By Dele Oluwole“Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done” - Isaiah 3:11
The nose went hysterical with laughter as the eyes shed tears not knowing that it’s only a matter of time before it begins to drip uncontrollably too. An adult unlike the underage has more power of choice, which is why the weight of the law most time comes down more on him when he errs. And because it is just a thin line between what is expedient and what is good, God knowing fully well that men will attempt to hide behind the finger of expedience to perpetrate evil and hurt each other says in the Holy Bible that ‘not all that is expedient is good’. Dele Giwa paraphrasing the Bible said “Any evil done to man by man will surely be redressed if not by man definitely by God for the victory of evil over good can only be temporary. The responses to ‘The Nigerian shame in London’ part one where most Nigerians justified the shameful act of scamming is a pointer to one thing; that the Nigerian followership is as bad as the leadership. The followership is therefore fast breeding the likes of Babangida, Alamieyeseigha, Ofonogoro, Babatope, Ikimi, Abacha, Wayas, Uba, Akinloye, Nzeribe, Merije, Fayoshe, Tafa, et cetera.
Since not many people agreed to the exposition on the disgraceful attitudes of some Nigerians in London I have therefore resolved to further provide more objective analysis and culls of responses for the benefit of those who may yet have change of hearts to condemn what these scammers and spoilers do to affect our lives in totality, remember they are reading as well. They are our brothers and sisters as whatever affects the nose must take its toll on the eyes as well.
We have had so many terrible and heart breaking stories about Nigerians in the UK, shall we now sweep them under the carpet and pretend everything is alright? The nose suffers too kee! We have heard and seen people suffer directly as a result of the shameful attitudes of our brothers and sisters in London. An example is Jah Guda, response to ‘The Nigerian shame in London’ - Part I on the village square;
Jah Guda
“My friend has just started a business here in London; he set up two months ago and has been unable to open a business account with any of the major banks. Now he is trying to open an account with one of the building societies. It is a problem that affects innocent Nigerians and we all know what Western societies are like, they will constantly dwell on the negative, their argument is ‘good news does not sell newspapers’. Only last week another Nigerian was jailed for swindling £2 million from the bank accounts of Halifax building society customers, this made TV, radio and print news”.
The BBC got so much commendation each time they exposed bad Nigerians, hence so much search light is placed on us. Because of the recent development it has become a way of life for Nigerians to be the most delayed and interrogated by the police when stopped on the streets of London. A friend told me recently that a police officer stopped a Nigerian for searching and asked for his identity; he immediately claimed to be a Jamaican, the officer told him to keep quiet and said “I know a Nigerian when I see one”. ‘Omo ale ni fi owo osi juwe ile Baba re’. It is only a child that has paternity limbo surrounding his birth that will condescendingly point to his father house with a left finger.
A young Nigerian graduate who came to London to write a professional examination left his luggage that had his Nigerian passport in a car only to return to discover that the car was gone. When he reported the incident to the police he was advised to go and recover it wherever he hid it as they have countless record of false claims of missing Nigerian passports, so his report was not taken seriously by the police. He was stranded for weeks, overstayed his visitor’s visa, and lost the opportunity to ever return to the UK. Nigerians have become a source of cheap headlines for the media so much so that even the BBC Radio ran several documentaries on Nigerians. The most remarkable one was about one Mrs Owolabi whose charity organisation that was being partly funded by the government fell flat for the Somali bait set by the BBC. The undercover journalist uncovered how she has been a racketeer that was providing fake National Insurance numbers for employment purpose. I was ashamed by her denial when confronted with the recorded conversation she had with the BBC planted Somali, she even swore by her children before the BBC radio crew just to prove she was innocent.
We also read about the Nigerian born British Immigration officer that was selling British indefinite resident permits. When she was detained the newspaper reported that loads of fake resident permits were discovered in her apartment and also apprehended in the apartment was a young man who just arrived from Nigeria with one of those fake permits.
