Yes'sah, No'sah

Colonialism.

There are still remnants of that era in Nigerian culture. I really can't help but notice it. I often wonder how much of what we now see as African culture is a strange meshing of colonial oppression and actual African tradition. Sp much has been erased, hidden, destroyed and ignored as not being credible throughout the years in terms of recording history that I wonder whether the culture we see as authentically African is truly what it was 'back in the day'. And when I say authentically African, please picture Chinua Achebe's book Things Fall Apart, the poster-child piece of literature that apparently tells the world what it's like in Nigeria. Don't get me wrong, I love the book. But it's just one, eloquently told, no less, narrative of the so-called African experience. But I digress.

I am torn about my Nigeria and the things we call respect, specifically in the area of respect for our elders. It is common knowledge in Nigeria that you cannot greet your elders by saying 'hi'. In every language, there are nuances and elaborate measures taken in greeting those who senior us in age and sometimes even, position (social class). In every culture, there are gestures to be taken in greeting, from dips to prostrations, from curtsies to bows. I don't have a problem with the elaborate ten-minute greetings, although it can easily become rather laborious and uncomfortable. I don't even mind that in the Yoruba culture, for instance, boys are demanded to lay on the floor on their stomachs to greet or touch their right foot with thier left hand to greet. It is in these conversations where I cringe internally:

Child: Good morning sah!
Elder: How are you, my son?
Child: Fine, sah.
Elder: How is Mommy?
Child: She's fine, sah
Elder: Daddy, nko?
Child: He's fine sah
Elder: Ah good good, well done, eh?
Child: Yes sah thank you sah
Elder: Study well o so that you can follow your father's wise footsteps
Or other of such wise counsel passed on often from older members of society to the younger ones.
Child: Yessah

Ok without me going on and on, cos these sorts of conversations can really be elaborate - Nigerians love to hear themselves talk! - you can see where I'm going. I did well in one in African Studies which was one of the courses i took in DE university, so you can further understand why I cringe. This is very reminiscent of the slave mentality when African slaves were forced into the 'yessah' culture. Whether you liked what was being said to you or not, the response was 'yessah'. Whether you even fully understood, whether your automatic 'yessah' response even made sense to the conversation being had, your response was the standard: 'yessah'. And so I cringe. Is this what respect is? A rambling of sah's and maam's. And I cannot help but note who the victims of this culture are: those lower class in society and those who are not the CEOs or Directors or so-called Big Men or Big Women, the ones who do not have drivers to drive their jeeps and heavy-duty cars.

Do you see the parallels now? I wonder what would be said if I bring this up as a challenge to the fundamentals of our culture.