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5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 7:53am On Sep 21, 2015
The term “colonial mentality” refers to the situation where people from a colonized country see the culture of their ex-colonial masters as superior to their own culture, especially when it is unnecessary. Nigeria was colonized by Britain from the 19th century until October 1960. It is of no surprise that there are certain British customs that have a heavy influence on the Nigerian society.

Here are 5 common instances that show that we Nigerians at times undervalue our own culture due to some unnecessary appreciation of a foreign one-


1) Radio and TV presenters using British and American accents; if one watches the Nigerian media carefully, one would notice that a lot of the presenters or commentators actually try hard not to sound Nigerian. Many of them actually see the foreign accents as more “professional”. The funny fact is that, many of these presenters actually switch back to their local accents when describing something in pidgin English or describing something uniquely local to Nigeria.


2) The use of English names rather than local ones; In all Nigerian tribes or cultures, the name of a person is very important. A person’s name must have a deeper meaning. Unfortunately, this custom is being challenged by the fact that many Nigerians see it as more “christian” to have an English or Biblical name. Some Nigerians even see it as more “advanced” to give their children English names. To prove this point, one can look no further than our previous Nigerian president, whose name is Goodluck Jonathan (which sounds like a jovial character in a Shakespearean play) . Also, some Nigerian Christians think it better to be baptized with anglicized biblical names such as “John”, “Mary”, “Paul”, “Vincent”, etc.


3) Bleaching of skin; this is one of the worst cases of inferiority complex among some Nigerians. It is quite sad that some Nigerians actually believe that “whiter” skin is better and so they use creams and chemicals to bleach their skin to a fairer colour. This is mostly as a result of seeing Western beauty standards as better than local ones.


4)Unnecessary use of foreign technical experts; for things as basic as the construction of roads and IT solutions, Nigerian officials and bureaucrats prefer to use expatriates rather than local talent. Dr. Eugene Enahoro explains the situation better;

[center]“In practically all their operations Government prefers half-baked foreign “technical experts” to competent Nigerians. Even when compelled to employ Nigerians, their preference is to recruit from diaspora our countrymen who think, talk and act like white men….

….Nigerian leaders are so in awe of expatriates that even in things as mundane as constructing roads, they take pride in being photographed with some second rate foreign contractor. The paradox is that if Nigerians can’t be trusted to do simple things like building durable roads, how can they be trusted to manage the far more complex issues of good governance?”[/center]


5) White Jesus; No one today truly knows how Jesus Christ looked like and I am okay with that as a Christian. What I find unacceptable is the use of the Italian looking Jesus that we Nigerians hold on to. Most Nigerian churches have an image of Jesus appearing as a white man, when it is more likely that Jesus would have a darker skin.






http://allnaijablog.com/5-common-cases-of-colonial-mentality-in-nigeria
cc Cao, Lalasticlala, johnydon22

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by F00028: 8:20am On Sep 21, 2015
6) favouring traditional European attire (suits) over our own, for formal occasions

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 8:30am On Sep 21, 2015
F00028:
6) favouring traditional European attire (suits) over our own, for formal occasions

That one is a universal issue. All around the world, suits are the international standard
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by joseph1832(m): 10:25am On Sep 21, 2015
I thought Jim Caviezel was an american? LOL. You should also direct this point to the catholics and ask them why their virgin mary looks white and very much Italian. grin

Seriously bro, colonialism never left us, its still here to this day, the very thing the white man did was to enslave our minds.

This so far promulgated another aspect of neo colonialism, even christianity too is still another form of neo colonialism.

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 10:34am On Sep 21, 2015
joseph1832:
I thought Jim Caviezel was an american? LOL. You should also direct this point to the catholics and ask them why their virgin mary looks white and very much Italian. grin

Seriously bro, colonialism never left us, its still here to this day, the very thing the white man did was to enslave our minds.

This so far promulgated another aspect of neo colonialism, even christianity too is still another form of neo colonialism.

Who is Jim Caviezel?
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by joseph1832(m): 10:37am On Sep 21, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:


Who is Jim Caviezel?
Oh so you haven't seen "the passion of the christ?" It caused quite a stir when it aired back then...

He played the role of Jesus Christ.
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 10:39am On Sep 21, 2015
joseph1832:
Oh so you haven't seen "the passion of the christ?" It caused quite a stir when it aired back then...

He played the role of Jesus Christ.

I see

I never watched the film.
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by joseph1832(m): 10:40am On Sep 21, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:

I see
I never watched the film.
Try watch am bros, you go like am.
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by F00028: 12:21pm On Sep 21, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:


That one is a universal issue. All around the world, suits are the international standard

angry international standard for what?

