Boo! Someone says as I walk into the venue for the Halloween party, he was dressed as Alex DeLarge from the psychotic 1971 movie, Clockwork Orange and I immediately felt I was in foreign lands instead of Victoria Island, Lagos state, Nigeria. I attended this Halloween party out of my love for candy but in general I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I have never attended an American or Canadian Halloween party, so while I had nothing to compare it to, I was thrown off by the whole thing. In my mind, it was like Americans trying to grope their way through an Igbo-inspired Ala festival on American soil!
While Halloween might be seemingly harmless, there’s a cultural context of understanding the holiday that has yet to come to fruition in Nigeria. And why are we so interested in celebrating the day anyway, when indigenous and traditional festivals are ignored? Furthermore, why are we so adept at consuming everything that comes from the west?
However, aside from public and private celebrations, social media was abuzz with conversations about the festive day.
You’re a confused Nigerian… RT @RuthOhanu: Halloween and kwanza are the only holidays I celebrate
— PJ (@9PJ) October 25, 2015
Halloween aka All Hallows Eve is an annual holiday celebrated on the 31st of October in several countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States of America. Halloween is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the darker half of the year) when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. However, the roots of the holiday are lost and irrelevant to most participants who enjoy the holiday for the fun of wearing a costume and eating candy.
While the U.S. has its own share of conversations around some of the more problematic aspects of Halloween such as ‘inappropriate costumes’ which are associated with cultural appropriation and racism– within Nigeria, the celebration of Halloween is perceived by many as an act of playing copycat.
“Halloween is the devil’s birthday” – Nigerian grandmas 💀 — Nigeria’s Gift (@True_Igwe) October 6, 2015
No such thing as Halloween in a Nigerian household — A-Day-Coon-Lay (@drummab0ii) October 11, 2015
Bring up Halloween in a Nigerian house and end up spending the next week doing broom deliverance in prophet James house — Angellique Lane (@im_goth_so_what) October 25, 2015
Similarly in Nigeria, Halloween is something exciting and fun (especially dressing up and trick-or-treating for candy). However, perhaps Nigeria needs more cross cultural dialogue for Nigerians to truly celebrate the holiday, as many are quick to note that Nigerians can be quick to embrace other cultures without fully understanding them.
You are Nigerian. You deride African Ancestors’ Worship but celebrate halloween. You are a mental slave. Emancipate yourself. Free ya mind
— Solopenja (@solomonapenja) October 26, 2015
It is hard to imagine Americans, Canadians, the Irish or Asians choosing to celebrate one of our many indigenous cultural events or festivals out of common courtesy or due to the fact that it is popular.
“Stupidity is when Nigerian remembers the date of Halloween but can’t remember the date of his/her village yam festival” – Hillary Clinton — UchennaDV of 5% (@Uchez2) October 28, 2015
Until I see them celebrating Nigerian/African festivals in the abroad, I’m not celebrating any yeye Halloween.
— Rita C. Onwurah (@RitaOnwurah) October 31, 2015
As more Nigerians are celebrating Halloween, one question comes to mind, are we also celebrating indigenous festivals? or is Nigeria’s acceptance of Halloween a postcolonial ripple effect, where something foreign is preferred and perceived as superior to traditional values?
