Notions (Igbotic)

I've been waiting forever for a trigger to make a post like this.

When I got to school today, Victor called me an "Igbotic girl". Mayhaps, just mayhaps he was joking as he said, but at the time, the tune he used was tilting towards, "Cos I speak asụsụ Igbo a lot and type also in Igbo" so he decided to term me "Igbotic"

Here's the thing, the word 'Igbotic' is not supposed to be a demeaning word but in the usage that Nigerians have made it out to be, it is attributed to a person that speaks with an Igbo accent or speaks too much Igbo, as though it is something that we should be ashamed of.

Now first of all, A bụ m nwaafọ Igbo. I was born and brought up with Igbo language. Till now, I find it awkward as hell to try to speak English with my family. Infact, if I've not spoken Igbo to you, then we've not even begun to chat 

Apart from the fact that Igbo on its own is a language, not a dialect as some people confuse. It holds as much significance as English, French or Spanish. However, in this part of the world, it is believed that anyone who speaks too much Igbo is archaic or whatnots.

Sometimes, those that even speak the Igbo try to tush the accent so it wouldn't sound as supposedly "Igbotic". 

I don't know if we believe that it somehow diminishes how educated we are, or we just downrightly believe that Asụsụ igbo is inferior to English Language.

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I find it difficult to communicate with proverbs. That is one of my shortcomings as regards the asụsụ Igbo. A friend of mine told me that he knows how to but wants to stop it. This is because, he might unconsciously use it in a standard gathering.

And I'm left with wondering, "What is a standard setting?" Even in the kind corporate world, why is there a an unspoken rule of a restriction when it comes to indigenous languages?

My lecturer said something the other day, 'about how bank cashiers and customer service would never ever speak the native language to the uneducated who have come to verify something, or have issues with the bank." 

How do you communicate with someone who doesn't understand you, and you bask in the fact that you work in a bank, yet you are not actually offering any significant service to the unlearned. 

It takes absolutely nothing to communicate with these people. What you are trying to tell them is that "they can not make use of these facilities because they don't understand English"

That reeks of inferiority and faux intelligence. 

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When we were in secondary school, there were a lot of measures used to prevent us from speaking Igbo. They called it "Vernacular", you shouldn't be speaking that. At times, when you're caught by a prefect or even any senior, you'd be told "either to write a foolscap sheet of that particular Igbo you spoke" or "pay 20 naira as a fine"

My young mind didn't really know what's up. Unknowingly, it was being ingrained in us, to discard our mother tongues, because it's not worth it. 

For someone like me, who grew up strictly with asụsụ Igbo, I went as far as downloading videos, to learn how to speak properly. Properly in this context signifies, shedding myself of all trace of "Igbotic accent" while Speaking English.

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Talking of Igbotic accent: I remember then, with Anambra tongue interference of "l" and "r" words: anytime a person remotely makes that mistake with English language, we'd jeer so badly at the person, and it brings about some sense of shame that one makes that mistake.

Also, at times, we find ourselves getting so defensive when it comes to the whole language interference. 

At first, I'd swear that I hardly ever make that mistake because subconsciously, I feel that I shouldn't or maybe, that Igbo shouldn't be so 'conk' with me. 

The one that I haven't ever gotten over is the /s/ and /ts/ sounds. Try as I may, I couldn't get past it. I still don't know the difference between the both sounds, I doubt I ever will.

So when I came to the realization that in trying to so much imbibe the western culture, I said "To hell with this"

Or even, when I make a mispronounciation with an English word and someone tries to correct me, I'd always say, "Can a British remotely pronounce my name, Chinenye? Why on Earth should I be mandated to know the right pronunciation of all English words?"

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I understand that Nigeria is made up of over 200 languages and of course, the need for a single language is extremely necessary.

 

However, if we are to tell ourselves the truth, the lack of speaking the indigenous languages goes way above that. Even among the native speakers themselves, we try so hard to speak the grammar.

For my secondary school then, we were told that it's because it's a unity school and distinct languages school there. But even I know that the majority of students when I was a student were ndị Igbo. So what's the excuse?

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Now, I'll acquiesce that it makes sense to be able to speak languages with the native speakers accent, but we shouldn't be too hard on those we term "Igbotic speakers"

Infact, we shouldn't be hard at all on these people we term Igbotic.

It's quite sad that we look down on these languages but are quick to pay to learn the mother tongues of other countries. If this doesn't signify that something is wrong with the black man, I don't know what to call it again.

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Not just that, the whole native wears is for Fridays and that every other day should be western dressing. 

It didn't really occur to me until my German lecturer said that "The whole public notion that the native wears Should be on Friday comes from a state of subjugation of the African culture. That same notion that our wears should not be somehow worn unless it is on Fridays. It shouldn't be dictated to Africans when to wear a native wear or not"

And that is true. 

Anyways, I've attached a picture of me wearing a native wear, though it's because today is Friday. I've not exactly rid myself of that ingrained stereotype that Fridays are for natives.

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Regardless, we need to do more. It shouldn't be an anomaly to be communicating with one's mother tongue, definitely shouldn't. The earlier we rid ourselves of that notion, the more we regain our freedom in our mentality.

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Meanwhile, I didn't know that Today was mother tongue day, but it can go still. Our indigenous tongues should be encouraged through and through