₦airaland Forum

They used to say, “Aboki no sabi English.” They said it with laughter, with scorn, with the assumption that intelligence has an accent, that brilliance wears a Western tongue. But today, it is those same “Aboki girls” who are rewriting the story not just of northern Nigeria, but of global excellence.

In a time where stereotypes still define how we treat ethnicity, language, and class, it is poetic justice that girls once mocked for not speaking English “well enough” are now winning international English competitions. These are young, hijab-wearing, mostly Hausa-speaking girls many from low-income homes or rural schools who now stand before judges from Europe and America, articulating arguments, quoting literature, and defending complex topics with enviable eloquence.

This is more than irony; it’s a revolution. And it’s long overdue.

Beyond the Accent: Breaking the Myth

Let’s be clear: English is not a marker of intelligence. It is a colonial language we inherited not by choice, but by historical force. And yet, in today’s Nigeria, fluency in English is often falsely equated with intellect or worth. The result? Marginalisation of those from non-English-dominant regions, especially the North.

How often have we heard phrases like “He’s brilliant… but his English is not good”? Or worse: “You know those Aboki people, they can’t speak English.” These are not just jokes they are linguistic weapons used to undermine confidence and limit access to opportunity.

But that tide is changing.

When Daughters Rise

In recent years, we’ve seen schools in places like Zamfara, Bauchi, and Kano send girls to international spelling bees, debate competitions, and essay contests and win. We’ve watched girls from Muslim, Hausa-speaking backgrounds take first place in English Literature exams or earn scholarships abroad based on essays that shook panels.

In 2023, for example, a group of girls from a government secondary school in Borno State defeated students from across Africa in a Pan-African English debate. Their accents? Unapologetically northern. Their content? Unquestionably brilliant.

These girls are not just mastering English they are mastering the art of owning their voice.

Education, Not Elitism

Their success speaks volumes, not just about personal determination, but about the potential locked within underserved communities. These girls are products of public schools, often with outdated textbooks, unpaid teachers, and limited electricity. Yet they thrive.

Why? Because given the smallest opportunity, the Nigerian child from Yobe to Yenagoa can rise. Because education is not about how polished your vowels are; it’s about how loud your mind can speak.

What the Nation Must Learn

We must stop measuring intelligence by fluency and start recognising effort, context, and content. We must invest in education beyond Lagos and Abuja into the heart of Nigeria’s forgotten towns and villages. And above all, we must stop laughing at the “Aboki no sabi English” stereotype, because it is not just untrue it is unjust.

Today’s Aboki girl is no longer waiting to be validated by Lagos Twitter or BBC News. She is writing her own headlines.

Final Word

The next time someone says, “Aboki no sabi English,” tell them this:

Las Las, na Aboki girls dey win world English competition.

sadi78:
They used to say, “Aboki no sabi English.” They said it with laughter, with scorn, with the assumption that intelligence has an accent, that brilliance wears a Western tongue. But today, it is those same “Aboki girls” who are rewriting the story not just of northern Nigeria, but of global excellence.

In a time where stereotypes still define how we treat ethnicity, language, and class, it is poetic justice that girls once mocked for not speaking English “well enough” are now winning international English competitions. These are young, hijab-wearing, mostly Hausa-speaking girls many from low-income homes or rural schools who now stand before judges from Europe and America, articulating arguments, quoting literature, and defending complex topics with enviable eloquence.

This is more than irony; it’s a revolution. And it’s long overdue.

Beyond the Accent: Breaking the Myth

Let’s be clear: English is not a marker of intelligence. It is a colonial language we inherited not by choice, but by historical force. And yet, in today’s Nigeria, fluency in English is often falsely equated with intellect or worth. The result? Marginalisation of those from non-English-dominant regions, especially the North.

How often have we heard phrases like “He’s brilliant… but his English is not good”? Or worse: “You know those Aboki people, they can’t speak English.” These are not just jokes they are linguistic weapons used to undermine confidence and limit access to opportunity.

But that tide is changing.

When Daughters Rise

In recent years, we’ve seen schools in places like Zamfara, Bauchi, and Kano send girls to international spelling bees, debate competitions, and essay contests and win. We’ve watched girls from Muslim, Hausa-speaking backgrounds take first place in English Literature exams or earn scholarships abroad based on essays that shook panels.

In 2023, for example, a group of girls from a government secondary school in Borno State defeated students from across Africa in a Pan-African English debate. Their accents? Unapologetically northern. Their content? Unquestionably brilliant.

These girls are not just mastering English they are mastering the art of owning their voice.

Education, Not Elitism

Their success speaks volumes, not just about personal determination, but about the potential locked within underserved communities. These girls are products of public schools, often with outdated textbooks, unpaid teachers, and limited electricity. Yet they thrive.

Why? Because given the smallest opportunity, the Nigerian child from Yobe to Yenagoa can rise. Because education is not about how polished your vowels are; it’s about how loud your mind can speak.

What the Nation Must Learn

We must stop measuring intelligence by fluency and start recognising effort, context, and content. We must invest in education beyond Lagos and Abuja into the heart of Nigeria’s forgotten towns and villages. And above all, we must stop laughing at the “Aboki no sabi English” stereotype, because it is not just untrue it is unjust.

Today’s Aboki girl is no longer waiting to be validated by Lagos Twitter or BBC News. She is writing her own headlines.

Final Word

The next time someone says, “Aboki no sabi English,” tell them this:

Las Las, na Aboki girls dey win world English competition.

it's fascinating how we go through hurdles to manifest what is not ours
When can we have a worldwide igbo or hausea speaking competition?

There are brilliant people from the North. The North don't chest beat the way others do. But so many Northerners are doing excellently well, in different sectors across the World.

You can never grow as a nation if another man's language is what defines our level of intellectual capital, the Chinese think in Chinese, the Russian think in Russian the English man thinks in English, when will we begin to think in our God given native tongue to develop solutions to our problems, rather not knowing how to speak another man's language is a barrier for you to progress in your own country even if you want to.
Imagine a WAEC students excelling in all the other subjects apart from English, he would now be denied admission into tertiary institutions because he/she does not possess the understanding of the technicalities of another man's language, English is good but it shouldn't be a requirement for students not to progress in their country, rather every 1st world nation are competent in the 4 most important topics in their native tongue; physics, chemistry, biology and maths.
We need to think about it.

Little known fact.

Hausa people who are well schooled, speak more standardised English language than other ethnic groups in Nigeria

The influence of their Hausa tongue, makes them pronounce words with the right phonetic tone.

We are all human, there is no two head about it