If Nigeria gets in the news and they are not talking about something bad that one of us have done, then that means the news is not hundred percent. And today was no different. News of the Nigerian Stowaway filled the airwaves. A Nigerian boarded a flight from New York to Los Angeles without a boarding pass. Well, he had a boarding pass, but it was expired, and it wasn’t his. And to add insult to injury, he had ten other boarding passes in his bag – none of which had his name on it.
He is not a suspected terrorist. For all they (we?) know, he is just a kid who jumped a plane for free. His crime is punishable by up to five years imprisonment. It’s unfortunate that this free ride could cost him five years of his life. Time is not like what it used to be. They say it’s still 24 hours in a day, but I tend to think otherwise. Even if it’s still 24 hours, there’s some hanky panky going on. When you’re having a good time, it goes by really fast. When you’re in jail, time stalls.
The guy in question is a Nigerian-born American citizen, but all we’ve heard is that he’s a Nigerian. This is not an attempt to distance him from Nigeria. I just don’t want his place of birth to detract from the fact that he’s just a person who made the wrong decision. The “accused” in question is twenty-four year old Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, and he is currently in the custody of the police.
While I was reading about Noibi’s story, I went ahead and read comments too. Before I started, I was not expecting any positive comments, of course, but still, I ventured into it. I was swallowing all the comments until I saw this one:
On one hand, I wonder if I have the right to be mad at this comment. After all, we have given people reasons to think of us all as con artists. They didn’t just wake up one day and think of us as con artists; Nigeria has been associated with way too many stories of fraud. But then, I also think to myself, what kind of idiot judges an entire country and its people based on a few stories she has heard? Whatever the case may be, I am left feeling compelled to forget my hands on her face. For provoking me by her ignorant and bigoted comment, yes, I want to redesign her face. I was tempted to reply her with a few non-Verastic choice words, but what am I even fighting for?
That said, I just want to state clearly that I am not in support of the actions of Noibi, nor do I find any justification for what he did. While some of us (Nigerians) may want to chastise him for daring to break an American law while being Nigerian, we need to remember that Noibi is first human before being Nigerian. I still do not understand why we think we’re “untemptable,” why we think that we’re better than everyone else and so can never be found doing any wrong, or why we think that we do not face the same trials as everyone else. If we face temptations and trials in Nigeria, then why won’t we face the same in a foreign land?
~ Except for the one time I tricked Funmie into drinking Busola’s breast milk, I am not a con artist.
I heard about this story in passing yesterday… a Nigerian born American… why don’t we just say a man was caught boarding a flight… He is an American… not so?… so why the emphasis on where he was born… It’s really silly that this happens!
I know. I thought the same thing, too. They just kept calling him a Nigerian-born American. And after a while, it just became, “A Nigerian …”
Again, like I said before, this isn’t to distance ourselves from him, but laying so much emphasis on his place of birth takes away from the issue at hand and puts attention on Nigeria as a country (and of course, fuels our recent connection to terrorism).
Sad but true! Unfortunately, our nationality matters in this day and age, therefore, i can’t completely blame the comment that referred to us as a “con artists”. On the other hand, one day for the owner on day for the thief. The guy got what he deserve.
Hmmm. Indeed, our nationality does matter. But we know what America is trying to do by continually laying emphasis on his place of birth. I wonder how old the boy was when he came here, if he is more Nigerian or more American, if he calls himself a Nigerian or an American. All that doesn’t matter, I guess. I still want to slap the chic that said all Nigerians are con artists.
I also feel very compelled to forget my hands on her face!
LOL. Thank you, Sister Pearl. If we both forget our hands on her face, I think she will get the point, no? 🙂
Whao, It’s really sad that people are putting all Nigerian in one circle. I had to correct a lady on ebay 2 days ago because she said she is not falling for Nigerian scam. I made her realize that all Nigerian are not bad and she should not stimatize a whole country because of one person. Ther are some of us that are hardworking and does not steal, do fraud, or sell drugs. If we really think about it, we can’t blame people calling us names. May God save us from our own people that keep destroying our reputation.
First of all, you need to stop coming here and commenting as Mitch’s Fyne Mama. Wetin dey do you sef? Over confidence dey worry you oh. Who told you you’re fine? *hiss*
Ehen, as we were saying, lol @ the woman that refused to fall for Nigerian scam. Let me get this straight: you went on Ebay to buy/sell something, and you ended up correcting someone instead? Ah, Busola!! LOL
Quite sad. Being an American by naturalization does not nullify his birth place. Yes, a country should not be judged by the action of one person, but we have had one too many persons giving Nigeria a bad name.
Reminds me of the saying….remember the child of who you are when you are outside your home. I guess Noibi never heard of this.
Still proudly Nigerian.
I totally agree with you. We, indeed, have had way too many people doing things that make us look bad – from conducting fraudulent business to doing credit card frauds to now terrorism. The more we try to clear our name, the worse it becomes, it seems. I was perfectly okay for being known for witchcraft alone!
My people are corrupt but I’m proud to be one of my people for without them, I am not.
Generalizations or no? People who have been hurt do not care much about patiently separating which Nigerian is good from which isn’t.
Everyday, you give a good impression about us, maybe you’d give somebody on less reason to rightfully judge us.
Hmmmm. I understand what you mean about people being hurt not bothering to do their research. Okay, a bit understandable. Not excusable, but a bit understandable.
Whatever the case might be, the burden is on us as a people to not give people any reason to judge 9and especially misjudge) us.
I hope Jennifer Hoswell knows where to find a lot of Unicorns cos she’s going to need a lot of them….mscheew, talking like a fool. ataghi m ya.
If i dont call all Americans killers or homicidal because of what I read in the news everyday then she has no right to call all Nigerians Scammers. Biko ka anyi nnu nti.
I agree. We (Nigerians) have done some bad things that has given us bad publicity, but Jennifer should use her common sense. Unfortunately, common sense is not common.
@Ginger and @Pearl I lean more towards your views. How can anyone generalize a people like so…It shouldn’t be encouraged. Besides, fraudsters tend to feed off greedy minds – most of the time…why do you want to reap were you have not sown?
That aside, i hear you, it can happen to anyone of us. Sure!!
Like @Ginger said, she should get her unicorns ready…lots of it. The analogy of the murders, psychopaths, child molesters, etc (you name it), could also readily apply to whites. But do we use it. Noooo!!! As far as i’m concerned, she just showed off herself as a BIGOT. QED!!
In other words, we should prepare for a unicorn party, then? Gbam! I don’t mind at all. I like all kindsa parties. You know, I didn’t even think about the fact that she really does have to get her unicorns ready. If I use myself alone as an example, then yes, she owes us plenty of unicorns. By the time we add the rest of the Nigerians who are not con artists, omo, na long thing oh.
I am even surprised that the Jennifer somebody knows that Seun is from a country called Nigeria and not from a state in the country called Africa.
Dimwits like her are many and not only in America but even in African countries that Nigeria sacrificed for in their bids to fight colonialists and apartheid governments. The fact that Crime channels portray the average serial killer as a white male will never make me to fall into the fallacy (Argumentum ad populum) of thinking that every Joe and Shane I meet are serial killers.
If only we could make everyone to think more like this, to understand that it is impossible to judge an entire nation. Shoot, you cannot even judge a couple sef, not to talk of an entire nation. Unless you have met and now know everyone in/from that nation, you can never judge correctly.