Son of the soil: the most common phrase in Nigeria

Many years ago, I used to get so confused of what it meant, when someone make a statement and refer theirself as the son of the soil, among everybody, the person that was so fun of using this phrase was my father and his colleagues.

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Each times he is back from work, and his friends came to visit him, most of the thing's they would said were "son of the soli" it was like, I keep hearing son of the soil alone and nothing else.

Back then, I keep getting confused about this phrase, because as a kid, never did someone told me that, the soil has a son, and if really it does has, where was the child at?, I keep asking myself so many questions concerning this phrase, son of the soli, I remember a moment, I was about tilling the ground, so that to really be sure if they was a son which the soil give birth to, but they were nothing like that.

During the time, I wanted to tilled the soil, my brother came out and asked me about what I wanted to do with a shovel, I relate to him that, I am eager to see the son of the soil, he was the first person who clear my ignorance and he polished it out that, the soil has no son, but people used the phrase in referring to their love and respect of their mother's land.

Wow! it was so easy but I didn't know about it, and from then, I was aware of what it meant, when they said the term, and my Dad also, he likes to make a statement of it with his friends each time they are talking.

Thereafter, what surprised me this days is that, I hardly heard the phrase from people, no one used it in their conversation and, so today, I make a statement on my WhatsApp status and I stated, "the son of the soil", honestly, almost all my friends and family were sending a laughing icon as a reply to the status.

I do not know what that means, I asked one person why he is laughing at the status?, he enlightened me that, my status reminds him of something, it occurred that, he also had the same experience as me in his child age, when he heard people make that phrase.

Innocent children did it, I also has the same experience, I replied to him.

Therefore, I want to know something from friends in this community, do people in your state or local government area still using this phrase, "son o the soil" because, as long as I know, it is a morale words that is used to express love and respect for one's mother land, so, do people over there still used it in their conversation as usual? or they have travel out of their mother's land.