Love in the Age of Wi-Fi and Power Cuts

They say love is dead, that it got buried under data bundles, blue ticks, and “seen 2:14 a.m.” But somewhere between the traffic of Lagos, the sunsets of Accra, and the WhatsApp voice notes sent at midnight, true love still breathes, It may look different, less handwritten, more typed, but it’s still there, strong, stubborn, and surviving every power cut, traffic jam, and bad network Africa has to offer.

It lives in shared playlists, stolen glances during Zoom meetings, and the laughter echoing through poor connections. It thrives in patience, waiting for replies, saving for flights, praying for stability. Modern love here isn’t easy, it’s a mix of hustle and hope, It’s holding on through long-distance calls, data struggles, and the chaos of daily life, Yet in all this noise, there’s warmth, proof that love, even digital and delayed, still finds a way to reach the heart.

Billy Graham once said ‘’ Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love’’

From Love Letters to Blue Ticks

Once upon a time, love was written, not typed, You could smell it in ink, feel it in folded paper, and hold it against your chest when the world felt heavy, Lovers waited weeks for the postman, Every envelope was a heartbeat, every reply, a reward for patience.

There was a kind of sacred slowness to it, No “last seen recently,” no “typing…” anxiety,Just hope, trust, and time.

Today, love has gone digital, instant, visual, and often, fragile, A single “K” can end a relationship, A missed call becomes a cold war, We don’t wait anymore, we refresh, We don’t imagine; we screenshot.

Yet, amid the fast pace and fake filters, true love still sneaks in. It hides in the 3 a.m. chats that stretch till dawn, in the voice notes that say, “I just wanted to hear your voice.” It lives in the ones who stay, even when the Wi-Fi doesn’t.

Because love, no matter how modern it becomes, still wants something old-fashioned, attention, honesty, and time.

Dada Vaswani said ‘’ True Love bears all, endures all and triumphs’’

When NEPA Tests Your Love

If you’ve ever been in love in Nigeria, Ghana, or Kenya, you know love here doesn’t happen in peace, it happens in power cuts.

You’re on the phone with low battery charging saying “I miss you,” and gbam! NEPA strikes, The line goes silent, the fan stops, and your heart drops, You try to call back, but your phone battery is on 2%, and your inverter has already given up on you.

That’s African romance, unpredictable and dramatic,

In Lagos, love doesn’t break up over cheating, it breaks up over bad timing and bad network, In Accra, you’ll see lovers fighting over “why didn’t you reply since morning?” only for the guy to respond, “I was with my phone, I was queuing for fuel.”

True love here requires powerbanks, patience, and prayers, You don’t just say, “I love you.” You say, “I love you, even though my call cut four times.”

Still, we find ways, We send offline texts, We record voice notes in the dark, We date in candlelight, even when it wasn’t planned.

Because in Africa, love doesn’t die with the lights, it glows in the dark.

Traffic, Distance, and the Patience of Love

They say love is patient, but they’ve never been stuck in Lagos traffic on the way to a date, Imagine promising your partner, “I’ll be there in 15 minutes,” and two hours later, you’re still under Ojuelegba bridge arguing with a danfo driver Or planning a romantic dinner in Accra then spending half the night in gridlock because a tanker fell on the express.

African love doesn’t just test your heart, it tests your temper, Sometimes, “I’m almost there” actually means “I’m in third mainland traffic with no hope’’ Sometimes, “goodnight” means “the bus broke down, and I’m trekking home.”

Yet, in the madness, love adjusts,You start laughing about it, You reschedule and try again Because here, love isn’t about perfection, it’s about persistence.

Love finds its way through flooded roads, bad signals, and late-night curfews. It may take longer, but it arrives, sweaty, tired, but genuine.

Does True Love Still Exist?

Yes and it’s everywhere.

In the boyfriend who travels miles to see his girl, In the girlfriend who cooks jollof for the family and Packs her boyfriend food aside because “babe must eat”, In the long-distance couple sending data money as love language.

True love still exists, just wearing modern clothes. It’s no longer sealed in envelopes, but it’s still written in effort, It’s in the way someone texts, “Did you eat?”, It’s in the way you both laugh through NEPA wahala and call drops, It’s in small gestures that say, “I still choose you,” even when life makes it hard.

African love is not for the soft, It’s for the strong-hearted, the hopeful, the hilarious, and the ones who believe that even when the world goes offline, love still dey online for heart.

Maybe love has changed, softer around the edges, faster in the fingers, shorter in the words but it’s still alive, It has simply learned to survive our new world, slides into DMs instead of mailboxes, and sends emojis But behind all the new packaging, the heartbeat is still the same.

Our grandparents had pen and paper, we have Wi-Fi and WhatsApp. They waited weeks for a letter, we wait seconds for a reply. They held hands under the moon; we hold phones under blue light, Different tools, same longing, Different times, same tenderness.

What makes modern African love special is not that it’s easy, it’s that it endures everything thrown its way, From traffic to no network, from inflation to heartbreak, love still finds small ways to show up, A shared paper of suya, A missed call turned into laughter. A “good morning” that sounds like a promise.

So no, love isn’t dead, it’s just evolving, It may now come with buffering, bad network, and traffic jam, but it’s still ours, Still warm, Still human, Still African And maybe that’s the beauty of it that even when everything else changes, the heart still remembers how to love.

True love still exists in Africa not in fairytales but in everyday people who choose each other despite the noise, heat and hustle.