Esther Adeyanju: Why Do Nigerians Celebrate People Who Succeed Abroad?

I was not supposed to care because I’ve never been an NBA person. But one random evening, while absentmindedly scrolling through Instagram, a basketball highlight interrupted my routine. Someone sprinted forward, rose into the air and dunked the ball with the kind of confidence that makes strangers pause what they are doing.

I watched it again and began wondering, Who is this guy? The commentator answered.

“OG Anunoby.”

“OG?” “Anunoby?” That sounds familiar.  I looked him up immediately, and yes, the familiarity was known. “Ogugua Anunoby,” I muttered to myself; a smile slowly replaced the surprise on my face. That is a Nigerian name.

Without knowing his story, without knowing anything serious about basketball, I became emotionally invested. There is a very specific joy Nigerians experience when we discover someone doing extraordinary things abroad, and they carry a name that sounds like home. We smile and feel strangely proud.

I read more on Ogugua Anunoby and was searching for a video where he probably mentioned the sentence I had already written in my head: “My parents are from Nigeria.” I wanted the familiar story and connection. Instead, I found interviews describing him as British and raised in the US, which wasn’t surprising because people belong to the places that shape them, and identity is often more layered than surnames and assumptions.

But for a brief moment, I felt a pinch of disappointment because I wanted that recognition to be complete. I went back to rewatch the reel, so I checked the comments. Nigerians were already there typing, “He is ours,” “Look at the surname,” followed by a barrage of Nigerian flags. I…