"…If you do not like him, why did you accept hisfriendship?’’ Chika’s friend asked her as they walked from school homeward.‘‘I accepted because he boughtme a Samsung smart phone," Chika replied.

Exchanges like the oneabove appeared in many ofthe stories we collected during our 12-monthethnographic research inNigeria about the tensionsbetween adults andadolescent girls regardingownership and use of mobile phones. A majority of adults in our study agreed thatfeature phones (cheap phones meant for calls and text messaging) are appropriate forearly adolescents, and that smart phones were acceptable for late adolescents, but with conditions. In contrast, a majority of girls felt that restricted access to mobile phones isan infringement on their autonomy and their quest to join the global community. Especially in Christian neighborhoods, adolescent girls have found allies in their boyfriends who provided girls with smart phones. This has connected adolescent girls, their boyfriends, and girls’ parents in an unexpected web of duplicity, interdependenceand contradictions.