Table Manners; A Must-Have In The Nigerian Society.
As a Nigerian child growing up, my mother didn’t joke with table manners.
Emphasis on NIGERIAN CHILD.
There was the issue of eating and leaving the meat, fish or chicken for the last. There also was the “eating with your elder factor”, where if you shared a plate with your elder, you had to give him/her that respect and not touch anything in the food except you are permitted to; you know, things like periwinkle, kanda, and other orishirishi items in the soup.
Every culture has its specific rules as to that which constitutes “table manners”, but you all will agree with me that one particular rule suffices in all cultures. That rule simply is,“DON’T TALK WHILE EATING/DON’T TALK WITH FOOD IN YOUR MOUTH.”
It is a known fact that doing either of these passes off as irritating because nobody wants to see the food in your mouth in a pasty form while being chewed (I don’t mean to be forward but……you understand right). However, most importantly, it could lead to choking, which if not well attended to, could lead to eventual death.
Having scrolled through my first five paragraphs, I’m sure you may be wondering, “ohhk….so how’s it a must have in the Nigerian society?”. Over the years and from my observations during my few years on this planet thus far, Table Manners has proven to be an element which governs the Nigerian Society.
I’ll tell you why.
One reason why Nigeria is as it is today is because people who find themselves or have been placed in leadership positions do not do the needful when they should. Factors such as god-fatherism have played a key role in silencing people. As such, they cannot “bite the hands that fed them”. We see these instances play out every day in the country. Instances where a certain leader who ought to make certain decisions fails to do so due to selfish interest of those who “placed him there”.
Moving away from the above mentioned factor, I can’t fail to mention the laissez-faire a.k.a i-don’t-care attitude of the children of these leaders (which actually is the inspiration of this writeup).
Few days ago, I was scrolling through media posts related to the Lekki Toll Gate incident and something caught my eye; a screenshot of a status update belonging to a child of a SARs officer, saying Nigerians who were out protesting should accept what ever fate that comes their way. As a matter of fact, that wasn’t even the only one. Status updates of this sort were being reposted and the numbers of such people attached so that other Nigerians could “show love” in form of abuses and curses.
Peaceful protesters before the Lekki Toll Gate massacre
It actually was funny seeing seeing these people being blasted, but now I think about it, it actually isn’t funny at all. How did we get here?
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I’m not saying the children have to drag their parents indoors or something, but making statements of that sort shows how self centred people are.
Some youths really don’t care what their parents do as long as they meet up with their every demand. Even in instances where they get to find out, they say nothing and just shrug because they are at the befitting end.
This may not even be the only instance but clearly, one way or another, people practice TABLE MANNERS. They would never speak against anything as long as it will affect them. People in political positions would rather die than do the neededful because they are currently feeding on a piece of the National Cake and thus, can’t afford to choke on it. Going against Table Manners could mean many things; termination of an appointment, loss of contract opportunities, etc.
I may be wrong in my opinion of Table Manners in the Nigerian Society, but I stand to be corrected and I’d love to hear varying opinions on this issue.
If you have successfully gotten to this end of this post, I say a big THANK YOU for being my guest. I’d appreciate a comment and a share.
Do not forget the fact that Nigeria can be greater. It all begins with me and you.
