The Association of Already Born Beautiful Ones want to use this medium to put to rest a long-standing erroneous notion.
In 1968, when Ayi Kwei Armah wrote that the beautiful are not yet born, that was purely a work of fiction. Not a fact. If you doubt me, have you seen his wife?
Nigeria has been blessed with a lot of immensely beautiful ladies. Not just fairly pretty or “alright” good looking. I mean extremely beautiful.
The kind of beauty that will shame Helen of Troy. The kind that will make Cleopatra hide her face. Nigeria has truly been blessed.
Go check out figurines still found in the palace of the Ọba of Benin or the Oni of Ife. You will realize that historically, even before the colonialist came to propound Caucasian defined beauty standards, Nigerians have always been beautiful.
This beauty didn’t just lie in the eyes of the beholder, it was apparent for all to see. Do you want to start arguing about the beauty of the likes of Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Margaret Ekpo, Dora Akunyili, Christy Essien, Onyeka Onwenu, Chioma Ajunwa, Mary Onyali, Agbani Darego, Asa, Nneka, Asisat Oshuola to name a few.
I am not even going to get on Instagram and start listing out names that will make you marvel more at the constellation of beautiful women God has blessed Nigeria with.
It is being reported more and more to us here at the AABBO that it is hell-bent, shameless, middle-aged and soon to be middle-aged men that are going around mumbling “the beautiful ones are not yet born”.
They are using it as a lazy, convenient response to the question “when will you marry?” It is for such people that we are sending the “the beautiful ones are already born” bill to the national assembly for speedy passage into law.
As for the rest of you who still go around quoting this outdated phrase, Instagram is your friend. Go and get wise.
In conclusion, if you choose to be blind, that doesn’t negate the fact that the beautiful ones have already been born, and we have no intention of minimizing our beauty.
Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator and Creative Writer.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. @IJoswil
