Nigerians And The Embassies Of Indonesia And Norway
By Reuben Abati

The treatment of Nigerians by foreign embassies in the country is a major source of frustration for Nigerians. Our people have complained endlessly about how they are treated shabbily whenever they have any business to conduct with a foreign embassy either as visa applicants, or employees (local staff they are called) or as contractors providing certain services. There have been reports of outright racism, sheer cruelty, contempt and abuse. To be fair every case has to be treated on its own individual merit, but some of the cases reviewed from a distance invite nothing but anger, and a sudden gush of patriotic fervour.

Nigeria has many problems: we know; there are many Nigerians who would rather relocate to another country: yes; embassies have the right to conduct their affairs according to their own rules: nobody has any problems with that, but nothing in the process of international relations allows a foreign embassy to openly malign its hosts, maltreat the people and carry on in a manner that negates the norms of civility and decency. Where such cases exist, the Nigerian government owes the Nigerian people a duty to intervene on their behalf. Nigerians are forever treated so shabbily even on their own soil, however because the Nigerian government does not really care about the people. The embassies know our shortcomings too well; they know that citizenship means close to absolutely nothing in Nigeria and that the gap between the people and their government is wide, and so they do whatever they like convinced that Nigerians would take anything, no matter how insulting, degrading or dehumanising.

This was the pragmatic explanation that I offered a staff of the Embassy of Indonesia who not too long ago phoned to draw my attention to the maltreatment of "local staff" by the Embassy. "They are dealing with us here at the Embassy of Indonesia; they are telling us there is nothing the Nigerian government can do to them.", the fellow at the other end of the line hollered. Only God knows how he laid his hands on my phone number. "The job of the media is to come to the rescue of the downtrodden. I want you to take a look at what is going at the Indonesian embassy, those people are very wicked," he added. I am used to it: I receive free, unsolicited lectures every day about the role of the media in society; this is the interesting thing about this job. But the guy sounded persistent. What was his problem: allegations of maltreatment of local staff by the Embassy of Indonesia.

The embassy simply woke up one morning and decided to convert all its local staff to contract staff, for two years in the first instance, including the staff who have worked for the embassy for up to 27 years or 10 years in some instances. Problem arose when the embassy came up with a document titled "waiver statement" (pernyataan pengesampingan) under which the staff, no matter the length of service are required to sign off all accrued rights and entitlements, or forfeit their employment with immediate effect if they failed to do so. Clause 2 of the Waiver statement ties the hands of the local staff as follows: "I voluntarily waive my right referred to in the above Point 1 and decide to execute the employment contract for definite period which shall govern my employment relationship with the Mission. By virtue of executing the Employment Contract for Definite Period, I waive my right or any other right in the future arising out of my employment relationship with the Mission prior to 31 December 2005."

Some of the staff kicked. They insisted that even if they must sign a new contract with the Embassy, their right to all previous entitlements including gratuity cannot be taken away from them. Besides, they argued that the new contract is a form of slavery which violates the Labour laws of both Nigeria and Indonesia and is frowned upon by the international system. The only response from the Embassy was that they should take it or get lost, or risk being removed from the Embassy premises, with force if need be. The aggrieved staff took their case to members of a proposed Nigeria-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce, and also approached the Nigeria Labour Congress and Gani Fawehinmi Chambers.

In a letter of appeal from the latter dated January 10, 2007, the attention of the Embassy of Indonesia was drawn to a number of principles: one that the "Waiver Statement" is "oppressive and unjustifiable"; two, that "contract of employment in every civilized environment must respect the human dignity of the employees and should not reduce employees to mere slaves perpetually at the mercy of the tyrannical overlord who derives pleasure from dehumanizing them"; three, that the Embassy cannot and should not "ignore the prescriptions of the International Labour Organization on minimum standards of decency to be accorded employees," and four, that the Indonesian Law of Contract does not authorize the discrimination of local staff by Indonesian embassies abroad.

