The Many Englishes of the Nigerian in America

By

Obododimma Oha

This essay has been inspired by a Facebook update by the historian, Moses Ebe Ochonu. In the update, Ochonu writes :

It just occurred to me that I speak many Englishes. The English I speak to my children is different from the one I speak with my folks in Nigeria, which is radically different from the one with my students and other US folks. 

You would agree with me that this update is provocative and exciting, not just that it reveals the nature of an immigrant's English pluralism, but it reveals something about standing one leg in the "Inner Circle" of English and the other leg in the "Outer Circle." Braj Kachru locates native speakers of English found in places like Britain and America as belonging to the Inner Circle of English, while those on whom English was imposed through colonization, such as Nigeria and Ghana, belong to the Outer Circle. While the Inner Circle is norm producing (that is, it dictates correctness) the Outer Circle is norm using or norm consuming. Don't scratch your skull. Tokunbo culture could extend to language and language teaching! Did I say anything? 

Anyway, a bit on Ochonu. This man was born and brought up in the Outer Circle but he is a distinguished professor of History in an American university. He has also been living in the US with his family for a long while, only visiting Nigeria once in a while. So, his world is characterized by the twonesss of Inner and Outer Englishness. He also writes regularly on Facebook and his updates initiate important discourses. Obviously, Ochonu is a name among names, among African scholars of the moment. 

 Now, that update of his. First, his use of the word "folks" exposes his Americanness. Some other people may be inclined to use that word, but our man carries it as the snail carries its shell. One could perceive America there. In the Outer Circle, people don't say "folks" except when they want to appear American and affected. So, Ochonu is doing something in its choice, suggesting his difference. 

Then, the bigger issue : the version of English with which he communicates with his children is different from the one with which he communicates with his "folks" in Nigeria! Natural. But what is commendable is that Ochonu shows sensitivity of differences of context in doing so. He does not try to show off his Americanness to his "folks" as such in Nigeria. Context puts an obligation on him as a speaker of English. He is not the only diasporic Nigerian that does this anyway. I know so many Nigerian professors living in the US with their families who consciously speak like touts in Onitsha or Lagos whenever they visit Nigeria. Why are they not showing off their Americanness in their use of English? 

OK, if Ochonu tries to speak a Nigerian English while communicating with Nigerians in Nigeria and American English while communicating with his children in America (essentially to be understood), why is his English in communicating with his students and other Americans still different from the one he uses at home (in America)? He uses a variety of the language expected in these contexts so as not to be ridiculed. The music of his speech (which American students would dislike and call accent) could jeopardize his interactions in these contexts. 

This dislike for "accent" in the educational system is getting to other parts of the globe rapidly. It is a kind of shibboleth signifying to learners whom to trusts  his or her knowledge and whom to distrust! Imagine. In that case, Outer Circle individuals who want to be natural cannot be so in the Inner Circle. Quite disturbing. 

But the most important thing is what this all suggests about the Outer Circle diaspora person. Such a person is multilingual and multilectal. As in the case of Ochonu, the diaspora person standing between Outer and Inner Circle has to speak many varieties of English or many Englishes. 

The Text without a Full-stop

By

Obododimma Oha

Two things become very clear to me. First, anybody could be a poet. Poets don't have to have grey hair or wear unkempt beard. Just anyone could be a poet. Was that not why an Igbo sage warned that if we have too much on our minds, we might pass a spirit unknowingly and fail to greet?

Secondly, it has become glaring that poets are not just writing poems. A poet may be rigorously theorizing. Just as many African ancestors used proverbs and folktales to theorize. Poets' theories on texts, societies, etc could be particularly interesting. It is on that basis that one would like to comment on Bimbola Faith's poem below. 

  that full-stop you saw

did not end that sentence

that full-stop

was never the closure to the text

for behind every dot on the page

are thousands and millions of unspoken texts

countless pieces of allophones, phones and phonemes

innumerable companies of allomorphs, morphemes and words

heavy, horrendous, homongous emotion

open, borderless, boundless, deep, vast feelings

but all approximated into a grunt, a tear or a smile

many things to say

many things unsaid

many things unsayable

everything rounded off to a dot

One thing that is noticeable is the shape of the poem: first, it is centralized and there is minimal punctuation, especially full-stop, at the end! And the poem is talking about full-stop and text-making! Punctuation marks or pauses could be check-points we create here and there on the highway of the text. They  create borders and boundaries to the stream of speech unnecessarily. By the way, did you notice that the poem was given no title? That could be deliberate. Don't titles that we give articles and books imply their having borders of meaning, of ideation? 

It means the poet would like us to shift from the sentence as we know it to the text and stop thinking of check-points. If we think too much about the sentence or make our grammar too sentential, then we would think of having check-points and they could slow our journey down! 

But apart from slowing down the journey to meaning, other things in the journey are worth thinking about. One could think of the "innumerable" morphemes and allomorphs, the phonemes and their friends. The unfathomable "vast feelings" and grunts that cannot be accounted for while checking the sentences for correctness. In addition, certain emotions can be uttered, some not uttered, and some beyond utterance. 

It is obvious that the poet is in the frightening zone of post-structuralism. It is typical of these thinkers who populate deconstruction to focus on texts and to discourage attachment to sentence grammar. Same for the later versions of systemic linguistics. Their fascination is with text grammar. 

This is clearly exemplified in the poem. The text and the world must be linked up. No boundaries. No check-points. No delays on this search for meaning. That ideological trash and that pragmatic statement about "everything" being "rounded off" can show us where we are secretly going. There is always some gain in checking how text and context are linked. 

