Beyond the Mic: Insights from a Listener and a Look Behind the Scenes

Hello and welcome to the show. I'm still out and about so expect to hear some cars in the background. I know I've already made a podcast recording for today, but I had a really interesting chat. How do you say chat, conversation, chat versation. So I had a really interesting chat versation recently. Oh, I already said recently. Anyway, you get the whole point. I had an interesting exchange over WhatsApp and I just thought I should get over here and share with you guys.

Listener, shout out to Wendy. Musango Dika. I hope I'm pronouncing your name properly. Well, since I got your name over a chart, then of course it's understandable that I I'm ordering the name, especially the musango part. Now Wendy is Cameroonian, but now lives in Abuja, Nigeria. She's a wedding planner, an event stylist, and a coordinator. The name of our business is Extreme Vogue Events, and I would like you guys to check her out at Extreme Vogue events.

Really straightforward Instagram handle. But when you're spelling the Vogue events, it's going to be two ES, So Vogue VOGUE, and then another E for EVENTS, events, So Extreme Vogue events all together. No underscored, no full stop, no breaks, no nothing. So check out and follow her on her Instagram page. Now, the reason why I'm giving her a shout out today, I'm making this episode is because she reached out to me recently.

Today, actually, a couple of hours ago, she sent me a message on WhatsApp saying that she just wanted to say hi and that she's learned a thing or two on the podcast. She didn't have any questions for me, She didn't have anything to discuss. She just wanted to reach out and say hi. Now even though she reached out just to say hi, still I really appreciated her reaching out because there are lots of folks who don't reach out just for the sake of giving goodwill or giving some form of recognition or whatever.

So when it happens it does brighten up ones day. And yes, when I say one's day I mean me. So yes, it did brighten up my day. And it sounds, you know, different kinds of purposes because like I keep telling you guys, when you guys reach out, it gives me a sense of who's listening. It gives me a sense of the challenges that you guys might be facing. But still, just hearing from someone just to say hi, I mean, that meant a lot.

So yeah, thank you very much for listening. For those of you who also want to connect with me later on for different reasons, whether it's to say hi or maybe because you have questions, usually I give my contact details after the show so you can do it through through the details that I drop. And after she said hi, we had a really interesting random personal chat, you know, chatting about a couple of things, and she didn't know that I am thieve.

She figured that I was half German. Now my name sounds German ish, so I was probably half German. And I've gotten those sorts of things before. I've spoken with some folks who figured I'm half Japanese or maybe half Indian. Well, obviously that happens a lot of the time when, you know, people can't see who I am, you know, over the phone. Or maybe we're emailing or something, and that's because of the name Tavishima. I've heard it sounds German,

Japanese, Indian, what else? Somebody also claimed that it looks Irish. Or it sounds Irish, but I mean, that was a new one. Anyway, The thing is, I am full Nigerian, so I'm not half anything, not half German, not half Japanese, not half Indian, and I'm definitely not Irish. In fact, the closest I got to Ireland was when I was in school at the University of Aberdeen, which is in Scotland, so that's the closest I ever got.

So I'm actually team. I'm from Benue State, although my people span the North Central part of the country, so we can be found in Taraba, in Nasarawa, in some parts of plateau, although not native to plateau per southeast. And we are the 4th largest tribe in Nigeria, at least we were according to the 1979 census. But the two censuses, is it censuses or sensei? So the two censuses or the two sensi or whatever it is that we call it that we've done since then, we didn't carry that kind of tribal data.

So I don't know where we've risen to or fallen on the ranks. And then tea people, that's where I'm from. We're traditionally, sorry, what's that word, Agrarian, yeah, agriculture. So we're traditionally agrarian society, although now we're multi sector like the rest of the ethnicities in Nigeria. And of course we face the same challenges that everybody else faces. So we have this whole thing around rural, urban migration,

you know, people leaving the villages, coming to the cities, maybe not much to do. Of course, there's a whole thing about insecurity, what else, food challenges and then the typical North Central issues, you know, around political integration and then all that. So summary, The reason why I made this podcast episode was first of all to say thank you very much to Wendy for reaching out. And then because of how the conversation went, I also wanted to come here just to let you guys know that thief people are not extinct.

So yes, I know that the last time you saw a thief person, for those of you who are Nigerian, was when you studied social studies in primary school, maybe 2 decades ago or whatever. And you open up a book and there was a picture there in black and white of people dressed in black and white, dancing or farming or whatever. And under there it said, you know, thief people and so you figure that we were extinct. And also they do pictures about the Knock terracotta terracotta sculptures.

And so some people also think that Knock people are extinct as well. So this is just to let you guys know, for those of you listening to the podcast, who are Nigerian but are not thieve and you're not from Plateau State. And so because of that, you've never run into a thief person before. We still exist. We are not extinct. Yes, we're in the history books and all that, but we're alive and we are well. So that's the reason why I made this podcast episode, to say thank you to Wendy and also let you guys know we still exist and to let you guys know a bit about us, the TV people.

