Why Nobody likes Nigeria, The Entrepreneurial and Youth Drive!

by | Feb 22, 2019 | Africa, Editor's Muse, Nigeria, Politics | 2 comments

According to Sahara Reporters, Ghana deported 723 Nigerians a few days ago. The reasons ranging from cyber-crimes to prostitution.

These narratives are the easiest to peddle. What with Jussie Smullet’s recent stunt involving two Nigerian Brothers. Jussie Smullet is that celebrity actor that starred in the “Empire Series” as a gay singer. He allegedly paid two Nigerian brothers to stage an homophobic attack on him. This same Nigerians happen to be his trainers on the Empire movie set, and played as extras in the movie itself.

What with the recent Marek Zmyslowski lies & deceit in his quest to build “Amazon of Africa”. Edmund Olotu recently provided evidence against Marek. Marek Zmyslowski‘s “How Building the Amazon of Africa put me on Interpol Most Wanted list”, was punctured with lies against Nigeria.

It’s like the whole world at this time is all out to prove a conspiracy. That everything evil comes out of Nigeria. That that country is scum of earth.

It won’t be that horrible if another headline breaks with Ghana claiming they deported Nigerian Youths for cyber-crimes and prostitution.

Recent Happenings in South Africa

The Nigerian Student Society (NSS), University of Pretoria, has reported a large number of visa rejections and “illegal visas”. Students duly registered at the University of Pretoria, Mastercard Scholars, received visa rejections. The claims are that their visas were “illegal.”

Nobody distributes visas on the streets. Students have to go through a lot of rigorous ordeals to get South African Study Visas. I described this in my own travel experience.

READ ALSO: How to be a a Writer in your late 20s Studying a Masters Degree at The University of Pretoria

Nigeria  Several Students here at UP have been unable to return to school because of denied visas. The hostility towards Nigeria is on the rise.

So, while you vote, understand this. This indicator of how unwelcome we are abroad is a huge reflection of an unstable economy.

The reason other countries are welcome, why we beg them to come invest and they don’t beg us to come over. It is because we are the ones who seem to need help.

Every Nigerian Abroad has a chance to change the perception these countries have about us. Every travelling Nigerian is an ambassador with a huge responsibility to change the narrative.

What about Nigerian Ambassadors & Embassies?

Spaces like the embassy, are supposed to be home away from home for Nigerians, right? In South Africa, this is the case to a large extent. A few days back, the NSS delegates received a warm welcome at the Nigerian High Commission, Pretoria. 

The High Commission promised to resolve the circumstances leading to visa rejections. What a lot of the students did not notice is that since as far back as 2015, Nigerian foreign missions have experienced a steady decline in funding. This situation went critical. To the point that a lot of countries threatened to evict Nigerian embassies for not paying their rents. Others for badly maintained properties. 

Sahara Reporters in 2017 reported corruption in the foreign affairs ministry. Only a few Nigerians paid any attention. The Nation Online in 2015 mentioned a proposal for reducing foreign missions. As if this would have been the best approach, the Presidency was indeed open to this proposal. Reports show that they pursued this direction. 

The Implications for Nigeria

This is a situation of sharing the key to your gate with several neighbours. They complain about your badly maintained gates. You then decide that instead of cleaning up your gate, or dealing with the corrupt gate man, you’ll rather close down the gate. 

Now you know why Nigerians struggle to attract investors, grants, scholarships and other benefits. Since the funding for foreign missions are going down the latrine, our reps are definitely going to have poor negotiating power. 

If our “representatives abroad” are only criminals who can afford to circumvent the neck-breaking hurdles of immigration, what narrative do you think would win? That Nigeria is filled with corrupt people. 

Yes, we agree that there are corrupt people in Nigeria, but there are also a large number of good citizens who don’t deserve to be represented this way. 

For whatever reasons Nigeria is getting under so much fire during this period of our elections, we must understand that no one out there is going to stand up for the country except the citizens. 

You’d also be proud of Nigerians if you followed the Marek Zmyslowski story on twitter. A lot of us realize that indeed our national structures are heavily corrupt but we also realize how important it is to maintain our belief in the goodness of the Nigerian heart. 

Hey, please share this article with all your friends in and outside Nigeria. We deserve to be heard. 

For some good fiction that reflects my thoughts and ideas, get Bloody Ideologies. A collection of short stories, you’d love them!

2 Comments

  1. Stella Kefe

    Hmm. Its saddening and maddening really. It’ll get better. We have “good” in Nigeria, we just need the good to filter the bad.

    Thanks for this enlightening piece.

    Reply

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