Most times in Nigeria, the first meaning of a word becomes the original meaning, just like names cannot be changed. So, if people have been calling it Damascus, “who are you to change it to Damasus?” We all know the correct form and meaning, but simplicity is important in the matter. If you insist, O.Y.O.
Imagine someone woke up today – oh people have tried it – and argued that it’s “Jingle over, like a motor” instead of “jangolova epo motor”. Abeg, make una rest. Jangolova is jangolova. Again, who are you to change the Nigerian adopted original form?
People have tried such mistaken attempts with agbalumo (Yoruba) or udala (Igbo) or agbaluma (Hausa). These pseudo-elite school of modern academics think it is supposed to be called cherry. There are also those who say it is an African apple. You mean, we can ask the market woman we want to buy ‘cherry?’
Sapa is a relatively new word in the Nigerian dictionary of words. In a general sense, it denotes poverty. Explicitly, it is a sense of financial incapacity, or, in many instances, relative poverty.
It is a word that should ordinarily concern Nigeria’s leaders, but it is banter, right? Right? Right? Maybe Nigerians are not as poor as the numbers say, and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) does not know what exactly it is doing.
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Away from that, Read Nigeria Network says “Sapa, a slang word that has been reigning in Nigeria to describe a state of brokenness and extreme poverty, especially after extravagant spending. We can say Sapa is a mild way of saying a person is suffering or lack money; we can also call it a Spirit of poverty that targets you all the time.”
The origin of the word, Sapa, is unknown, and even if it were to be added to a dictionary, there will be back and forth conversations on who formed or where it came from. But, the meaning is the same every time.
Sapa has other meanings though – which are mostly abbreviations.
But, we are not here for it. So, we will not list them. We have to focus. Sapa is currently trending and we collated a few posts with the word in them.
“God when” used to be the most used word on social media – used to talk about relationships or financial unavailability. “Sapa” has taken the stage, and while we call it banter, it exemplifies the reality of many Nigerian citizens.
Meanwhile, DO NOT TRY to invent an English version of Sapa. Sapa is Sapa. Leave it like that.
