“Speaking English with British accent has turned me to an overnight celebrity.” David Bamidele.
5 min read
David Bamidele, a 19 year old student of University of Ilorin studying Urban and Regional Planning was like any other ordinary student in the famous university until he discovered the talent in him. The guy speaks English with British accent and at times uses the same British accent to speak Yoruba and on rare cases, Igbo language as well. On first value, you would assume that he was born and raised up in Britain but the young lad told Umuaka Times last week that he has not been to the UK before.
Umuaka Times had an opportunity to speak with the young Bamidele in an interview last week. He really narrated how it all started and how he is now one of the most popular students in Ilorin and beyond.
Excerpts:
Tell us your name and a little about your backgrounds.
My name is David Bamidele, I am a native of Ogun State, Nigeria, a Yoruba boy. I am 19 years old and a student of University of Ilorin.
What are you studying at the university?
Urban and Regional Planning. 200 level studying
Where were you raised?
Born in Lagos State, raised in FCT Abuja.
Your mum and dad work with the civil service?
Yes they both do.
You are a very popular Nigerian boy on the internet, what brought about the popularity?
Well…it is my ability to speak English language with British accent.
How did that make you popular?
Because the British accent seems to be something which a lot of Nigerian youths crave and also love to listen to too.
What again made you popular?
My ability to infuse the Yoruba accent into it as well.
But many who listen to you don’t understand Yoruba. Well said… You have about 30,000 followers on Instagram cut across all languages, do you remember that?
Many of them don’t even know Yoruba accent, (general laughter). The Yoruba accent sounds funny. I have videos where I also infused the Hausa and Igbo accents. But then it’s one Nigeria yeah..
Ok. So the engine of your popularity across Nigeria is not because of the British accent you use to command the language?
On a scale of 100… the British accent is on a 60 plus.
Now tell us how you came about this foreign accent that has made you an overnight celebrity.
I started off with teaching people how to speak British English and when I make examples, I use the Yoruba accent. But the cause of my popularity is because I can speak British English with the British accent.
Have you been to Britain before?
Oh no. Not at all.
You mean you learnt the British accent locally here in Nigeria?
Yes I loved the accent when I first it heard it from Trevor Noah so I started listening to a lot British music and watching a lot of British movies.
Tell us other things you did to enhance your ability.
I did a lot of imitation… I never had it to speak the accent but subconsciously I started and the people liked it.
Were you also watching BBC World News?
British Boy: No I wasn’t.
But are you aware that many people believe you live in the UK?
Yes I am aware.. Many messages I receive exposed that to me.
Ordinarily outside the internet, do you speak with the accent at some events?
Yes I do.
How do people react to it?
Well most times they don’t understand what I say…saying “Ehn, what did you say?” Quite unfortunately, many people tend to discourage me when I speak with the accent.
Tell us how they do it.
Hearing things like “please stop speaking that accent, we are in Nigeria, guy shut up” and so many other things as well. But it’s what I love doing so i don’t care.
What are your improvement strategies?
Most times I spend a lot of time alone. So I get to practice a lot.
Has this talent been able to open doors for you in terms of favours?
Not really.
Does it attract people to you?
Yes it does. It does a lot.
What is the reaction of your parents and siblings?
They certainly didn’t like it at all… had a lot of backlash honestly. But they saw that I liked doing it and also I have been able to make a name for myself through it, so yes they are fine about it now.
Tell us other talents you have.
Acting, music, script writing, Text Design and Manipulation.
What do you mean by text design and manipulation?
Basically it’s about redesigning letters for brand names, banners, cards, books and so on.
So you are a song writer?
Yes sir, I try.
Let’s get back a little to your academics, what inspired you into urban and regional planning?
Well I am also a big fan of coordination… arrangement and ordering.
Is that all?
I was intrigued by the way cities are formed and made. Fortunately, my uncle as well did the course so I got intrigued more.
Are Nigerian cities properly planned?
No they aren’t.
Abuja, well is an artificial city so the Central Business District and outskirts are planned but not yet suburbs.
Why do you hold the view that Nigerian cities are not properly planned?
Well we live in these places… we visit these places. When we say plan we are talking about a lot of factors e.g standard roads, amplifying security measures such as streetlights, building heights and so many other things.
Do we have such places in Nigeria?
We don’t have that in many places in Nigeria except in places of high value such as Maitama in Abuja… Lekki in Lagos.
So do you have any solution to offer the government on how to plan better cities?
They should implement planning standards to all the structures and aspects in urban center. And also employ well experienced and learned people in the discipline… I am strongly recommending from our school
University of Ilorin to guide through the journey.
Very good and interesting advocacy. So finally what is your message to your fans?
The world needs to see what they are… what they are made of… if they are scared of failure and also self-doubt, they are part of the journey, we have to face it all before becoming the persons whom we are meant to be! There’s so much in them the world needs to see it.
Who are the “they”?
My fans.
Mr David Bamidele, thanks a lot for your time. Umuaka Times wishes you the best.
My pleasure sir.