1 Like

Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by llaykorn: 5:05pm On Sep 21, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger, I totally disagree with your first point. undecided
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 9:20pm On Sep 21, 2015
llaykorn:
AllNaijaBlogger, I totally disagree with your first point. undecided

Why am I not surprised?

Isn't Laykorn an anglicized name?

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by llaykorn: 9:31pm On Sep 21, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:


Why am I not surprised?

Isn't Laykorn an anglicized name?

Laykorn can be whatever you decide to call it and that still doesn't change the fact that it is moronic of anyone to claim that wanting to speak a language that isn't ours the way it is spoken by those who own it is a case of colonial mentality. smiley
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 4:42am On Sep 22, 2015
llaykorn:


Laykorn can be whatever you decide to call it and that still doesn't change the fact that it is moronic of anyone to claim that wanting to speak a language that isn't ours the way it is spoken by those who own it is a case of colonial mentality. smiley


First of all, I hope for your sake that "Laykorn" is not an anglicised version of "Lekan" grin grin grin


Now, even English people accept that there are different accents. A person from inner London speaks differently from someone in Liverpool, and someone in Liverpool speaks differently from someone in Newcastle.

Please, how is English supposed to be spoken? Canadian accent? American southern accent? Australian Accent? Scottish accent?

Please, go and watch Jamaican television- they speak English with Jamaican accent on the news. Proper English on their news channel but with a Jamaican accent.

In Nigeria, we have to form British and American accents. smh





cc Cao

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by cao(f): 6:01am On Sep 22, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger, wetin I do?
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 6:29am On Sep 22, 2015
cao:
AllNaijaBlogger, wetin I do?

Just wanted your input. We cool smiley
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by cao(f): 6:40am On Sep 22, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:


Just wanted your input. We cool smiley
On the train to work. I'll look at it later.
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by cao(f): 7:57am On Sep 22, 2015
Okay, I'm using valuable The Simpsons: Tapped Out time to answer this.

Accent: I've seen folks blow phonet pass the ones way don travel obodo oyinbo, and that was while I was in secondary school. I've heard some very questionable accents back home, especially when people hear me speak and notice I've a slight lilt to my accent. Then they try to out-accent me. Unfortunately, people now believe that having a foreign accent means you're of higher elk. But, you can still be refined with your accented Nigerian English, it hasn't stopped my parents.

Names: I don't have that luxury, all my names are concentrated Igbo names. ANB, you could have actually used the used the point of parents not teaching their children their native language instead. My parents didn't teach me or any of my siblings Igbo because they didn't want it to affect our English, maybe that's why we're chameleons when it comes to accents. My brother's Yankee accent will kill you (and that's before he went to America) and for odd reason people think I moved from America (I blame too much TV). Although, I've come across some people who will tell you that our African names are savage, then I give them the meaning of my names and ask them what are the meanings of theirs, most of them have no clue. Then, I explain to them, that our parents took the time to give us names with deep meanings, they didn't just pick it up from the ether.

Bleaching: On one of my holidays back home, my sister had to inform me that a family friend had bleached and I shouldn't react in typical cao fashion. On seeing this girl, in live and living colour, beautiful black skin turned into cocoon of decimated self-esteem, I guess that's what makes her happy. Shame, she wasn't happy with her beautiful skin.

White Jesus: That would just take way too much time and my bus ride is almost over.

Foreign experts: This makes some sense to some things, eg any high speed train projects. But, I think the prevalence of foreign experts, boils down to the fact that Nigerians seem to possess reverse racism & distrust for their fellow Nigerians, usually under the guise of tribalism and corruption. Once, they can get into that mentality that non-blacks nationals are not their saviours, maybe we'd get ahead a bit.

6 Likes

Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by khalhokage(m): 8:01am On Sep 22, 2015
Number 1 always annoys me to no end, look at other countries that were British colonies from USA to Australia, they all have their own distinct accents, and Nigerian accent was once listed as one of the sexiest accents but Nigerians no dey ever appreciate their own things.

1 Like

Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 9:36am On Sep 22, 2015
cao:
Okay, I'm using valuable The Simpsons: Tapped Out time to answer this.

Accent: I've seen folks blow phonet pass the ones way don travel obodo oyinbo, and that was while I was in secondary school. I've heard some very questionable accents back home, especially when people hear me speak and notice I've a slight lilt to my accent. Then they try to out-accent me. Unfortunately, people now believe that having a foreign accent means you're of higher elk. But, you can still be refined with your accented Nigerian English, it hasn't stopped my parents.

Names: I don't have that luxury, all my names are concentrated Igbo names. ANB, you could have actually used the used the point of parents not teaching their children their native language instead. My parents didn't teach me or any of my siblings Igbo because they didn't want it to affect our English, maybe that's why we're chameleons when it comes to accents. My brother's Yankee accent will kill you (and that's before he went to America) and for odd reason people think I moved from America (I blame too much TV). Although, I've come across some people who will tell you that our African names are savage, then I give them the meaning of my names and ask them what are the meanings of theirs, most of them have no clue. Then, I explain to them, that our parents took the time to give us names with deep meanings, they didn't just pick it up from the ether.

