Real or Official Age

The “birther” controversy in the United States against President Barack Obama raises two pertinent issues for us as Nigerians; the issue of age and race.

If our birth were to be contended by anyone, how easy would it be for us (as Nigerians) to pull out our real birth certificates? I know of a young lad who lost an admission to a school abroad because he mistakenly quoted his real age on his application form. To get into primary school years back, his parents had sworn an affidavit for him showing that he was six years when in actual fact he was only four years. So, all his life he was compelled to use his “official” age. I know of a friend who ended up marrying a younger guy against her wish; the guy claimed his “social status” age. The younger “official” age that was quoted on the curriculum vitae was the reason a dear one said no to having a relationship with a great guy; only to find out his real age as he laid in the coffin! I bet you have more stories. Needless to say there is no better time to put your records straight than now when a lot of seemingly honest people are called to the courts to answer for their supposedly hidden past.

Come to think of it, how, when, where, why, and what led to people using the so-called “official age”? Some say it is motivated by social, economic, health, educational or employment reason but I say it is plain dishonesty which has eaten deep into the fabric of our society. Official age, how glamorous! We glamourise what others are put behind the bars for in other countries.

But sadly, this dishonesty is motivated and encouraged by our society. How do you explain that employers of labour continue to ask for 25 years with 5 years work experience? Well, with the advent of private universities, the children of the rich may fit into the profile of 25 with 5 years experience. So what should a middle class 28-year-old do; remain unemployed or tell a lie that has become accepted? Try granting liberty to all those in private service to change their age to real age without repercussion and you’d be shocked at the population that falls into the category of using official age. These days, children (especially of the middle and lower class) enter higher institutions late (if at all); no thanks to the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board, Post-JAMB and of course the almighty strike is there to ensure they are well advanced in age before getting their certificates. So who is to blame; the government, for not providing the enabling infrastructure, the society for asking for the impossible or the court of law for wilfully issuing age declaration affidavits with reckless abandon?

Few years back, some banks sacked workers without university degrees and our government moped. Those who were children then learned one thing: polytechnic is not a place to go. So years down the line, we find millions trying to find a place in the universities that are grossly inadequate. They wait and wait till they gain admission only to spend donkey’s years to make sense of whether it was necessary to have bothered.

The second pertinent issue is the issue of race. At least by virtue of being born by an American mother, Obama can lay claim to his nationality as an American but what of his nationality as a Kenyan? Would he ever have been able to contest for any notable position in Kenya even if Kenya were to become the most important country in the whole world? Despite having risen to become what some may refer to as the world’s number one President, majority of the people he leads still question his nationality. This points to one fact: no matter how well you adapt, adopt, acclimatise; the colour of your skin speaks louder than your voice. At least in the world we live in today.

We as Nigerians need to value our culture and teach it to our children. Obama’s pride of place was fashioned by a mother who ensured he learnt her culture. If Obama were born in Kenya by an American woman, I have no doubt that she would have groomed him not as a Kenyan but an American. But what if his mother were Kenyan and he was born in America? I bet he would have been groomed as an American. How come most Africans, especially Nigerians, edit their culture from their children’s diet especially where such children are born outside Nigeria? As I travel all over the globe, I meet more and more Nigerians who have chosen not to share the Nigerian culture with their children. Versatility is great as long as you master the rudiment of navigating your own turf. It would be foolhardy not to learn the culture of where you reside but why relegate or worse still, forget your root when according to David Diop in the poem, Africa, “your blood flows in my veins.”

While discussing this issue with my Alumni Group, Mr. Ademola Awonaike, a human resource consultant whose family lives abroad had this to say:

My children speak Yoruba in the US and will prostrate for you when you see them. They yearn to come home and remind me of our local television programmes. We cannot forget our source because if we do, we may dry up like the river without a source.

But the truth is most Nigerians in the Diaspora have forgotten their roots. I’m proud of those who haven’t and my face always lit up when our children curtsy to me abroad or speak our language. Local television programmes for children would have been a great medium through which we can teach our culture but are they still in existence? Our poetry, folklores and plays have sunk into the back burners of globalisation.

Mr. Dean Arutoghor who previously worked with primary and secondary schools in London had this to say:

It amuses me when I come across professionals who have always spoken their mother-tongue and also speak good English claiming it confuses their children. Meanwhile millions of other Nigerian children are managing fine. I noticed that even Nigerian and other African children who could speak or understand their mother-tongues never spoke those languages to one another - in or out of school. Meanwhile, Chinese and Indian children are continually yapping away in and out of school in their mother-tongues as soon as they can speak. Another thing on language, African kids seem to be the only kids in the playgrounds in the schools I worked who were actually ashamed or awkward about (their own words) of openly speaking in their mother-tongues. African children seem to be the only children in the playgrounds in the schools I worked who were actually ashamed and felt awkward about openly speaking in their mother-tongue.

