Skip to main content

Nigerians Versus Foreign Accents



For Nigerians, there is only one solution to a shut door and that is breaking the entire building down. This is because Nigerians always find a way to get through.
The fight is never easy. This is why the older generation always dishes out nuggets on survival to the younger generation. 
You just have to survive! Even if it means changing a lot of things about yourself like your complexion, age, accent.

Today, I am going to focus on fake accents. This almost every Nigerian is guilty of. Sounding foreign in order to be steps ahead of people who sound “local”. 
With this fake accent, you can penetrate into almost any space in the society. Does not matter the nationality you represent as long as you sound foreign. 
One would assume this must be pretty frustrating. Yes, it is. How is this frustration eased?
 By making fun of those who still speak with a Nigerian intonation by calling them derogatory names when in truth, the individual with both a British and American accent at the same time is the real joke.

In a bid to fit in, British schools are in Vogue, the speaking of local dialects are banished from homes in order not to corrupt the intonation of children.
 Parents project this on their children in order for them to get into spaces that was only but a dream in their own time.

So today, I make a case for those who speak English a certain way. I used to blame them, but I do not anymore because in truth the society failed.

An average Nigerian man after experiencing acute poverty even when he was fit for the job threw caution to the wind and said “I can speak through my nose too” he did and it was a miracle It worked! So he told his village people how English is the magic wand that opened doors and this narrative was passed on from generation to generation.  
Words like Water got a new pronunciation “warer”. English got into trouble. It tested Nigerians and Nigerians broke it.

So today, let’s have a rethink of the whole foreign accent thing. Before you roll your eyes and laugh at that girl or boy by using derogatory terms like a bush girl, Igbo tongue etc. Ask yourself if you really love being Nigerian.

If you can swoon for British English, you can too for someone with a Nigerian Intonation.
 So, dear Nigerians I know this might be hard to understand but there is really nothing wrong with your mother tongue. 


Labels:
Location: Lagos, Nigeria

Comments

  1. Vose17 March 2020 at 17:57

    Well Said!!!! Great stuff you have here

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okevi Etefe17 March 2020 at 22:45

    Nice Nice, this article speaks the truth. Well done.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Mother Is....

Putting together the perfect Mother’s Day message is never easy. This year, I kept staring at the blank sheet and all I could think of was how flawed my mother really is.  On days like this, people really just like to highlight how much of superhero mothers are. However, even though my mother loves attention so much. She is just another human.  A  human who makes mistakes. Capable of forgetting to put down the food from the fire, Coiling up and falling asleep on the couch, biting her fingernails, Irrational and impulsive at times, grumpy and sometimes lose her temper.  My mother some days appear from her room looking like a fashion killer and somedays she just walks out of her room wearing a rumpled shirt and we have to persuade, beg and pacify her to go change.  She's got a sharp tongue that could draw tears from your eyes and can set the entire house on fire. When the ball of drama starts to roll no one can escape it.   Miracl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Curiosity

 Here is a thought! Why do Nigerians love answers especially when bad things happen?  In the olden days, prior to the colonial masters and even after the colonial masters came to Africa, our forefathers practised divination, poured a libation to the ancestors and tried to find out why certain predicaments befell the people.  They got answers quite alright. With the witches taking the bulk of the blame or it was the god’s way of helping them find their way back and rethink their decisions.  When the people left the way of their fathers after much persuasion from the foreigners. How did the foreigners do this? By demonising the way the people worshipped.   So the people accepted the new religion but it did not stop their curiosity. It only doubled the need for answers. Churches sprang up in all corners.  The advertisement employed by these churches pointed to solutions in a bid to attract the people. So you read Marine ...
4 comments
Read more

Books To Read In Your Free Time

             With a Pandemic before us and the constant advise to wash our hands, social distancing, quarantine. I feel like the best buddy these times is really a book. Not just any book! A good book.  So I recommend the following books knowing that you should like it because they are really good. 1.  Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen   Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is set in a different time so you get to escape from the happenings around you and find solace in a different time. Like a handy time machine. And it is also about love so how about that?   2.  A Religious Book. As we try to just stay calm and far away from others as much as we can. If you are religious like me, you may cling to the Bible, the Quran, according to your faith. This I know is very rewarding. Like a personal counsellor.  3. Born A Crime by Trevor Noah.  Details the childhood of Trevor Noah. Really fun and i...
Post a Comment
Read more