WHO IS THE AVERAGE NIGERIAN WOMAN?

Average is one of those overly used words in the English vocabulary. When I think of the word average, high school comes to mind, when at the end of a term the principal of the schools passes comment on your school work based on your performance that term. Average was not one of those comments my dad took lightly. I could have been the best not like every one else. Why do I need to be average. I do not believe we all bring the same thing to the table. We are all different people with different personalities.

  

With this I have an opinion that the word "average" should only be used for statistical purposes  So, statistically speaking, the average Nigerian woman currently is –

• Age 35 and will have a likely life expectancy of approx. 85 years
• Weighs around 80kg and is approx. 163 cm tall, with a waist measurement of 35 inches and a bra size of 36C
• She and her parents were probably all born in Nigeria and speak Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa, English or Pidgin at home
• She is more than likely married (when she was about 24) and has sex 1.84 times per week (not sure how one can have sex .84 of a time but anyhow!)
• She has 2 children – a boy and a girl both under 12.  She typically had her first child at between the ages of 25 and 34 years of age.
• Her home will be a 3 bedroom house in the suburbs with a house rent of N500,000 per annum. The household will have 1 or more cars.
• Housework will take anything from 5 – 14 hours per week and she will most likely be an entrepreneur i.e business owner, receptionist or a banker.
• She will be religious, typically Pentecostal or Muslim.

Still statistically speaking, if we rewind 50 years, quite a lot has changed for us as women.  The average Nigerian woman some Fifty years ago was in her early 20’s. She probably married in her late teens to an older man. She stayed home to raise the kids or if she wanted and was allowed to work, she was a trader or a seamstress.  She was still religious, but Anglican, Catholic or Muslim this time.

Just 20 years ago we were typically married at 21 and had three or four kids pretty much straight away.  We were still Religious but our work status had upgraded to a typist or a shop assistant.

Today, in 2014, Nigerian women are more educated than ever.  We regularly juggle what our century past predecessors would no doubt describe as mind boggling, our daily commitments of work, child care, household, financial – the list goes on as we all well know. The average Nigerian woman is anything but average.

Think about this – the official meaning of average according to the Oxford Dictionary is –‘an amount, standard, level or rate regarded as usual or ordinary’

Ladies, don’t sell yourselves short by describing yourselves as average or ordinary.  We are all very much individuals in our own right.  We are all special and we inspire and make a difference in the lives of those around us.

What do you do that makes you unique and a giant step removed from the statistical description of the mythical average Nigerian woman? What makes you an Up Mum