9 Things Every West African Parents Are Guilty Of.

I’m convinced everyone raised in an African household, especially a West African one, has lived through these. So no matter where you grew up, how you grew up, and which part of the continent or world you grew up in if you have West African parents, there’s a true-to-life possibility that you went through these every step of the way.

1. High expectations: Being raised a West African, failures are never part of the equation. Our parents usually set higher expectations that are higher than Burj Khalifa. Your final test scores are not supposed to fall between 80% to 99%; you are guaranteed a sermon, and the importance of education sound like Sunday’s church bells ringing in your ears. If you graduate with a Bachelor’s degree, top of your class, they’ll ask you, “When are you starting your Masters? Your cousin Ada or Kebbeh is doing great because she earned a Master’s Degree. And, you should too, and passed her and then maybe get you a Ph.D.”

West African parents valued higher education; they instilled this form of discipline in their kids very early. These expectations aren’t usually set as a form of being controlled but as a form to prepare their kids for the real world. Given this idea, you should come to trust your West African friends, for if they know, you better trust them; they know.