“When your sister died, I wish it was you" — Nigerians share the most hurtful things their parents have said to them.

• Nigerians share painful things their parents said to them

• Some say the words affected how they saw themselves growing up

• From insults to rejection, these are the things they still remember

Nigerian parents are famous for sarcastic and witty responses and poetic insults. They can say some wild things when they’re angry, but they know better than to cross the line. 

However, when we asked our community members to share the most hurtful thing a parent has ever said to them, the responses we received showed that not every Nigerian parent knows where the line is. 

From being told they should have died instead of a sibling to being called cursed, useless and stupid, these Nigerians shared the things their parents said that they’ve never been able to forget.

Some of these stories are painful to read.

My biological mother told me she has been suffering since she gave birth to me and cursed me. She said, 'You'll suffer till you die”. 

I refused to do chores once, and my mom said, “I should have closed my legs when I was pushing you out so you wouldn't survive." 

One day I scolded our lastborn so much because he did something wrong, and my mother said to me, “I know you are the one who made me lose so many babies after you. Please, don’t kill this one for me." 

She said this because she gave birth to him 9 years after my birth. We are just 3 kids. Something broke in me that day, and I never really healed. 

I had tuberculosis and acute malaria and was bedridden for weeks. My dad, who didn't even show up for one day, called my mum (not knowing it was on speaker phone) to ask if I was still alive. I was just 10 years old. Anyway, sha, I still dey alive. 

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When I was down with cholera, my father told everyone I had HIV/AIDS. Why would anyone do that to a kid?

My parents called me “stupid” a lot of times growing up. It took me a long time to think I'm not really stupid. I felt stupid growing up.

My parents denied me University Education after finishing my N.C.E.; they told me they’d rather sponsor my siblings instead of me. They told me to sort myself out. I started teaching in a private school till I was able to raise funds for my university education. 

It took me 3 years. All my Siblings are University graduates; in fact, my immediate brother bagged his degree before me. Guess who's taking care of the parents today? Me. 

As the firstborn, my father never accepted me because I was a girl. He wanted a boy and treated me like a bastard child. I can’t even begin to count the hurtful things he said to me.

My mom, on the other hand, was always there for me. I didn’t feel the pain as much because at some point, I left home to stay with my grandma until she passed away. 

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My mum would call me a prostitute whenever I reported any boy disturbing me to her. I always wondered why she was so angry and frustrated when I was growing up. Now I'm in my 30s, and she expects us to be besties. 

My mum told me never to smile, that my teeth were the colour of our door. Our door was brown. I actually stopped smiling until recently, when I discovered that healthy teeth aren't always pure white.

I used you for practical purposes; your whole childhood was an experiment so that I would know how to raise your siblings. I still suffer from an inferiority complex and depression.

No context. Just pain.

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1. “The devil has tried to frustrate me in so many ways, and you're the only one who worked.”

2. My mom said God used me to wash her womb for her beautiful children to come out.

3. My dad compared me to a prostitute for using a lip combo.

4. You will never be good enough. 

5. Thank God I gave birth to your siblings; otherwise, I would have counted myself barren.

6. You can never be something.

7. If you die, there's space in the backyard to bury you. I fell sick.

8. My foster parent said, “You are a cursed and useless child.” That's why your father abandoned you.