I'm sick and tired of most Nigerians abroad criticizing everything Nigeria. From the funny accent to their superiority complex, it's just disgusting. Nigerians at home don't hate or envy, as some have suggested in this forum. We just want you to keep it real in the Nigerian context, and stop acting like jackasses just because you hopped on a plane and back.

@Idekson

What is a wannabe Nigerian? There are many Nigerians that have not travelled and have fake accents. I hear "Ify" on Big brother Nigeria has an accent and she has not travelled or lived abroad, is she a wannabe?

@idekeson, i don't really understand what you mean. Can you explain further. Everything this thread starting from the topic to the post is just contradicting itself and very confusing.

Eastcoast u are right. I am confused exactly what his point is. How can you call them Nigerians and call them "Nigerian wannabes" in the same breath. And what is "Keeping it real in the Nigerian context mean"?

Idekeson has a solid point. he may have missed the point when he said "Nigerian wannabe" i think he actually meant "foreigner wannabe".
I think it's sickening the way most nigerians travel out of the country and suddenly you start hearing something like "i'm from NY, i was born in Nigeria/London, anytime they are visiting nigeria they are only going on vacation and they would soon be going "home".
Their children can never study in nigeria again, suddenly they can't seem to see anything good about nigeria, everything nigerian sucks, they no longer are proud of their nigerian names, seun now becomes sean, emeka turns to mek, Chukwu turns to chuck and so on,
many are even ashamed to be known to be able to speak their mother tongues, they speak american english better than the americans themselves. When they come to nigeria, they live above their former naija friends, they can't touch amala, they practically live at mr.biggs for the time they are here.

Mba, Nigerians back home have every right to be resentful. we are no better than they are, i critisize nigeria too bt we should remember that everytime we do, there are nigerians who still live there and may not be as opportuned as we are.

Take a good look at this forum, most of the very active members are based abroad. Most members boldly display their locations (me inclusive) so long as it is within the US and Europe. If i lived in nigeria too, the attitude of most pple here would have driven me away in frustration ever since. there are thousands of nigerians on this forum but they are too timid to post, the whole forum has been swallowed by foreign nigerians who no longer associate with their fellow country men by virtue of one long air flight out of lagos.
rather than post in simple english everyone can read, we are assaulted with words like y'all, fxxk, wanna, all in a bid to show that we are now bonafide americans!

We can live comfortably in america or wherever you are without becoming superior to those who never made it out. Let us tone down a bit, those in osun state and akwa ibom are our brothers and sisters too. it is high time we started making them feel welcome!

A non-nigerian to this site would never think this was a nigerian site besides the name of the website!

i agree with you davidlyan

David

I think you are a little bit misguided here. I am sorry but many people change their names for many reasons especially economics rather than a fashion statement( It is easier to pronounce). If you have left Nigeria for 5-8yrs and are no more used to amala and you now like sushi,lasagna,pizza,burgers,fries,pancakes, etc. Guess what meal you are going to be looking for when you go on vacation to Nigeria, Ghana, or to the Caribbean(Pizza,Burgers and Fries). I think this website is successful because of Nigerians abroad and the reason is because we can express our INDIVIDUALITY better here(US) than in Nigeria. The Kumbaya attitude in Nigeria, is far different from Nigerians abroad and that is the main thing that changes within our persons when we emigrate to the west. Everybody simply holds on to the opinions more here. Back home people do not always speak their mind. Perfect example is the girl i hear on BBN (Ifeoma) I have not watched it, but people tell me that her accent is one of a kind and she is from Jos. Never travelled, i wonder if that is from TV or just from hanging out with her friends from the west.

David i usually agree with you but in this case you are wrong. The same thing happens inside Nigeria. If you live in Enugu and you visit your friends in Lagos, your old friends in Lagos will act like Enugu is a village. Forgetting that they used to live there in their childhood. I personally do not thumb my nose at the people back home, but the same way i will disagree with you (David) is the same way i disagree with (Idekson).

Nigerians in Nigerian are more American wannabes than the reverse. They all have a local American/British/Nigerian accent. My friends in Nigeria answers the phone with "Yo", "Yeah" Word Up" the use the F word more than i do. Everyone wants to have an afro or corn rows and the absorb the American influences more than Americans themselves. Look in Nigeria today if you are not faking you are not living.