According to Mr. Arutoghor, these children – Chinese, Indians etc – come top in primary and secondary school examinations year in, year out in London. Chinese no.1 and Indians no.2 (you may check this out on Guardian Education and other reliable British media websites).

How come Nigerian parent erroneously believe that speaking their mother-tongue will stop you from getting to the top or from being able to speak with a British or American accent?

Every now and then when I insist that Yoruba children should speak Yoruba to me, you begin to hear all the unforgiveable errors! Most of them will say, “Mo gbo (I can hear), only I cannot speak.” A mix of rice and beans is neither rice nor beans it is adalu (mixture). And to think they say such arrant nonsense with a smile! Even my own brother who made so much noise about how his children would speak Yoruba has failed, claiming his wife did not teach them. But believe it or not, in my infrequent visits to the United Kingdom, these children learned Yoruba songs, games and signs. Mr. Awonaike confirmed that the agreement he had with his wife, who is with the children most of the time, is that they must learn, understand and speak the language. Such simple agreement is what is needed in most Nigerian homes not only abroad as this phenomenon of shying away from our language is gaining ground even at home. The job of instilling our culture in our children should not be left in the hands of one parent where both are available and accessible. One parent agreed, “I need to be on top of this [teaching our culture to children] as I seem to fall into complacency at times.”

The job of teaching our culture especially our language is the job for all. It is not enough that local languages are thought in schools. Government should make a conscious effort to celebrate our culture. When I say culture, I do not mean the language alone but greetings, dressing, eating etc. I am yet to see a child who was brought up with the Nigerian culture who would dress indecently given that our culture speaks of self-respect. Unfortunately today, not only have we shied away from teaching our culture, we are beginning to confuse our children even in the English we speak – students now mix British with American spellings, that is if they are not writing in short messaging codes. Most Nigerians commemorate the Mother’s Day for UK and USA. It is very easy to fall for anything when we don’t stand for something. If it is becoming increasingly difficult for adults especially those in the Diaspora to answer the question, who am I, then you may rest assured that our children are in the pit of confusion. I once heard an African say to his mum, “You yell too much!” This is definitely unheard of in the African culture except from children who have become unteachable.

Well, whether our language – be it Hausa, Igbo, Idoma, Egba, Ekiti, or Ishan... – becomes extinct is in our hands as parents, teachers, public servants etc. To corroborate what Mr. Arutoghor said, my Mum had never stepped out of Nigeria at the time I was birthed, in fact as at that time she was a school certificate holder working as a telephone operator with NET, now NITEL (that is a story for another day), yet I learned to speak English enough to dazzle the Queen Mother, making her subjects wonder if I was born abroad, and Yoruba very well enough to make my people wonder whether I have ever been out of Nigeria.

Perhaps I should let folks who believe that speaking “native” language or vernacular (as they now sadly call it) will rob their children of Queen’s English; you are wrong. A child below 5 years has the ability to learn and speak 5 languages she/he is exposed to on a daily basis. Amazing; that’s God’s work.

Another parent’s response to Dr. Akindele’s position is that parental effort might not be enough as the children of those black parents who do not bother to enlighten their children about the positives of their culture sometimes grow up to stab the children of those parents who do. There is too much self-hatred and dislike amongst black youths. And I daresay this can be attributed to the loss of identity. If we don’t tackle the negative image they have to contend with collectively, then who will?

We need to teach our children the simple values of honesty, diligence, self-esteem, respect for self and others and contentment etc. We also need to teach our culture and racial identity and the inner strength it offers. President Obama would never have been able to coordinate affairs in a place called White House if he did not come to terms with his blackness. In our quest for equity and equality, in our struggle for prominence in the global field, we must retain our identity and remain culturally relevant.

Let’s not keep this issue on this page; share it on social networks, at family or social functions; years down the line that man or woman, girl or boy who sneered at you for sharing will acknowledge you by saying adupe, nagode, dalu, merci, gracias, shukran.

For comments you may reach the writer via editor@willowsmagazine.com. The first part of the article was published on Friday, May 13, 2011 while the second was published on Monday, May 16, 2011.

Dr. Adeleke Akindele, a General Practitioner in the UK had a different take on the issue. He affirmed in a recent chat that languages like Chinese/Mandarin and other Asian ones are seen as ‘exotic’ hence the children don’t have a problem speaking them in public and their parents don’t have a problem teaching such language to them. Most black Africans try to lose the ‘African’ tag because it is less exotic and usually the impression of our continent is of the ‘heal the world’ era. These kids have to contend with being black and African which is not an easy task in most UK schools. What’s the solution? Teach you own child and leave the rest.