How The Phone A Man Bought For His Wife Cost Him His Marriage.
Is it bad or wrong for a man to buy a phone for his wife, so that his wife would be as trendy as other women of her age and class?
For me the answer is NO. The reason being that I am always for anything that would improve the life of my wife and make her happy.
A certain man named Julius did what I could have done, but unfortunately, his good and sincere move backfired on him. He bought a new Android phone for his wife and the phone led him to lose his wife to divorce.
This may sound strange and funny to you, yet it is true. It’s a true-life story that happened recently in Lagos, Nigeria. Relax wherever you are and follow me as I tell you the whole story.
Julius was a roadside realtor. He lived with his wife, Ngozi, and their son at the Ijesha-Tedo area of Surulere in Lagos.
When he started his business of helping other people to secure and buy properties, he usually said to his wife: “Anytime I make good money in this business, I’ll buy you a good Android phone, so that you too can enjoy being on Facebook and WhatsApp.”
Each time Julius made that promise, his wife would reply: “I don’t think I need a big phone. I am okay with the Nokia touch-light phone that I am using. Again, what job do I have on Facebook and WhatsApp that I would go there to do? Is it not the same Facebook and WhatsApp that have been causing different problems in some families that you want me to visit?”
Despite those unkind words from Ngozi, Julius kept having it at the back of his mind to buy a good Android phone for her, especially as they were still very young.
Not too long after that, mother-luck smiled on Julius. One of his clients bought a piece of land that was given to him to sell. That earned him a commission of N480,000 (four hundred and eighty thousand naira), a little above US$1300 (Thirteen hundred United States dollars).
Immediately after he received a message on his phone, which confirmed the payment of his N480,000 into his account at the bank by his principal, he quickly dashed down to his bank to make some withdrawals via the automated teller machine, ATM.
From the bank premises at a popular place called Ojuelegba in Surulere, Lagos, he headed straight to Computer Village, the largest market for computers, phones and other electronic products in Nigeria.
While at Computer Village, Julius bought too beautiful Android phones; one for his wife and one for himself. He also bought different accessories for their phones, including hands-free, memory cards, pouches, and transfer cables.
As he was returning home from Computer Village, he stopped by at one of the popular eateries in town and bought some snack food for himself, his wife and their only child, a baby boy. They used those fast food to celebrate their new property.
When he arrived home, he brought out the phones and asked his wife to make her choice from the two of them. Contrary to his wife’s previous negative comments, she was very excited to receive the phone gift. She didn’t even know when she hugged her husband and said: “You’re a real darling. I’ll love you forever.”
After they had finished enjoying their food, Julius started showing his wife the salient features of her phone, including its Facebook and WhatsApp facilities. He later went ahead to teach her how to use most of those features, so that she could get maximum benefits from it.
In less than two weeks of having the phone, Ngozi had become an ‘expert’ in using it. She was so excited about her newfound knowledge that she could hardly spend thirty minutes in a day without using it.
Several months after that happy development, Julius and Ngozi started having misunderstandings. That was the beginning of the erosion that swept off their young marriage.
Their misunderstandings, for your information, started when Ngozi started feeling uncomfortable to pick her calls in the presence of her husband.
Before then, both of them used to pick their calls in the presence of each other, as well as being comfortable to leave their phones anywhere in their house or with each other.
Julius, like every other man, was very upset about that sad development. That caused him to start suspecting his wife of a foul play.
Apart from that issue, Julius also noticed that his wife had started spending several hours on her phone, browsing, chatting and exchanging photographs with different strange people, including men.
Each time Julius complained about those strange behaviours, Ngozi would fly off her handle and say: “Julius, if you’re tire of marrying me, please, tell me so that I can go back to my parents’ house.”
Because of that threat and because of the love Julius had for Ngozi, he became confused and afraid to make further complaints about his wife’s strange behaviours.
One faithful Tuesday morning, Ngozi woke up, probably from the wrong side of her bed, and invited Julius to their sitting room for a brief discussion. Her first sentence, as she opened the meeting was: “Julius, I’m sorry to inform you that I’m no longer interested in our marriage. Because of this, I may be leaving your house anytime from now?
“Why, why, Ngozi?” asked Julius, as he broke down in tears and cried like a baby whose beautiful toy was forcefully taken away from it.
“Why do you want to leave me so soon? Was it not because I complained about your strange behaviours with and on your phone?”
“I have finished with you,” retorted Ngozi sarcastically. “Nothing, nobody, can make me change my mind.”
Soon after that mild drama, Julius picked up his phone and called his wife’s parents. He took his time to narrate and explain to them all that had transpire between him and his wife. He also use the opportunity to plead with them to intervene in the matter, with a view to convincing his wife not to leave.
While Julius was away to work the following morning, Ngozi brought an truck to their house and removed all her belongings, including the controversial phone and their only child and son.
The departure she left for her husband at a conspicuous place at their sitting-room read: “I have gone as I told you yesterday. Thank you for the love you showed me while I was with you. Please, do not bother to look for me because, as I told you, nothing and nobody can convince me to return to your life again. Bye!”
Oh, my God, can you see how the phone a man bought for his wife cost him his marriage?
All efforts by Ngozi’s parents to settle the knotty matter proved abortive, as some journalists usually say. After that sad incident, Julius decided to put his hope in God and to live without Ngozi.
About a week after Ngozi’s departure from Julius’ house, Julius ran into one of her bosom friends called Matilda at a place called CMS Bus-stop in Lagos Island, Nigeria.
Matilda told Julius that Ngozi left him after she had fallen in love with another man whom she met on Facebook.
According to Matilda, Ngozi and her new love now live at the Asokoro area of Abuja in the the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in Nigeria.
That was how the phone a man bought for his wife cost him his marriage.
By Emmanuel Okoh