David, Nigerians in Nigeria are as guilty if not more than us here. Even within the country today, there is a funktified broken English that has a lot of American influences.I actually believe there is no other country in the world that is an American/UK wannabe like Nigeria. And with that said, Nigerians in Nigeria have hostility toward those that have managed to make it abroad. That is where the beef is, they want to come over and many times cannot and when you come back you are stereotyped from head to toe. The Fact is that i do not think that anyone can leave Nigeria at age 18 and come back at age 25 and be the same person. It would be a miracle, and your friends back home also changed quite a bit too.The difference is that you that travelled changed more than they did. It is just some cultural differences. You are shocked when people throw thrash out of the a moving car, i was shocked when my friend took a leak by the side of the road in broad day light, forgetting that i used to do that a lot. I am amazed at how people are so willing to take and give bribe, i am shocked when people drive with smoke coming out of their exhaust. I am amazed how people scream while on their phones, like they want you to be part of their conversation, i am shocked at how people spit everywhere, and how people talk with food in their mouth all the time.These things used to be the norm to me before, but i am not used to seeing all that now.

too bad. Whether in nigeria or not i find it's easier to just be yourself that to live a life that u're not. while in a private sec school in nigeria, it was a fad to have an uncle or aunt or best of all parents based abroad. everyone seemed to have at least one "Close" relative tucked somewhere abroad, it did not matter if they were there illegally.

Why fake an accent? I don't speak like an american at all, infact many pple who come across me for the first time ask if i'm british. If u are in nigeria, live like a nigerian. Now everyone including lagos boys spot ear rings on their left ear lobe (from watching one too many films!).
The one i find most annoying is i can perfectly comprehend most white pple when they speak but when nigerians born here speak, i spend the first 5 minutes saying 'pardon can u come again'?

David

I feel u on the "Pardon me" tale. You call and they answer "Who Di$". Nigerians generally like to fake, and it is not going away anytime soon. But i really think Nigerians in Nigeria fake like American wannabes, more  than Nigerians in America faking like they are someone else. At least we are here, and the influences are in your face 24/7. How do you explain a Kid in KC Lagos or The Bells in Otta or in Unilag, that has not travelled before but knows the hottest nightclub in NYC or London or Miami. That kid Knows where Busta Rhymes lives,Knows the Game"s real name,can analyze the whole eastcoast/westcoast rap beef, thanks to MTV Cribs, love-vendor my Ride, and Beef. In Nigeria they will even argue with you that lives there and tell you that you do not know what you are talking about. Someone told me that Washington DC is a state and would not allow me to corrected him, claiming i was not informed. Look at the trends back home and you will clearly see the copycat attitude. Girls are wearing these big sunshades, thanks to sex in the city,nip tuck, CSI, ETC.

Kids in Nigeria that like Biggie, hate kids that like 2PAC and they have never been to Brooklyn or LA. Please Explain!

At least we are here and the influences are in your face. How do you explain a Kid in KC Lagos or The Bells in Otta, that has not travelled before but know the hottest nightclub in NYC. Know where Busta Rhymes lives, can analyze the whole eastcoast/westcoast rap beef.

Kids in Nigeria that like Biggie, hate kids that like 2PAC and they have never been to Brooklyn or LA. Please Explain!

You make me remember i think in 1997 or thereabout when BIG was killed. I was in secondary school then. Unbelievable! I got to school and it was like a ghost town, boys and girls where moping tears from their eyes, when i asked if the housemaster or the prinipal had passed on the night before,, i was given the ridiculous answer that BIG was dead!

Which kain pple be this? BIG was killed and school shut down for that day? That was when i started hearing 2Pac, eastcoast, westside, beef, and all that nonsense. How many of them cried the day fella died?

Yeah folks in nigeria are the real wannabes. that is why folks abroad feel pressured to change and become americanized. otherwise, when they visit home, everyone is gonna insult them to their face. they would be like come on did you really come from america and you are still da same. i think that is one of the reasons why many pple force themselves to change.

Exactly Eastcoast!

Faking is now a way of life in Nigeria. Everyone has a need to belong.Have you seen a Nigerian movie lately? Nigerian Actors and Actresses have all manufactured an accent. The plot, the scenes, the storyline are losing the "Nigerian context". If Idekson was honest, he will tell stories of Nigerians acting like "American wannabes".

