The Emperors New Clothes

Lagos is the home of EFEEZY. EFEEEZY on crack even. And unfortunately I have to call my own people out here, us Yoruba’s are the worst for this. Our domestic product is “O wa mbe”. The literal translation for none Yoruba speakers is – “It is there” – i.e. That’s where the party’s at, that’s where all the happening people are at, and if you aint there then you just aint hip. This culture of Owambe has become so ingrained in the Nigerian psyche that people will go to any lengths to show that they too are ‘there’, they have arrived. I am not just talking about with parties, with life in general. It has become the norm for Nigerians to be showwwy people. We drive the flashiest cars on bad roads, wear the best clothes to shabby offices, We travel to the best places whilst our country lays in ruins. We always stand out in any crowd.

Recently I was watching an episode of the BBC documentary on Lagos, that followed the day to day life of some quite hard pressed Lagosians. The documentary (in my opinion) aimed to show the resilience of the Lagosian to overcome adversity. That was what I took away from it the first time I watched it. But the second time I watched it a few days ago what struck me was a side story of one of the workers at the dump who was quite literally scrambling for ends meet. However for his daughters 1st birthday he was insistent on throwing a massive birthday bash, and kept going on about how the whole community must respect him for that party. A few weeks back I also heard a story about a lady who lost her husband unexpectedly, he was the bread winner, and his death left the family in a very hard situation, however the wife insisted that she must throw a party far beyond her means and at the expense of the already struggling families’ future.

Whilst I understand the desire to celebrate the life of a child, or the memory of a life purloined by early death, I cannot claim to understand why we as Nigerians must go beyond our means to do so, push out the boat so far we can’t even swim out to reach it. We are so busy tooting our own horns, beating our chests, calling attention to ourselves, name dropping so people recognise us and our catalogue of achievements. We believe that if we shout enough about what we have, what we’ve done, where we’ve been, who we’ve met we will gain more respect. We parade proudly down the streets in our fictional regalia like the proverbial emperor in his new clothes seeking to be praised, acknowledged, accepted and revered.

True achievement, success, wealth (not money), happiness, and joy is silent, it whispers, its HUMBLE, it doesn’t call attention to itself, it is guided by a strong sense of values, it knows that there are many little boy’s that can see the emperors nakedness, and most importantly it does not need praise.

Somewhere along the line we (as Nigerians) have lost our values, we have placed more importance on material things, ostentatious displays, and grand facades. We need to re-route ourselves asap.

Xoxo.

p.s. Congratulations to my Absomaze cousin Dr. Eso on her graduation.