I should start this page with my sincere
apology for the late posting. This should have been out by Friday April 3rd. lest
I forget, it was my brother's birthday on the 2nd, so happy birthday bro!
Do I have a reason for the lateness, yes;
an excuse? No. One of my reasons was, my mind hesitating between two topics; this
one and another which has been decided to be on the blog in another fortnight. Blogging
is not a must I suppose.
Well, my dear country Nigeria concluded
its general elections some days back with the emergence of a former military
ruler- Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Retd) as the next president. I do wish him long
life and wisdom to lead us well.
But before then, a lot of activities,
adoption of several campaign themes and slogans reverberated throughout the
political circles with one remaining constant and that was 'change'. I guess
the change slogan that started off in America with president Obama's campaign
in 2008 finally culminated into my homeland (Nigeria) in 2015. Change was sung everywhere,
pasted everywhere (you would think there was a 'Change Carnival' in Lagos if
you were a stranger in the land. One could almost touch change in a tangible
form.
This is also why I decided to blog on this
topic 'Let the real 'posh' babe, please stand up; please stand up. While I do
not hold any political office just yet, I do hope I can be the change agent to
ending the counterfeit lifestyle of the Generation X &Y in Naija (Nigeria)
all in the name of being "posh" or "tush"-as so many call
it. Tush-where ever that word came from still perplexes me, as the meaning in
the English dictionary bears no resemblance to being posh!
Now back to my topic, I remember relaxing
in my living room and this musical video came up on one of the TV channels. It
was about some Nigerian girl or ‘babe’ (it’s a common term to describe a
rightly fashioned accessorized young lady) with a very heavy British accent, who
was being taken round a mansion by this equally young fellow, impressing her
with his top-notch Italian leather sofa, marbled flooring and immaculate pool.
To cut the long story short, the girl stomped out in anger at the end of video
over some sort of disagreement on the parting gift after the visit. The guy
wanted to give her the Nigerian currency 'Naira but my so called babe refused,
claiming that she couldn't even recollect the last time she spent Naira in
Naija (Nigeria) as she has been spending hard currency especially dollars and pounds in
top outlets in Lagos. E no easy!
Anyway, at the end of the video when the
true identity of my 'babe' was revealed, she turned out to be a backwoods Warri
girl, whose spoken waffi/pidgin English (a mix of English language &
Nigerian language) will totally loose the average pidgin speaker. As I watched
the video, I reflected on the society I live in, in Lagos.
The average Lagos girlfriend now speaks to
you in a funny or twisted Englo/Americano (my term) accent, I call it so
because half of the time, there's such a sporadic change in accents during
communication that the listener is lost as to whether you're speaking with an
English or American born individual. As long as you can put on the overly
prized human hair, carry or wear the exorbitant designer bags or shoes, have
well and brightly manicured false nails most of the time, voila! You become
posh overnight.
Then I wonder where the real Miss/Ms Posh
suddenly vanished to? I hope I don't become a 'wonderer'. I say this, because
in relating to some of these 'babes' beneath all these veneer reveals an
emptiness in integrity (most owe endlessly on these hairs & designer bags),
in morals and most especially in manners! God help you if you make a mistake to
get close to any of my so called 'babes’ in an angry situation or into any of
those provoking situations where the true nature comes out in the twinkle of an
eye. I thought being posh was so beyond and above what you look like but more
about your manners, your decency, your grammar, your true identity, your
values, your etiquette both in private and public.
Whatever happened to Nigeria's generation
X&Y, no one knows!
During the recent Easter break, I was out
with a few friends to the AY Live comedy show at the prestigious Eko Hotel in
Victoria Island; there were bevy of attractive looking ladies I must confess,
as to whether they are posh or not, I'm afraid I do not know. Quite a number
were very well dressed, although I wondered if they were going for dinner dates
afterwards or perhaps the Grammy after party. I said I do not know because in
the course of the show, the camera man who turned out to be one mischievous
fellow captured men and women in their unguarded moments. Lagos na wa (how do I
interpret that now..? ok Lagos is what it is).So this camera man did a good job
in contributing to the hilarious mood of the entire event. He ensured his
camera scoped through the crowd capturing babes picking noses, chewed
gums like they were in brothels, or the ones who sat with legs carelessly wide
open and then there were those scandalously dressed that even the comedian
screamed from the stage" I cover myself with the blood of my wife"!
Or do I go on about the young couples who
have totally forgotten what it is for the new born babies to have the beautiful
names of their Yoruba or Igbo Culture. My Yoruba tribe is quite guilty of these
biases. As if it is a plague to have anything to do with your heritage or
mother tongue. When you ask your friends for their children's names then you are
told names such as Jason, Martins, Serena, Malta and so on. I personally fear
for my tribe as I pray our names do not become endangered species all for the
wrong perception of what being 'posh' really mean.
Fear grips me because if Lagos continues
this way, we might eventually become a society of wannabes with the real posh
ones becoming a minority.
So, please if you are a real ‘posh’
babe/lady or guy, please stand up, please stand up!
Save the 'posh' from extinction.
As you save the posh, like our page, post and share on your various social media platforms.