The overlords at the Embassy of Indonesia could not be bothered. Eventually, they sacked the recalcitrant workers who were not willing to sign themselves into slavery in the 21st Century. Neither the persuasive authority deployed by the Gani Fawehinmi Chambers nor the Nigeria Labour Congress could help their situation. They are now out of job, and as the Indonesians predicted, "nothing will happen". And if this is so, it will be most unfortunate indeed. The conditions that the Indonesian Embassy imposed on its Nigerian staff were not extended to Indonesians working in the same Embassy. It should also be noted that there is gross discrimination in terms of emoluments between the two categories of staff, with a graduate Nigerian staff earning a paltry N14, 000 as basic salary per month!

Should we blame the Indonesians? Yes, we should. But before doing so, the point must be made that the Indonesians are not alone in the maltreatment of Nigerian workers. Nigerians working in establishments owned by Asians generally are full of complaints about how they are treated as if they are less than human. There may well be other embassies where the local staff are no better treated than their colleagues in the Indonesian embassy. In virtually very similar situation, the oppressors of Nigerians inside Nigeria simply remind the Nigerians that they are doing them a favour by offering them a job.

They point to the Nigerian labour market and its high unemployment index, the poor wages structure, and the cynicism even of Nigerian employers of labour. Labour is badly priced, wickedly treated and most unfortunate in Nigeria. The mindset of the average employer of labour is that he or she is doing you a favour and you have to be grateful to have a place to go in the morning. You are therefore expected to take whatever you are offered without any complaints or else even that which has been given could be taken away from you! The Nigerian worker seeing that there are no jobs out there accepts his misfortune with equanimity.

In the Indonesian embassy case, the sacked workers soon had to get some prominent Nigerians to intervene on their behalf! What is crushed underfoot in both the Indonesian case and every other case is: human dignity. The Indonesian Embassy should take a second look at its "waiver statement". It is truly oppressive and unjustifiable. The Nigerian government also has a duty to call foreign embassies to order where the rights of Nigerians are being violated; a foreign Mission should not be an outpost for modern slavery and ultimately, Nigeria must put its own house in order otherwise we will continue to get confronted with moral questions that need not arise.

And that takes me to the Embassy of Norway which can also be accused of using Nigeria's social and economic situation to spite the country and denigrate its people in a most unfriendly manner. This is the story of Citizen Okonkwo, Ejike John, a 500-Level student of Mass Communication at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun state. He has been selected to represent Nigeria at the International Student Festival taking place in Trondheim (ISFIT 2007), Norway, from 16 -25 February 2007. ISFIT is the world's largest student thematic festival, this year about 450 students from 144 nations will participate at the event, with Ejike as the only participant from Nigeria.

The organisers are providing food and accommodation while Globacom, the telecomm company has graciously accepted to give Ejike a return ticket to enable him participate at the world forum where young people will be examining the subject of globalization at various interactive sessions and symposia. But Ejike may not be able to travel, because the Royal Norwegian Embassy has refused to give him a visa. For him it is his first opportunity to travel abroad; in his letter to Globacom he says his dream is "to contribute my quota to the development of Nigeria by deploying my skills and capabilities to any national task given". A letter from Olabisi Onabanjo University signed by Mrs A. A. Odusanya on behalf of the Registrar confirms that Ejike is a 500 Level student of the University.

But the Royal Norwegian Embassy is not impressed. It not only rejected the visa application; the Visa Officer, Oyvind Skutle used the opportunity to pour venom on Nigeria in a most undiplomatic manner. The Norwegian Embassy surely has a right to turn down any visa application, without even offering any reason for doing so, but when it provides reasons, it should submit itself to the test of scrutiny. Shall we take a look at Mr Skutle's letter? "According to the Immigration Regulation section 106 sixth paragraph, second sentence," he writes, "an application for a visa may be rejected if considered necessary from an immigration policy viewpoint" Okay, no problem. Then he adds: "Where our experience with specific groups and nationalities indicates that many fail to leave Norway upon expiration of their visas, it has become our practice to issue a visa only in exceptional cases".

