IT’S NOT FUNNY

I just got off my facebook page and i must say, i am really really really pissed,what is the problem you might ask,well while moving around,i decided to go to my cousin’s wall,you see he has this video of a lady Rita, by name, that was in the KOKO MANSION reality show,this video which i believe a lot of Nigerians have seen,shows when she was being asked a question and her response,if you have watched it, you would know, that was no response, but words just plucked and strung together with no sensible meaning to make a sentence.My kid sister had told me about it last year,but i had not seen the video,i finally got to see it when i moved to Milan,to say i was disgusted would be making light of my reaction that day,i kind of forgot about it till i came across it on my cousin’s wall,i just decided to read the few comment people had made about it and that was when i got really pissed,in generality they all found it funny,don’t get me wrong i enjoy a funny joke and laugh at all things funny but at times we should draw the line on what is funny and what is embarrassing.

I am made to understand that she is an undergraduate, meaning she has gone through primary and secondary education and still cannot string her words correctly,do we realise that thinking that this is funny we actually let people who are not Nigerians thinks this is how we all are.Just before you say i am self conceited let me just tell of an experience i had on my third day in Milan.

I had just arrived and was trying get my paper work done and trying to register at school and as you know Italians don’t speak English,so when you see someone who speaks it,it’s like a life line has been thrown out to you.I needed to get a phone and a phone line quickly,so i was directed by the school where to buy both,on getting there ,i was browsing through their collection and trying to make a decision, at the same time wondering how i would communicate to the shop assistant when i finally make it,out of the corner of my eyes i noticed a young African guy and his white friend staring at me.I  am used to such things so was non pulsed,the African walked up and asked if i was from Senegal which i answered no(once you are above 6ft and you are black you must be from Senegal,that’s the way it is in Milan).He told me he is from Ghana and i was like thank God one English speaking brother,he has lived in Milan most of his life so he knows the language,so he basically turned to my interpreter ,as the shop assistants were trying to get my order,we got talking about a lot of things,then out of the blues he just dropped a bombshell ‘You know you speak good English for a Nigerian’ and I'm like, what did you say? he then went on to tell me about meeting and knowing Nigerian that don’t speak English  very well and that basically all we speak is pidgin.I then took my time to educate him that Nigerian speak good English but that to majority of us the pidgin English is like a melting pot as Nigeria is a very large and diverse nation with a lot of languages,the pidgin kind of brings everything together,i also him told that i was not the exception but the rule,i said as long as you have gone through primary and secondary education then you should speak  English well.

You can then imagine my horror and disgust when i came across the said video and some of us find it funny,really should we? Have we gotten to the stage as a nation where an undergraduate speaks like that and we find it funny instead of being embarrassed and this video i believe was shown on international TV,we should learn how to project positive things about our country,don’t allow others think it is only those that school abroad that speak well and i am not talking about having an American or British accent.My point is we really need to re-evaluate the things we let out as a nation to the outside world and most importantly the things we should take a positive stand on.

There i have said my mind maybe i can now calm down.

That’s a first,two post in one day.See you later

CIAO