The pressure is getting worser! After escaping a year of being called aunty Jola, I’ve just been informed that my new title is “Big Mummy.” As you can imagine, I am distraught.
I know it seems like I’m resisting these titles because I’m desperate to cling to my youth. That’s actually not the case. My problem with them is that they perpetuate the ageism that is rife in Nigeria. They support the belief that once a person gets to a certain age, they should begin to hang up their boots and slowly give up on life.
Most people don’t see it that way because elders are practically deified in Nigeria. If your sibling is three years older than you and above, you either call them brother something or sister something. If a relative is more than 10 years older, they become your mummy or daddy. I can never forget the horror on my aunt’s face when she found out we were calling my 70+ uncle “Brother Bisi” (not his real name.) She almost had a heart attack.
I have no problem with the culture of respect for elders. What I do have a problem with is the underlying notion that youth is something to be dismissed. It seems innocent enough on the surface, until you see how endemic it is in Nigerian culture and how it has contributed to many of the country’s problems.
Only old people win elections in Nigeria because of this belief that young people don’t know anything. Old people sanctioned the killing of innocent Nigerians during the End SARS protests because how dare young people question their elders. Public universities in Nigeria are on strike because the government doesn’t understand the value of youth.
This is a horrible state of affairs because younger generations are the main source of modern innovation. Any country that dismisses its youth is literally toying with its future. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were 25 years old when they started Google.
Bill Gates was 19 when he founded Microsoft. Mark Zuckerberg was also 19 when he launched Facebook. I could go on and on about life changing innovations made by people who Nigerians would consider too young to matter. It’s no wonder that the country is in the higi haga that it is today.
My refusal to be called aunty or big mummy at my tender age of none-of-your-business is because I don’t want that evil virus to get stuck in my head. I refuse to buy that idea. There are 60 year olds living full lives all over the world, wearing what they want and looking hot and doing things that matter. I shall be one of them.
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So this is a public service announcement to all those people desperate to call me aunty or big mummy because the pressure is really getting worser. You people should behave yourselves because I don’t know if it’s by force. I have a name that my daddy gave me when I was born. J.O.L.A. Simple. Thanks and God bless.
P.S: If you don’t know what the pressure is getting worser means, you are probably a big mummy.
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Lailai 😁😁😁 it’s Auntie Jola or Big mummy…🤣🤣🤣