When in Rome act like a roman. I'm guilty of answerin the phone like "who this",if you live and work with people you'll act like them  so as not to be an outsider, it's not about being a wannabe.i came here when I was 17 and theydidn't understand me because i was still acting like a nigerian, the trick is finding a balance between your nigerian heritage and your new surroundings,people who complain about it are the ones that can't assimilate even  after trying they damndest. The name is to make it easier for people and to pronounce it,i get called about 50 variations of my names all the time so that really ain;t nothing. the person who said something about Fela,that was your generation, 2pac is for my generation and I don't care if he's from NY,LA or China if you listen to his more positive raps you'll understand why.
So in true american hip hop fashion, holla back chea

hmmm, interesting! Actually i think i see sense in the topic that is the title given to the thread, to mii i think he's refering to Nigerians abroad who want to act like the westerner (if i'm not wrong).

But so much as i take up for my bros and sis back home, i'm so sorry i can't agree with you on this Idekeson, nigerians living abroad are not really trying to fake it or act all up when they come home (except for a limited few, who i wonder what their stress is), it's just the nigerian mentality or better still the black man mentality, those of us from africa attach so much to the western world and those blacks abroad attach so much to the White but let's come back home and not deviate from the thread. Nigerians believe when anyone travels the person automatically is better than they are and they start treating them differently going out of thier way to please them, well that makes home boy or gal want to live up to whatever expectations you have placed on him/her, he has to act smart eventhough he might be another novice on the issue, but deep down most (note that now "most" of them want to be treated normally.

About the food, it really does crack mii up to hear someone say they act like they don't eat eba or Amala, buddy you need to know that nigerians abroad eat virtually more local food than those at home, believe it, i mean this is what they grew up with, if you see them saying no to particular food it ain't forming, plzzzzzzzzzzzzz move up, they just don't feel like it, you don't blame a man for not eating a particular kind of food!

and about "faking", y'all should understand something when you are a part of a particular society for long before you know it you start blending, my friend's mum lived in nigeria for 35 or more years and till today she speaks all the "abi, shebi, and lil pidgin" and believe mii her accent has traces of nigerian accent, wat does it matter, to us oh that is kool to hear an american speaking pidgin but if a broda or sista comes home with an accent we say they are faking, listen, no matter how much you try to stay natural once in a while you gat to compromise, most times we only find out that we ordinarily pronounce some things wrong and we learn to pronounce them right that is not forming, then with slangs, i mean if you roll with these pple there is no way you wouldn't pick up one or two of their slangs and guess what i have my friends speaking one or two nigerian words (must be they are faking huh? give mi a break!). Even within nigeria, if you relocate to a different vicinity most times you come back with couple of words from that localty, even an accent attimes. So what is that? forming as well, get real abeg!

Spikey, i noted your annoyance at hotstepper for using the y'all stuff, i don't think that was on purpose i assume she's used to saying it that way and just used it, don't get offended at that.

And about nigerians who speak with accents eventhough they've never been abroad i don't think that is forming either (not the Yo and stuff now and not the obvious foolishness some people engage in) if words are pronounced right there definitely is an accent to it, i can give you a practical example, we have our way of saying embarrass rite? but there was a day i was in a group meeting and we were reprimanding someone i said the word "embarrassed" (most likely i was using it for the first time around them) everyone stopped in their tracks wondering what the heck i just said and i repeated myself and my friends cracked rite up saying i pronounced it wrongly, i mean, this is mii who has more vocabs than quite a number of them, who helps them with their English assignments, infact tutors them (not to sound too smart) but i just didn't know i was wrong, well i played it off but do you think i would ever repeat it in that nigerian way? NO! i've learn't that and nothing can take that from mii, i'm not going to please anybody back home to repeat my error, NO SIR! but what am i driving at, if they've been or never been out of the country and they speak correctly it doesn't matter, neither is it forming.

and someone noted that we try to speak all this big vocabs even better than the westerners them selves, well, too bad 'cos guess what the same way i study to learn these words is the exact way these westerners study to learn them and do you know that in the ordinary nigerian society we speak more vocabs than the average american? (i can't speak so much for europe), my lecturer actually told the students to ignore the word "volition in the text book ,because it's too big and it's rarely used, i couldn't hide the dumbfounded expression on my face, for Godsake quite a number of you know what volition is, you don't have to form or cram the dictionary for that! or is it a med student who didn't know the meaning of curfew, i'm not joking now, i'm being for real, the list goes on.

so let's just appreciate ourselves and move beyond this idea that people are forming, rather i consider them learning (note i'm not talking about unneccesary slangs, that's based on individuals) and bros and sis back home stop treating these "just arrived" like they're too important, treat them like you would treat anyone, "home based or abroad based, white or black."

gosh! pardon my error guys (the portion to spikey) , part of my response was for another thread (but i think the threads are related though)

@ Inka,

"finding a balance between your nigerian heritage and your new surrounding" is correct. i just read your post and i think that really made sense.

