Britigerian*: A cool story.

Back in Primary school, I wouldn't be caught dead speaking Yoruba. I was ashamed of it. That's how they made us feel in England. They made us feel weird for having another language. They intimidated me with English. So I mastered their language. Heck, I speak better English than most of the kids that were in my class from Primary school. I was reading Great Expectations in Year 4. Camman!

By the time I got to Nigeria, I was so perfect in English, I didn't belong. I hated it. I was soo angry. So you mean to tell me, all that perfection was going to waste? I decided very quickly that a Nigerian accent wasn't going to pass me by. Besides, I had been blessed with the ability to adapt accents. At age 3 I had an Irish accent,  and I've been told my Indian accent is scarily accurate  (When impersonating an Indian mum). It's funny because I got picked on for this decision. No one wants to listen to your story. They just knew me as 'the girl from Jand* who lost her accent in two weeks.' Why did this even matter? Till today, I'm not sure. It might have been culture territorial behaviour or simply 11yr old banter. The thing I know is that I stuck with the Nigerian accent anyway. I didn't revert back to British (not consciously anyway), and now my accent game strong! Lol.

(No, but really, a lot of people tell me that I only have a Nigerian accent and I put on a British one. But I had the British accent first, so I'd say it was the other way, but I don't. Nopes, I have TWO accents. It's possible.)

 Anyways, a while down the line, I noticed the Nigerian accent wasn't enough for identification. Every other black person in London had one. Some thick as ever, and some - rather terrible attempts- oh and then there was the DontJealousMe type accent. Anyway, this motivated me to learn Yoruba. I always understood it. But speaking, I HAD no interest.

Today… I can't get enough of Yoruba. Every time I leave my house and I need to speak without being heard… it's Yoruba! And I see it on their faces… they are jealous. They don't understand. They don't have ANOTHER language. I even get young people at work saying..'Toni, do you speak Nigerian.' or 'Can you teach me a Nigerian?'


Do you know how gassed I get?


All I'm saying is, Thank God that I was able to identify with my country and culture, and I pray he not only maintains what I represent,but develops it.

Happy Independence Day!


*Britigerian is a term coined in the GGN era of life. It simply means British Nigerians - this may be restricted to those on Student Visa but I've extended it to Dual nationality.

*Jand is a term coined in... no one actually knows.. which is basically Nigerian slang for England.