Brai Malik a Phd holder from the University of Ife (OAU)shares what it means to be a Nigerian online and we totally agree with him .Enjoy his points below ,share and have fun
He wrote: To be a Nigerian, to me, means:
1.To speak my pidgin English without fear, let or hindrance. Common phrases as a Nigerian include: I go reach you sharp sharp now now: I will get to you fast, now. Make I yearn you tory: Let me gist you a story.
Na wetin now? What is it now? Make we collabo now! Lets collaborate now. And so on and so forth. Pidgin English seems to be somehow popular with Nigerians than the queens English.
More than three quarter of the Nigerian population flow along, speaking it. To this extent, and because of the nature of the next point, I shall present it in our ‘lingua franca’; the Pidgin English. Abeg carry go joor.
2.If Naija dey talk, na so we go dey repeat some words twice. The thing don master we, well well. You see am; I just do am now now. See me o, another one don follow join. Na so we go dey join join the thing and na so e go dey flow flow for we mouth and dey sweet us for body. Abeg no mind me boh; na so we be o.
Some other words wey we dey talk twice be moin moin (a Naija delicacy made from beans), kuli kuli (Groundnut cake wey dem from Northern Nigeria dey make), lapa lapa (a Yoruba name for ringworm which infects the skin, particularly on the head of unkept children), sharp sharp (Naija word for quickly), waka waka (Naija's description of someone who likes moving about from one place to another), borrow borrow (Naija's description of someone who is a serial borrower), follow follow (someone who does not have a mind of his/her own), lie lie (a serial liar).
The words wey we dey repeat twice plenty well well; shey you see me again o, my country people. You go don see am say, me, I be proper Naija.
And I am unapologetically so. For this point number 2 so, see the words wey I don repeat: well well, now now, join join, flow flow, moin moin, lapa lapa, kuli kuli, sharp sharp, waka waka, borrow borrow, follow follow, lie lie. And I don tell una wetin dem mean. The words plenty boh, wey don enter our Naija pidgen English vocabulary. Na the few wey I go just write here now now be that. Gbam!
3.When I go to make any purchase and I am told the price, I know that is the asking price; I must haggle this asking price, as a Nigerian. If for instance, I am told that the item would cost Fifty Naira, I would haggle the price and eventually I may get it to buy for just Twenty Naira.
The seller would not initiate sales with the real price and the buyer knows that. So, haggling to finally agree at a consensus price, is it. That is the Nigerian spirit at work.
But this is not applicable at standard superstores, though. In these stores, there are price tags on the merchandise. And that is what the buyer would pay; that is the oyibo style, not Naija.
4.I love to buy and eat roasted plantain known in local parlance as boli and it goes well with roasted groundnut.
5.I, like most Nigerians, love celebrations. Weddings, child naming, house warming, promotion, graduation, new car, burial ceremony; name it, we would throw a party and invite family and friends to dine and wine.
Our Saturdays are meant to attend such social ceremonies and the outfit for such is our cultural aso ebi.
6. I love to eat and enjoy our local delicacies like suya, jollof rice, apu, amala, garri, tuwo shinkafa, ofe onubu, ofe oha, gbegiri + orisirisi, etc. Mehnnn! these are great Nigerian delicacies. As I dey write sef, my mouth just dey water ni.
7. I do not eat our local foods using cutleries. Not at all. I wash my hands and I would be good to go. Cutleries with amala, tuwo or apu, forget it; e no dey work i.e. it doesn't work that way.
8.Ahhhhh! To be a Nigerian is to ensure I am glued to my TV set, when the national football team i.e. Super Eagles, is at ‘war' with another nation's football team, particularly during any world cup tournament. I do not like them loosing any football ‘war'. They must always ‘win'. We (Naija) no dey carry last. That is the Nigerian spirit in me. I love our Super Eagles like ‘mad’.
Inspite of the myriads of challenges we face, as a nation, challenges that are not insurmountable, challenges that we would indeed surmount someday with our collective will, under a great leader, I pride in being a thoroughbred Nigerian. I am Naija for life.
If you like this article Credits to Brai Malik
