When You Grow Up As A Nigerian -By Rees Chikwendu

Rees Chikwendu

Everything comes with a package. How you unpack it matters in understanding what is and what ought to be. Like frames, presentation as well as interpretation matter in how certain things are perceived, inclusively or exclusively. This is not far from being a Nigerian. It comes with its own package, and oftentimes people from other cultures have wrongly unpacked and interpreted Nigerians, maybe to suit their labeling objectives.

Nigerians are born knowing that no one is better than them. They do not imply in anyway to be better than others. Despite Nigeria’s despicable leadership failure, Nigerians do not see themselves as less human whenever you encounter them within or outside the country. They are not people that shrink in inferiority complex, which would have been understandable due to centuries of colonization and enslavement. On the contrary, it seems Nigeria’s case is a reverse – they somehow managed to expunge colonial and slave mentality, which the British colonialists tried to implant in them. This, however, does not include the present crop of Nigerian leaders, who still remain stooges and puppets to their colonial masters, and with dogs tail tucked between their legs whenever they come close to their White gods.

I understand the Nigerian casual arrogance could be extremely annoying to many people, especially to some dear white people, who would be uncomfortable to see a black man exudes such confidence. After all, they were supposed to behave like slaves. Are they not? Sorry, dear white people, with this wrong expectation, Nigerians are different stock of blackness. Yes, I said it, so what? Nigerians are unlike many black people or most Africans. Even African-Americans who have been fighting white people for centuries do not possess such confidence of Nigerians. Therefore, I would understand how easy it could be to perceive Nigerians as the arrogant type of black people. Of course, there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance. The former can easily transform into the latter. We all know this. It is also very easy for someone who is insecure to misconstrue someone else’s confidence as arrogance. This is often true in how people unpack and interpret Nigerian encounters. Thus, many times Nigerians are labeled negatively.

Back in my university days, I was often the odd one in the sense of being the only one or two black students in the lecture room. Contrary to what some dear white people expected of me, I was never invisible neither did I allow their perception to shrink me into a corner of the room. I was reasonably present. Some classmates expected, that being sometimes the only black guy in the room, it was proper to hide myself in a corner of the room and be quiet. Unfortunately, I did not fit into that schema – and sometimes I suffered for being visibly present through direct and subtle discriminations from some fellow students and few lecturers. In fact, at one class presentation, a fellow student whom I worked with in a project was flagrantly racist directed at me, because she tried to pigeonhole me but failed. She was intimidated by an intelligent black dude, because in her mind black people are not supposed to be smart enough. The only weapon, she thought, was to put me in my right place through racist remarks against black people. Well, the full season of that show she scripted would surprise you. Unfortunately you can’t download it here.

Understand: If you are a Nigerian your casual arrogance would sometimes display itself, which means that it would put you at odds with some people who have designed a schema for you in their small minds. Sometimes your sense of self-worth could be perceived as arrogance. When you don’t shut up and hide yourself in a corner as expected of a ‘black slave,’ you would become to them loud and noisy. And when you push to be treated as human and respected as equals, those who are not contented in their own skin and are insecure, would frame you as aggressive. That is always the black template used by some dear white people to frame you, especially when you demand for what is right or refused to keep quiet and suffer as the slave you are meant to be.

In many cases, Nigerians defy cultural studies and theories on black people or Africans. Most cultural studies of communication would describe Africans as indirect and implicit. But I believe every culture has mix of implicitness and explicitness to some degrees, and Nigerians do not fit into a dichotomy of cultural dimensions of either implicit or explicit, because theirs is a complex society. Nigerians in many ways are one of the most direct and open people in the world – a nature that simultaneously works in their favor and against them. They are people who do not shy away in making their voices to be heard wherever they are found.

Environment and culture are influential in what people become. Like people elsewhere Nigerians have been shaped by their environment and culture. If you grow up as a Nigerian, one thing I’m sure your parents cultivated in you is this: Nobody has got two heads. Everyone has got one head. Therefore, we are all equals. Nigerians grow up knowing that they don’t have to bend over for anyone to enjoy anal pleasure on them. To those who do not like equality, Nigerians with this mindset could be irritating, stubborn, and aggressive. Some have attributed the Nigerian mindset to the country’s mainly black population unlike South Africa, but I do not believe this to be true. It is true that Nigerian struggle for independence was a feat that made sure British colonialists did not settle in the country, but the casual arrogance of Nigerians cannot be attributed to it. It is something in the people called Nigerians today even before the British Whites came to that territory. Cultural studies on this would reveal something deeper than the association to black population. It is multivariate and complex.

Rather than hate the Nigerian confidence or casual arrogance, I think you should be proud of them. Because they are people subdued for centuries in colonization and slavery still they rise… Even though poor leadership has kept them down till this day, Nigerians deserve to see themselves as no less human.

In conclusion, I would say this, in the words of Maya Angelou, if you have written Nigerians down in your history with bitter and twisted lies, you would not trod them down in dirt. Does their sassiness upset you because they walk and talk like people who got oil wells pumping in their living room? Indeed they’ve got oil wells. Do they laugh like people who got gold and diamond mines digging in their backyard? Of course they’ve got these, too. Do you think they are supposed to bury their heads in shame rooted in history of pain of white slavery? Sorry, dear white people, Nigerians have punked you. Nigerians are black ocean leaping, welling, and swelling wide. Whether in abundance or lack, Nigerians have chosen to be proud people. They have chosen to see themselves no less human. They rise… So, please, take a chill…