I remember a particular incident that took place some years
ago. I stayed for some time with this wonderful family, a friend's family after
graduation from the university. One day, we were seated around the dining table:
my friend, her sister and two of her female cousins. One of her cousins went on
as she described each of us; "Ifeoma has Yoruba accent. Chioma has Hausa accent.
Priscilla has English accent... You (referring to me) has Igbo accent and it's very
local." They all laughed and concurred. That day, I was embarrassed for
having an Igbo accent. When I remember that incident, I want to go back and
apologize to myself for ever daring to feel embarrassed. For crying out loud, I'm
an Igbo girl, why should I have another tribe's accent? This is what Igbos do
to themselves and feel unnecessarily embarrassed for who they are. If an Igbo girl has an English accent, what
accent would an English girl have? Igbo accent?
When I was serving as a Corp member in AkwaIbom, the Ibibio
people couldn't even pronounce "Ijeoma" properly. Hey! We are from
the same nation and yet they cannot pronounce my name properly. The same thing applied
to when I tried to pronounce some of their native names for the first time. They
laughed at me, yes. Then, no matter how well I learnt to pronounce their names,
I could never speak English in their accent. They have this unique way of speaking
English in their accent. We even laugh at them when they speak but that is how they
are and whom they are. Why try to become someone else? For those who correct me
and try to make me speak in proper English accent, I ask them; "have you
seen a white man pronounce an Igbo name? Does he do it well? Let me speak English
like an Igbo girl."
When we watch foreign
movies, we don't find it difficult to differentiate between an American guy and
a British guy because of their accent. You don't need to ask, you know an Indian
by his accent whether he is speaking their language or English. You see, your language
and accent is your heritage and unique identity. By the time we lose all of
these as Igbos, who do we become? I've not seen a people who have identity crisis
like Africans. We want to be like every other person except ourselves. Sincerely
speaking, if all my audience were Igbo, I would have written this piece in Igbo
and enjoy writing down every word and sentence. On Facebook, some people add me
to Igbo groups where all the posts are made in English. ??? Of course, I either
exit the group or forever remain silent in the group.
Now, as a result of our non-Igbo speaking, our children do
not know our Igbo history and folklores. Do you remember when we were told
stories of "mbe" and his various adventures? Do you remember when our
parents spoke to us with their sentences heavily punctuated by proverbs? How I
miss my father. Many nights, we would sit in front of the house and he will
tell me stories of the Biafran war, of his school days, of Igbo tradition, of Nigerian
politics and a whole lot more. My father remains the greatest influence on my life
and I miss him. Today, I have a few friends whom I hold such discussions with
and their depths amazes me. Recently, I learnt about the origin of my people. I
also learnt about how the Igbos fought the Biafran war- a story of bravery,
sabotage and innovation.
Today, our children know only about Cinderella and Ben Ten
but no idea of our rich stories that teach children good morals and how to co-exist
with one another. Today, our children do not know of our stories that talked
about the spirit world, and gods, and masquerades,
Also on cultures and histories, no people have a perfect history
or past. We all have our dark times including the bringers of Christianity but
the importance of history is that it shows where we were and then we what we ought
to do to get to the future. Most importantly, our history, our language, our history
is who we are. When we deny it and try to become like other people, in which
case we can only be secondhand, we lose the very essence of who we are.
Igbokwe
Vivian Ijeoma
Twitter/Instagram:
@club7teen
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