As a child, I tried to understand why some things in my local dialect were ascribed to the white man. These things were the nice ones, like tarred road, avocado, coconut. They had the white man's name (oyigbo, beke, mbakara etc) attached to them. In my teenage years, I asked to know the origin of these names. But all I seemed to get then was, 'because they are nice, sweet or delicious' and white people stand for good things.

Presently, we can all attest the number of us, our family and friends, who would NOT buy anything made or produced in Nigeria except it does not have any foreign equivalent. We rather want to patronise imported second hand clothes/shoes rather than buy made in Nigeria versions. Yet the white people crave for the things we take for granted. I will give few examples.

LOCAL RICE versus UNPOLISHED/WILD/BROWN RICE: While we call ours 'local' and want nothing to do with it, the white people wish it was less expensive to buy unpolished/brown rice in their country. That rice is the most expensive rice in most Western countries I have visited. People who eat unpolished/brown rice are the rich and people who care about their health. Can someone tell me what is the difference between the 'ofada' and Abakiliki rice produce in Nigeria and the unpolished/brown rice produced in Taiwan for most Western countries?

TAILOR MADE DRESS versus IMPORTED LABELLED DRESS: The second hand clothing business is one of the most competitive business in Nigeria. Everyone wants to wear foreign label even if it is second hand. Most people believe the higher the number of foreign labels you have the classier you are. People who have mostly tailor made dresses are regarded 'locale' or cheap. Also, tailors are offered cheap pay for their skills. On the contrary, tailored made dresses are revered in Western cities and towns. In 2013, I ordered 4 shirts from my friend based in Nigeria. They were all made by a tailor I know very well. Since then, I have ordered about 8 shirts for my white friends, who believe I am a prince for being able to afford 'tailor made shirts'. The funny part is that some Nigerian friends based here do not believe my shirts are 'IK made' (IK is the short name for the town where the shirts were made). Two months ago, my pastor's wife(based in Naija) saw my pix wearing one of the shirts, she called my wife to help her import the shirts to Nigeria. She was very disappointed when she was told, that they were made in Nigeria. Tailor made is very expensive in 'obodo oyigbo'.

NIGERIAN FOOD versus FOREIGN/PACKAGED FOOD: While I understand the desire to taste foreign food or buy packaged or pre-made meals due to time constrain, some Nigerians see it as a thing of class to order pizza, buggers and other foreign foods at the slightest chance. I don't know if in all my stay or trips to Western countries I only meet wrong white people. Because, once they get introduced to our spicy foods, they keep coming back. I can't count the number of white folks who have ask for recipes for some Nigeria delicacies. Last month, a white lady brought jollof rice and moi-moi to a church potluck. She learned it through her Naija friend and youtube. She promoted and bragged about the food as if she is a Nigerian. Why can't we be proud of what we have?

All these show we don't like or value what we have. We would do anything to get a white man's thing. Why are we obsessed with the white man and anything associated with him?

N/B: Mods, please move it to the appropriate section if this post is on the wrong one.

Curiouscity:
As a child, I tried to understand why some things in my local dialect were ascribed to the white man. These things were the nice ones, like tarred road, avocado, coconut. They had the white man's name (oyigbo, beke, mbakara etc) attached to them. In my teenage years, I asked to know the origin of these names. But all I seemed to get then was, 'because they are nice, sweet or delicious' and white people stand for good things.

Presently, we can all attest the number of us, our family and friends, who would NOT buy anything made or produced in Nigeria except it does not have any foreign equivalent. We rather want to patronise imported second hand clothes/shoes rather than buy made in Nigeria versions. Yet the white people crave for the things we take for granted. I will give few examples.

LOCAL RICE versus UNPOLISHED/WILD/BROWN RICE: While we call ours 'local' and want nothing to do with it, the white people wish it was less expensive to buy unpolished/brown rice in their country. That rice is the most expensive rice in most Western countries I have visited . People who eat unpolished/brown rice are the rich and people who care about their health. Can someone tell me what is the difference between the 'ofada' and Abakiliki rice produce in Nigeria and the unpolished/brown rice produced in Taiwan for most Western countries?

TAILOR MADE DRESS versus IMPORTED LABELLED DRESS: The second hand clothing business is one of the most competitive business in Nigeria. Everyone wants to wear foreign label even if it is second hand. Most people believe the higher the number of foreign labels you have the classier you are. People who have mostly tailor made dresses are regarded 'locale' or cheap. Also, tailors are offered cheap pay for their skills. On the contrary, tailored made dresses are revered in Western cities and towns. In 2013, I ordered 4 shirts from my friend based in Nigeria. They were all made by a tailor I know very well. Since then, I have ordered about 8 shirts for my white friends, who believe I am a prince for being able to afford 'tailor made shirts'. The funny part is that some Nigerian friends based here do not believe my shirts are 'IK made' (IK is the short name for the town where the shirts were made). Two months ago, my pastor's wife(based in Naija) saw my pix wearing one of the shirts, she called my wife to help her import the shirts to Nigeria. She was very disappointed when she was told, that they were made in Nigeria. Tailor made is very expensive in 'obodo oyigbo'.

NIGERIAN FOOD versus FOREIGN/PACKAGED FOOD: While I understand the desire to taste foreign food or buy packaged or pre-made meals due to time constrain, some Nigerians see it as a thing of class to order pizza, buggers and other foreign foods at the slightest chance. I don't know if in all my stay or trips to Western countries I only meet wrong white people. Because, once they get introduced to our spicy foods, they keep coming back. I can't count the number of white folks who have ask for recipes for some Nigeria delicacies. Last month, a white lady brought jollof rice and moi-moi to a church potluck. She learned it through her Naija friend and youtube. She promoted and bragged about the food as if she is a Nigerian. Why can't we be proud of what we have?

All these show we don't like or value what we have. We would do anything to get a white man's thing. Why are we obsessed with the white man and anything associated with him?

N/B: Mods, please move it to the appropriate section if this post is on the wrong one.

Do you see that the examples you give suggest strongly that it's only a natural thing when foreigners value more the things that are elusive to them? Americans wanting Nigerian food is no different from Nigerians wanting American food. Oftentimes people get tired of their own plentiful resources that have become stale and mundane to them, they then turn to foreign goods because these are scarce and scarce resources have a strong appeal. Scarce resources are also more expensive, hence the price they have to pay.

Hmmm............. Good one. But do you know that American also manufacture cars yet they still buy the Japanese/German cars same goes for the Japanese/German also. That is the way we humans are created but what pained me is the over do respect we give to different colour skin person as if they are more gods than we

Op your examples got me thinking. You are spot on with the fact that our tailors are good with sewing.

The rice issue is more about publicity and government help. I have not seen the locally made rice yet.

The West clearly depicts the kind of life we aspire to live especially in terms of infrastructure and the organised structure of their society. The closest way is to get our hands on some of those things associated with them. Our obsession with the Whites will stop as soon as we get to cherish our culture, values and abilities.

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