I used to think the “Diaspora guilt” was just something my generation made up over late-night WhatsApp rants. You know the feeling—that strange, floating sensation of being not quite Nigerian enough when you go back to Lagos, but never fully fitting into the neat little boxes of London, Houston, or Toronto either.
But then a tournament like the World Cup rolls around, and everything shifts.
Look at Bukayo Saka. Every time he steps onto the pitch for England, there is a collective breath held across our community. When he scores, we don’t just cheer for the team on the screen; we claim him. We do it instantly, fiercely, and with that specific brand of Nigerian pride that can fill an entire room.
The beauty of it is right there in his name. Bukayo. In Yoruba, it literally translates to “adds to happiness.”
It’s an incredible piece of foresight from his parents, but it’s also the perfect metaphor for this entire generation of diaspora kids. Our parents left everything they knew, packed up their lives, and moved to countries where the weather was gray and the culture was entirely foreign. They did it hoping their children would just survive. Instead, this generation is thriving—and they are adding to the joy of the culture we left behind.
Think about what it means to carry a name like that into spaces that weren’t originally built for us. It’s a quiet, stubborn kind of success.
It isn’t just about football, either. It’s the kids opening restaurants that finally make our food look as high-end as it tastes. It’s the filmmakers, the tech founders, the writers, and the regular people just doing their jobs so well that people are forced to learn how to pronounce our last names correctly.
We live in this weird, beautiful middle ground. We are shaped by the countries we were born in, but our rhythm—the way we move, laugh, and hustle—is entirely Nigerian.
When you see Saka smile after a win, you see that exact blend. He is doing them proud, yes, but he is doing us proud, too. He’s a reminder that no matter how far the branches grow from the tree, the roots still know exactly where they belong. We are adding to the happiness, one breakthrough at a time.