Also published in PEOPLES DAILY
Anti-Semitism as
defined by Rev. Ted Pike is the “belief that Jews, because of heredity, are evil, greedy, corrupting, subversive,degenerate, etc”. It was so widely held and deep-rooted that, over
different stages of history it culminated in their persecutions, killings and
even annihilative attempts; the most well-known of which were those committed
by the Pharaoh of the ancient Egypt and Adolf Hitler of Germany, in ancient
ages and 20th century respectively. Incidentally, the latter provoked the
devastating world war ll.
After their
horrible experience in the hand of Hitler, Jews apparently vowed to take their
destiny into their own hands. They took advantage of their particularly intellectual
and economic potential to mobilize an unprecedented international sympathy in
their favor, which culminated in the stigmatization and subsequent
criminalization of anti-Semitism. Interestingly enough, Jews today are the most
influential ethnic group in the whole world.
Though to a lesser
extent, Nigerians are going through a similar challenge nowadays in a
phenomenal proportion to which I refer as Nigeraphobia; a word I have coined.
Nigeraphobia has evolved out of a widespread suspicion about Nigerians and had
grown into a stereotype of a fraudulent tendency and unreliability rightly or
wrongly associated with them, which eventually became Nigeraphobia.
It has developed
over the years as a result of the frequent involvement of many Nigerians in
bizarre fraudulent deals involving huge amounts of money world over.
Predictably, the media has been very instrumental in publicizing these crimes
all over the world. Consequently, it is nowadays an unmistakable fact that, the
first impression of the average people having to deal with any Nigerian is that
of suspicion, lest they are defrauded. Nigerians in Diaspora are in the best
position to understand what I mean followed by those who travel out frequently.
Though the number
of Nigerians engaged in such fraudulent activities is not that high, their
notoriety as virtually the pioneers of such activities on such a proportion
particularly after the proliferation of the Internet, has contributed in the
formation of the assumption that, virtually every Nigerian is a potential
fraudster. And inasmuch as there is an apparent exaggeration of their culpability,
a large number of them don’t help matters either, as a result of which they are
generally despised regardless of the empty diplomatic rhetoric and hypocritical
politeness shown to them sometimes.
Interestingly
also, some racists and other xenophobic people capitalize on such notoriety to
discriminate against, undermine or jeopardize the interests of many innocent
Nigerians. Decent and hardworking Nigerians in the Diaspora, who engage in
their various legitimate pursuits, and the other innocent travelling Nigerians,
are made to suffer unnecessarily as a result of the treatment meted out to
them.
Today as a
Nigerian, one has to summon a lot of courage to reluctantly identify himself as
a Nigerian in foreign lands, having been fully aware of the first impression
his audience would definitely have about him. Also he would have to make extra
efforts in order to get the basic benefit of doubt, which is supposed to be
given to anybody at any first peaceful encounter be it casual of official.
After
getting that benefit of doubt, he would then have to make other extra efforts to
prove that he is indeed trustworthy, which would definitely take time.
Nevertheless, he would always have to be extremely cautious more than necessary
to forestall any misgiving against him. And if he happens to be looking for a
job with Nigerian certificates, he would have to –in addition to the foregoing-
make extra efforts to prove his competitiveness in view of the obviously poor
Nigeria’s educational standard.
Under these
circumstances and in this highly competitive world, one wonders what are the
chances of an innocent Nigerian in a foreign land in making legitimate business
deals, landing any competitive job or even merely enjoying a respectful
treatment. Because who on earth is kind enough to voluntarily conduct such
unnecessary assessments, whereas there are other ready-made candidates for the
same position?
This challenge has
compelled many Nigerians particularly in the Diaspora to reluctantly take
inferior jobs compared to their actual skills and potential and by implication
accept much less packages as they actually deserve.
Nigeraphobia is
now a phenomenon, and it is the responsibility of Nigerians to rise up against
it through extra hard work, resilience and commitment to excellence in their
individual and collective endeavors. Mere complains or politically motivated
“rebranding campaigns” can’t make any difference. The Jewish experience in
overcoming anti-Semitism is of course worth emulating.