Bleaching: On one of my holidays back home, my sister had to inform me that a family friend had bleached and I shouldn't react in typical cao fashion. On seeing this girl, in live and living colour, beautiful black skin turned into cocoon of decimated self-esteem, I guess that's what makes her happy. Shame, she wasn't happy with her beautiful skin.

White Jesus: That would just take way too much time and my bus ride is almost over.

Foreign experts: This makes some sense to some things, eg any high speed train projects. But, I think the prevalence of foreign experts, boils down to the fact that Nigerians seem to possess reverse racism & distrust for their fellow Nigerians, usually under the guise of tribalism and corruption. Once, they can get into that mentality that non-blacks nationals are not their saviours, maybe we'd get ahead a bit.


Very interesting.

Yes, our languages are dying. I barely speak my own local language.

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 9:38am On Sep 22, 2015
khalhokage:
Number 1 always annoys me to no end, look at other countries that British colonies from USA to Australia, they all have their own distinct accents, and Nigerian accent was once listed as one of the sexiest accents but Nigerians no dey ever appreciate their own things.


The funniest thing is that some of them will now scatter ibon (make a heavy grammatical mistake) while speaking phonee with fake accents.


"Yeah menn! The club is the shizzy menn! That's where everybody are!!" angry angry angry grin grin grin grin

1 Like

Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 2:14pm On Sep 22, 2015
F00028:


angry international standard for what?


Official attire. Office dressing
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by khalhokage(m): 3:12pm On Sep 22, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:



The funniest thing is that some of them will now scatter ibon (make a heavy grammatical mistake) while speaking phonee with fake accents.


"Yeah menn! The club is the shizzy menn! That's where everybody are!!" angry angry angry grin grin grin grin

"Shizzy" cheesy
You need to listen to planet radio in Akwa ibom, "you know" after every sentence and a mixture of American and Ibibio accents grin

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 6:10am On Oct 05, 2015
khalhokage:


"Shizzy" cheesy
You need to listen to planet radio in Akwa ibom, "you know" after every sentence and a mixture of American and Ibibio accents grin

lol
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 11:36am On Oct 06, 2015
Joseph1832, i need your input here
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by joseph1832(m): 12:05pm On Oct 06, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:
Joseph.1832, i need your input here
Well I'm not a supporter of speaking phonee as it is called, but I do believe many try to emulate the way westerners speak because they think its cool and add importance to their life.
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 12:13pm On Oct 06, 2015
joseph1832:
Well I'm not a supporter of speaking phonee as it is called, but I do believe many try to emulate the way westerners speak because they think its cool and add importance to their life.


grin grin

I normally read your poems with a british accent in my mind grin
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by Nobody: 12:26pm On Oct 06, 2015
The OP listed points I have come to find very repulsive in Nigerians, especially females when it comes to speaking English. They attach so much accent and 'hip' to it that you'd wonder if all Naija girls have spent considerable time in the US/UK/Canada to have their tongues impacted.

Not to forget parents who speak English to their toddlers. There are some who are extreme who would frown at you if you dared to speak the local language. The funny aspect of it is the parents whose English is horrible yet they f.uck up the kid's head with bad english and inability to speak proper local language - double kill.

And the religion aspect is worse. There were das I attended churches for the sole purpose of looking at people during 'praise and worship' sessions in order to see how some hold the picture of the white jesus to chest and shed tears, some bow to it and so on. I often wonder how Christians would generally feel when they find out their belief system is a sham?

The use if foreign names andhow those who do not have foreign names have picked them up for themselves cheesy. Being birthed by a Christian mother around a Christian granny, I was given a biblical figure's name which was formed part of my full name but mostly put in as abbreviation f .S. I dropped the name when I hit 17, turned the .S abbreviation to my other name 'Segun' making my full name completely Yoruba and I've worked with it ever since!

Te colonial mentality is strong, the colonialists did a good job. It takes a lot of strength and will to do a self-assessment for folks to see how it has chewed into them.

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by joseph1832(m): 12:32pm On Oct 06, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:


grin grin

I normally read your poems with a british accent in my mind grin
LMAO! If you had said american, then I would have believed you, but british, na na na! cheesy
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 1:27pm On Oct 06, 2015
9jacrip:
The OP listed points I have come to find very repulsive in Nigerians, especially females when it comes to speaking English. They attach so much accent and 'hip' to it that you'd wonder if all Naija girls have spent considerable time in the US/UK/Canada to have their tongues impacted.

