Today, I attended Sunday service at my usual parish, St Francis Church, Lt Lonsdale. When I walked into the church I observed that some pews had reserved signs placed on them, which meant that they had been reserved for some people. I have a spot on the pew where I usually sit. There was no reserved sign placed on that pew. But when I tried to sit there I was told by a man who looked like an octogenarian that the spaces were reserved; he had reserved the spaces for some people, perhaps his family. I observed that he was not the only person who had reserved sits for some people.
As I looked for another space in another pew to
sit, I said to myself, “so Oyibo people
too reserve seats in church in Oyibo land?” I was not the only person who
was deprived of a (desired) sitting spot, other people too experienced the same
as I did. They did not get mopey about it- which tells me that it is something
that is usual- rather they looked for available spaces.
In Nigeria, I have seen people, particularly those
people, who think that everything works perfectly well abroad because they have
lived or visited abroad, throw a conniption fit in church over seats
that are reserved for some people. I have heard people say that it is only in
Nigeria that seats are reserved in church. Comment like “it is only in Nigeria that such things can
happen” is very popular in Nigeria. If you are not careful in your
rationality you will fall into the trap of belief that Nigeria is a place where
anything wrong exists.
I have observed in that parish that some women
keep their handbags in seats while others are unable to find seats, hence stand
while the service goes on. And those women who use their handbags to occupy
seats will see people standing, yet they will do nothing. When I look at
those handbags, I usually expect to see names like Fendi, Hermes, Louis
Vuitton, Hilde Palladino, or Marc Jacobs, perhaps that may explain to me why
such handbags should not be kept on the floor, but I see names that even Google
does not know they exist. No doubts, some women do this in Nigerian churches.
If you have witnessed it you may have heard such comment like “it is only in Nigeria that it can happen.”
The truth is that many of the things Nigerians
think do not happen abroad, hence exist only in Nigeria actually happen
anywhere in the world. It is just that Nigerians feel comfortable to
associate anything negative with Nigeria, especially when things do not go
their way. So, next time something happens around you and you rush to conclude
that it is only in Nigeria such a thing can happen make sure you have traversed
around the globe.
Happy New Month!
