Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday thrilled guests with visual descriptions of attributes that make Nigerians outstanding.
Prof Osinbajo represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the dinner organised in commemoration of Nigeria’s 59th Independence Anniversary at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
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Osinbajo said one of the distinct attributes of a Nigerian was the “Nigerian Swag.”
He described “Nigerian swag” as that uniquely confident way that makes Nigerians stand out everywhere and in everything they do.
The country’s number two citizen got his guests laughing and clapping intermittently.
He cited the sport called ‘Bobsled’ and made a PowerPoint presentation of Nigerians girls dancing at the Winter Olympics.
“They thought only white people could do this because it is a winter sport; if you don’t have winter and snow in your country you can’t be a bobsled champion,” Osinbajo said.
“Well, so they thought until the Nigerians came to the Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang South Korea, three Nigerian girls.
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“Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga, the first Africans in Bobsled at the Winter Olympics.
“They raced into history in style and they ended it with dance. How else would you know that they are Nigerians?”
The Vice President also cited the case of the jersey of the Super Eagles used for the 2018 World Cup which got three million pre-orders before it was released by Nike in February 2018.
He said: “The jersey was lit; so lit that we won the first prize for the best-dressed team, Peru came second and Belgium came third.”
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Osinbajo continued: “How about the Nigerian wedding? It has become the toast of the world, among other things, we are teaching the world that every wedding deserves a hashtag.
“#Baad 2017 for BankyW and Adesuwa Etomi, #YemiandDolly 1989 or #Dolyem 1989, that’s me and my lovely wife, to the dramatic entrance of the bridal party, and see the groom flying and, of course, the Aso Ebi.
“And everywhere, they are learning our languages; everywhere, here is a kindergarten class in China; the children are learning Igbo; very soon, everyone is going to be speaking Igbo.
“Our contemporary dances have so much swag from skelewu to sekem to shakiti bobo, shaku shaku and the most recent, zanku. I am sure you all know how to gbe se, gbe se to gbe body e.
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“It is now gbe se, gbe se all over the world; nobody dances like us; it doesn’t matter whether you are the distinguished senator representing Kogi West (Dino Melaye) or the distinguished senator representing Osun West (Ademola Adeleke).”
Osinbajo also listed Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, President Buhari, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo among those who carry Nigerian swag with their dance steps.
