| The Nigerian Embassy in the UK- for succor or for sorrow |
|
 |
| Tuesday, 04 July 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Forwarded by Omoyele Sowore The United Kingdom, like other western nations is host to a mammoth population of Nigerians striving hard against a multiplicity of strenuous odds. Everyday they are faced with bridling conditions that functionally abbreviate their freedom and insult their human worth. Helplessly, they submit to these restrictions and wickedness, albeit with occasional resistance at some extreme height of provocation. Nigerians living abroad, particularly in the UK, are expected to be protected from occasional excesses of their hosts and to be as well given to their high-end respect. As Nigerians, our government owes a lot of warmth, a hundredth of which we do not enjoy out there in the cold. The Nigerian High Commission in the UK has been able to prove itself as an authentic extension of our inept and careless Federal Government. It is convenient for Nigerians living in the UK to say that they are ashamed of the High Commission, for in the roadside dictionary of our leaders, the word: “SHAME” has never found a place. Do permit me to say that Nigerian Diaspora in the UK has been long fed up with the ornamentative presence of the High Commission at the huge expense of deprived and wasting brothers and sisters in Nigeria. It is no fairy tale that once, as a Nigerian, you step out of the aircraft that flew you to these interesting cold lands, you are on your own! From the humiliation that you experience in the hands of fastidious immigration officials, to the street assaults that you suffer from blood-thirsty yobs, you are truly on your own to either survive them all or die like a fowl. The numbers of Nigerians that have been maltreated and wasted in the face of undue inhumane conditions, in these foreign lands has reached a crescendo. Suffice to say that our so called High Commission deems it appropriate to act as it should only when big-for-nothing names are affected by host country's definitions of hospitality. And how much exposed these fat cats are to the real deal of surviving daily in these countries, certainly does not require a guess work. It is convenient for the Nigerian High Commission in the UK to lounge, while its counterparts busy themselves with the responsibility of protecting and advancing their citizens’ interests in any country of their diplomatic assignments. It is quite ironic to note that the appeal for the release of the recently freed foreign nationals, including some Britons taken hostage by long disadvantaged Niger-Delta militia in Nigeria, was championed by some state governors, The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, and our highly respected Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. Couple of years ago, British news media reported the street killing of young Damilola Taylor by some youngsters suspected to have been driven by the vicious spirit of racism. Sequel to what British authorities regarded as a thorough investigation, in a case reported to have caused the British Government staggering amount of £20 Million Pounds, Damilola’s killer(s) still remain a mystery. From the day the innocent boy was killed till this present moment when justice is still far fetched, the government of Nigeria was either heard hypocritically or superficially dissented on the way the case is being handled. Apart from late Damilola’s experience, others have occurred before and after it to innocent Nigerians without the least public __expression of opposition to such actions by the The Nigerian High Commission in UK.  Late Ese AlabiThe recent death of another innocent Nigerian- a young lady and mother of a set of three months old twin boys, has compelled one to ask if Christopher Kolade, our ever mute High Commissioner to the UK, was actually sent there to serve Nigerians or to be chauffer-driven in a chariot around Buckingham palace in London. The story of Ese Alabi's death is pathetic and requires a diplomatic attention from the Nigerian Government. On Monday 15 May 2006, Ese Elizabeth Alabi died at Papworth Hospital after she was denied a crucial heart transplant. Pregnant Ese Alabi had traveled to the UK to visit her partner, Abiodun Ade in Grays, Essex. While in the country, Ese took ill and was advised by the airline not to leave for Nigeria in her condtion, as she was equally carrying the heavy pregnancy of the twins. She was later diagnosed to have been suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy. The solution to the problem was for her to have a heart transplant, one which never came her way. Against the expectation that the young lady would have been placed on priority waiting list at the very worst, Ese was abandoned to her fate by British NHS doctors on some cold legal grounds. The British argument was that she was not a British citizen and was as such not