Not Nigerian Enough? Well Excuse Me...

Now that the blog is "open", let me start by saying, my life will not be complete unless I gather lots and lots of followers for the blog. All of you stalking Ego Du Jour, and I know you're out there since I used my psychic powers, must join the EDJ Blogtourage (on the right) or face my wrath.

In other news, one of my friends from Nigeria told me that he hopes I switch nationalities because I am not "Nigerian enough". This comment was made because I was not supporting the fact that SONY pulled their ad that "poked fun at Nigerians". First off I don't see how the commercial made fun of Nigerians, but Nigerians are a special group of people--prone to overreaction and irrational support of their country. For what had people so angry, you can see the commercial on Youtube. This is not the first time I have been accused of being "un-Nigerian", but I actually consider it a compliment when I see how "real Nigerians" act sometimes.

Lots of people say I should come back to Nigeria because the country has "changed". I always hear this statement from people who are comfortable back there. The poor street vendor is not going to tell me to come back because he/she knows what its really like. My friends back there tell me to come back because there is "so much money" there, and parents of friends tell me to come back because things are "better" there. But, all these people live good lives there--better than they would probably ever be able to live in the US. Of course they think Nigeria is good! I don't have any street vendor friends, but I bet if I did they would tell me to stay the hell away from Nigeria.

My favorite thing though, is when I hear people in the US say they will send their children back to Nigeria to attend high school and "learn the culture". To these people I say, Google Is Your Friend. I learned a lot more about Nigeria while I was in the US than I ever learned when I was there. These people never seem to realize the irony in what they are saying. If you love Nigeria so much that you want your kids to learn the culture, then why don't you move your whole family back there? Why send your kids away for 3-6 years and then bring them back to live in the US? They want US citizen kids who can visit Nigeria for short periods of time but will always have the "luxury" of being American and having a "civilized" home to return to. If these people really "loved" their country they wouldn't be half-assed about sending their kids home to "learn the culture". They would move the whole family back. At least I'm honest about only wanting to set foot there for very brief vacations.

In case you were wondering how often I have this conversation with people, its actually quite often. I'm tired of people acting as if my dislike of that place is a bad thing. They sound like Republicans accusing Democrats of being unpatriotic for having a different opinion. Its not by force to love Nigeria! Especially if your country has proven time and time again that it can be quite useless. JFK said: