moved to Lagos. I lived there for two years, paying my rent monthly, before I decided I wanted a bigger space and moved out. I liked the arrangement because it freed up my funds for so many other things. I wish my new place took monthly payments too.

���When I change my phone, instalments are the way to go��� ��� Kelvin*, 26, M

My family went through a rough time financially when I was in university, and it���s made me hate spending lump sums of money on non-necessities. If it���s not food or rent, I really don���t want to see a debit alert going into the hundreds of thousands. 

After uni, when I started working, I was using the same iPhone 8 my parents got me. It wasn���t convenient, and I had enough money saved up for another phone, but I was scared of getting scammed and starting from zero. It wasn���t until a friend introduced me to his older brother, who sold gadgets, that I considered it. He offered me a monthly payment plan, which made the offer juicier. I agreed and signed a contract, and in 8 months, I had fully paid off my brand new iPhone in 2023.

���I furnished my apartment without draining my savings��� ��� Yemi*, 35, M 

When I moved out after living with my older brother for almost a year, I���d saved enough to buy basic plastic chairs. But paying for a bed, couch and wardrobe at once would���ve wiped out my savings.

A furniture shop I checked with offered me the option to make a deposit and spread the balance over several months. I bought my bed and wardrobe first, then added the couch later. The monthly payments were easy to include in my budget, and I didn���t have to touch my emergency funds.

Some friends advised me to furnish the apartment gradually with whatever I could afford outright, but I didn���t want to spend another year managing plastic chairs in the living room. Paying in instalments allowed me to make the space comfortable immediately while still having money available for other plans.

���A payment plan saved my Saturdays from laundry��� ��� Amaka*, 32, F 

I hate how much time my laundry used to take me. If I wasn���t shelling out all I had to washers and laundromats, I was spending hours of my time with my hands soaked in soapy water. I wanted a washing machine, but kept postponing it because I didn���t like the idea of spending that much money at once.

When I saw an online store offering an instalment plan, I did the calculations and realised the monthly payments could fit into my budget without affecting my savings target. I made the initial payment, received the machine and completed the balance over ten months.

It may sound like a small thing, but getting that washing machine changed my life. I could���ve continued saving until I was ready to pay in full, but the payment plan let me start enjoying the convenience immediately.

���I bought a new television without abandoning my other plans��� ��� Gbenga*, 39, M 

My wife and I had wanted to replace our television for over a year, but other expenses always took priority. We could afford the model we wanted, but paying for it at once would���ve meant that other plans for the family would need to be moved around.

I looked for an online store offering instalment payments, paid the deposit and spread the balance over nine months. We got the television immediately, and the monthly payments were small enough to fit into our household budget without us touching the money we kept for other things.

Before then, I associated payment plans with buying things you couldn���t afford. The experience changed my mind. Sometimes, you have the money but don���t want one purchase to swallow such a large amount at once. I like that I didn���t have to sacrifice another thing to get something I wanted.

Flexible payments aren���t limited to gadgets or furniture. is helping expand access to credit in Nigeria by making major expenses easier for working professionals to manage. Through the platform, customers in Lagos and Abuja can rent homes and pay monthly instead of committing an entire year���s rent upfront. Its Buy Now, Pay Later model also allows customers to get furniture, appliances, gadgets and wellness equipment after paying 35% upfront, then spread the balance across monthly payments for up to 12 months.

By bringing housing and essential household purchases under one flexible-payment platform, SmallSmall helps 9-to-5ers reduce the pressure of large, one-off payments without putting important needs or other financial plans on hold.

Read Also: How Much Should a First Date Cost in 2026? Nigerians Answer

Chikamso* (23) had known Adaeze* since secondary school, but they only became best friends at university. When Adaeze experienced a mental health crisis, her family blamed Chikamso and shut her out before she could understand what had happened.

For Sunken Ships, Chikamso talks about losing her best friend without understanding why and how the experience changed the way she approaches new friendships.

How did you and Adaeze* meet?

We attended the same secondary school and were seatmates, but we weren���t particularly close then. Then, after we graduated, we ended up at the same university. That was when we really grew a bond and became as close. 

At one point, she got into a toxic relationship that my family knew about. My mum was always concerned because she treated Adaeze like her own daughter. She eventually talked Adaeze out of that relationship. That was how much of a place she had in my life.

And how would you describe the friendship itself?

It was beautiful. In fact, we were more like sisters. We had each other���s backs. Naturally, we disagreed from time to time, but nothing that threatened our friendship. Adaeze was my favourite person, and she could be incredibly thoughtful. In 2023, I applied for a UK visa to visit my sister, but it was denied the day before my birthday. My family had spent a lot of money on the application, so I cried all morning on my birthday. 

Meanwhile, Adaeze had secretly contacted my siblings, parents and friends to make videos for me. She compiled them, sent me a gift and made the day special for me.

