Lockdown Chronicles:7 women talk about being physically distant from their men

Lockdown Chronicles is a diary series, in which Nigerians unpack the realities, multi-dimensional struggles and the little victories they experience while dealing with an unprecedented pandemic which suddenly disrupted as we knew it.

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Stories litter the Internet from people who are in lock down with their partners. Not so much from lovers/partners who have had to go from seeing each other so frequently, to physically distancing for four whole weeks [at least].

To hear from people in this category, I threw this out to as many people as I could, but only women were willing to open up on what the past few weeks have looked like, isolating away from the one person they’d rather be locked up with.

So, how does it feel to keep a distance from a huge piece of your heart?

1. Already in a long distance relationship, so nothing new

I am in a long distance relationship normally, and it is largely phone based. So I can't say for sure if it is this lockdown that is making me miss him or not. Communication has been good sha. We talk better sef than before. Nobody is tired from work and all. Whatsapp Video calls is the best as of now. We talk at different times of the day, but let's say an average of 30mins at each time. There were some days we even spoke for close to 2hrs and one time about 2hrs, 45mins😂.

Of course, there’s been no sex all through the lockdown. Matter of fact, none for 3 months now. But I have created a sex playlist of mad sensual songs. I am going to get scented candles... You know, setting the proper atmosphere in my head to get us in our feelings...😋 - Omoshalewa

2. For her, nothing feels the same

I actually miss him a lot. I think that goes without saying. We try to keep in touch via phone-calls but you know, it’s not the same as being able to see each other at a beck and call. Well, we still try to manage the situation sha. We speak for an average of 40-50 mins on each call.

I don’t even know what will happen when this lockdown ends. No plans yet to be honest. - Anita

3. She's got mixed feelings about being away from her savage king

Lol. I think if a word describes how I this past one month has felt for me, I think the word would be indifferent. I and my baby have a fairly good communication channel which is WhatsApp. Lol. I miss him o but if there’s something I don’t miss, it’s his his savage responses. That man has too many wicked responses. I don’t miss that at all. As per sex, my sex life is boring sha. Imagine, I have no plans for when we see after lockdown.🙂 - Victoria

4. This one is looking forward to impregnating her man when she goes out

Well it's not the first time, so there's no feeling of separation. But I miss the physical so if this emoji was a word - 😰- that is how I feel! Nothing really changed in communication, check-in in the morning, mid-day and video call at nights. Except due to the lockdown, I’ve not touched him in 4 weekends, neither have I had any hugs or belly rubs. All I can say is, when we are free to go out again, I am going to get someone's son pregnant. - Khadija

5. One word - konjified and ready to wreck his bed

Konjified. That’s what describes me in the past one month. Communication has been great though. Very sef. There have been several calls, texts, video calls etc. we talk/ chat/ communicate 17 hours out of 24 to be honest. The remaining 7 is for sleeping. Lol. What didn’t I miss about him? Oh, that has to be the snoring😂. As soon as this lockdown ends sha, omo na marathon battle o. It’s going to be a war on these sheets 😩🌚 - Mandy

6. Lockdown improved the communication in her relationship

Our communication has been great. I actually feel like it’s improved better than before. You know how everyone goes about their daily activities and by nightfall, we’re usually too tired to engage in prolonged conversation? Well, the reverse is the case now. We talk for as long as an hour or so, during most of our phone conversation - whether video or audio. WhatsApp’s been doing an amazing job for that one.

I don’t miss his farting [she added several laugh emojis here]. My boyfriend can fart ehn. I surely don’t miss that.

So we talk a lot about our sex life and we both know how much we miss each other. We tell each other when we are horny. We send pictures and videos to each other. Etc. As for the plans we have, they’re a lot. Just let Coro be over. - Korede

7. Being away from her boo has been mad stressful

Communication has been great actually, because there aren’t that many distractions when you are working from home so there’s no excuse for not reaching out. FaceTime and WhatsApp video calls have been a huge lifesaver, it helped us really see how our days are going and all the little things they do at home. I don’t think I would’ve had an opportunity to really see them like this at home. It’s wild, we talk for like 6 to 8 hours, and most of that is video calls. Sometimes messages and other times regular phone calls.

But being locked down has been stressful sha. Sex Life is ZERO. No movement = no knacks and it’s hard AF. Sexy plans include locking ourselves inside my room for a week straight, we’ll see who comes out of this alive lol. - Stella

Note: All names have been changed to keep the anonymity of the subjects. Bits of respondent's words have been edited to ease readability and article flow.