Mista Kunta Kin-Jay?

I've never really given much thought to my ancestry.

Not because I don't care - after all everyone gets curious about grandpa and grandma. Even those who never knew them. There always seems to be a little nagging desire to belong somewhere.

I'm saying all this now as if I've always felt this way. I haven't. In fact the whole "roots" thing was as far from my thoughts sometimes as Chicken George was from Naija.

Until recently.

My father's a yoruba man, my mother's okpella, I was born in Port-Harcourt and lived my whole life in Kaduna. I communicate fluently in only one language - English. Actually, so do a lot of modern Nigerians. I've had lots of people try to explain to me the benefits of identifying with my culture and speaking my language. My response? Which one?

I once traveled to Ibadan and felt so out of place among my "own people" that I was tense throughout; until I drove into the Sabo area in Ibadan and overheard some fellas speaking Hausa. Phew!

"Sanu nku" I was relieved to blurt out much to their delight. But being limited even in that language I could only converse for a couple of minutes.

"Sai an jima!" and I was outta there. Me, the modern Nigerian.

Recently though, an uncle in the states emailed the family a book about our grandpa that totally changed the way I previously saw the man. He was quite a businessman in his day. In fact, he was once the richest man in Ibadan and in line to rule to ancient city.

Now although it had always been common knowledge how rich and famous he was, being ensconced it the north far away from my family roots really dulled the impact of the family legacy on my life. He was such a vague personality to me that the degree of detail in the book of his exploits just blew me away.

The old fellow racked up enough entrepreneurial firsts to make it into any worldwide business hall of fame. Not for the first time I lamented my country's tendency to celebrate mediocrity and ignore true achievement. I mean really, what good have most of those strutting around as our leaders done for us? Maybe that's why you can only really impress me through your private sector prowess.

On a personal note, I gained a satisfying insight into myself. I began to see our similarities and understand the things that drive me to explore and seek to improve the status quo. I now understood the entrepreneurial bent my father, my brother and I have. And I was inspired to keep at it till I achieve all I had ever dreamed of doing.

Looking back at grandpa helped me understand my vision for myself and my nation. And now more than ever, I am resolved to take my place in Naija as one of those who changed it for the better. Thanks grandpa.