WHO RAZZ PASS?


Recently I was at a gathering and I heard this confused Nigerian chic referring to some other girl as 'razz' because she speaks Yoruba. I overheard her saying to some people "her Yoruba is so 'konk', i feel its too razz", she said, with her nose in the air. And they all laughed. I turned to her and said, 'I beg your pardon'...and na so we start to argue...cos first of all I don't like it when people make derogatory comments about others. 


Ok, I will start by saying that today I am advocating for the pidgin language to be installed in our country and to be globally recognized and accepted as a language. Y'all beware cos when I become president, its ON! and we will have a pidgin dictionary as well(i think we already do tho)! lol. I haff tired of people referring to alot of Nigerian customs as razz...why should eating eba with our hands be considered as razz? why should wearing buba and sokoto be considered as razz? why should kneeling to greet one's elders be labelled razz? See, I nor dey lie, I have heard so many people label all these things as razz, if I dey lie make I naked baf!




The one I will sha not tolerate is labeling pidgin razz. Just because some people don privilege to go school now, they will now be looking down at people that did not get an education and tagging them as bush. So the conductor hussling to make ends meet is now bush abi? I no blame una. And yes, I will take this thing personal cos e dey pain me enter my bone marrow! Shuo! In fact make we clap hand for awisef, how many oyinbo people fit speak our language? yet we speak their own pass them-we are intelligent oh. I am not blaming oyinbo people for imposing their language and culture on us, I dey blame us for thinking that our language no reach. See, to be honest, I was filling an application the other day and I was asked how many languages I speak, I listed them as;Yoruba, Pidgin, and English and do you guys know what was amazing? Pidgin was listed as one of the languages on the website! Pidgin IS A LANGUAGE! One of my chinko classmates told me he took pidgin language course in his university as a part of his programme...and again, I shock! OMG!!! lol



Why our tins no dey sweet us? Hmm...all I can see is a bunch of people who are ashamed of their heritage. Talk true, is it queens English your granmama dey speak abi na proper, broken, konk pidgin or una traditional language? Some of us, awa father's can't spell 'go'. Because community don join sponsor u go school now, we no go hear word again. You now have a razz radar everywhere you go. I will state this: anything that is an established fact where you originally from come is not razz. If you are from Nigeria, i'm sure you are from a tribe, inside that tribe, i'm sure you are from a town, inside that town una get village, and inside that village your ancestors have a custom and if that custom is swallowing big akpu with your bare hands then do not try to be acting smart and referring to them as bush or razz.






If you like claim that u don't have village and you are a city gal/boy, that one na for your pocket, cos u originated from somewhere, u didn't fall from the sky with Brazilian hair and British accent. Have you seen oyinbo man eating chicken and chips with fork and knife before?No! And I'm sure 99% of us eat chicken and chips with our hands as well, and we go dey lick the finger sef, but if you see your cousin eating eba with finger you go dey roll your eye. Why we too dey form? I've noticed that if a Nigerian can speak a foreign language e.g French of Spanish, kai! He/She go be hot cake and will be considered very posh...why can't we turn the tables around? Why can't an American man speaking Igbo be considered posh and a privilege? Why we nor dey like our own tin sef? I tire!


I just remember one tory...na so this old babe return from jand and she dey huzzzzle for husband. At the end of her 11 months search, she never still see 'boy' talkless of 'friend'...why? Cos she just dey complain...all the men she met were razz to her just because they acted Nigerian. You want to know the end of her story? what happened in 1985 happened to her. She went back to jand husband-less! To be honest ehn, on some days when I wake up, I thank God that I grew up in Warri, Area! Cos the people are so honest, funny, and real-they hardly look down on anyone. I realise what most people know about warri is the violence and thuggery but isn't that what is referred to as the danger of a single story? If speaking pidgin makes me razz then I will gladly dance alanta while chanting...Im razz, im raaaazz, im raaaaaaaaaaaaaazz!!!



I think I should chase a career in cultural diplomacy cos I have alot to say about on this subject BUT, I will put comma here. Not a full stop because I am going to follow this up till I am president! lol...YES I CAN ooops! YES I FIT! 

