When you think of people living in rural areas; what comes to your mind?

What usually comes to our mind is: they lack electricity,they are mostly poor,all they do is just farm all day, and that they are mostly illiterates.

We move on to make the conclusion that they are “ignorant” which automatically means they are “unhappy”.

But what if the statement that states; “ignorance is bliss” actually applies to people living in rural areas?

The most pride privilege, the people living in Urban areas have over those living in rural areas is quite simple. What makes us distinct is the very way in which we “think”. That is the distinct difference between those living in rural areas and those living in urban areas; as we refer to them as those living in villages and those living in cities respectively.

The ability for us, living in cities to think deep is both in it a curse and a blessing for us all.

A curse because we all know when we think too much into things; we end up bringing out even the skeletons that are better left hidden.

Issues such as gender wars, inequality, mental related issues all arose from merely thinking too much into things.

By this, we come to ask the question: “what probed me to write about this?”

Well, i had an encounter on Sunday, 21st october, with a lovely family in the outskirts of Kano state, Wudil.

At a first glance into the family; i found it hard to understand the structure of the family. With further interaction, we came to understand that the household actually consists of 2 wives married to one husband.

They live in a small house-a house that felt a lot like a home even to strangers like us; Like a cottage that had only a ground floor. Everything in the house was moderately small. But then the house lacked almost nothing. It had a compound, which was more or less like a play ground for the kids.

The house was built in such a way that the wives both had their separate apartment linked by a living room, which i understood to be the general living room.

Each of their apartment had a living room and a bedroom; with a master size bed.

The house also has a bathroom,a loo which is for the use of everyone in the household, and a kitchen also. And what i understood as the husband’s apartment separately, well within reach.

What i loved about the family setting, apart from the house was how peacefully they coexisted. So much so, that we couldn’t decipher whom was whom. They were all quite young; ranging from the first wife to the second wife-i thought they were more like sisters!

Moving on, it was obvious that happiness lingered in the home. I could not help but conclude that it was because they did not have to “think” too much into things.

Everything seemed to move so well in that household. The second wife helped the first wife in quite a number of chores. She even bathed the first wife’s baby!

It’s been long since i saw co-wives exist peacefully. I began to think deep like the “urbaner” that i am; because well that is what we do.

I thought of what if this family knew about current issues like feminism? Depression? Misandry? Misogyny? Would they be as happy as they are???

I thought, these people have almost no idea about mental illnesses like depression which plagues almost every teenage ‘urbaner’, maybe that is why they are able to live with one another peacefully-because they simply don’t “think” too much into things.

Above all else, they are satisfied with all that they have-which wouldn’t satisfy urbaners.

They are okay with them being housewives, while their husband goes out to find food for them.

What probed me further to write this is the ongoing gender war that keeps hovering around twitter. Most tweets on twitter these days; have potential of triggering a gender war.

Not withstanding, the promiscuity, shamelessness and infidelity that trails the streets of twitter is almost unbearable. These people living in said villages are almost immune to all of this.

With this do we still conclude that they are unhappy?

Gender wars. Feminism. Misandry. Depression. Competition for vane desires are duely limited. These are all issues they don’t bother themselves with. This is simply because; you only feel the need to find solution to a problem, when you believe there is one.

These people don’t even understand that there is a problem. Thereby, their sanity is kept intact in the world of “ignorance”.

These people barely know what “social media” even is, so they are basically unafffected, protected by the confusion that results from all gender wars- Leaving us all confused as to who is right and who is not.

With this i end, as much as we try to pin point that Rural settlers are illiterates and behind in civilisation, i feel they could learn to strive in an Urban setting. But, an Urbaner, will always have trouble living in a rural setting.

This is simply because, a Rural settler’s thinking is typically seen as backward which has the potential of being upgraded.

Whilst the Urbaner’s mode of thinking is on the high already. do you think anyone who is on the high would be able to stoop to a downgraded level?