Mr Skutle is leading on to something here; he is preparing the grounds for scuttling Ejike's dream, and it is Nigeria that he has in mind. In the very next paragraph, he breaks the rule of diplomacy when he writes as follows: "The Embassy has noted that the applicant comes from a country with a great potential for emigration due to its social and economic situation. In our experience many applicants from Nigeria wish to resettle in other countries." The rest of the rejection letter gripes about the claim that "the applicant lacks the necessary ties to his country of origin". The fact that the application has just a few months to bag a degree in Mass Communication is not considered a strong tie to his country. Ejike has been advised to appeal to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration within three weeks if he so wishes, but with Mr Skutle's strong emphasis on "exceptional cases" and "our experience", it makes sense to conclude that any Nigerian that goes near the Norwegian Embassy cannot be sure of a fair hearing. The Embassy already has a mind set about Nigerians and Nigeria. Mr Skutle complains about Nigeria's "social and economic situation" in an open correspondence. And on the basis of this he confesses a bias: Okonkwo Ejike John is the victim of structural discrimination: the assumption that every Nigerian is the same and that all Nigerians cannot be trusted - a crude and inaccurate syllogism. Such thinking ought not to represent the substance of the Royal Norwegian Embassy's "immigration policy viewpoint".

Between the Norwegians and the Indonesians: we are dealing with a twin case of six and half a dozen. The Nigerian government must take an interest in how foreign embassies treat Nigerians, what they say about us, the kind of signals that they send across. The truest test of foreign diplomacy is at the level of culture and human interaction. A missing link in Nigeria's foreign policy process is the citizen's interest as an ingredient of foreign relations. For many years, the song on the lip of every Nigerian diplomat is that "Africa is the centerpiece of Nigeria's foreign policy." Nigeria spent a lot of money trying to help other African countries, but what did we gain from that experience? Today, the Obasanjo government is talking about trade and investment and the end of protectionism. Norway and Indonesia will like to do business with Nigeria, surely, yet they treat Nigerians with so much contempt. Would someone please advise the embassies of Norway and Indonesia in Nigeria to act with a sense of proportion and diplomacy in all matters?

Robot  # 1 | 04.02.2007 07:47

Nigerians And The Embassies Of Indonesia And Norway ...Read the full article.

planet1899  # 2 | 04.02.2007 08:10

and Nigeria has a minister of foreign affairs who is as inept as the embassies in question. Why wouldn't they treat Nigerians like that?

truthsayer33  # 3 | 04.02.2007 08:52

this cry for humane treatment is well put but foreigners cannot be expected to treat you better than you are treated by your own people........amazing isn't it that nigerians were chained and bound and taken into slavery in the americas.......now nigerians will risk life and limb to leave the country for almost any foreign destination.

Exxcuzme  # 4 | 04.02.2007 17:11

Until our own embassies start treating us with dignitiy we will continue to be humiliated everywhere we go. For our govt to take us seriously we must , just one time, deal with our leaders. Let tell them we cannot take it anymore, let humiliate this leaders just once. If only North, South, East and West can stand up once and say "NO MORE!" what a great day that would be!

