One thing I did even when I was not aware of what it meant to have an identity, was to make it clear that I was not "like them" or "one of them". It was important that people related to me as an individual and not as the member of a collectivity.
I refused to be identified by my tribe, race, nationality, gender or parental ties.
One thing my parents struggled with was my insistence in detaching myself from them. They wanted me to be part of them and fully embrace their system because that's what offspring do.
They were disappointed when they finally realised that I was not interested in issues and people that mattered to them.
I didn't care for their religion.
I didn't care for their beliefs.
I didn't care for their social groups.
I didn't care for their ideas or lack thereof.
For long they struggled with my reluctance to become an active member of the church. They wished I would attend every Sunday and perhaps participate in church activities.
They acknowledged my discomfort amidst those people, but they believed that the church was more important than my discomfort and "those people".
For a while, I tried to compromise. I attended service, albeit sporadically. I joined youth activities. I even got baptized even though I had already done so at the age of 12 as per request of my adoptive father.
However I eventually dropped and rejected everything to fully embrace myself and my individuality.
Today, I like to think of my parents as vessels through which I came into this world. As much as I think they did a terrible job at being parents, I still don't think it's enough reason to become a nuisance to the rest of humanity.
Finding my own identity has helped me become the kind of person that usually does not result from that kind of upbringing I had. My kind of rebellion is geared towards principles that are taught and incorporated into a healthy upbringing. My upbringing should have resulted in my being a misfit and an alienated member of the society, or worse, an antisocial.
Many people have lost their identities because they got lost in the blob called parents, who at their own time got lost inside their own parents' blob. And that's how this society that looks like one massive blob was created.
Concerning the massive noise that was made online regarding the latest news of sexual assault by men of authority, the impact was felt by the volume of our voices and not by the overwhelming number of people who protested.
Majority of Nigerians are still trapped in that blob: they are either complicit or indifferent, either way, they remain enablers.
Why do you believe (in) what you believe and do what you do? Is it because you were taught so or because you realised so?
Assess your identity today. You might be a totally different person than you always thought you are.
I refused to be identified by my tribe, race, nationality, gender or parental ties.
One thing my parents struggled with was my insistence in detaching myself from them. They wanted me to be part of them and fully embrace their system because that's what offspring do.
They were disappointed when they finally realised that I was not interested in issues and people that mattered to them.
I didn't care for their religion.
I didn't care for their beliefs.
I didn't care for their social groups.
I didn't care for their ideas or lack thereof.
For long they struggled with my reluctance to become an active member of the church. They wished I would attend every Sunday and perhaps participate in church activities.
They acknowledged my discomfort amidst those people, but they believed that the church was more important than my discomfort and "those people".
For a while, I tried to compromise. I attended service, albeit sporadically. I joined youth activities. I even got baptized even though I had already done so at the age of 12 as per request of my adoptive father.
However I eventually dropped and rejected everything to fully embrace myself and my individuality.
Today, I like to think of my parents as vessels through which I came into this world. As much as I think they did a terrible job at being parents, I still don't think it's enough reason to become a nuisance to the rest of humanity.
Finding my own identity has helped me become the kind of person that usually does not result from that kind of upbringing I had. My kind of rebellion is geared towards principles that are taught and incorporated into a healthy upbringing. My upbringing should have resulted in my being a misfit and an alienated member of the society, or worse, an antisocial.
Many people have lost their identities because they got lost in the blob called parents, who at their own time got lost inside their own parents' blob. And that's how this society that looks like one massive blob was created.
Concerning the massive noise that was made online regarding the latest news of sexual assault by men of authority, the impact was felt by the volume of our voices and not by the overwhelming number of people who protested.
Majority of Nigerians are still trapped in that blob: they are either complicit or indifferent, either way, they remain enablers.
Why do you believe (in) what you believe and do what you do? Is it because you were taught so or because you realised so?
Assess your identity today. You might be a totally different person than you always thought you are.
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