‘It has helped us mend all walls’ — couples recount COVID-19 lockdown experience in Jos

Some couples in Jos, Plateau state, have narrated how the lockdown earlier introduced to combat the COVID-19 crisis has impacted their marriages positively.

Most people have been forced to stay at home since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, which has inflected untold hardship on many families.

Both federal and state governments have, however, partly relaxed the lockdown based on certain guidelines to regulate the day-to-day activities of people.

But while the development might have brought economic hardship, it has also afforded many families the opportunity to bond together and settle differences where necessary.

Some of the couples, who spoke with the NAN on Friday in Jos, said that if it were possible to have a lockdown without a pandemic, it would help build healthy family relationships.

Patience Davis, a mother of two and a restaurateur, said the lockdown gave her and her husband an enabling environment to sort out pressing issues in the family.

“I have told my husband to increase the house-keeping money but he wouldn’t budge. But he did in the month of May when he escorted me to the market,’’ she said.

Also speaking, Brown Kelechi and Ego, his wife, said that the lockdown taught them how to live as retirees, as they have both had a foretaste of it and were prepared better now to face it.

Similarly, Bold Kehinde and his wife said that the lockdown taught them tolerance in a different light.

“We have been getting on each other’s nerve and constantly arguing about trivial things. But during the lockdown, we mended all walls,’’ they said.

On their part, the family of John Popoola said they had been putting in extra effort to direct the path of their teenage son, adding that during the lockdown, they plunged into the teenager’s world and made a huge success.

“We couldn’t understand why the boy was isolating himself but we later discovered what the problem was and dealt with it,’’ the Popoolas said.

Also, the family of Ibrahim said that the lockdown gave them the opportunity to give priority to family and relate closely like never before.

They also said that the period helped in adding flavour to their relationship.

Nigeria has so far reported 18,840 confirmed cases of the virus with 475 deaths recorded as of time this report was filed.