Anon  # 5 | 04.02.2007 20:37

Yet we are constantly assaulted with the wasteful and irresponsible jamborees organized by Frank Nweke the silly and in-experienced Minister of Information and his ill-conceived and duplicitous heart of Africa jamboree in Europe and America... All in a bid to woo foreign investors and white wash Nigeria’s image he tells us. Yet here in our backyard, our image stinks to the highest heavens, and Nigerians are held in servitude in embassies and consulates- while our eminent citizens are disrespected in lesser countries. Only God can really save us. Please I am compelled to ask ... do we still have a minister of External Affairs? Please who is he now? Does he also avoid reading papers like his principal Obasanjo? This country self! Na wa! Nigerian Guardian Newspaper Monday February 5th, 2007 No Nigerians welcome OPED piece by Matthew Kukah RECENTLY, my good friend, Chief Udeh, the Head of Nigeria's Immigration Services has been sounding upbeat about changing the face of immigration services. I am so far impressed by his talk and thoughts. I have decided to narrate a story I had for two years decided to live down. It is the story of my own humiliation in the hands of Kenyan and Tanzanian immigration officials. It seems I am also not alone as some of our journalists have suffered similar fates. As the story went, a group of Nigerian journalists had been denied entry into Tanzania on the same grounds that they had the misfortune of being from Nigeria. I suffered a similar fate but perhaps the difference lay in the fact that my own story had a bizarre and rather hilarious ending as the reader will see. My first experience was in 2003 at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi. I was on a Kenyan Airways flight bound for Cape Town, South Africa. We had a stop over and the airline had kindly booked a hotel for me for the night. At the airport, I went to get a transit visa, which I was told was a mere formality. I queued up with a few passengers, mostly white. A bunch of smiling Kenyan Immigration officials enthusiastically stamped visas into their passports. I got to the desk, handed in my passport, but the official took one look at me and handed by passport back to me, saying he could not issue me a transit visa. I was told that I was being denied a visa on the grounds that I had a Nigerian passport. I was in shock, but I did not wish to create a scene, so I simply stepped aside. I simply returned to the Business Class lounge where I spent the remaining part of the night. Later, when one of the white who had been behind me on the queue met me at the lounge, as he poured himself a scotch, he asked if I had got my transit visa, I nodded because I felt so ashamed to admit that I had been refused a transit visa and that I had to cry on a white man's shoulder for a cup of humiliation being served to me as a Nigerian. As I settled down, I said to myself: Nigeria has just turned the corner and ended military rule, the Kenyans had just sworn in Mwai Kibaki as the new President. Both he and Obasanjo were supposed to be a sign of the new dawn in Africa. Was this the sign of the Africa to come? Though I had traveled to South Africa on two different occasions, I was wondering what would await me for being a Nigerian at the other end. Thank God, the South Africans were gracious. My second and more traumatic humiliation took place in 2004 as I was completing a research trip which I had undertaken to Rwanda. As an African, the Rwandan genocide had hit me rather badly. As Catholic priest, I had felt even worse and as Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat then, I was pained by the feeling of total helplessness that engulfed me. The genocide had come and gone, but I was sad that I still had not managed to get a proper idea as to what had happened to the body of Christ in Rwanda. When the opportunity to visit Rwanda presented itself, I took it with both hands. My trip to Rwanda was a spin off from a Lecture I delivered on civil society in Africa in Dublin in 2003. But that is another story. My trip to Kigali was fantastic. The people were wonderful and I found that so many doors opened to me as a Nigerian. The people here pronounced President Obasanjo's name with greater affection than in many parts of Nigeria. In fact, at a Sunday mass in the Cathedral in Kigali, I met some five Nigerians who were members out of the Technical Aid Corps in Rwanda who told me they had found wonderful reception in Rwanda. But my real nightmare, the subject of this piece was outside Rwanda. In the course of my stay in Rwanda, I had spent time listening to stories, interviewing senior Church men and women, government officials, priests, sisters, lay men and women and so on. I was satisfied with my trip. Due to my experience with Oputa Panel, my interest naturally had gravitated towards the efforts at the restoration of justice in Rwanda. I had first heard about this initiative from the Rwandese Attorney General who had shared a platform with me at the University of Edinburgh in 2002. He had helped greatly in fixing up appointments for me. After my field work, I felt that I needed to do a comparative analysis of the effectiveness or otherwise of the Gacaca system of African justice system. I had also known about the United Nations International Tribunal on Rwanda based in Arusha, Tanzania. To ensure my smooth passage to Arusha, I had obtained a visa in Abuja from the Tanzanian High Commission. That exercise was smooth and the