The Events of Yesterday

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 I remember it like it was yesterday.

Those days, British accent was the trendy thing in Nigeria. Schools hired teachers who taught British accent in the name of social etiquette. 

My school hired a teacher who taught this British accent as a subject. Then, we were forced to pronounce “baby” as “beibi”. Saying “bebi” is considered outrageous and vernacular and too “Igbotic”. And as a pupil, who is aiming at the global stage, you must learn how to speak “correctly” and “constructively” inorder to be favoured by the white people - ndi ocha.

Pupils were made to compete against themselves. There was a prize for the best “British speaker” in the class. 

And the kid who couldn't speak in a British accent? He is the dullard of the class. The empty brain, one who wouldn't cross the shores of River Niger.

Looking back at this moment in my life, I realize how foolish we were. Our culture was already at the verge of collapse and we were contributing to its own extinction.

This is the predicament of many African pupils and students. There's this sense of belonging that comes with speaking with your nose in the air, like a person who is gagged.

Although, there are campaigns to return “back to our roots”, the future of Africa is still struggling from the claws of colonialism, tied to its neck.

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