We Are Where We Live

There is no gainsaying that human beings are a product of their environment. You don’t expect a babe from Ajegunle to act more posh than a lady that was born and bred in Lekki, except, of course pigs now fly. This article aims to justify the fact that, we are where we live.

Although we like to believe that we are each the captain of our ship, the fact is, much of our behavior is influenced by outside factors such as climate, our neighbours and the general “lay of the land” in which we live. What this comes down to is a kind of Psychology of Geography.

Who you are as an individual is a combination of probably 50 percent of your inner self and another 50 percent of your surroundings. Our focus here is your surrounding which has a major influence on your personality. And that is why it is easy to differentiate an Island babe from a babe that lives on the mainland (he no dey hard to know them). You can’t be living in a 5 million naira per year apartment and still have the same sense or lifestyle as someone that lives in a 250k flat. Now I’m not saying that in a derogatory way. I am only asking you to apply logic in assessing both instances.

If they put 10 ladies from separate regions of the country in a house for 3 months, within two days it will be so easy to distinguish the babe from Lagos from the one that lived all her life in Ibadan, just as it be seen in the ongoing Big Brother Naija. You can also tell the Igbo, Calabar or Hausa girl or guy in the house. The same applies to our locations or where we live.

It is for this reason that there are such concepts as regional characteristics or national character…despite sometimes-strident efforts to deny that such things even exist.

The average family in Mile 12 in Lagos state or Damaturu the Yobe state capital takes up an entirely different diet compared to the average family in VGC or Maitama. Just looking at the local diet may reveal insights into the local population.

If I had grown up in the village my forefathers originally sprang from, I doubt if I would have formed the same personality as I do have now. And I’m saying this in terms of language, culture, diet and ideology

Invariably, your environment influences the way you view your world. We would be different people if we grew up somewhere else. That is why some persons can never stay on the mainland no matter how expensive it is to live on the Island. You will admit that the life there is very well different from life in a place like Festac. Even the infrastructures there are quite different.

Again, where you live profoundly shapes who you are. I would go as far as to argue that what is truly Nigerian is not so much the individual but neighborhood inequality. A better income means a nicer house, a new lease of life, a pathway out of poverty for the adults and a solid education for the children.

However, what is odd about the Psychology of Geography is that so many people will, in an effort to be politically correct, deny that such differences between people even exist while, at the same time, rejoicing in the idea of diversity.

Yes! The environment we find ourselves plays a role in who we are, but should not constitute our personality make-up, because on the long run we are the architects of our own fate.

If you had a choice to determine where you want to live, would you still choose your present location?

Have your say…