We can live comfortably in america or wherever you are without becoming superior to those who never made it out. Let us tone down a bit, those in osun state and akwa ibom are our brothers and sisters too. it is high time we started making them feel welcome!

I agree but remember its a two way thing

I'm concerned that my people tend to place too much emphasis trying to eliminate their accent rather than speaking clearly. My point is that there is nothing really wrong speaking with an accent as long as you pronounce your words clearly. Don't try to sound cute and end up mumbling incomprehensible words. Accent is all about attitude. Listen to a Caribbean express himself with all the accent beneath the words. Still he never lacks confidence. Our problem is that we tend not to be comfortable when people detect the accent in our voice and they're curious to find out where you're from. In the long run, who you are and the respect you get from people has nothing to do with your accent. You might sound different and you're name a little difficult to pronounce at first, but believe me, in Europe and America where competition in life is steep, different is a good thing.

When we were small , we used to go to the village .People will come to visit the Town people that just came.
I The village i will run around with my rubber slippers and a wrapper like the other children.
When i got older i stopped that wrapper stuff but i did not take the good cloths.
But i never fitted in.
I know Nigerians who just after one year abroad came home bragging and boasting and complaining that the cola is not cold.


But when you have been away for long you become part of the system and you cannot shake it off . It has nothing to do with wannabe but assimilating.


I Germany there is big talk of integration.There are even schools for that and any foreigner that dose not attend it will not get their paper.
People have to learn to fit into their society its more than only the accent and the food,
Most Nigerians i know in the states or UK do not speak with an accent to me they know i will call them swee swee swee .But i can hear they are trying very had not to swee.
I have been in Germany for over 18 years now and its a part of me that i cannot shake off.

I will not deny that there are many wannbes .
These people are even ready to take a credit in the bank for the grand going home.

@Idekeson

i second U true talk, most nigerians abroad are wannabes and the most annoying thing is it doesnt even suit them, just imagine!! trying to deny Ur people, accent, Culture and stuff all Cuz U've now gone abroad so U think U're the 'Oga'' Oga ma @$$!!

Nigerians in Nigeria who hear you speak in a particular way think u are fronting for them but they never stop to think that people everywhere speak differently and that u are likely to speak like the society you are in.
When I got to school in the US, everyone thought I had a british accent and I didnt try so hard to change my accent. But then, sometimes, I would say something and then I would get blank stares and I would be like " well, my country was colonized by the british, our school system is modeled after the british and my pronunciation is british" and they go like " interesting". They learn to accept you for it but really, you find your self changing bit by bit because
1) it is a lot easier
2) if you are, say, in a meeting, you don't want people to either misunderstand you or not understand you at all
3) you find yourself adopting the accent unconsciously, i mean, you watch tv, u listen to music. when are u not going to say things the way your friends say it.

The mark of a wannabe is when the person adopts an accent that is neither Nigerian nor US/UK/whatever and then the person goes to Nigeria and goes on with a foreign accent. I mean, common, u go to Ojuelegba and u go like "I wanna, I gonna". Then u are being a wannabe.

As for people in Nigeria who speak "phonetics", so far the person speaks correctly; my friend went to a school where almost all the teachers were white, she lived in an environment where people were multinationals. Common, how do u want her to speak?  I remember I had teachers from ghana in primary school and I used to pronounce police "plice" etc.

@ omogenikky

i really do agree with you.

@idekeson

i feel u when u say some people try to sound cute and mumble incomprehensible words.

@ Rhodalyn

true talk some people indeed try to dissociate themselves from everything called nigeria and that i think is pathetic, how can people learn to respect the real you when you don't even respect or appreciate yourself.

