Despite the gargantuan plethora of socio-political challenges being faced by the everyday people on the streets, Nigerians always find a way to wipe away their tears with humour.
A school of thought actually believes Nigerians have a special skill of bringing out humour from every situation facing them. Such humour, it is believed, helps them to move on everyday without being bogged down as worrywarts.
These humours are created off the back of slangs or street lingo that emanated from songs of celebrity artistes, comedy skits, Fuji musicians and politicians alike.
While some of these slangs can be used on the streets, most of them gained their popularity on the streets of social media.
Many Nigerians now use “emilokan” which literarily translates “it is my turn” to lay claim to their rights. Emilokan was introduced by Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, when he purportedly laid claim to the presidency of the country at a political meeting at the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, Ogun State, in 2022.
Another salvo from the former Lagos Governor is “Olule’’ which translates to “he failed woefully”. Tinubu had said this during the Abeokuta meeting with party members ahead of June 2022 Presidential primaries when he was described Muhammadu Buhari’s failed attempts to become the nation’s president in the past. The slang is now being used today to make snide comments about any person whose wishes or aspirations fall flat and failed to come through.
As it is synonymous to the behaviour of the men of the Nigerian Police Force, “Olopa ma ko everybody’’, “Police will arrest everybody” can be described as a subtle threat which can be issued by anyone shortchanged in any given situation.
A random video had shown some guys in the dark with one of them dancing to some obscure music and the others hailing him by shouting, “O po fun warisi” repeatedly. This slang became a viral sensation when popular disc jokey, DJ YK turned the video’s tune into a street dance music.
The year 2022 witnessed an increasing number of Nigerians exiting the country in search of the proverbial Golden Fleece or greener pasture. The exodus or “human capital flight’’ which reared its head was locally described as “Japa’’ which means “to run away from ones fatherland”.
While many people shared their heartbreak stories from their love interests online, social media users tagged these stories breakfast.
O tun ti zeh “It has happened again” became a sensation on social media after it was made popular by controversial musician, Habeeb Okikiola popularly known as Portable.
While some describe SAPA as a Serious Absence of Purchasing Ability, it literally means the state of being extremely broke, “Shege’’ depicts the challenges and frustration of the average Nigerian.
Other slangs that became a viral sensation in 2022 are; Izz Gone; Vawulence; Dey play;E soope
Bizabiza; Gbemidebe; Jeekonmo; Ko por ke (KPK);
Trabaye; Wotowoto;Oshe olohun o boju mi je.
Many young Nigerians who usually popularise these slangs and make them trend on social media platforms are eagerly waiting for the first set of slangs in 2023.
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