Tanzanian officials were courteous. When I finished with my field work in Rwanda, I had the option of flying by a UN helicopter from Kigali to Arusha which was just across the border, but I opted to travel back through Nairobi with Kenyan Airways. I was so anxious to see some part of rural Kenya and Tanzania that I opted to both fly back to Nairobi and continue my trip by road. My flight was to take me through Kilimanjaro which I would have loved to see, but from Nairobi, I opted to go by road. On arriving Nairobi, I had checked into the Nairobi Hilton which I was told was nearest to the motor Park where I could get the Taxi/Bus from Nairobi to Arusha. The next morning, I arrived at the Park, bought my ticket and boarded a bus. There were about eight of us in the bus and I recall that apart from the driver, I was the only black face. We stopped for refreshments and finally got to the Kenya-Tanzanian border. The bus driver pointed at the border post and told us to go and have our passports stamped. For some strange reason, I took the lead, feeling that this being African soil; I should be the one to lead the four white men and the three women to the post. I got there first and feeling like a tour guide, I smiled at the officer and then depleted the only Swahili I knew: We are all traveling together, I said. The mzungus handed in their passports and I made sure that mine was the last almost as a courtesy. The officer had no hesitation in stamping the passports of the seven mzungus. When he handed them back to us, mine was missing. Hey, I said, where is my passport? He sized me up and said: My friend, you are from Nigeria. You will have to wait a while. What for? I demanded. Because you have a Nigerian passport, he said. To be continued Rev. Fr. Kukah is the Vicar-General of Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna and Parish Priest, St. Andrew Catholic Church, Kakuri, Kaduna THISDAY ONLINE ARTICLE Naija shinanigans Litter-Ratti with Gabi, Email: gabriellaosamor@yahoo.co.uk, 02.04.2007 ENOUGH ALREADY! Now to the juicy titbit I have for you from Hong Kong. It’s such a shame that our Naija embassy in Hong Kong is about to be tossed out on the streets because of 4months back rent. Yes, we owe the landlord of the building that houses our embassy in Hong Kong 4 months rent. Unlike in Nigeria, where one can owe his landlord for upwards of 6months and counting, Hong Kong landlords, indeed, landlords in more organised countries, want their rent paid up spot on. Not only does our embassy owe back rent, phone lines to the building have been cut. You guessed it! Phone bills have not been paid. To top it all, Staff salaries for the past 3 months have not been paid either. The guys are complaining. They’ve got to feed; they’ve got to pay bills. How do they cope? Some Naijas over there also complain that their affairs are not looked into with dispatch. When you go to lay a complaint, you are fobbed off with platitudes instead of action. Naija was given the opportunity to buy a 25 story building cheaply and rent out unused floors some while back, but they dilly dallied so much the Philippines embassy bought out the building. That is Naija. Things got so bad that the embassy was unaware of the case of a young lady who got thrown into jail because she demanded for full refund of her money from a foreign currency bureau. The young lady had gone to this bureau to change $50(US) to Hong Kong dollars. She went to the shops to buy what she had come for, but it wasn’t in stock, so she went back to the bureau to get back her US dollar. The bureau de change guys insisted she wouldn’t get the full refund, when she persisted, the bureau guys called in the police. Because she is black and a Naija person to booth, she was hurled to prison. By the time some friends of the young lady eventually got through to the embassy, and got them to act, the young lady had already spent two weeks in prison. There are also stories of two Naija guys who were recently cremated. Am taking this with a pinch of salt, but the gist is that one of the men was a carrier, as in drugs, whose load of coke burst in his stomach and he died. The other man was also a carrier, he off loaded stuff from trucks into warehouses. One day an air conditioner he was trying to lift came tumbling down on him. He had been sick and so could not take the blow of air conditioners cascading down on him. He died. Both men were unceremoniously cremated (individually of course) because Hong Kong does not have enough land to bury the dead. It could have been better handled if not for the Naija factor. If we had an information stand at the airport that not only informs visiting Naijas what to expect in Hong Kong, but also informs Hong Kong residents what we are all about, our citizens will be better treated. When they had the sars scare in Hong Kong, most Europeans and American tourists stopped visiting. Africans didn’t stop. Naijas led the pack of unending visitors during that period. Yet we went uncelebrated, unlike the celebration that greeted the return of European and American tourists. Other African embassies are often times in the news promoting their countries and encouraging tourists to visit. Naijas bring in so much money into the coffers of Hong Kong, yet nobody hears of the good things we do for their economy, At most airline stands there, you find more Naijas jostling to fly out or fly in their goods. Rather, we are vilified for minor infringements. Naija rules! Am out of here. Catch you! Gabi

