Bridges and Barricades: The Perception of Nigeria and its peoples in the World 

by Onyeka Nwelue 
 
It is high-time Nigerians stand out and make the world understand that good can surpass evil; that black could be turned to white and that we are not exactly what they think we are. The time has come---the time to erode these thoughts and perceptions of us away from their minds; the time when we should join our hands together and unite our youths; the time when we should barb away the hairs of the leper, and take up the placards to make the world understand that we are still the ‘Giant’, the ‘America’ and the ‘Beauty’ of Africa. This is our time. This is the time we must all stand up against these bunkums written about us; this is the time we should all stand up to make sure that good surpasses evil. The time is NOW. 

Let us not allow what the west’s media publishes about Nigeria, demoralise us; let us all understand that we can become better than those who think that they are better and let us all stand up against those people who blabber, jabber and gibber balderdash about us. And make them understand that we are still fit to stand as the ‘Giant of Africa’. 

Reading recent articles about Nigeria and Nigerians have engendered so much pain in me, and have had hard times getting myself together. It’s being traumatic. One would not know how the west sees us, while doomed in Nigeria, but when you travel out, you will find how embarrassing and sour it is to be a Nigerian, coming from Nigeria. The questions pelted on you, must result to anger. That is certain. You’d be confronted and abused with questions---and these questions can never be about our good, but our bad. The world neglects the positives of Nigeria and ham on the negatives; which I think has been exaggerated and it’s now surpassing our good.  

Our drug-peddling has surpassed our literary harvests; our Internet scamming has surpassed our musical achievements, our identity theft is growing over our Nollywood and we still don’t want to stand up against our youths raiding our images with some lofty things that would never be of any good to us. Hasn’t the time come when we all should stand up and make sure that we are not labeled what we do not even represent? Hasn’t the time come when we should make BBC and CNN understand that we all do not engage in identity theft; that our leaders are not all that corrupt; that Nigeria is not filled with rogues; that we are not hungry and ugly monkeys; that we also breath, make love, eat, dine, wine, fight, jump, sleep and die like them and that we are a nation that needs to be emulated, even by European and American countries, like some African countries do? This is our TIME. 

This is the time to make sure that e-mail extractions and defrauding people of their credit cards stop; the time when we should not use the cosmopolitan city of Lagos to infuse fears in our tourists; the time when we should stop talking nonsense about our leaders, but stay back and support them; the time when we should not always blame them---the time when the ‘fraudulent’ Nigerians should become the ‘intimidating’ peoples of the Giant of Africa; the beauty of the Chocolate Africa (No pun intended); and the happiness of our children, who would be very proud of this country that has been neglected for its bad. The most hectic period when we all should think, live, drink, eat, laugh and cry as ONE; the time when we would be welcomed in any place, without our hosts being suspicious of what we carry in our bags; the time when we would not be discriminated for our colour---we are discriminated because of the way they see us and what we are to them. 

My experiences in India have shown me what it takes to be a Nigerian. I was harassed by the Indian police; who searched my luggage in the hotel I was staying without my consent. They nearly accused me of drug-peddling, but knowing where I came from, I didn’t take them serious. Though, I consider what they did as stupid, I can’t blame them, because the news about Nigerians drug-peddling in India has been the most read-about in the country. That I left the keys to the room with them, they invited the police to check my room, because almost all the dailies were [and are still] reporting about Nigerians welding drugs. It was when I returned that one of the boys working there secretively told me that the police searched my things. I was demoralized. My happiness was enraged and thoughts raced through my mind. The next day the police returned and questioned me on why I came to India. I was racially abused, because among all other foreigners in the hotel, I was the only one who was abuse        d, because of ‘many’ Nigerians who have painted this country to some strange things, that Hindustan Times wrote that ‘because of the lack of education and poverty in Nigeria, Nigerians engage in corruption all over the world’. I was dumbfounded when I read all this, still it made me strong; it made me realize that many of my friends who think that the entire world loves Nigeria are wrong; it made me realize that we writers should not only engage in writing about the past, but the present to make projections for the future; it made me realize that as a youth, I must carry the Cross to fight against this menace that has engulfed the nation.  

