Do you know who an Azanian is? Not Tanzanian. AZANIAN. My parents do. And I found out over a late night conversation with my father.

Tonight, Nigeria’s history in the South African struggle against apartheid came home and I found out details about my mother’s dating history.

But back to the serious stuff. Many people know that Nigerian civil servants had their wages docked to support black South Africans fighting Apartheid. Nigerian children donated their savings and emptied their piggy banks. However, a number of Nigerians, my parents included, provided more personal support to Azanians.

Dictionary.com defines Azania as the indigenous name applied to South Africa by indigenous black nationalists or liberationists. Azanians was the recognized nationality for members of the ANC smuggled out of South Africa into Nigeria with fake identities and Nigerian passports to be educated and trained. The rationale was to provide a free South Africa with educated…