Enjoy the clip below and click here to educate yasef!




48 comments

  1. What is razz? I mean, wetin be razz?

    Everyone, irrespective of his/her origin has a culture.

    But seriously, why would anyone refer to a custom/tradition/culture as razz?

    I do not believe that the pidgin language is part of our cultural heritage as Nigerians. Pidgin language is our own "cut and paste" English language. LOL! And na hin bi di most common language wey effry bodi fit yan for we naija!

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  2. Pidgin is a part of our cultural heritage babes...ask Prof. Ike S Ndolo of the Department of Human Communication Studies, Howard University, Washington DC. Some countries has their own version of pidgin, we have ours. Thanks for always reading babes! :)

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  3. no mind all these UK naija girls especially.dem go just dey form like say no be opportunity them get to come settle 4 UK.

    Since I enter UK na Yoruba I speak pass sef ....

    I dey gbadun dis ur write-up wella jare!

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  4. lol.... this chic, i too like u mehn. I totally feel u on pidgin english becoming a recognized language. I grew up in Benin and i loves me my pidgin.

    I loved this post, seriously cos it makes no sense that some pple have been so brain washed, they turn their noses on things that are a part of our culture and they should be proud of. How can u consider speaking yoruba razz?

    I've always regretted not being taught my language and it was even worse when i first got here, and these Americans kept asking me if i could speak English. In my mind, i'm like, no be English i dey speak? My accent no let them see road. I have an 11 month old niece and we speak pidgin to her, just cos we realize that it's important that she not just speak English and we don't know another language to teach her. This morning, i told her " put ur pacifier for ur mouth" and she did it. I said correct. I guess she's just going to be a razz American child. ;)

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  5. I follow you dance alanta, even as i no sabi dance am...Pidgin is a world recognised language, every country has their own pidgin. Nigerian English sef dey, even though it has not be documented abi na accepted. No mind all those people wey be say na community join follow send them go obodo oyinbo.

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  6. Omo Mehhhhhhn,Chop knuckle!!!I say,make una chop ya papa knuckle!!!!!Chop am!!!!
    You talk am well jo!Tell them o!!!!
    LOL!!!!!!U R A TRIP!!!!

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  7. ..Ok umm pls each me pidgin now!!!! So I can read this post properly!!! *now crying*

    I dont think pigdin is razz, just like the Jamican patwua, its a form of english that we speak.

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  8. Kai! Sisi Yemmie!!!!! You wan kill me o!!!!!! This is beautiful men!!! omo, if you dey find dance teacher for the alanta, I dey here o! Because, me, I don merix, solli, remix the dance finish! :)

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  9. Well said. It's funny because non-Nigerians think it's strange when we don't speak a Nigerian language, but yet we see it as razz to speak one. Very strange that we can't be proud of our own heritage.

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  10. see wahala oh...
    why naija people dey so fake?
    i don ask this question tire, why Nigerians dey dey so quick to drop our culture & adopt oyibo people own?
    There is nothing posh about denigerianising yourself
    As for pidgin, make God punish any mumu boy or girl wey talk say speaking pidgin or him language dey razz
    YOUR FATHER RAZZZZZ

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  11. wow.. you killed this post..
    what berra way to finish..it than "yes i fit" .. #onpoint

    lol @ T.Notes choppin papa knuckle

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  12. Abeg Hi 5 !!!
    Don't mind the girl am sure that one would be speaking her dialect at home.
    People have issues, I swear its inferiority complex thats doing them, me i blast yoruba anytime I can oh, when the french speaking pple hear would be blasting their own the other nigerians would open their mouth like basket thats wants to cashes a fly "Omg thats so cool"
    AAh if only I could flow in pidgin like u,people would get tired of me ehn

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  13. I have taken it upon myself to speak ibo ehenever am in any gahtering...especially if its the "Posh" lagos and abj babes and dudues gathering. These people r taking the Piss. Same thing also happened to me too was with my ex-bff one day in silverbird galleria and we heard a girl speaking ibo on the phone and she went like..."how can dis girl be speakin ibo like this in public" As in i went mad....i had to give her a big scolding. Imagine her wey never chop belle full dey get mouth to call person wey they speak her own language razz. Some nigerians need help i say.

