(By Daniel Chukwuemeka) – The disqualification of Genevieve Nnaji's
Lion Heart from Oscar's Best International Film Award category is a very
controversial topic. It'll certainly attract the usual discourse about
colonialism and debate around nationalism and identity. In all, however, I
think that Americans are indirectly telling us, "go home, Nigerians, and
resolve your identity crisis. Go home and think, and act."
English is our official language, but if you watched Lion Heart,
did you see the part where Pete Edochie is fuming before his prospective Hausa
in-law? The Hausa man mutters some words in Hausa without knowing that Pete
Edochie understands the language. Pete joins him in Hausa and speaks it away at
the amazement and excitement of the Hausa man. That alone seals both their
business and family connections.
I
said it in a post yesterday. We had work to do, but failed to do it. Noah
Webster jnr. woke up one morning and said that God came to him in a dream and
ordered him to write a dictionary of American English.
