"Oghenenyerovwo"

I decided to join the "Add Yours" thread on WhatsApp status, and I came across one that said, "Tap in with your tribal name."

Now, a lot of people don’t know me by my native name because, for a long time, it was a part of me I hid and didn’t like. But hell yeah, I’ve come to love and accept it.

So I posted the name "Oghenenyerovwo", and a friend of mine was surprised and replied. She said, "Shey it means God hears prayer?" But I argued that it means "God answers prayer."

The funny thing is, I don’t understand Urhobo, so my basis for that argument was simply what I was told growing up.

Later, my dad clarified that it could mean both "God answers prayer" and "God hears prayer," depending on how it’s pronounced.

Before that, I had already come to the conclusion that, las las in Hebrew, the word "shama," which means "to hear," also suggests a response. To shama in Hebrew is beyond just hearing; it implies that there is a response (an answer).

You get it, don’t you?

To think that I spent a great deal of my life hiding this name from the world, only to now find myself defending its meaning so fiercely, it's quite laughable.

Who else has ever been ashamed of, or even hated, their native name?

Dearest reader, one thing we’ve lost touch with in this generation is our originality. We mask our culture and make it seem inferior while readily wearing someone else’s.

One of my biggest regrets is skipping Urhobo classes and refusing to learn the language.

Remember: Be you. There’s absolutely nothing more authentic than being yourself.

#IAMUrhobo

#Oghenenyerovwo

@favvy_Okwans🖤.