About 1000 Nigerians are
languishing in Chinese jails; one out of every five Nigerians in Thailand is serving
a jail term, about 1000 Nigerians in British jails and 500 are in Brazilian
jails.
Actually, Britain, having been
overwhelmed, has resolved to send Nigerian convicts in Britain home to the
oil-rich nation.
Now, am Malawian, why would I
even be concerned about Nigerians, one would ask. Well, in my answer, I would
say as long as you are African, be concerned.
Simply put: because I look like
an average Nigerian and some Nigerians are known to be criminal, I get labeled
as probably Nigerian and therefore potentially a criminal.
Some will whine and say Nigerians
are targeted. Surely there are some Nigerians who are not only right thinking
men, but also great personalities. To that end some might say this post is thus
anecdotal...
But if 20% of people of a certain
nationality are in jail in another country (Thailand), then we should start to
ask tough questions.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to China,
Aminu Bashir Wali is on record saying 80% of the crimes committed by Africans
in China were committed by Nigerians and added that most of them drug related.
A friend from Beijing told me
that if you are a foreigner in Beijing, you are likely going to be approached
by a Nigerian-sounding guy offering drugs, shamelessly.
Yes, there are 170 million
Nigerians and the high crime statistics might be proportionate to the
population, but there are about a billion Indians, 300 million Americans and
about 200 million Brazilians why are they not clogging foreign jails?
Try hitting on a woman online,
they see you are African and think you are Nigerian and think you are a
scammer, since more internet scams are traced to Nigeria(ns).
Try to pay using a 100 RMB note
and your money gets the biggest verification as if you have a triad tattoo showing
under your sleeve.
A Chinese friend who sits on an
international inquiries desk says she usually ignores emails from Africa
because some are ‘just scammers.’
I really get very bothered with this;
if there was a T-Shirt saying ‘Am not Nigerian’ I would buy it.
The crimes: drugs, petty theft,
fraud and rape… Rape! What does an
African away from Africa need to rape for when every woman out there has heard
of the stereotype of their superiority in bed and endowment and likely to give
if asked?
Osita Osemene, a Nigerian of
substance, told Channels TV (yes, Channels TV is a TV) that the 'get rich
quick' syndrome among Nigerian youth is responsible for the increasing number
of Nigerians in prisons in China.
Some analysts say that economic conditions
at home force some Nigerians into crime, but I laugh off such analyses; there
is no African country that doesn’t have tough times, not one.
Nigeria is clamouring for a seat
at the Security Council and always competing with South Africa as the biggest
economy in Africa but I wonder how its citizens play like they are from
Somalia, a failed state.
And the government of Nigeria
seems to be happy at the berserk nature of some of its citizens: When India
wanted to start mass deportations of Nigerians living illegally in the resort
district of Goa, Nigeria government India.
This was even after reports that
of 51 Nigerians arrested in Goa that week; only one had a valid passport. One.
And it’s not just outside Africa,
in my country, Malawi, it is becoming a common story to hear of a scam pulled
by a Nigerian, I know of a Nigerian pastor who was caught with fake passports
copies in his laptop while operating a church in Malawi.
And the crime that shocked
Britain, the Lee Rigby killing, was done by Michael Olumide Adebolajo, and
Michael Adebowale…all traceable to Nigeria and so is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Underwear Bomber.
I would like to stay neutral and
chip in some Pan-Africanism, but if wherever I go, some Nigerian has already
been there and spoiled the gig for me, I have to call him out.
And I never said I am a saint,
nor are Malawians – I just want to live free and be judged for my actions not of
those that look like me and who happen to come from Nigeria.
And as much as this post will be
hated, the behavior of a few Nigerians is impacting all Africans including some
upright Nigerians.
