SHALAYE 101
In today’s world of increasing internet use, with everything happening online, the average Nigerian youth or internet user’s mind wrestles one particular thought throughout the day; to shalaye or not to shalaye. With so much time being spent on social media engaging with all sorts of contents and individuals, you’re almost forced to lose this battle every single day. And once you do, you go on to join the community of people like you, the Shalaye FC. Now you might be wondering what shalaye is and why I’m going on about it.
Well, shalaye is a Yoruba verb which means ‘to explain in details’ - often more than necessary. It is derived from the noun, ร lร yรฉ which means ‘detailed explanation’.
Okay, now I know you must be thinking, "Alayรฉ! ("boss" in Yoruba) enough of the shalaye.” Wait until I get to the interesting part. A person might be required to shalaye in three situations;
1. If he is paid to do so (as in a lawyer)
2. If he is required to do so (as in an interview)
3. If he just decides to do so (aka Shalaye FC)
I strongly recommend the type of shalaye done in the first and second situations. That one will pay you either immediately or in the long run. In fact, when called upon to do so, it is very important that you bring your A game to the show. Why? Because money is involved. But as for the third situation, where nobody has asked you to, but you still decide to go ahead and shalaye your heart out, then you have to be extremely careful because a lot can go wrong very quickly. It is always risky treading that path and it is better for you to avoid it. That’s why the phrase, "always resist the urge to shalaye" was coined to save you from the catastrophe of unrequested shalaye. Very recently, on social media, a popular DJ was dragged for shalaye-ing after he took to Twitter to complain about how some big Naija TV shows have a reputation but that they can't live up to. He probably thought his shalaye was going to help him but the whole thing quickly turned into a backlash against him. If only he had known, he would have just resisted the urge to shalaye.
Now, I most certainly won't leave you without some tips. This is I call “the shalaye tactics.”
The Shalaye Tactics is a set of unwritten rules that will help you to ‘resist the urge to shalaye.’ I know that sometimes, the urge can be so great, almost pushing you over the fence, but please try to remember these tactics and resist that urge no matter how great cos people are not smiling on the 'online streets' these days.
Here goes...
On the verge of shalaye-ing, you have to ask yourself three things; Am I wasting time? Am I wasting energy? Will this increase my peace of mind? If your answer to these questions are YES, YES, NO respectively, find somewhere to sit and drink a cold bottle of water to push down the shalaye. As a wise man once said, "to shalaye is human, but avoiding it in certain situations can grant you longer life.” "In what situations?", you may ask. Just head over to Twitter and type in ‘always resist the urge to shalaye’. There you'll find your answers.
PS: we love it when you SHALAYE in the comments section. Let us know if you enjoyed this piece!
Hamidah A.H
Editor-in-chief, NIMELSSA EDITORIAL TEAM 19/20
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