wahala
Wahala means trouble or problems. It’s one of the most common words in Nigerian Pidgin and Nigerian English, and “no wahala” means “no problem.”
What wahala means
Wiktionary glosses it as trouble, suffering, problems or bad luck. It covers anything from a traffic jam to a full-blown fight: “I don’t want wahala” means I don’t want any trouble, and “this one na wahala” means this is a headache. “No wahala” is the everyday, easygoing “no problem” or “no worries.”
Wahala in pop culture
The word is everywhere in Nigerian music and film. 1da Banton’s best-known song is his 2021 track “No Wahala.” Fela Kuti recorded “Double Wahala,” later remade by Oritse Femi. There’s a 2020 romantic comedy, Namaste Wahala (roughly “Hello Trouble”), and British Nigerian writer Nikki May called her 2022 debut novel Wahala.
Examples
- “I don’t want wahala, just give me my change.”
- “Can you drop me at the airport?” “No wahala.”
- “Traffic today is pure wahala.”
Where it came from
Wiktionary traces wahala through Yoruba wàhálà to Hausa, and from there to an Arabic word meaning fright or terror.
Related terms
More Nigerian words are in our Nigerian slang guide.
Example sentence
“Sorry I’m late.” “No wahala, we haven’t started.”
Similar words
trouble, problem, wahala dey
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