ANTI NIHILISTIC HYPOCRISY: a syndrome

  The problem with the Nigerian society is the anti nihilistic hypocrisy. 

   Hypocrisy; the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.

  Nihilism; the belief that traditional morals, ideas, beliefs, etc., have no worth or value

  Anti; opposition to something or someone.

  Anti nihilistic hypocrisy; the false assumption of being opposed to the demoralization of Africa's (Nigeria's) culture.

  Why do I say it's hypocritical?

"Some people will say a woman is subordinate to men because it’s our culture. But culture is constantly changing. I have beautiful twin nieces who are fifteen. If they had been born a hundred years ago, they would have been taken away and killed. Because a hundred years ago, Igbo culture considered the birth of twins to be an evil omen." —We Should All Be Feminist by Chimamanda Adichie

  I say it's hypocritical because we've forgotten, either purposely or not, what our culture really is. We have forgotten how the colonials made us shed our self woven attires to put on their imported garments. We have forgotten that this culture which we sentimentally defend is borrowed civilization. The problem is not really that we've forgotten, the problem is that we've deliberately become oblivious to fact that culture changes. We miraculously do not forget that the colonials changed us, but we forget that we can change again, ourselves.

  Gentlemen and Ladies, queers and Non binaries, the society, our society, even after sixty years of independence, is still hell-bent on upholding the system of the British colonials under the facáde that it is our culture and we should have respect for it. This, I believe, is absurd because these same people who infused this outdated mentality on us, have adapted and evolved in tune with the modernities of the 21st century whereas our guardians are still stuck somewhere in the 19th, afraid of change, forgetting that this was not who we were.

  Africans are a creative race. We like to decorate and design and color and improvise. Well, we used to. I don't know about other African countries, but I do know that Nigeria has lost it's yearn for creativity, it's probably pretence though; a conscious self righteousness.

  Once in the university, when I wore an anklet to class, I was scolded and reported to my mother and when I returned home, she said "..... forget what you see on television, that's the white man's country. Wearing that thing on your leg is not right because this is Nigeria and it's not part of our culture".

  You and I both know that it was part of our culture donkey years before we were born. If you do not know, I do. I also do know that in the time of our ancestors, the young ladies would decorate their faces with henna and charcoal and dye their hairs with ground clay. I know for a fact that in the time of our ancestors, said young ladies would flaunt their midriffs decorated with strings of beads and there'd be more strings on their necks and wrists and ankles too. Why then do we say now that these are not not part of our culture?

  Dreadlocks. Tattoos. Anklets. Waist/hip dance. Waist beads. Nudity. All were ingrained in our culture before western colonization. Today we condemn these things because "this is Africa" and "it is not in our culture". The irony of it all. The miseducation. The mental slavery. The hypocrisy. We tell ourselves "it's the white mans culture not our own", we pretend to forget that that which we chorus to be the whiteman's culture was our culture and not theirs. I don't think I've ever seen or read a record of a white man before colonization who wore dreads or had tattoos. They came with religion (meanwhile even the Bible talks about adornment with jewelry and henna. Ezekiel 16:10-122 Kings 9:30)and told us our practices and beliefs were immoral. They made us feel ashamed of our nudity, our innocence (if you want to reference that to the innocence of Adam and Eve whilst they were naked), our freedom and went back to their continent to do what they condemned in ours. Does that feel right to you? Now, if I decide to go to the beach, my mother would make me wear shorts and a shirt, "Godforbid that you go out in public with only bra and pant, this is not America" she'd say. I can't even flaunt a halter neck top because exposure of backside is ungodly. Sighs.

  "What is the point of culture? Culture functions ultimately to ensure the preservation and continuity of a people." —We Should All Be Feminist by Chimamanda Adichie. 

  Hence it's fluidity. As generations come and go, culture follows. You do not and should not raise future generations with past principles. And I'm not talking about principles like respect or honesty or hardwork; these have nothing to do with culture, it's just common sense. I'm talking about our way of life; being allowed to try new things and explore new ideas and theories. That which worked a decade ago is not guaranteed to work now. We are a society that raise children to conform.   When I pierced my ears, my mother wasn't bothered because she was already fed up. But when we were supposed to attend a family gathering, she had me take the earrings off because "...they won't understand. You have to behave and look accordingly so they don't say you and your mother is irresponsible". We say, "go and shave/relax your afro so you look responsible; don't dye your hair or pierce your ear so you don't look like a prostitute; that trouser is too tight you'd draw attention; agree with whatever the leader says so you won't be a rebel; don't speak up because it's disrespectful; be a doctor/lawyer/engineer as other occupations don't matter". We end up with a bunch of adult-infants robotized by a society of conformism.

  Mind you, I am not promoting irresponsibility. Yes they say appearance depicts who you are as a person but let's not be blinded to think that a girl who wears short skirt is a sex worker. The length of my skirt does not determine my body count biko, neither does it mean that I'm a sex worker. Let's not be blinded to think that any boy/man with dreadlocks is a yahoo boy or an armed robber or a drug addict. Let's not be blinded to think that any female with an anklet is a lesbian because a piece of jewelry worn on the leg is not a symbol of one's sexuality. I'm seriously wondering how y'all came up with such theories sef.

  "The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete; they make one story become the only story" —Chimamanda Adichie

  The problem with there being only one story is that it has been told over and over and over, from generation to generation to generation and we have refused to accept another version...

  "Not long ago, I walked into the lobby of one of the best Nigerian hotels, and a guard at the entrance stopped me and asked me annoying questions...... because the automatic assumption is that a Nigerian female walking into a hotel alone is a sex worker." —We Should All Be Feminist by Chimamanda Adichie

  The problem with the continuous repetition of a story is the automatic assumption that comes when faced with a similar plot. We tend to jump to conclusions when we see someone doing what we've been told not to do. And assumption is just as deadly as envy is. We assume that anyone who doesn't conform like we've been taught to, is evil because to disagree with someone's lifestyle, is to fear or hate them. Discard this thought please.

  So, why exactly am I  stressing? First, it's because this is one of my intensive confession as a Wallflower(which is what this blog is about) on my view of societal conformation. Secondly, I feel compelled to implore you to change and cause change because culture does not make people. People make culture.

  "We cannot bend the world into shapes that we want. But we can try."–Chimamanda Adichie.