It’s a sunny day and I have this errand to run in the neighborhood so I decide to take the car. Five minutes into my journey I decide to turn on the radio and tune to one of the most popular radio stations in Lagos and all I hear is British accent from the OAPs struggling to pronounce Nigerian names through their nose like I am listening to Victoria Beckham pronounce Anifowoshe sigh… I decide to tune in to another radio station probably that particular program has some British theme and this time I hear struggling American plus British accent from the OAPs now I’m beginning to get confused thinking aloud…
“abi I don travel comot for Naija wey I no know ni
 
I tune to another station same thing and the fourth, same frigging accents all over my radio! I could almost hear myself scream “HELP! MY NIGERIAN RADIO HAS A FOREIGN ACCENT”
It is disgustingly annoying how most Nigerian radio stations have taken it upon themselves to be anything but Nigerian. I cannot comprehend how a born and bred Nigerian who probably worse case scenario, studied in the UK or US for 1 to 2 years would come to Nigeria to audition for the radio and steal the job from a typical Nigerian with Nigerian accent because the latter has “a foreign accent”.
How are we supposed to listen and identify with an OAP who pronounces “Anuoluwapo” as “ernu-olu-wa-porh” or “Chiamaka” as “Chi-a-ma-karh”
The most annoying part is their apology line after destroying the names. “oh my! I’m so sorry if I murdered your name, I think I was pretty close though” (in British accent). When I hear this I’m like HIAN! Funny thing is that Nigerian radio was never like this. I remember back in the day, Nigerian radio used to be so original even without pidgin speaking stations.
As I continued listening I found the original Nigerian radio stations that were obviously set up for those of us who cannot understand the “foreign accent” radio stations. The stations that speak only pidgin English. I am really happy about the originality of these radio stations and I’m pretty sure they have more ratings than their “wanna be oyinbo”counterparts. But it is still funny how the Nigerian radio industry has divided the Nigerian listening population into the “foreign accent listeners” and the “pidgin English listeners”. So now, its either you listen to your Nigerian radio in foreign accent or you listen in pidgin English. This accent thing has become so rampant and silly that I see some well trained original Nigerian OAPs trading their originality just to be able to break into the radio industry.
Being an OAP does not require you having a foreign accent. Especially not in this part of the world. You just need to know how to speak good English and communicate simple! And we still have OAPs that are successful without using “foreign accents”. You don’t have to complex the life of your listeners by speaking in accents they cannot identify with. Its pretty much like speaking Latin to Hausa people infact I think its madness. We all claim to be original Africans its time to start acting it. If you want to present on the radio with an accent kindly find your way back to where you are coming from.
This craze however, has also extended to the Nigerian television. Some Nigerian stations on the cable network too are guilty of this trend. I was watching the screening audition for TV presenters for a particular Nigerian station and then I noticed that most of the candidates who made it to the last stage either had foreign orientation at a point in their lives or had foreign accents and I thought what image exactly are these people trying to portray to the world? That we have no original identity? I know for sure America will not recruit people with African accents to come communicate to their American people because its simply illogical. So why are we doing this?
It is just absolutely sad how we cannot see how much we are still living in mental slavery. The British who colonized us have come and gone. They have left us to create our own identity but we refuse to create ours but hang unto to theirs in everyway we can. Its like a slave who has been freed but will not leave the front porch of her masters house sweeping it everyday instead of going to build her own house.
Dear Nigerian media industry, please return originality to my radio and TV. If I want to hear a foreign accent I’ll listen to a foreign station or go to a foreign country.
Or I’m I the only one that has noticed this craze?