Manny

Manny, 28

Nigerian ethnicity: Yoruba

City/County grew up in: London

City/County of residence: London

*audio below

Describe your heritage

So my heritage is I am a Black British-born Nigerian. Both my parents are Nigerians, specifically from the Yoruba tribe.

What to you, makes you Black British Nigerian? How do you define it?

So what makes me Black British born Nigerian? Well first and foremost both of my parents come from Nigeria originally, and when they came to London, they got together, and then I was born. So me being born here in Britain I think is what makes me a Black British-born Nigerian.

What challenges do you/have you faced that relate to your identity as a Black British Nigerian?

I think the first earliest struggle or complication that I faced was being in school, and obviously going to a British public school, and you know you mix with different cultures, you mix with different types of people. And I think there was a bit of conflict in my home because obviously I identified as British (being born here and being schooled here), but my culture was very strong at home, and my parents always raised me to understand and believe that despite being born here, I am Nigerian first.

I think when I was younger I struggled a little bit because I didn’t understand the emphasis my parents put on being Nigerian first rather than being British, and there would be arguments over little stuff - actually, in the grand scheme of things they’re not really little because they do matter, identity matters. To my parents, they are Nigerians first and foremost and they see their children as Nigerian, so how they raised them, and their customs and their principles that they try and put on us, they expect to see that back. But obviously being influenced by a British curriculum, by friends that come from all different parts of the world I think it was very difficult to just be Nigerian and not a Black British Nigerian that was raised in a very multicultural area.

So I think there was a bit of conflict in the home, and I noticed it wasn’t just with me, it was also with my siblings. My youngest sibling probably struggled with that even more than I did, because where I can understand my language but I can’t speak it, my youngest sibling doesn’t at all, and he kind of would say I’m not Nigerian, I’m British. But for me I do understand that I am Nigerian but I’m also British as well. So yeah, that was probably my first earliest struggle I think with the whole concept of being a Black British Nigerian.

What do you love about being Black British Nigerian?

I love my culture, I love being Nigerian. It’s very easy to say that when you’re from somewhere, but I genuinely do. I love our culture, I love our principles, I love our food, even the small stuff like our parties. A good example is when I got married last year, I had colleagues that had come to my wedding and they’d said “We’d never seen anything like it”, and I think there’s so much beauty about being Nigerian that I could never not accept my identity in that. However being born here in England, as much as we complain about it, England is a country that has lots of opportunities; I went to school here, I was privileged to get free education, and I think many of the things I’ve experienced in my life as a result of being in England, have been positive.

When I have conversations around being a Black British Nigerian, and people try and…I dunno, especially Nigerians, I think they try and make you see that you know what, this isn’t your home, no matter what happens, and it’s true (to an extent it’s not my home), but in a way it is. I still very much love my experience of growing up in East Ham; it was an area that had a lot of poverty, a lot of crime, but it’s what formed me, it’s what shaped me, my experiences, my friendships; they all came from where I was born, where I was raised. So I love being a Black British-born Nigerian because I get the best of both worlds the way I see it. I think that in itself has an advantage in life. How? I don’t know exactly, but it definitely has an advantage being part of two different cultures that I love and I’ve embraced growing up.

Do you think this country values your identity?

I wouldn’t say so. I don’t think this country values it just because I find it hard to imagine that they would care specifically about a Black British Nigerian. I think to them what’s more important is if you’re British. We’ve seen conversations recently about immigrants and people who are not from here; there’s a lot of people that seem to have a lot of animosity towards people that aren’t from this country. What they take for granted is that actually whether you’re Black British-born or Indian or Pakistani, you brought something to this country nonetheless. This country wasn’t built on British values, it was built up on all kinds of cultures and all kinds of values, so when I think about being a Black British Nigerian specifically, I know that my people as Nigerians have come here, and they’ve contributed to this economy, they’ve contributed to our communities. I think about the people that have done stuff in our communities – not all of them are Black British Nigerian, but there are Black British Nigerians doing that. And they’re doing it for our economy, for our young people.

So when I think about do they value us? I don’t think they value us more than I value them. I don’t think they see the importance of us being here and what we do, but I think that will change. I think there’s more and more Black British Nigerians that are doing things in different industries, and I think what’s good is stuff like this project in particular; it brings to light the good work that Black British Nigerians are doing, and maybe the bigger picture is that people will start to recognise what we are as Black British Nigerians, and what we do, and how we contribute to this community and to Britain.

What does the future look like for Black British Nigerians - what are your hopes for us?

Hopeful, hopeful. That’s all I can say. I’m excited. Being one myself, I know what I’ve achieved in the last couple of years; I’m a teacher, I’m striving to be a leader of a school. I’m applying to be a governor of a school, I’ve run my own football academy, and I say that because it’s important to recognise the positive things that Black British Nigerians are doing rather than the negative narratives chucked in our face regularly. Whether that be with young people on the streets, or whether that to be to do with fraud, that’s just one narrative but it’s not the only narrative. There’s truth in every story, but there’s also truth in the fact that there are Black British Nigerians out there that are doing great things. So I’m hopeful and you know what, I never doubted that. I think Black British Nigerians, we’re brilliant people - it might be patriotic to say - but we are brilliant people, we have one of the best minds in the world you know, and the world recognises that, so people will see that for themselves very soon.