qualified to benefit from the country’s National Health Service (NHS). But then, Ese’s partner has been contributing to the NHS as a tax-payer in the UK, being a former worker at the British Post Office and presently self-employed with a registered company in the UK. This, in addition to the fact that her case was a desperate one, should have gained her access to the medical care that she needed. Ese was on record to have never overstayed her holiday visas, just as British authorities know very well that organs for transplant are free in the UK! Besides, as a visitor to the country, Ese deserved to be accorded warmth as basic human sensitivity demands. But unfortunately for Ese Elisabeth Alabi she lay dying on her hospital bed after being abandoned by professionals sworn to saving lives and also by a legal system that claims to cherish the right to life. Ese’s death as a result of this neglect was a major story in several news media in the UK. The Independent, BBC, Sky News Channel among others, generously publicized the story. In response, Africans from different parts of the world flooded the internet with sharp criticisms of British statutes and system. In Nigeria, Louis Odion of The SUN reported the sad story which the fraction of the country’s political elite ignored in pursuit of President Obasanjo's selfish quest for the elongation of his bedroom in Aso villa. There is no gainsaying that ours is a society lost to its God-given self-worth. The so-called post-colonial history of our country is replete with deeds of the likes of our present High Commissioner to the UK, whose definition of brotherly love and patriotism is treachery. This suggests that our High Commissioner to the UK has agreed in his Letter of Credence given to the Queen, not to dissent under any situation with the British system, even when it involves an event of obvious injustice towards people of his heritage living in that same clime. Thus, for the likes of Eze Elizabeth Alabi, Christopher Kolade’s concern cannot but conform to the written and spoken rules of insensitivity to the mal-treatment of Nigerians by some British public, as I watched and read the opinions of some Britons in a special interview arranged by Sky News Channel with Ese's partner over this case. As I sat beside Ese’s bed in her ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS in South East London, before being transferred to Papworth Hospital where she finally died, I watched in helplessness as she laid subdued by her pitiable condition, I was overwhelmed by series of painful thoughts about the shameless irresponsibility of our leaders, who our dear Higher Commissioner Kolade represents in London. I thought about her three month old twins, wondering what sort of future laid ahead of them should their mother finally submit to the cold hands of death disguised as dilated cardiomyopathy. In my fear for her life and children’s future, I prayed for a miracle in the face of the reality of British NHS lack-luster position in the face of her plight. Unfortunately, Ese died, leaving behind three sons and a traumatized husband. It will interest readers to know that while Ese struggled with death, her husband was fighting her immigration status with the British authorities which cost him the time that he needed to get a High Court judge to rule in favour of his dying wife. A set of British Government rules bind British conscience to placing medical priority on the lives of British, EU, and other European citizens. Ese Elizebeth Alabi has since been buried in the UK on Thursday 1st June 2006. Till date, not a single word of condolence has come from the Nigeria High Commission to the family of the late 29 year old mother, not a single spark of resentment against the British Government over this innocent Nigerian. When, not long ago, British Police mistook a Brazilian, Jean Charles de Menezeses’ as a terrorist and he was shot dead, the Brazilian Government through its Embassy in London compelled British authorities to review their action, reveal the innocence of Jean Charles de Menezes, and tender a concrete public apology. Mr. Menezeses’ family and the generality of the people of Brazil got justice, but not so for late Ms. Alabi’s family and the people of Nigeria. As Nigerians continue their daily struggle at great risk to their lives on the streets of London and elsewhere in the UK, I urge that either the competence or conduct of Christopher Kolade be reviewed or that a new hand is appointed to pull our High Commission out of the disgraceful diplomatic state of inertia. Lekantodun@yahoo.com
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 April 2008 ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services : E-mail news | 
RSS Feeds | Podcasts
Links: About the NVS | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies | Advertise With Us
All Rights Reserved. NigeriaVillageSquare.com
Posted by Robot| 04.07.2006 11:16