The more I read the untitled poem, the more I learn about the text and test myself on text-making in this troubled world. Same way I learnt  some years ago about post-structuralist metafiction, while supervising a PhD project on it. We learn everyday and should be humble enough to allow the poem to theorize about the text and to teach us. 

ENDTIME BLUES

BY

OBODODIMMA OHA 

It is endtime, my friend 

You can no longer sneeze or cough

If you do that

At a community meeting

Everybody would run away 

Wetin e carry?

COVID? 

E suppose die now! 

There's fire on the mountain 

Run run run

Coughing and sneezing should have

Their own police

To monitor transgressions!

 

No coughing allowed here 

No sneezing allowed there 

Says COVID police 

Transgressors and terrorists beware

Be aware.

Squirrels Complaining

By

Obododimma Oha

Somebody touches that mango tree, 

"Oh, the whole tree has been sold to Mama X

And you know she uses juju" 

Somebody touches that orange tree, 

" No, it has been sold to Mama Y,

And she's a fighter."

Somebody touches that pineapple, 

"No way, it has been sold to Mama Z,

And she's only waiting for it to get ripe...."

Mangoes and oranges and pineapple 

Are for the market. 

You need the money to pay contributions. 

Later, you can go and buy medicines 

From that illiterate in that shop. 

No wonder you die suddenly 

" Gone Too Soon"

You are already dead,!

Money Talks

Onye Ọfọogeri

By

Obododimma Oha

Young men who are very carefree about life are referred to in Igbo discourse as "ọfọogeri" (literally meaning, "It remains a wife or woman.")  However, it means that the referent is

  -- - wayward

  - - - not focused in life

  - - - not serious-minded

  - - - too casual with life.

The literal interpretation is based on an assumption that being married to a woman helps a man to get organized and be focused. So, "onye ọfọogeri" (an ọfọogeri person) is not yet anchored in life and is too carefree. Such a person cannot be entrusted without a serious social responsibility. The fellow is still growing up and needs to see more of life. 

"Ọfọogeri" may be rendered in other Igbo dialects as  "Akaroogeri" or "Efulefu." Some would prefer "iforifo." But the sense is the same. 

Ọfọogeri" may be used as a mere commitment to what is not helpful to the making of a man. For instance, someone could have a passion for accumulating carved objects. This may be called his or her "ọfọogeri." In that case, "ọfọogeri" becomes his or her commitment in that understanding. Poor judgment, you may say. 

In that case, it is seen as "ọfọogeri" to be spending one's money (wasting one's money?) buying and accumulating what is considered "not wealth." 

That means that every individual has their own kind of "ọfọogeri." It could even be the accumulation of books, as in my own case. In fact, I had jokingly told one of my booksellers one day: "If I am dead and buried and my children want to auction my books, I would rise from my grave and shout, leave my books alone! In fact, I don't want to die again!" For some, it may even be the case of taking photographs of every lizard that crawls past and posting them on Facebook! Or, somebody may be too attached to the cellphone and always looking out for an opportunity to have a chat. So, my "ọfọogeri"may even be your wisdom! 

Another thing is that some people even make light the idea of "ọfọogeri," adding another decorative term, "ọfọse" to it. Nobody can tell exactly what "ọfọse" means. They just utter "ọfọogeri ọfọse" without bothering about the meaning of "ọfọse." 

A "special ọfọogeri," but one cannot tell what makes the "ọfọogeri" special. Same for "bad ọfọogeri." Where or what is the badness? So, it is possible that "ọfọse" is a mere embellishment. 

Some more on marriage and "ọfọogeri." The referent is being humored for lacking a wife and being foolishly free or enjoying the freedom of foolishness. In that case, "ọfọogeri" is freedom but it is foolishness. It is considered better to have a source of a headache than not to have it at all or to rejoice that one is free from it! Imagine the fallacy! Having a family to take care of or being married does suggest a headache. It could even be a therapy! But the fallacy is the discursive logic and rules life in the society. One, therefore, has no choice than to run away from being called an "ọfọogeri." 

It should be clear now that "ọfọogeri" is just what a society calls a character it does not admire or desire. Implicitly, it is a society that thinks that personal freedom has to be earned and that observers need to see the extent one has lived, fulfilling responsibilities and performing social assignments. Marriage is one context where one can prove to society that one can be entrusted with responsibility, it seems. 

There is also that assumption that the "ọfọogeri" is just doing things without being focused. That is a statement supporting it being presented as the social undesirable. Maybe the "ọfọogeri" has a different model but that model has no place in a context where responsibility is measured by compliance to norms. Maybe the "ọfọogeri" is just a maverick. 

There are some professions that seem to be marked out for the "ọfọogeri," for instance, music or entertainment . Being a musician was particularly seen in the Igbo local area as being lost in life. The feeling was: how can someone be playing music all his or her life and hope to place food on the table? That should remind us about Chinua Achebe's character, Unoka, who liked playing his flute and played it all his life as his main commitment. Musicians were seen as super "ọfọogeri" who were not rooted and could not be rich in life. 

Next to music as the territory of "ọfọogeri" is professional driving. The professional driver is one public figure who meets various kinds of people. Mainly dominated by men, professional driving in a place like Africa is such that the man meets several women and may fall in love with some. So, at every stopping point, he is likely going to have a lover or a woman who is already his wife! So, professional driving is classified as an "ọfọogeri" business. 

But whether a professional driver or a musician, the "onye ọfọogeri" may live longer and happier, managing to attend to home and societal needs. In fact, some "ọfọogeri" persons succeed in accomplishing what socially approved citizens cannot. 

"Onye ọfọogeri" is just a social label. Times change and attitudes must.