My mother thinks I earn Naira. I've been lying to her for two years.

Every month on the 28th, I send my mother 20% of my salary. She thinks I earn in Naira, so she thinks it's a lot. She doesn't know it's USD. I let her believe it because the day she finds out, she'll start worrying about my rent, my feeding, whether I'm saving. Mothers worry in a specific Nigerian dimension that no spreadsheet can fix.

I did the calculation once. At ₦1,360 to the dollar, what I send her is more than what some of my friends earn in a month. She uses it for her shop, for her church contribution, for sending small small to my cousins in Ibadan. She's proud of it. She tells her friends her son is doing well in Lagos. I let her have that.

The lie is not really a lie. It's a kind of protection. She raised me alone after my father left. She sold akara in Mushin to put me through UNILAG. If she knew the actual numbers she would start asking why I'm not buying land yet, why I'm not married, why I'm still paying rent in VI like a bachelor. The truth would only give her more to worry about. Sometimes the kindest thing you can give your mother is a version of your life she can sleep with.