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  14. chie you this gal u razz big time o:"Because community don join sponsor u go school now, we no go hear word again" that is 1st case hilarious, babasuwe hilarious

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  15. This is so true! I think pidgin totally rocks- especially when you speak it with all the pizazz it deserves! 'Cos there isn't really a right way to speak pidgin is there? I say speak english correctly, speak pidgin with attitude!

    My issue is with people that claim an accent is too thick, thereby dubbing the speaker as razz. What the heck? EVERYONE has an accent, be in French, American or South-African. Why on earth isn't it okay to have a yoruba, Ibo or calabar accent??? Why esteem other accents over ours? Abeg shift jare!

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  16. I have a friend, my ex to be exact..who grew up in Lagos and never learned how to speak Yoruba. It didn't bother me as much that he didn't speak it(even though that would've been a plus) What bothered me was his attitude towards those who spoke Yoruba. He always considered them as being razz and too local..We used to get into hot arguments because of that. I just don't understand what's wrong with speaking one's language?? It's so annoying when I see Nigerians calling other Nigerians razz and too traditional because they speak their language. That's why I love Hispanics, they teach their children right from a young age how to speak their language!! And they speak it everywhere while maintaining their culture..

    I'm tired of Nigerians (born and raised in Nigeria), move here and start walking around with a stick up their yansh.. and act like they have no culture..mscheww

    P.S. I just started following you and I'm enjoying it so far :)

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  17. I will vote for you. Lol.

    This phenomenon of calling 'Nigerian-ness' razzness baffles me too. I mean, there are a few things I won't smile at, like pissing in the streets... but the things that make up the Nigerian culture cannot be razz. People need to recognize jo...

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  18. yeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmmmmmiiiiiieee....u no go kill person o! You write so well, n we don see werin community money do u, u no dissapoint ur fellow villagers. dere hard earned inverstment on u no waste at all, at all...lollzzz, am so luving dis post! u go gurl....

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  19. If speaking pidgin makes me razz then I will gladly dance alanta while chanting...Im razz, im raaaazz, im raaaaaaaaaaaaaazz!!!

    This girl you don kill me jare, Up you for president 2019!

    I love pidgin and since you were born in Warri, you will enjoy my next novel. It's partly set in Warri and there's lot's of pidgin.

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  20. I love pidgin too. In fact, I love to eat with my bare hands if I need to. If anyone has a problem with that, let them do as they care. lol

    If queen Elizabeth is on the table and the dish is Amala, I will never use spoon or fork. I will use my bare hands. Call that razz? Then, yes, I am.

    - LDP

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  21. hehehehehehehe
    You're on another level!
    I no fit laugh!
    I saw your DM.but my network's cazy so I couldn't reply.. Send a blank mail to fit2bimi@yahoo.co.uk and I'd reply okay? Kissessss

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  22. heheheheheheeh

    Oh, goodness gracious me darling you Africans have come again! *English accent*

    I normally wouldn't read LONG posts but the jokes just kept me going!

    Hmm when I started speaking the small pidgin that I knew people started warning me to stop that it's razz. lol

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  23. lmao great post. i hate when people are proud of the fact that they cant speak their language. It's even worse when u see another yoruba in public and they look at you funny when you speak yoruba to them.


    Too much forming is what is ruining some naija girls. Them go for one week vacation in jand and come back with british accents thicker than Queen Elizabeth's.

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  24. Is Pidgin english razz? Abeg make all those people when dey turn up nose go siddon for one corner...


    One gbosa for you...chop knuckles. nice post

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  25. hehehe...I tire o, I have a major dose of "razzness" flowing in my blood stream, and the day the thing worry me, omo, make pesin free me o.

    But for real, its really free-ing to just loosen up and converse in some good pidgin or vernacular...in my opinion, e get some gist wey no go pure if u try use "fune" talk am, na only pidgin or (in my case) igbo go make sense.

    Nice one SY

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  26. lol. razz ke. a beg. lol. love this post.

