© 9ja... (I)

Nigerians are a rare breed. No other people of any race and clime I know, are so good at "copyright" or like I love to say "Copy-better"!  Trust me, Nigerians can adopt and adapt a style or culture, and modify it in ways that make it totally unrecognizable to the originators/inventors.

Doubt me? Check out the fashion scene and you'll have no problem believing me.

 (only wish they'll just copy some wonderful aspect of technology from the Western World, modify it and get them begging for a piece of the action already)...#Justsayingandwishing! you know what they say about wishes.

Now I have been tempted on several occasions to come to the conclusion that the “copyright/copybetter” is inherent in every thoroughbred Nigerian. Now that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if my wishes would somehow become a reality. That's not the case however. It seems we have consciously or unconsciously settled for copying the more negative aspects of other people’s culture and modifying it. What we find for example, is that we have become better at adaptation or trendsetting(in some laudable cases) than the people of any known clime *IMO*

Lets take a trip down memory lane. Am pretty sure you’ll recall a time when the “Makossa dance” was the rave of the moment in Nigeria. Nigerians only stopped short of forgetting and relegating every known original Nigerian dance step and style to the back burners. Every song became adapted to Makossa dance instead of  the reverse being the case.  Every Nigerian made it a point of duty to learn the Makossa dance *or risk the ol’ skool label/tag”. It took Lagbaja’s “Konko-below” dance step and Weird MC’s ‘Ijoya” (and gratefully so), to save us from that self-inflicted cultural slavery.

Make no mistakes, I suffer no xenophobia! I am a believer in globalization*as if I had a choice in the matter*. However, I am of the opinion that the globalization of every aspect of human life demands input and not just consumption. 

       Every people, nation, tribe and clime must bring something to the table. None can afford to be complacent or be content with just being at the receiving end. Your contribution or input on the world stage determines how well you fare  in a game the western world would so like us to believe is fair and win-win, but which you and I, and every right thinking and seeing African can surmise is otherwise and in our Nigerian local parlance ‘Na Wash’!. Like an old Yoruba adage states” Boju ba fo a ma riran” crudely translated-"even blind eyes can see-perception is the key!