Fast-forward 100 Years Later >>>>> Colonial Mentality Intact

Hello people! Hope your day's going great, whether you're knee-deep in the hustle and bustle of daily life or just taking things "jejely". 

This year marks 100 years of the amalgamation of this great nation going places (positive mindset people!) Lots of developments (social, political, infrastructural, and any other indices ending with "al") have taken place during this period, yet the passage of time has failed to alter the colonial mindset which is deeply ingrained in the psyche of the average Nigerian. 

Despite your vigorous protestations to the contrary, our default mode as a nation is to pick foreign people, accents (all those people that acquired British accents without leaving the shores of Naija you know yourselves)  brands, education, even food (Pringles over boli) over the available local equivalent.

Latest Personal Experience

From the title above it's obvious I've experienced a few instances of this phenomenon. Two days ago I traveled with some colleagues of mine to a city in Ogun State (work things). The guest house we were lodged at just so happened to have an "oyibo" resident. The HR Manager of the company lodging us (and for which we were executing a project for) held an impromptu meeting with my colleague, top priority, the contents of which were to be debriefed to the rest of the team.

Debrief: We have a foreign guest staying at the same guest house with you. He likes a quiet environment and complains if there is excessive movement while he is within the house. So please ensure that you do not inconvenience him. He will be gone in a few days (I can imagine the HR Manager giving a toothy grin at this point).

Reaction

"Ahhhh!! Kilo nsele! What does he mean by that! Ahhhh!" (see vexation with professional packaging).

So in order to please our foreign housemate we have to conform to a template (aka be fake, lacking in originality) in order to be considered accommodating. Seriously!! 

I'm pretty certain I speak for the majority of Nigerians worldwide (except for people like area boys and yahoo boys wey too dey show themselves for the wrong reasons) when I say that we are warm, friendly, helpful, positive (and very religious) people who love to have a great time. Part of our appeal is our individuality and uniqueness, after all didn't the Nigerian accent rank 5th on a global poll of the world's sexiest accents? (though I don't know whether it was a Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba or Calabar accent that won 5th position for us)

Pride in what makes us who we are is what, if harnessed correctly, will take us places. 

Good people, great nation anyone? 

Feel free to share your thoughts/experiences on this topic.