Badagry Preexisted Nigeria: A Tutorial for Ignoramuses Who Call Ogus in Badagry 'Foreigners', By Kriko Augustine

By Kriko Augustine   Sometimes, the best way to challenge or correct stereotypical beliefs is to understand not just what to say, but how to...

By Kriko Augustine 

Sometimes, the best way to challenge or correct stereotypical beliefs is to understand not just what to say, but how to say it.

I've often heard people refer to Ogu people as "foreigners." Last night, I stopped-by at a bar in the evening to unwind (and also watch Chelsea v Tottenham). While there, I noticed a particularly chatty guy making fun of the waiter, whom I suspected was from my ethnic group.

Calmly, I told him to stop with the "foreigner" talk. His friends laughed. Then he turned to me and asked, "Oga, you be from Badagry?"

I nodded. "Yes."

He smirked. "But you no dey do like them."

Curious, I asked, "Oh? How do Badagry people behave?"

That was his cue for an endless, incoherent rant about how "dem no ja"—whatever that means.

So I asked, "What does it mean to 'ja'?"

Once again, he couldn’t come up with any convincing explanation for his warped mindset. It’s funny how those who are peace-loving are often seen as weak by people with no real values.

"How long have you lived here?" I asked.

"I be Lagosian. Na here dem born me oo."

"Ohh, so you claim to be a Lagosian, yet you talk down on the very people indigenous to the land you were born in? One of the foundational communities of Lagos? Aleno!"

Then I hit him with a history lesson.

"Do you even know the year Lord Lugard’s side chick coined the name ‘Nigeria’?"

Blank stare. No clue.

"Have you ever heard of the Berlin Conference, held from 1884 to 1885 in Berlin, Germany? Led by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, it formalized the Scramble for Africa—allowing European nations to divide the continent among themselves without conflict."

Again, dead silence. It’s easier to squeeze water out of a stone than to get informed knowledge from someone who thrives on unverified hearsay.

I went on to school him on the fact that Badagry existed long before Nigeria. People lived and thrived there before the forced amalgamation that created this country.

By the time I was done, he and his gang offered to buy me a beer—but, unfortunately, I’m observing Lent ati wipe ma yin athono!

Kriko Augustine is a public affair analyst and social welfare advocate, writes from Badagry