Growing Up In Nigeria

To today’s Nigerian adolescent, some of the information in this article may seem like a fairy tale but it is true. But for those who were adolescents and young children then, it should kindle nostalgia.

For Nigerians born and bred between 1963 and 1983 in Nigeria, it was a potpourri of experiences growing up. Depending on where they were and regardless of their socioeconomic statuses, they saw things work as they were said and meant to work. The public potable water taps gushed at almost every distance between two electric poles. Trains and the railways functioned properly alongside planes belonging to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) which later metamorphosed into the now extinct Nigeria Airways and very well-managed road transport companies like Midwest Line (later Bendel Line, now Edo/Delta Lines); Izu Chukwu, Ekene Dili Chukwu, The Young Shall Grow and the likes. The latter were running ‘luxurious buses’ as they were then called (and still called even though these days we do not really fell any luxury in them).

Now these services were open for all as long as they could be afforded. The Naira then vacillated between 25 kobo and about 70 kobo to the US Dollar. It was about the second or third most powerful currency in the world at that time because it was introduced in 1973, during the oil boom and three years after the civil war by the Military Administration of General Yakubu Gowon alongside changing from right hand steering to left hand steering, and the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) among other parastatals and national organizations. Only the pound sterling could really boast of ‘looking down’ on the Naira at N1.20k (one naira, twenty kobo) to the British currency.

In 1972, one day, children saw parents jubilating after starring at the front pages of newspapers or listening to the news on transistor radios (TV’s were rarely owned those days): the Udoji Awards!
The late Chief Jerome Udoji did the civil service proud in 1972 with his salary and other benefits awards. It is still being referred to as the golden era of the nation. Then, he headed a Civil Service Commission to review standards of service and compensation within the civil service which made sweeping recommendations on the public service including the recommendation of an objective or goal oriented management style. The review was popularly known as the Udoji award.

Toys were bought for kids, who hitherto were content with playing with kites made from old newspapers or polythene waste. Then craftsmanship for kids was almost a reflex. Children did cages to catch birds, or made mini-cars out of old and disused motor bearings. ‘Borris’ as it was called, was mostly driven on hard surfaces if there were no tarred roads around the neighbourhood. Home decors were changed and ‘modernised’ and new clothing were acquired. Some in the middle class bought their first cars and they were brand new or ‘tear rubber’ as it is called these days. Second-hand cars were ridiculed at and were mostly used by people who returned home from overseas. Known as Aloku (‘used’, In Yoruba), these second-hand cars are now revered in Nigeria as people now literarily give thanksgiving in church for purchasing one!

Hold your breath. Night-soil men aka ‘Agbepo’ (‘pail-carrier’ in Yoruba language) were common place in those days as pit toilets were still in vogue for the average city-dweller. The men came in the dead of the night anyway to evacuate human waste but that did not go with its attendant unpleasant consequences to anyone who was awake then. Children slept earlier than what is obtained these days.

Television sets as earlier mentioned were rarely owned by most homes except by the affluent in the society. Those who had it kept it under lock and key as the brands of teevee available in those days were lockable as they had retractable wooden ‘doors’ and locks built into them. Their homes became a sort of Mecca or viewing houses especially during international football matches involving the then Green Eagles. Those who couldn’t afford TV, or who weren’t allowed space to view from windows and living rooms of teevee owners settled for live commentaries on transistor radios, so vividly relayed by the late radio journalists, Ishola ‘it’s-a-goal’ Folorunsho and Ernest Okonkwo. They relayed the matches so well that it seemed listeners were right at the stadium seeing the games live!

Video? not until the early 80’s that people got first Sony Betamax and later VHS types.
Children had teevee viewing times and strict sleep time rules. Films and movies which had explicit content were the last programs of the day only available to adults. However, some ‘stubborn’ kids sneaked up at night to catch glimpses or one or two scenes of shooting or smooching as the case may be.

Valentine’s Day was marked out there in Europe but it was almost zero celebrations about it here in Nigeria as we almost had everyday as our Val’s days. Then love letters could evoke real emotions as young adults and adolescents had not the sort of out-going freedom experienced these days. Perming of hair and make-up were mostly the deeds of prostitutes or returnee Nigerians from the western world. In fact in Warri and Lagos those days, women or young ladies who wore lipsticks or trousers were referred to as ‘Ashawo’ (or call girls), except of course they were the educated ones who as earlier noted just returned from overseas with such lifestyles. Moreover, then, there were no hair-dressing salons in almost any neighbourhood to provide such services in the first place. What our ladies wore then were wigs; and it was only during festive periods. Morality was held in high regard as no family wanted to be identified with ignominious reputations.

Pupils ran away from teachers even when they were at home, off school and after school hours as memories of school and no-nonsense teachers stuck through their every waking lives. Children found with any shiny coin in those days (6 pence or 5 kobo, 12 shillings or 10 kobo and 30 shillings or 25 kobo, aka ‘dollar’) would be taken home to get assurance from their parents that the child was actually given such an amount. Kids were able to drive cars at younger ages than now and most learnt vicariously. Churches were not as many as we see these days but moral uprightness was way above what obtains these days.

To sum things up, the account hereunder is what this writer gave in response to a Facebook friend’s status message when he asked about how growing up was like:

‘’In my days, things were far better than today’s Nigeria as even the poorest of the poor had more nutritious meals to gobble up. There were no ‘Mr Bigg’s’ ‘Tantalizers’ or ‘Sweet sensations’ (fast food joints), but the Gala sold then were bigger and more filling and our xmases were smelt at least one month before, and the then poor could afford a live chicken or some other poultry like guinea fowl. The Udoji award was evident in almost every home. We were even fed right inside our schools, with fruits served after meals. Although there were not many nursery schools, the predominantly public primary schools had better motivated and trained teachers. Independence and Children’s day celebrations where like Xmas. We created the words AJE BUTTER and AJEPAKO, because then, butter was not sold in sachets as it is done these days to ensure affordability. Even primary school certificate holders spoke better and wrote better than some secondary school leavers we see around these days. A youth Corper? He was almost living like a king during service as he could save enough to purchase at least a VW Beetle (about 600 Naira) those days. Clamour to go abroad? No way! Most people barely knew where The US embassy was, not to talk of the British High Com

mission etc was. Then the dollar was a little over 65 kobo to the naira while most travellers went abroad for education in famous institutions like Harvard or Cambridge. The UK could be visited for holidays and you needn’t have a visa for that. I remember clearly my grandma sending money overseas for my uncle’s upkeep in Middlesbrough polytechnic from the proceeds from the sale of fruits and traditional soap in Benin City. Growing up was far better those days for most people who didn’t own cars than for many of those who own jeeps these days.

Suffice it to say then that the generation of Nigerians born and bred between 1963 and 1983 are the biggest witnesses and partakers of change ever in Nigeria’s history. They experienced the change from Pounds, Shillings and Pence, to Naira and kobo; Driving on the left to driving on the right of the road; old national anthem to a new one and a brand new National Pledge that was non-existent before 1977. The generation also saw or experienced the civil war, even as toddlers and saw virtually all the military coups in Nigeria till date. They saw also the change of administration of Nigeria from 3 or 4 regions to 12 states, 19, 21, and now 36 states.

But how are things today? I do not honestly think I should write about that: the contrast is glaring