I also showed up for her. When she couldn���t secure accommodation, I let her stay in my hostel space for a semester because I genuinely saw her as family.

So at what point did you start noticing cracks in the friendship?

A few days after my birthday, Adaeze suddenly left the group chat we shared. We hadn���t quarrelled, so I called repeatedly, but she didn���t answer. I asked one of our mutual friends if she knew what had happened, but she didn���t.

Then, one of our classmates contacted me. He said Adaeze had sent him a voice note about me and asked him to rebroadcast it, but she deleted it before he could listen to the whole thing. From what he heard, she called my family and I evil and warned people to stay away from us.

I was confused and somewhat angry.  Shortly after,  Adaeze���s brother called and told me she was experiencing a mental health crisis and had been taken to a psychiatric hospital. 

My anger immediately turned to worry. I couldn���t sleep all night because I kept thinking about her. So, I decided to visit her the next day.

And how did that visit go?

It never happened. Her brother refused to share the hospital details because the family believed I had a hand in Adaeze���s condition. 

My aunt is a pastor, and whenever Adaeze visited my family, we sometimes attended her church. She had received prophecies there, and her brother was convinced those messages had affected her.

I tried to explain that I had no idea what was going on, but there was no real opportunity to have that conversation. He blocked me. Her mum blocked me, too, and eventually Adaeze blocked me.

I also couldn���t reach her sister, so after a while, I stepped back.

Hmm.

It was one of the worst periods of my life. My UK visa had been rejected, my boyfriend broke up with me that same month, and my best friend���s family believed I had harmed her. 

I had so many things I wanted to say, but I couldn���t reach Adaeze. She wasn���t speaking to me, and I couldn���t convince her family that I hadn���t done anything.

So I bottled everything up and tried to carry on with school.

I���m sorry. What happened when she returned to school?

She saw me and walked straight past me as though she didn���t know me. It hurt so much. 

This was someone I considered a sister, yet she cut me off for reasons I didn���t understand. Whatever she believed had happened, she clearly didn���t want anything to do with me. So I took it as a sign that I needed to leave her alone.

After that, we didn���t really interact in school anymore.

Sounds cold. Did she ever apologise?

We eventually spoke in 2024 at a mutual friend���s traditional marriage.

She apologised,  and I told her what had happened from my side. I explained that I had tried to reach her, but her family had blocked me from contacting her.

She told me she didn���t know that. From her perspective, she had simply stopped speaking to me. Once we finally talked, we were able to put the issue behind us.

We���re cordial now, but the friendship isn���t what it used to be.

Do you think you could ever become close again?

No. It���s been almost three years, and I���ve healed from what happened. I���m not sitting around waiting for her to explain herself anymore.

If she had spoken to me when everything happened, maybe things would have been different. I would have preferred to have a difficult conversation than wake up one day and realise that my best friend had disappeared from my life.

I don���t think I can put myself through that again.

How has the experience affected the way you approach friendships now?

It has made me scared of friendships. I���ve met amazing people since then, but I still find it hard to completely trust anyone. I���m afraid the same pattern will repeat itself. 

Friendship breakups can hurt just as much as romantic ones, and this was one of the hardest experiences I���ve had.

I���m still learning that just because one person disappeared from my life without an explanation doesn���t mean everyone else will do the same.

Here are some of the most expensive push gifts Nigerian celebrity mums have received.

Chioma Adeleke ��� Mansion, designer bags (approx. ���1.34b)

After welcoming twins with Davido, Chef Chi reportedly received a $900k mansion in Atlanta, Georgia (approx. ���1.2b), and luxury bags valued at $100k (approx. ���140m).

Priscilla Ojo ��� $30k Cash (approx. ���42 million)

One month after welcoming their son in August 2025, Priscilla Ojo received about $30,000 (approximately ���42m) in cash from her husband, Juma Jux, alongside other expensive gifts.

Mo Bimpe ��� Range Rover SUV (approx. ���120 million)

Nollywood actress Mo Bimpe received a brand new Range Rover SUV worth over ���120 million from her husband, Lateef Adedimeji, after the birth of their triplets.

Sharon Ooja ��� G-Wagon (approx. ���235 million)

Sharon Ooja received a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon worth $168k (approximately ���235 million) from her husband, Ugo Nwoke, after they welcomed their child in May, 2026.

Thayour B ��� A Mercedes-Benz SUV

After welcoming their son in the U.S. in January 2025, Thayour B received a Mercedes-Benz SUV worth millions of naira from her husband, Yhemo Lee.

Ifeoma Ivy ��� Range Rover SUV (approx. ���39 million)

After welcoming a child with her husband, Paul Okoye, in 2024, Ifeoma Ivy received a Range Rover SUV worth approximately ���39 million.

Mercy Chinwo ��� Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe (approx. ���120 million)

Mercy Chinwo received a Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe worth over ���120 million from her husband, Pastor Blessed Uzochikwa, after they welcomed their first child in October 2023.