Inferiority Complex Revisited

Well, I treated this topic last week and got a few reactions in my inbox (wonder why you guys won't comment on the post itself). Anyway back to the matter, it is obvious I'm not the only one who noticed that our people have lost touch with their history and will do anything as long as it's 'UnAfrican' (doubt if there's a word like that, but you know what I mean). To these people, anything indigenous is local. My friends feel its worse among the Igbos (I have mostly Igbo friends because I grew up in the Eastern part of Nigeria). I notice it somehow because in public places, you will hear people speak other languages but will hardly hear Igbo spoken. Even if you hear Igbo spoken, it will be a mix of English and Igbo (engirigbo). However, I won't crucify my Igbo people based on the language alone. It is a national problem.

'As long as it's from the West, it's the best' mentality has affected us a lot. Some ladies are hell bent on marrying men who live abroad (as if wealth is shared abroad).Why do we treat foreigners like demigods when they visit us and yet degrade our own people? Some of them treat us with plain civility and respect in their own country, but won't forget to remind us we are not one of them when the situation arises. We sure need to respect ourselves before we can be respected.

History is not taught in our schools, how then will our people know about their nation? I remember my first day at school in England, my course representative asked me how I learnt to speak the English language. What!!! But was I upset? Hell no, I really laughed out loud. I told him we are taught in English in our schools back home. My Chinese classmates were surprised as well. I wonder where they got the impression that Nigerians do not know how to speak English. Inasmuch as I know how to speak English, I do not hesitate to speak my native language when there is need for that. In fact I've gotten better in my language since I got here because I wouldn't want anyone to decode what I'm on about. We are in a hurry to get the British and American accents, but Indians, Germans, Russians and the rest of the world stick to their accents, and you will easily know where one is from, even when he/she speaks the English language.

Young children no longer understand their native languages, not to talk of speaking it. I mean children who even live in their villages. The English language is a necessity for communication purposes, so also are our native languages. I foresee a time when people will come for village meetings and speak English (that will be a shame). Or will everyone live in the cities and allow the villages come to ruin? It still boils down to a disregard for our own things. Thumbs up to my dear friend BI who lives in East Kilbride Scotland. Her children who are Canadian citizens speak Igbo so well. I used to hear them over the phone, but when I met them this past Christmas my jaws dropped. I wondered if they would speak English well too and yes they could, and so well too. Why can't we all try to keep our languages alive for posterity sake.

The most recent show of inferiority complex and lack of self esteem I've seen is, the quest for fair skin tones. Dark skinned girls will go extinct soon if care is not taken. I've read about this 'get fair quick' syndrome in other blogs, seen evidences of people who have literally bleached out their epidermis (not minding the harmful consequences), but I realised how bad it had become when I got a blackberry broadcast yesterday asking people to purchase body creams that will help them achieve, "half caste skin, Egyptian shine, Moroccan glow" etc. I know that not all Blacks are dark skinned, but why is there no advert for products to achieve the African glow? Or has the phrase, 'Black don't crack' lost it's meaning?

I can go on and on about this issue, but the summary of it all is that we have to learn to appreciate ourselves. God's decision to make us Africans was not a mistake. The developed countries have shown us the way forward and are still there for us to learn more, but we have to believe in us to make things work. We have to use what we have and what we've learned to better ourselves and our nation. This may seem like a non-issue, but the effects will be felt very soon if we do not start acting.

One Love,
Lae'.