So yeah, So for those of you who've been listening to the podcast and you've always wondered, at the end of the show, I give my name. You say this fellow has a strange name. Where is he from now? You know? But The funny thing is where I'm from, my name is not unique. So whenever I'm I'm in a villa or I'm in Makudi, which is the capital of Ben Wasted, it is not unusual for someone to shout tavishim and then I turn and or wasn't me, you know, they mean some other kid, so that happens.

Now, for those of you who are extra curious, I want to know what the name means for those of you who are not Nigerian, I'm sure you run into a couple of Nigerians that you figured out by now that most of us have strong meanings attached to our name. And yes, my name does have a meaning and I think a good meaning at that. So for those of you who are foreigners, by foreigners I mean not Nigerian and let me say not African and maybe not Asian.

So you guys have names that are, what's the word? I won't say meaningless because even if your name is Smith or Jack, you know, The thing is, it actually has a meaning. It's just that you've forgotten like my English name is George and George I think is Greek for farmer. So if you're named George, you might think your name is meaningless. Your name is not meaningless. The name has just been forgotten within your own larger cultural context.

So yes in this part of the world, in Africa, in Asia, our meanings, our names have meanings typically around hopes, associations, dreams, wishes that parents have for their children and sometimes it's tied around circumstances around their birth. So it's not always that you find a name that means that carries hopes, wishes and aspirations. Sometimes it's tied to certain circumstances around the child's birth. So for instance you find children like Ladi for instance.

So if your if your child is named Ladi I think from northern tribes all those house I speaking people I think Ladi means Sunday so that was a child born on a Sunday. So yes, we have those sorts of names. But yeah, typically our names have meanings around our parents aspirations or around circumstances for our birth. So my name Tavishima actually is a sentence. So yeah, those of you who are wondering, yeah, that's why it's so long.

It's a sentence and it's an admonition. So depending on how, depending on the context, it can mean have a strong mind. Tavishima can also mean be strong willed. It can also mean be of sound heart and it can also mean be resolute depending on the context, depending on how you pronounce it. Some people even say Tabishima means stubborn. So there are some people who will come across me, dear people, and say when they hear that my name is Tabishima, they say yeah, you're stubborn just like your name.

So depending on the context, these are the range of meanings and that it might have. So for those of us Nigerian boys and girls who are having children, even those of us who don't speak their language too well, let's still keep the tradition of good names alive. It is not a superstition when we give children names that carry our hopes, our wishes and our dreams for it. Some people think it's a superstition because like, do people say that your name should catch you?

What that means is, you know, you're given a a a good name, so may the good wishes catch up with you. And I've also heard some South African people say you know, stuff similar like that, like like you are your name or your name is you or something like that. So it's not just superstition, but there's a psychological element as well. Because we name our kids. Eventually the child asks, what does my name mean? And you can have some very, very interesting conversation.

So your name is this. That's that in our native tongue, it means God sent. And that's because at the time you were born, maybe the family suffered this. The family suffered that by the time you came along, you brought joy and happiness and everything. And we figured you were a gift from God, and so we named you God sent. So those names, they mean a lot. They carry a lot. And these are the wonderful stories that we can tell our children.

And it's it's the beginning of the social capital, because I made an episode about social capital and how that leads to entrepreneurship in different societies. Now, the reason why some societies seem more entrepreneurial than others. Sometimes it's just a matter of social capital. Somebody, somewhere decided to be an entrepreneur and that showed the other people in the family, in the society the way, and everybody followed.

So the whole thing about America and its entrepreneurial boom is, you know, it's it's that simple, you know, certain societal, what's that word? Incentives make it possible for a Silicon Valley to occur. And then by the time you have 1234 success stories from there, people see the way and then you know people just catch on. And then so the social capital that is created not just in society but within families as well.

So the names that we give our children, that is also a good way of trans transferring social capital. And yes, it was a good source of encouragement to me when I was a young boy having conversations with my dad about what my name means, why I was given that name. And you know, there's some other circumstances around there as well. But anyway, let me stop for a thank you episode. I've already got 10 minutes. So bottom line, I made this episode to say thank you very much, Wendy.

Thank you very much, Wendy, for reaching out. You have made my day. And as you've reached out to me to sow goodwill, my prayers that other people are also going to bring goodwill into your life, bring cheers into your life and also bring friendships into your life as well. So thank you very much guys for listening to this episode. Please follow Wendy and say what's up to her. Tell her that you heard about her on today's episode of the podcast.

And remember that the Instagram handle is extreme Vogue together as one word. So reach out to her. Tell her that Havishima sent you thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next episode.