I love when Nigerians Sound Nigerian
Growing up in Jos in the 90s, I always felt like I grew up in the melting pot of Nigeria, because I had friends from all over Nigeria, mixed in with expats, diplomats and Returnees, I grew up exposed to different people, cultures, languages and accents. In Nigeria, English is the official language, the language we were taught in, spoke to most of our friends in and in some cases, spoke at home. Now in Jos, like most of Northern Nigeria, the other official language was Hausa, it didn’t matter if you were Hausa or not, everyone seemed to speak Hausa in Jos or at the very least understand enough to communicate or bargain in the market. I had friends willing and eager to teach me, but I refused because my Father didn’t speak Hausa, he was a proud Igbo man who wanted to instill in me pride in our Identity, nothing was more important than speaking and being Igbo. So, I grew up speaking English, Igbo and as much Pidgin as I could pick up on the playground. But I was always fascinated by how other languages sounded and how this translated into accents when they spoke English.
To this day, when I hear a Northerner replace f with p, or I hear a Yoruba man speak with a h factor I smile quietly to myself. Not in amusement, in fact I’ve never really understood why people find African Accents funny, but in fascination, a bit of joy and a lot of curiosity. I always want to know the story behind it, what rules of your mother tongue make you speak like that? When I hear an accent, I can’t place, I wonder what language they speak, how did they learn certain words and sentences. It’s a fascinating game I play in my head when I hear people speak. And it’s not just limited to Nigerians, I’m fascinated whenever I hear someone speak English with an Accent, always wondering what was the back story, how did they get to speak the way they do.
I had a friend In College Named MD, he is German Senegalese and Learned English in school as he grew up and on his travels. He Attributes a lot of his vocabulary to Hip Hop, a subject we spent several hours bonding over. Then one day, I realized I’ve Never heard him say “Yes”, he always said “Yeah” with a thick American accent that neither of us could place, that almost made it sound like “Gea’ ”. And I always attributed this to his exposure to Southern American Hip Hop.
This got me thinking about how I speak, When I was in England, my English friends said I sound “somewhat American” (After a few offensive assertions that my English was good fOr a NiGeRiAn), However whenever I’m in America, my American Friends think I sound weird but not the kind of weird they were Expecting a Nigerian to sound like. Apparently, I don’t sound like their favorite Social Media Comedians. I for one, don’t think I have an Accent, I believe I just talk.
On deeper reflection, I think the assertions that I sound American came from living in America between the ages of 5 and 6, not an eternity by any means, but very formative years. When I arrived, I already could speak read and write English at a decent level, My Mom loved the party trick of having me read articles from the days Paper just to show me off. However, as I mentioned earlier, I was raised to believe that nothing was more important or cooler than being Igbo. So, though I had my eyes wide trying to soak in as much as I could, I still had my Biases, still Believed Oliver De Coque was the greatest musician in the world and Americans just didn’t know any better, and once told a class of kindergartners that Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was a Super Hero.
When I moved back to Nigeria, I had a thick American Accent, it wasn’t Intentional, it was just how I had learned to speak. I eventually learned how to somewhat dumb it down depending on who I’m Speaking to, but some words I never really learned to pronounce any other way. Now that I’m older, it’s quite fun to play the game with myself when I hear myself speak. Sometimes I pronounce “Traitor” like “Trader” and I think to myself ah, that word was learned in Michigan then, then I pronounce “Reverse” like “Revise” and I think Aha! that’s the Enugu in you or Igbo Acid Reflux ™️ as I like to call it. I still don’t know what Accent I have, I’m a product of my influences, what I heard growing up and how I learned certain words.
Though I’ve always maintained a biased preference and soft spot for Igbo my mother tongue, I mean….
My fascination with Accents has never known any bounds, sometimes when I meet new friends or romantic interests and I ask questions about where they grew up and what it was like, it’s in large part due to my curiosity about how they sound to my ear. Every Accent has a story.
And It breaks my heart when People of Color the world over are mocked, judged and deemed somehow less competent for speaking English with an Accent, as if that is somehow something to be ashamed of. I wish we could shake the need for West Acceptance and Standards and Embrace these Accents and the stories behind them. Accents or Proper Grammar in English are not a measure of Intelligence! Every Accent has a back story, and I for one, would Love to hear it.
