Seun Oni
There is a provocative thought worth entertaining: Nigerians might be low-key ethical colonisers. The phrase sounds outrageous at first, particularly because Nigeria itself was once under British colonial rule. But this is not an argument about armies, conquered territories or political domination. It is about culture, people and influence. Nigerians are increasingly taking their music, movies, food, language, fashion, businesses, education, relationships and traditions into different parts of the world, and, interestingly, many people are not resisting the influence. They are embracing it.
Perhaps that is what makes the Nigerian story unusual. The Nigerian does not necessarily arrive abroad trying to impose Nigeria on anyone. He or she simply builds a life, starts a family, opens a business, plays music, cooks food, attends church, throws a wedding or creates something. Slowly, the surrounding society begins to encounter Nigerian culture. Sometimes, it even begins to love it.
The Nigerian Diaspora Is More Than Migration
Nigerians are among Africa’s most globally dispersed populations. From Britain and the United States to Canada, Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Africa, Nigerians have established communities and professional networks. But migration does not only move people. It moves culture.
A Nigerian who settles abroad carries much more than a passport. There are names, food, music, religion, clothing, family traditions and language. When Nigerians marry people from other racial and cultural backgrounds, Nigerian culture can enter households that previously had no connection to Nigeria. Their children may grow up with Nigerian names, Nigerian food, Nigerian music and Nigerian family traditions alongside those of their other heritage.
The result is a quiet form of cultural reproduction.
Afrobeats Has Become A Global Nigerian Ambassador
Nothing demonstrates Nigerian cultural influence more clearly than music. Afrobeats has travelled from West Africa into the global mainstream, with Nigerian artists such as Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido and Tems becoming internationally recognised stars.
The Recording Academy has described Wizkid as an important figure in Afrobeats’ international rise, while Burna Boy has emerged as one of the genre’s most prominent global performers.
Millions of people who have never visited Nigeria now listen to Nigerian music. They dance to Nigerian rhythms, sing Nigerian hooks and use expressions associated with Nigerian popular culture. Nigerian music has become one of the country’s most effective ambassadors, and it does not require a diplomatic passport.
Nollywood Has Been Doing The Same Thing
Nollywood provides another example. Nigerian films have travelled extensively across Africa and into diaspora communities, exposing audiences to Nigerian stories, humour, family relationships, religious themes and social realities.
The linguistic effect is equally interesting. Nigerian Pidgin has a complicated history and cannot simply be reduced to a mixture of Nigeria’s major indigenous languages and English. However, Nigerian movies, music and social media have helped Nigerian expressions and slang travel far beyond the country’s borders.
A person may never have lived in Lagos and still recognise Nigerian expressions because Nigerian popular culture has brought them into their everyday environment.
Food Is Perhaps The Most Peaceful Coloniser
Then there is food. Jollof rice has become internationally recognised, even though the dish belongs to a broader West African culinary tradition and the argument over whether Nigerian or Ghanaian jollof is superior remains unresolved.
Beyond jollof, Nigerian dishes such as egusi, suya, pounded yam, moi moi, pepper soup and puff puff are increasingly familiar to people outside Nigeria. Food is a particularly powerful form of cultural influence because it is experiential. You do not need to understand a culture before you can enjoy its food.
Fashion, Weddings And The Nigerian Lifestyle
Nigerian fashion has also moved beyond Nigerian communities. Lagos has developed into an important African fashion centre, while Nigerian designers have gained international visibility. Traditional fabrics, aso oke, gele and contemporary Nigerian designs increasingly appear in global fashion conversations.
The Nigerian wedding may be an even more fascinating export. The clothing, music, dancing, food and elaborate celebrations can turn a marriage into a cultural encounter. In interracial marriages, Nigerian traditions can become part of another family’s identity. The Nigerian wedding therefore becomes more than a ceremony. It becomes cultural transmission.
Nigerian Brains, Business And Technology
The influence extends beyond lifestyle. Nigerians have developed a strong presence in education, medicine, academia, business and technology. Pew Research Center found that 67 percent of Nigerian born Black immigrants aged 25 and older in the United States had a college degree in 2024, the highest proportion among the major Black immigrant groups examined.
Nigerian entrepreneurs have also played important roles in Africa’s technology and fintech ecosystem. Companies founded or built by Nigerians have developed products serving markets beyond Nigeria, demonstrating that Nigerian influence is increasingly economic as well as cultural.
So, Are Nigerians Really Colonisers?
Not in the historical sense.
There is no Nigerian army occupying foreign territory, no government forcing foreigners to eat jollof and no Nigerian authority compelling people to listen to Afrobeats.
That is precisely why the phrase is interesting.
Traditional colonialism relied on coercion. What we are describing is largely based on attraction, migration, relationships, creativity, enterprise and voluntary participation.
Perhaps Nigerians are not colonising the world at all. Perhaps they are simply becoming extraordinarily effective exporters of culture and identity.
But if people voluntarily embrace your music, food, language, fashion, weddings, businesses and traditions, while your people establish families and communities across the world, it is worth asking whether a new form of influence is emerging.
Maybe Nigerians are low-key ethical colonisers.
And perhaps the most remarkable thing about this “colonisation” is that nobody appears to be forcing anyone to join.
Seun Oni is a UK-based entertainment journalist recognised for her polished voice and incisive cultural reporting. She covers film, television, music and celebrity culture with a confident blend of industry awareness and human-centred storytelling. Her work spotlights emerging talent, shifting creative landscapes and the narratives shaping modern entertainment, establishing her as a credible and compelling voice in the field.