I am a proud Nigerian and nothing can sway that pride. like idekeson said being different is good, i remember countless times i got people to do stuff for mii just because they claim to like my accent.

exactly!!

zionchic:

@idekeson
i feel u when u say some people try to sound cute and mumble incomprehensible words.

lol, now thas funny they try to sound cute but mumble incomprehensible words thats really really true Just imagine

Ok there is something I dont quiet understand about this thread. What is wrong with having a foreign accent? Does that make you a wannabe? Having a foreign accent does not make you a wannabe !!

I think just by looking into the lifestyle of a typical so called "civilised" and "educated" Nigerian, you have the Wannabe at display, and that is just within Nigeria. The dressing (durags, hiphop clothings, timbs etc), the flow, etc its all fake !!

it aint bout foreign accent!! he's talking bout those who actually criticize their own country just Cuz they're now exposed to a diff way of life!

well and those who ''fake'' the accent

@zionchic

u said my mind. eerthing i wanted to say, u just said it.

about the vocab issue, when i was in naija, i never used big words of course dictionary aint for me, but the minute i came here. i noticed dat doz words we see as big is actually little to dem and i had to blend.

on the accent thingy. dat is actually a problem to me.

i have 3 accents and d worst part is i use d 3 in a sentence. i begin with british(thanks to my friends there), i blend to america and sometimes i end with naija. my proffesor tot it was cool so did most of the students but to me it is not good.

now on d faking thingy, well u cant leave here for 5 years and expect to go back home and speak the same.

i cant say much cuzz zionchic has said it all and y'all should keep an open mind when doing certain things. things aint really what they seem.

my 50 cents.

Reading this topic actually makes me realise how warped the reality of others could be sometimes.Wannabes Abroad?Do i smell haterade on your breathe or what?Why are we wannabes?Because we speak more like the members of the society we live in and not like those from which we descend, or because i have a different perception of the world now that i am viewing it from a different angle.Listen the apparent contradiction in the post itself is worthy of laughing at.Dont you realise that the concept of being "Nigerian" is a foriegn concept , the last time i checked the official language of Nigeria is english.Does a "Wannabe" element not exist in that concept?.The fact is, being a Nigerian is the ultimate manifestation of accepting the west as a superior society at least economically,That is why we look to them for trends and direction.So just like prior generations of early colonial nigeria,the new generation will aspire to be like the west in more ways than one, hence the continuation of the "wannabe" syndrome .If i live abroad it is impossible for the foreign culture not to rub on me,so when i go back to nigeria on a visit thinking i am my same old self , chukwuemeka who remained in nigeria begins to spit venom at me because he thinks i am fake or more appropraitely for this forum a wannabe.Do you know what i will tell him?"F"OUTAHERE NIGGA I NO SEND YOU . scream at me .1

@LAHLAXZA,
All your efforts will probably make you a "house nigger", and you ought to be proud about that.

@ LAHLAXZA

you're making a lot of sense but remember that you can't take it too far either, considering the "F out of here Nigga" i think that is way way out of there. because i'm sure even though someone thinks you're faking and you respond like that they will just laugh in your face and bro U'd be so so emabarrased

@ diddy4dt

i feel you with the accents thing

"@ LAHLAXZA

you're making a lot of sense but remember that you can't take it too far either, considering the "F out of here Nigga" i think that is way way out of there. because i'm sure even though someone thinks you're faking and you respond like that they will just laugh in your face and bro U'd be so so emabarrased."

@zionchic
Apparently you don't know me or have an idea how my thought process works.If someone laughed in my face after telling them off,it only validates the reason why they got cursed out in the first place .I am probably thinking,what a retard? .But i do see what you are saying though the "F out of here nigga" part will be too out of context for chukwuemeka  .    lol  Scream at me .1

@ Idekson

By "house nigga" what do you mean ? I think i know but i am not quite sure (is it one having an african american attitude within this forum) or that was plain old sarcasm on your part.  Scream at me 1

LAHLAXZA:

@ Idekson
By "house nigga" what do you mean ? I think i know but i am not quite sure (is it one having an african american attitude within this forum) or that was plain old sarcasm on your part. Scream at me 1

When you alienate your roots in an effort to attain a level that in reality is not open to you.

@ idekson

When you alienate your roots in an effort to attain a level that in reality is not open to you.


Are you implying that  or you are saying that will the be perception of others who don't get where i am coming from?Regardless of your answer i dont think i ought to be proud of a title i dont deserve.