Some people dread to associate with Nigerians and those who dare pay dearly by being on guard 24/7; an example is Patricia M. Daboh who responded to “The Nigerian shame in London part I” posted on http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com
Patricia the Valour
“Hello. I really enjoyed your article. Although I am not Nigerian, I too, feel what you are feeling. I am an African American woman who married a Nigerian man on January 4, 2007 in Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria. Ever since I told my family and friends about my choice, I have had to be on the defense. It is like the mention of the word Nigeria brings distaste to many people, for Nigeria is well known for scams. I walk in the bank and I see signs about not doing any business dealings with Nigerians. My husband and stepson should join me in the states next month, and still, people tell me to "be careful" with him. One thing I did not know is that Nigerians were known for their athletic ability. That is very good to hear! I really never knew what mixed couples go through, but now I do. It is like I go around with my fist up on the inside always ready to defend my decision and my husband if someone says something very insensitive about him and my stepson. Although Nigerians are well known in America for their schemes, that does not mean all Nigerians are like that. I met many Nigerian people that were humble, lovely, honest, and kind. Unfortunately the number of Nigerians that take advantage of people are increasing yearly. I get an e-mail from Nigeria telling me I have won a lottery . .and you know the rest. Recently, someone e-mailed me and asked me to help a teengage, Nigerian boy. Although she never asked me for funds directly, she sent me correspondence of the conversations she had with this supposedly teenage boy, and in those e-mails, he did ask her for funds. She responded that she was unable to help him. I wrote an article (blog), and she got my e-mail address and contacted me that way. She asked me to help him! However, my stern reply let her know that I would "never" send funds to anyone in Nigeria, or America, without personally knowing the person. How do I know his story is true--I don't? How do I know that she and this person are not working together--I don't. I was taken advantage of by a person who identified himself as a Nigerian man, and I will never put myself in that position again! If I do not know you personally, I do not loan or send you funds or do anything financial on your behalf--bottom line!! With all this deception going on, one has to be careful. So although I am not Nigerian, I still feel the shame of Nigeria's bad reputation. When Nigeria's economic situation is changed, then perhaps the schemes will decrease. Desperate people, although that is no excuse for manipulation, sometimes do desperate things! Excellent article . . .I know how you feel.”
Some Nigerians prefer to pour out their venoms on writers who dare to write on topics like this instead of addressing the subject matter and condemn the perpetrators. They claimed the articles labels and that it’s just a way of lazily re-echoing what they already know. If they know it why have they not done anything about it? They should remember that no amount of garnishing will change evil because evil will always remain evil. ‘Ti ako ba sofun Obayeje pe on baye je aro pe awon jo tu Ilu se ni’ If you don’t confront a clandestine saboteur he’ll think you are together in the business of nation building’. When we keep quiet we do not only condone this appalling acts, we also support them in principle. ‘Woe unto them that keep quiet in the face of crises’. A Nigerian who was not bold enough to disclose his identity responded to Patricia M. Daboh comment on part 1 of this article posted on http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/
The anonymous Villain
“Yeah, yeah another Naija bashing! Cant we get something else to talk about? I feel your concern but I must say I feel the Western media are just magnifying the issue of Nigerian scammers just as they magnify the issue of Blacks on welfare (for your inf. do you know there are more whites on welfare than blacks?) but you will never know becoz the media with thier hidden agenda continue to show and publicize only blacks on welfare. As for the case of 419. It is share greed on the part of the duped that make them get duped in the first place! How can I tell you I have an unclaimed amount of money and I need your account and a token amount to clear it and you believe? Where do you know me from? The internet? You see what I mean? I do sympathize with the scammed but there is a spiritual law that says what goes round comes round or chicken come to roost. White people from the time of Christopher Columbus have raped, duped and cheated natives of their land and rightful inheritance. Its no surprise to me we are witnessing this on their descendants. When you sow the wind, you reap the whirl wind. Nuff said!”
……..and Patricia fired back some scud missiles:
“No one is bashing Nigeria, but it cannot be denied, especially by those of us who receive weekly e-mail schemes from Nigeria asking for our help in trying to retrieve funds from some type of lottery, that Nigeria is known for its many schemes. We are not making up these things, but it is really happening to many of us! If something is a fact, than it is a fact. And until those facts change and are replaced by more positive facts, than, unfortunately, the numerous schemes that come out of Nigeria will be the focus. Of course, the recent elections, and all the negative things that happened during the elections, does not help Nigeria's image as well. Every country is known for something positive and negative. Unfortunately, again, this seems to be a time when the world is focusing on all the negative things that are coming out of Nigeria (schemes, poverty, electricity shortages, and fraud). If anyhone is tired about the negative things that are being said about Nigeria, which I fully understand your feelings, than write a positive article about Nigeria. Give readers something positive to focus on to balance out the scale of people's negative perception of Nigeria”.
On a final note, If it will take a non Nigerian who by marriage has become one of us to hammer home the truth that will sink in us so be it. ‘Oloorun kin gborun arere’. A stinky person does not perceive himself. Until we decide to address and uproot the source of the shame in our own little ways nothing will change, shame is shame and no amount of laundering can remove it …… not even the popular ‘Kongi’ soap.
“Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done” - Isaiah 3:11
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