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  27. woooooooo!! i be naija boy ! i dey raZZ and nothing do me !! hhehehe thats how we roll baby !
    we too dey form for naija.
    ** started a Nigerian Urban dictionary
    NAIJAWORDS
    {www.naijawords.blogspot.com}

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  28. Yels ke! na we razz pass anything. persin wey e pain make dem go hug a pole.. since when George Bush start to dey climb okada? Dem never halla jare! Nothing do us o

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  29. 29 comments?!!!LOL!!!!Better come back ere n fininsh what u've started!!!!lwkmd!

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  30. LOL. Abeg I be Warri babe o...who tink say pidgin dey razz? Lol.

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  31. I see so many Continental people coming to America and wanting to discard their culture, their heritage, language, traditions...it makes me so sad. I wish I had what they have. I hate that folks feel they have to become westernized in order to be accepted. America has no culture, just anti-culture. My response isn't 100% on topic I suppose, but I share your outrage at people turning their noses up at the traditions, etc. of others. Makes me sick.

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  32. loved the post
    pidgin really is our collective naija language, and i am proud to speak it
    it aint razz

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  33. Just finished reading all your blog posts. You're so funny! Lol. Loved it!

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  34. I really love this post and I must say a big thumbs up to you. If you contest for presidency you've got my vote.

    I once worked in a multi-national where you had to be like them to survive. I chose to remain 'Nigerian' and never regretted one moment of it.

    It's sad that our culture, language and customs are being threatened with extinction.

    Wo I like your post jare. I served in Warri many moons ago and I loved it.

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  35. All of us na we razz pass. Some pple for outside dem go dey for posh and when for back, na dm razz pass. On a good day I dig it for pidgin bt me sef dey form posh sometimes...hmmm..

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  36. na forming go kill us 4 dis country..silly forming wey no get sense..me wey de Yoruba land now de try wit all my might mek my children speak calabar cos dem go everly speak yoruba...

    so i go follow you shout, yes, i fit!

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  37. i was told that i write too much Yoruba on face book and i could be perceived as razz.I was like WTF, Yoruba is my language why does it have to be razz?A lot of people have been so brainwashed it is sad.

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  38. kai sisi yemmiee i am so so voying for you eh!!! dont mynd all dem formers.you are so speakyn d truth. keep mit up gurl!!!!

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  39. I would like to exchange links with your site gistdotcom.blogspot.com
    Is this possible?

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  40. Haba! I too dey enjoy your blog o! As a marra of fact, I don wander if this kind blog dey.

    This Pidgin just dey sweet me dey type! Imagine man pikin go talk English, type am, think am aba!

    Where Pidgin, Igbo, Youruba, Effik, Edo, Tarok, Ijo and all off these sweet-fantabuloous languages dey?

    My sister, abeg fire on! Pidgin sweet! People wey think say our languages razz, them razz before razz manage razz sef!

    We Nigerians are blessed with an amazing culture. Make una embrace am with grace.

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  41. LWKMD! Sisi Yemmie, I dey feel you die on top dis matter. haba! it have reach for deliberations. When you are ready to run for presidency, halla me abeg, I go support you. Kari go jare...

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  42. Nice blog and u are doing a great job. I really wish i cld speak pigin english like u ( I love it).

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  43. Whose papa no be spell go?

    Laff wan scatter my belle! pmsl!!!

    Mena

    someone needs serious advice-->

    http://efemenaoreoluwa.blogspot.com/2011/03/er-candy-thoughts-caramel-dreams-and.html

    ReplyDelete
  44. this your blog tight no be small..and i love this your post die...and to think say na mostly those pple wey never even cross border go Cameroun de form pass or those wey their mama sell wrapper or even community join money send school....*hisssss* my dear keep am up jare...for this agenda..I de apply for VP post when time reach u hear..."YES WE FIT!!!"

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    Replies
    1. lol @ cross border go Cameroon...and na true o! People wey suppose form ajebutter nova form finish, na the kpako dem go dey 'rap'. Anyway, I no send anybody. Wetin enter my mouth, na im I go speak. Pesin wey dey cry razz make ei cam shutup my mouth make I see.

      Delete

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