purple  # 6 | 04.02.2007 22:59

Anon, thanks for sharing Rev Kukah's nasty experience. Hundreds of our compatriots have learned that foreign immigration officials have learned to 'Beware the Green Passport' No wonder many Nigerians do all they can to quickly off load the Nigerian Green and acquire Any Other Color. Friend of mine had his teenage daughters pulled out of a group of kids who were on a church Youth Mission trip to one of this South American countries at that country's airport. They were grilled and questioned but eventually allowed to enter that country. After the mission trip these girls were again plucked out of their group and held at the airport. Why? They had the US green card, but they also had the Nigerian Green. The other kids came back to the US without them as investigations and demands for documents to be faxed over went on. Imagine my friend's chagrin when all church members went to pick up their kids and his 3 were missing. Immigration staff did let the girls board a US bound plane the next day. The young ladies were soon reunited with mom and dad. Guess who quickly applied for US citizenship? Another loss to our dear country. We anguish, we complain, we suggest, we demand... is anyone listening? Does anyone care as Nigeria's best resources (its people) bleed away and take on other nationalities? That great sprinter Obikwelu is just another example. He has tossed the Nigerian Green and become Portugese/European.

akuluouno  # 7 | 05.02.2007 06:02

Dear Villagers, Abati and Kukah have captured oncemore the rot that we have gradually descended into since independence. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. As we speak fuel scarcity or shortage and power outage have continued to befall Nigeria while global warming has ensured that daytime temperature is very high. What is the fate of the sick, the newborn and the aged in this kind of the environment. Now Indonesia, a junior diplomat form Norway and East Africans have seen what we have not yet discovered in view of the fact that we have been dealing with each other ruthlesly, ie that Nigeria is a failed nation without any iota of any quality that qualifies it as a nation. Let the elections of 07 continue with the two anointed ones Goodluck Yar adua and Umar Jonathan being paraded around by Caesar like beauty queens in the name of electoral campaigns to be rigged into office in April 07. Kai, Nigeria, the whole world is now a village and they are watching our charade on the global stage very keenly. :mad: :mad: :mad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :confused1 :confused1

tatafo  # 8 | 05.02.2007 13:55

It only gets worse doesn't it. No wonder people look at you like you are sprouting horns when you mention that you are planning to relocate back to Nigeria some day. Fr. Kukah's experince was quite intresting. Look at third rate countries like Tanzania and co, refusing us entry. I had heard of the Kenyan aversion to our green passports in the past, but never really believed it. Was it not a few years back, a similar thing happened to Wole Soyinka in South Africa. This is thesame S.A. that Nigerians were following about to kill themselves for in the days of Botha and Apartheid! This just get's one brain weary really!!!