Not to forget parents who speak English to their toddlers. There are some who are extreme who would frown at you if you dared to speak the local language. The funny aspect of it is the parents whose English is horrible yet they f.uck up the kid's head with bad english and inability to speak proper local language - double kill.

And the religion aspect is worse. There were das I attended churches for the sole purpose of looking at people during 'praise and worship' sessions in order to see how some hold the picture of the white jesus to chest and shed tears, some bow to it and so on. I often wonder how Christians would generally feel when they find out their belief system is a sham?

The use if foreign names andhow those who do not have foreign names have picked them up for themselves cheesy. Being birthed by a Christian mother around a Christian granny, I was given a biblical figure's name which was formed part of my full name but mostly put in as abbreviation f .S. I dropped the name when I hit 17, turned the .S abbreviation to my other name 'Segun' making my full name completely Yoruba and I've worked with it ever since!

Te colonial mentality is strong, the colonialists did a good job. It takes a lot of strength and will to do a self-assessment for folks to see how it has chewed into them.

Well stated!

We Nigerians need to master our own identity. We need to stop blowing fake phonetics.

And we need to stop giving ourselves funny foreign/biblical names- Hezekiah, Gamaliel, Jedekiah!!! grin grin
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 1:28pm On Oct 06, 2015
joseph1832:
LMAO! If you had said american, then I would have believed you, but british, na na na! cheesy


I'm curious! Why American?
Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by macof(m): 1:46pm On Oct 06, 2015
AllNaijaBlogger:
The term “colonial mentality” refers to the situation where people from a colonized country see the culture of their ex-colonial masters as superior to their own culture, especially when it is unnecessary. Nigeria was colonized by Britain from the 19th century until October 1960. It is of no surprise that there are certain British customs that have a heavy influence on the Nigerian society.

Here are 5 common instances that show that we Nigerians at times undervalue our own culture due to some unnecessary appreciation of a foreign one-


1) Radio and TV presenters using British and American accents; if one watches the Nigerian media carefully, one would notice that a lot of the presenters or commentators actually try hard not to sound Nigerian. Many of them actually see the foreign accents as more “professional”. The funny fact is that, many of these presenters actually switch back to their local accents when describing something in pidgin English or describing something uniquely local to Nigeria.


2) The use of English names rather than local ones; In all Nigerian tribes or cultures, the name of a person is very important. A person’s name must have a deeper meaning. Unfortunately, this custom is being challenged by the fact that many Nigerians see it as more “christian” to have an English or Biblical name. Some Nigerians even see it as more “advanced” to give their children English names. To prove this point, one can look no further than our previous Nigerian president, whose name is Goodluck Jonathan (which sounds like a jovial character in a Shakespearean play) . Also, some Nigerian Christians think it better to be baptized with anglicized biblical names such as “John”, “Mary”, “Paul”, “Vincent”, etc.


3) Bleaching of skin; this is one of the worst cases of inferiority complex among some Nigerians. It is quite sad that some Nigerians actually believe that “whiter” skin is better and so they use creams and chemicals to bleach their skin to a fairer colour. This is mostly as a result of seeing Western beauty standards as better than local ones.


4)Unnecessary use of foreign technical experts; for things as basic as the construction of roads and IT solutions, Nigerian officials and bureaucrats prefer to use expatriates rather than local talent. Dr. Eugene Enahoro explains the situation better;

[center]“In practically all their operations Government prefers half-baked foreign “technical experts” to competent Nigerians. Even when compelled to employ Nigerians, their preference is to recruit from diaspora our countrymen who think, talk and act like white men….

….Nigerian leaders are so in awe of expatriates that even in things as mundane as constructing roads, they take pride in being photographed with some second rate foreign contractor. The paradox is that if Nigerians can’t be trusted to do simple things like building durable roads, how can they be trusted to manage the far more complex issues of good governance?”[/center]


5) White Jesus; No one today truly knows how Jesus Christ looked like and I am okay with that as a Christian. What I find unacceptable is the use of the Italian looking Jesus that we Nigerians hold on to. Most Nigerian churches have an image of Jesus appearing as a white man, when it is more likely that Jesus would have a darker skin.






http://allnaijablog.com/5-common-cases-of-colonial-mentality-in-nigeria
cc Cao, Lalasticlala, johnydon22

Why is this about Jesus complexion? Should any sane Nigerian worship a Jew in the first place?

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Re: 5 Common Cases Of Colonial Mentality In Nigeria by macof(m): 1:48pm On Oct 06, 2015
llaykorn:


Laykorn can be whatever you decide to call it and that still doesn't change the fact that it is moronic of anyone to claim that wanting to speak a language that isn't ours the way it is spoken by those who own it is a case of colonial mentality. smiley

Why don't Americans speak English the British way?

Inferiority complex oshi. .u are shamelessly trying to defend such disgusting act

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