Culture Appropriation: Dear Nigerians, we do not have a summer season

'Summer' does not exist in Nigeria but this hasn't stopped Nigerians from imbibing it into their pop culture.

Seasons are synonymous with human beings. Asides determining agricultural produces, they determine fashion choices, lifestyle changes and types of enjoyment.

However, due to geographical locations, weather differs. Thus, seasons do. Europe, The Americas, Oceania and Asia have more complex seasons and weather than most parts of Africa.

Due to America and Europe being the ideal concept of "good" to the average African-Nigerian, and their status as the bar for most of the world, their livelihoods inspire the rest of us.

If you are in your 20s, you must have heard your parents refer to July - September classes as "Summer lesson". The problem, it's far too unrelatable to average Nigerians.

 

What is Summer?

Typically, a summer is usually a long, heated season of low natural, cooling moist and filled with a need to sleep in ice block.

Asides the Southern Hemisphere, most of Europe and America - Africa- Nigeria's biggest influences, both enjoy summer between June and September.

To the West, it is a time to relax, go on holidays to exotic locations, sweat wild oats, party, engage in random hookups, eat through Rome, party till 6am, purchase footballers for exorbitant prices and so forth, depending on what affects you.

 

The idea of summer as a period of enjoyment and chill is the little to no moist. Rain can sometimes be an inhibiting factor to certain outdoor activities and even constrain movement.

The Problem

 

‘Cool’ Nigerians might refer to June to September as "Summer" due to an adoption of foreign lifestyle. However, June- September is known as the rainy season in Nigeria while dry season is from October to April. So where does this craze for summer come from?

Colonialists were used to the idea of summer, and since they brought contemporary literacy and education to Nigeria, learning and information passed must have made cultures overlap.

Summer must have been attributed to our own June - September when in fact, it is usually our wettest season. The problem was, we accepted it without due evaluation.

 

However, we cannot be blamed.

What we can be blamed for is how we strengthened the hold of this phenomenon even in our literacy and through contemporary media - music, movies and the Internet - imprinting our psyche.

Without due evaluation, some of us picked the idea of Nigeria July - September for shows. Why is beyond me because it usually ends in disastrous manner.

The Correction

If we claim Westerners appropriate African culture, we should equally not appropriate western culture because we do not even have a summer.