Auspicious  # 9 | 06.02.2007 00:03

"Pernyataan Pengesampingan" ko, pekele-pekele arugbo je gbese ni! No wonder Idi Amin kicked their butts out of Uganda back in the 70's! As wicked as Idi Amin was in his time, many Ugandans still look back on those days with a served-them-right! attitude. For the Asians who had come to dominate the economy of their homeland showed unbriddled racism in virtually all their dealings with their hosts. The average Ugandan will tell you today, that while the British colonials were guilty of condescending attitude towards the Ugandans, the Asians were plain wicked - they showed contempt and outright racism to their hosts. So when Idi Amin Dada came on stream and siezed their businesses and sent them packing like mere refugees, no Ugandan shed a tear for them. Where is Fani-Kayode's hellfire anger when we need it most? Oh, wait a minute - he is the Aviation Minister, not the Foreign Minister. But as much as I have reservations for his style of defending his Boss (Obasanjo), I was pleased with the way he had put those foreigners to their place in his recent encounters with them - particularly that German ambassador. Plus, his stern warning to British Airways over the treatment of their Nigerian customers. I have observed that racism as practiced by former colonies of the colonial masters is usually worse than anything the colonial masters did in their time. India and the rest of them are more hostile to other people than their colonial masters ever were to them. It is the case of a former slave, who suddenly found himself in a privileged position and begins to throw caution away in excercising such privilege. It also explains why our leaders are more wicked to us their subject than the white man ever was to us. And that is why it is easy for the former colonial powers to manipulate us and use us against each other. Give a starving slave a bowl of Akpu and elevate him to a small position of authority, I bet you he is most likely to treat his former fellow slaves with contempt than otherwise. Idi Amin for example was nothing but a huge, loud-mouthed semi-literate who the Brits empowered. The results speak for itself. The Nigerian government needs to read the Riot Act to those stupid Asians who come and disrespect us on our own soil. Let them deploy Mopol to flog sense into them or something instead of doing same to Nigerians - a good suggestion for Obasanjo to get cheap popularity like Idi Amin did. What has he to loose anyways? His reputation is already tarnished ke! But seriously speaking, can someone, perhaps the likes of Gani and Soyinka draw the attention of the Federal Government to the plight of these Nigerians..and if the government fails to rise to her responsibility again, sue them? Auspicious.

