Why Is Everyone Sounding Nigerian🇳🇬🇳🇬 Today?

[00:00:00]Okay guys, so I'm in Lebanon and I'm teaching the Lebanese people how to speak pigeon. So, I'm going to go one by one with them and see what they've learned.

[00:00:09]Adel, speak pigeon.

[00:00:10]>> How far? Waiting the shop.

[00:00:15]>> Guys, speak pigeon. Uh-uh.

[00:00:16]>> Your mama, your papa >> This one the very nice.

[00:00:21]>> You like it? This London. Okay. What you need to do today?

[00:00:25]>> I did it.

[00:00:26]Go for better life.

[00:00:28]>> Is Nigerian in everyone now.

[00:00:38]Welcome to the African Excellence Hub.

[00:00:41]Over the years, many people across Africa laughed at Nigerians claiming they were not good English speakers.

[00:00:49]What many fail to understand, however, is the incredible diversity within Nigeria.

[00:00:56]With hundreds of ethnic groups and languages, Nigerian pigeon evolved as a practical lingua franca, a common language that allows people from different tribes to communicate easily.

[00:01:09]>> You You need You need You need a translator.

[00:01:13]Even when they are speaking English, ama?

[00:01:17]Huh?

[00:01:19]>> Nigeria has different forms of English in everyday use: standard English, Nigerian English, and Nigerian pigeon.

[00:01:28]Nigerian English has its own unique expressions, rhythm, and style, often sounding humorous, creative, and poetic.

[00:01:38]Nigerian pigeon, on the other hand, is a vibrant blend of English, local dialects, and influences from Portuguese.

[00:01:46]It became the everyday language of the streets, widely understood by traders, villagers, and people from all educational backgrounds.

[00:01:55]>> Pigeon English is not okay. My uncle from Delta.

[00:01:59]>> Oh, there's a real Pidgin speakers there.

[00:02:01]>> And like my parents try to act like they can keep up. I know damn well they they they're in and out of the convo.

[00:02:07]>> [laughter] >> Your dad's just nodding.

[00:02:09]>> You know how you have like expressions, idioms, metaphors, which in normal English you would get it. They have their own metaphors in Pidgins. Good example is they say something like or to draw rain. So you're thinking, "Oh, maybe it's going to rain." But it means to cry. Another one is like say, "Okay, I will give him charge."

[00:02:27]>> people sound. Because if you don't know, I was born and raised in Warri, Effurun precisely. So I'm a Warri babe, but many people like to disagree. I don't know why. So Warri is like the headquarters of Pidgin English itself. Warri is the origin of Pidgin. So the way you have different types of English in England, like you have the scouse, the cockney English, Scottish, the way Scottish people speak English, the way people from Birmingham speak English. Like there are different types of Pidgin English in Nigeria. But the Warri Pidgin English is the core, the baba of them all, the core Pidgin.

[00:03:00]>> Although many parents discourage their children from speaking Pidgin at home, and many schools do not encourage its use, it remains a language that helps Nigerians connect across ethnic and social boundaries.

[00:03:14]>> I have actually met some Kenyans that really know how to speak the Pidgin English, the Nigerian English. You know, some of you think maybe the Nigerian English is the main English that we speak. That's why sometimes you say um you don't understand what you guys are saying.

[00:03:33]I don't know, maybe just like what your president was saying. He said when we speak our English, but he doesn't know that it was the Pidgin English. Easily, I met a Kenyan that can speak English.

[00:03:43]Let me show you guys this video. Just watch this video and see this guy.

[00:03:51]Mad guy. Mad guy. What's up?

[00:03:56]>> It is the language of everyday interaction, making it an important part of Nigerian identity.

[00:04:03]For years, Nigerians remained confident despite being mocked by some Africans for their accent and their use of pidgin.

[00:04:11]Today, however, something interesting is happening. The same people who once laughed are beginning to admire and adopt Nigerian expressions and sound more like Nigerians.

[00:04:24]Beyond Africa, many Europeans and Asians are also becoming interested in learning Nigerian pidgin.

[00:04:35]>> [laughter] >> I said, but a person with grace and a person with madness is different.

[00:04:50]Grace now will be plus plus.

[00:04:53]>> What lesson does this teach us?

[00:04:55]It shows that when you create value and remain confident in your identity, others will eventually recognize and appreciate it.

[00:05:04]What was once mocked later became admired, influential, and widely accepted.

[00:05:10]>> Just William Ruto is talking about the English. I love their English because it's unique to them.

[00:05:15]We talk like the British.

[00:05:18]Them, they talk like an African. In fact, they represent us because English is an acquired language.

[00:05:24]Why should we speak it the way the British speak it?

[00:05:27]We should have formed our own way.

[00:05:28]Nigerians represent that.

[00:05:31]The uniqueness of Africans.

[00:05:34]Right?

[00:05:35]And they should be so proud of it.

[00:05:37]But we >> Today, countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, and others are debating the origins of pidgin, with some claiming that Nigerians adopted it from them.

[00:05:49]These also tell how people can jump into trying to be part of a successful story of others.

[00:05:56]Nigerian Pidgin has become so influential that its prominence is now a subject of discussion across the world.

[00:06:04]>> But they took it from Sierra Leone to Nigeria, Cameroon, Gambia, then it came to Ghana.

[00:06:12]It shock you. Wait.

[00:06:14]>> Whether people admire it, debate it, or attempt to trace its origins, one thing is clear.

[00:06:21]Nigerian Pidgin has grown into one of the most recognized and influential varieties of Pidgin English in Africa, with its impact now reaching audiences around the world.

[00:06:33]Nigerians have made a remarkable impact worldwide, making Nigeria one of the most recognized countries representing Africa on the global stage.

[00:06:43]Thank you for watching, and kindly subscribe.

[00:07:05]>> This London very nice.

[00:07:07]>> You like it? This London? Okay. What you need to do today?

[00:07:10]>> I need to go for Badagry.

[00:07:14]>> Badagry?

[00:07:15]>> Uh-uh.

[00:07:15]>> There's no Badagry for here. No, really.

[00:07:17]>> there is.