I was chatting with a friend a few days ago and he mentioned that the Igbo language was going extinct. I sort of disagreed with him, but he insisted saying that other Nigerian languages will outlive the Igbo language because, the average Igbo parent will speak English to his children because he feels it's modern and classy. I slowed down a bit on the argument and thought deeply about it; it was not entirely a lie. Other tribes are so proud of their language, but you find Igbos still speaking the English language to fellow Igbos. I cannot explain why this is so, but I will simply say it's some sort of inferiority complex. Going on facebook, a friend wrote this, "...4 as long as Africans do not invent their own things, they continue to import foreign goods then, we are not totally free from slavery. We shall continue to remain dat way until we decide to take our destiny into our own hands. We must drop d issue of ethnicity, hatred, political differences and come together as one to develop our country to the maximum and our continent as a whole". [GM]
Inferiority Complex is not a problem of the Igbos alone. It is a problem of so many people; men, women, young, old etc. Inferiority Complex is a feeling of inadequacy and people will go to any length to live up to their perceived societal standards. How else can one explain the craze for the bleaching of one's skin (which is unhealthy), wearing expensive clothes and shoes (which are got through unmentionable means), riding cars (which are pretty expensive), all in a bid to measure up to standards.
We tend to think that the Western way of life is better. Don't get me wrong, Westernization is good and has done a lot of good for/to us, but should we discard everything African/Nigerian to become Western? Japan as we know was not colonized, but they are colonizers. If the Colonial Masters hadn't come, we would have developed anyway, albeit slowly. Then we would have been stuck mainly with familiar cultures and traditions instead of confusing and conflicting ideas. Or are we trying to say that nothing African is good? I doubt if anybody thinks that way (I may be wrong).
Let us strive to improve ourselves in a way that it will benefit everyone and not just ourselves. That way life will be better and there won't be unhealthy competition among us, all because we feel inferior and are not proud of ourselves.
One Love,
Lae'
You are spot on! Someone once told me she could not marry a guy because he spoke English with an Igbo accent. SMH (guess different strokes for different folks). And how about the sudden need for our OAPs and TV personalities to speak with some form of accent. It is actually painful to listen to.... I pray we retrace our steps on time before we lose our values and selves trying to be what we are not created to be...
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it's really getting out of hand. It is caused by some of our parents who think they can't speak Igbo to their kids because when they meet other kids outside they will be unable 2 communicate 2 them in the white man language(English). That is inferiority complex.
ReplyDeleteThe average Igbo parents feels a sense of pride if/when his child speaks impeccable English in the public or while in an outing. It massages their ego and makes them feel that the children are superior in 'class' to other kids. Too sad indeed cos our language might just be wobbling into extinction.
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