katampe  # 10 | 06.02.2007 00:23

No Nigerians welcome (2) By Matthew Kukah THE mzungus looked back and then moved on to the bus. They waited for me in the bus and then the driver came over to find out what the problem was. He is a Nigerian, the immigration official said, as if those were the imprints of the badge of my criminality. The driver tried to plead that I was his passenger, to no avail. After over 30 minutes, the driver went back to the vehicle, took down my bags, brought them to me and drove on. I wondered to myself, what those mzungus would have thought: that the Nigerian had been detained because he was criminal, carrying drugs, or whatever. But I was calm. I took out my lap top and settled down to work. Since it was a Sunday, I asked the immigration officer if he was sure that his boss was really going to come to work. My plans to be at Sunday Mass in Arusha had crumbled. Since I had a ticket, I wondered if I should simply return to Nairobi, abandon my wild life search and take the flight to Arusha. But the officer said: The Mass should finish at 12.00noon so my boss will be here after 12p.m., unless they have a meeting in the Church. I felt relieved by the thoughts that first, the boss was a Catholic and secondly, if he was also a leader in the Church, my problems were over and who knows, I might even get lunch before I continue my journey. At about 12.30 p.m., one gentleman walked in and from the reaction of the officer, I knew this must be the boss and I thanked God that there had been no Church Council meeting. After he settled in the office, the officer nodded and asked me to go in. What of my passport, I asked? Just go and explain yourself, he will call for me later, the officer said, as if he and I were acting out some conspiratorial plot. I went into the office, retrieved my Habari, the only Swahili I knew and put it again to use. He looked up and then smiled. Even before I introduced myself, he stood up when he saw my collar. Good afternoon Father, he said as he stretched out his hand. What can I do for you? Goodness me, was I pleased to see this gentleman? I was already preparing a plea bargain for his officer because I was sure that the officer was going to be seriously reprimanded by this good Catholic for keeping a Catholic priest waiting, especially having just come from Mass. I was wrong. As soon as I finished my side of the story, he called the officer. Yes Father, he said, you are from Nigeria. Unfortunately, the law does not allow us to let Nigerians in. You fall within a category of countries that we have problems with. So, I am really very sorry, I cannot do anything for you. But, I stammered, you have a High Commission in Nigeria, I have a valid visa from your High Commission, I paid for it. Do you suspect that the visa is fake; I asked him, feeling a bit clerically agitated with an erring parishioner. No, it is not about the visa. In fact, Father, it is not your fault. You see, there is something that is supposed to be in this visa but which our officers in Abuja keep forgetting to put. What is it, I asked? The visa has a signature and a stamp, so what else do you need? We are the only ones who know, Father. I am really sorry about this and for the inconvenience. I thought for one moment. Should I ask him to take me back to his parish priest so I can lay my complaint? I thought no, I would sweat it out and see. But, he said, what is taking you to Arusha? I was a bit angry but wondered if I should answer such a stupid question. If I did not have anything to do in Arusha, why would I buy a ticket, apply and get a visa and come all the way here, I thought. But, somehow, I thought it would be nice to remain calm and end it peacefully even though it was clear I was going nowhere. I am going to the International War Crimes Tribunal, I said to him calmly. Whom are you going to see there, he said? I am going at the invitation of the Secretary General of the Tribunal, I said. Do you work for the United Nations, he asked. No, I am just interested in what is going on there. As you can see from my passport, I am just coming from Rwanda. So, I am merely completing the second leg of my research. Not satisfied, he continued: Are you a Researcher for the United Nations? No, I am merely undertaking this research out of interest as a priest and as an African. He gave me a curious look and then asked: So where are you based, Father, in a Parish or a University? At this point, I was desperately suppressing my anger, but I pressed on. I am in both actually. But, he said, you cannot be in a University and a Parish at the same time. I shot back: That is what I just told you, I am in both. The dialogue continued: How and where? Do you have any identity? Well, I am a student at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in the United States and I live in a Parish in Boston. As if stung by an insect in his pants, he jumped up. You are from Harvard? A Nigerian, an African at Harvard? My goodness. Let me shake your hand, again Father as he surged towards me. I am proud of you as a Catholic and an African. Harvard, he repeated with the reverence of a babalawo in a shrine. Sorry about all this Father. Felix, he called out to the officer, stamp Father's passport immediately. Please get him a soft drink. Tell my driver to please hurry up and check in the Park if there are taxis going to Arusha now. All of a sudden, the heavens opened up. I sipped my coke as a waited for the driver's return, shocked by this sudden turn of fortunes. There was a taxi, he said, but it was still waiting for two passengers for the front seat, the driver said. Tell the taxi to bring his car here, my new friend thundered. In less than 10 minutes, the taxi pulled up in front of the office. Please take the Rev Father to Arusha immediately. Do you have enough money, Father? I nodded as I pulled out my rosary. I did not wish to tempt fate by continuing any form of conversation. I could find no words to thank the officer. I felt more shame than gratitude. But, as we sped past the border post, a sad smile danced across my face. The smile retreated as I tried to wipe a surging tear... I sank into deep thoughts and asked myself. Is this my beloved continent, Africa? Is this the Tanzania of my greatest hero, Julius Nyerere? Is this the Tanzania that our Nigerian soldiers put their lives on the line to save in the 60s? Is this the Africa that the likes of Thabo Mbeki have tried to re-enkindle the fires of the African renaissance? Is this Africa after apartheid? How could Harvard mean more to my brother than our common brotherhood both in faith and skin? So, when next these African Presidents and Ministers sit in their ill fitting suits and clink their glasses in Abuja, will President Obasanjo remember to ask why this humiliation of Nigerians and Nigeria persists? The President has been quick to tell Nigerian immigration officials to issue visas in 36 hours. Does he care to know what Nigerians are going through? What exactly is responsible for this nonsense? By the way, the big man at the border offered to show me the list in which Nigeria appeared. It includes citizens from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iran and some strange nations that we have nothing in common with. This nonsense has to end now. Kole Omotosho has argued for more than 20 years that Africans should have no reasons to seek visas within Africa. Sadly, our leaders are too comfortable in their little diplomatic privileges to bother about the rest of us. This is the greatest shame of the leadership of Africa. Concluded Rev. Fr. Kukah is the Vicar-General of Catholic archdiocese of Kaduna and Parish Priest, St. Andrew Catholic Church, Kakuri, Kaduna

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