Nigeria, April 16 -- I visited a friend two weeks ago. He had come from Kaduna for the same wedding I attended. He stayed indoors almost the entire time, before and after the ceremony, and I got curious. I asked about his wife. He said, "I came alone with the children," and I caught myself saying, "No wonder." You begin to understand what women do for us, and he quickly replied, "That is right." We couldn't have a smooth conversation. Distractions and interruptions kept coming. He would leave the parlour to check on the kids, tell the older ones what to do after helping the younger ones bathe, settle quarrels, decide what clothes they would wear, raise his voice when play got too rough, and take the children with him everywhere he went. ...