Everyone has that one memory that randomly resurfaces and makes them cringe all over again. Sometimes, it’s not even your own behaviour, but something a friend did right in front of you that you’ll never forget. 

From awkward lies to sudden personality switches, these Nigerians share the most embarrassing things their friends have ever done in their presence, and the moments they remember that make them sigh.

“He lied about owning my car” — Yemi*, 34, M

Yemi still laughs when he remembers the lie his friend told to impress a potential love interest.

“We were at the club when my friend started talking to this attractive lady. He had recently been heartbroken, so I was happy he was trying to get himself back out there. Later, when it was time to head back home, he slipped me the keys to his Toyota Camry and asked for the key to my own car, a Benz.

Apparently, he had told the babe he had recently moved back to Nigeria and had to ‘manage’ the Benz till he could bring in his car from the US. I found his lies ridiculous, but I let him have the car for the night. They went to a hotel, and I went back to my flat in Ikeja. They never hung out again after that. I don’t know if she ever found out about the lie, but the fact that he would jump through such hoops unprovoked was too weird to me.”

“Her voice suddenly became high-pitched” — Sarah*, 26, F

Sarah couldn’t believe it when her friend’s personality transformed right before her eyes.

“I have a friend whom I really admire. She’s very independent and never waits for anyone before getting the things she wants done. I’ve seen her leap over a fence and even carry a generator all by herself.

That day, we went out together, and a guy approached her. All of a sudden, my friend ‘disappeared’. In her place was a woman I didn’t recognise because her voice suddenly became soft and high-pitched. I was so shocked I froze. I didn’t know how to react. My shock doubled when she asked this man to help her open a drink because she wasn’t strong enough to. My babe wey dey fly fence? I was too embarrassed to speak for the rest of the event.”

“I caught my friend using AI to reply to my messages” — Ayomide*, 27, M

The atmosphere between Ayomide and a friend, John*, grew awkward after  John forgot to delete a crucial part of a text he had sent.

“At some point in 2025, I was going through a tough transition period between jobs and felt disconnected from my friends. One day, I was talking through my emotions with John and actually felt like he understood my situation. Only for him to send a reply to one of my messages, and at the end was ‘If you want, I can: rewrite this in a more dramatic tone, make it funnier, add more Gen Z slang’. I was too shocked to respond.

I think he finally noticed it after I didn’t respond, and he apologised. I felt so weird about it that I didn’t respond to his apology either. Things have been weird between us since then. I just think it’s odd to run your personal messages through AI to talk to your friends. It’s the cringiest thing I’ve seen in my life.”

“My friend turned my breakup into a spoken word performance” — Emeka*, 29, M

Emeka couldn’t believe his ears when he started hearing his life story in his friend’s poem.

“I went through a rough break-up in 2024, and. I told one of my friends about it. I didn’t think anything of it. However, in August 2025, he invited me to an open mic where he was performing a poem he wrote. Poetry isn’t really my thing, but I figured I’d show up to support my guy.

As he performed the poem to the audience, I felt a growing dread in my stomach at how similar the poem’s content was to my past relationship. When he got to the part where he mentioned the cheating that ended it all, I realised that the foolish boy had turned my unlucky love life into a slam poem. I was irritated for the rest of the evening. He even had the guts to ask me about my thoughts on the performance. I just hissed and focused on my drink. It was so annoying.”

“My roommate lied about having a boyfriend” — Chioma*, 30, F

Chioma still cringes when she remembers the unnecessarily elaborate lie her roommate told about having a boyfriend.

“During my university days, I stayed in the hostel and usually had three other roommates. When I was in 200 level, it was all the rage to have a boyfriend to show off. Two of my roommates were in relationships, but my other roommate and I were single to the bone. One day, this single roommate came back to the hostel and told us that she had a boyfriend too. We were all excited and started asking her questions about him. She said they were long-distance and he wasn’t a student at our university. 

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We asked to see what he looked like, and when she pulled up the photos on her phone, we all just froze and glanced at each other. The picture she showed us was of a fairly popular American actor. We asked if she was sure, and she said she was. One of my roommates had to pull up his Wikipedia page before she admitted that she was just tired of feeling left out. 

Second-hand shame wore a big gele for me that day; it was so embarrassing. We called her Mrs Jackson (after the name of the actor) for the rest of that semester.”

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