Of all this, I never dreamed of denouncing and excommunicating Nigeria as my country. But of what use will it be if we don’t teach our youths how to abstain from evils? Of what use will it be if we continue to allow people see us from afar? This is our TIME. Let us break down every bridge and barricade and realize that our destinies lie in our hands. This is the time. This is our time. Stand out---leave the fight for human rights behind and face this war; leave that sectarian riot and face this that has suppressed us; leave that fight for land and ask yourself questions how your son in the Colour-less Man’s land is being treated; leave those witchcrafts and wizardries behind and make sure that you don’t abet evil; leave bribing people to get your son into the University, because when he finishes, he will engage into crimes. He was trained in crime and must be in crime; leave that cultism in school and face the reality; let Okija Shrine get scattered and face the real facts of us; let religions be abandoned now---so that we would not be hostile to ourselves because of it---let the Muslim, Christian, Hindus, Sikh, Atheist, Rosicrucian, Buddhist, Jain, Witch, Wizard come out together and fight this war---corruption—We can do it if we want. 

I am calling directly upon Professor Chinua Achebe to come home and support the educationists in Nigeria and the leaders---without staying far away from home---and criticize them; without staying far behind the Towers of Success to make decision on how Nigerian folk tales should be regenerated. The time has come, when our doctors in the US, UK and all over the world should contribute extensively in Nigeria; the time has come when our writers will understand that they are only known outside the world---and that they should figure ways out to engage Nigerian youths in reading their books, without them queuing up to buy American romance fictions; the time when our leaders should stop parading in the eyes of the colourless. The time has come when Nigeria should integrate on Pidgin English; when we should find a dictionary for it; value it as any language is valued, and taken to a greater height, without us being abused verbally by those who persuaded their language on us. The time has come when we should think as ONE; time when we should learn how to respect our leaders and back them no matter what. (Funnily, I have been a Senior Prefect in school and I know how tough it’s to be a leader, because your enemies surpass your friends---sometimes, because you don’t give a damn when they do wrong---or maybe, because you are not friendly with them, so they say all rubbish about you).  The time has come when we should stop trading our souls to those who made us fall apart; the time is now. The TIME has come. This is OUR TIME. The Time to Change Our World!  

Bulie nu Ndi Igbo, Yoruba na Awusa, ka anyi mee udo! Chineke nonyere unu! 
 

Onyeka Nwelue is an 18 year-old Nigerian writer. His novel, The Abyssinian Boy will be published by HarperCollins, London in January 2007. 

Robot  # 1 | 18.06.2006 00:00

It is high-time Nigerians stand out and make the world understand that good can surpass evil; that b...Read the full article.

Marie-Jay ABRAXAS  # 2 | 18.06.2006 03:33

Hello, Mr. Onyeka Nwelue! I understand you are an 18 year-old Nigerian writer, and that your forthcoming novel, The Abyssinian Boy, will be published by HarperCollins of London in January 2007. You need help. My initial reaction, which could very easily have been perceived as harsh, intemperate, and overbearing, was to summarily dismiss your article as a palpably quixotic attempt at changing the course of the entire universe, applying laughably simplistic assumptions, presumptions, and wishful-thinking as tools for paradigm shift. However, on second thoughts, I felt like throwing some useful light on the matter of Nigeria’s external image for your benefit and enlightenment. I hope I do. Indeed, it is high-time Nigerians stand up and make their so-called leaders understand that GOOD LEADERSHIP can surpass evil, and that Nigerians are not exactly the monsters they (i.e. Nigeria’s leaders and the rest of the world) think Nigerians are. The time has come. This is the time. This is the time Nigerians must all stand up in unison against these bunkums: that is to say, Nigeria’s corrupt political class, the corrupt presidency, the corrupt judiciary, the corrupt legislature, the corrupt military elite, the corrupt traditional rulers, and the corrupt Nigerian police force, to mention just a few. This is the time Nigerians should all stand up to make sure that GOOD LEADERSHIP surpasses evil. The time is NOW. Do not be distracted about what non-Nigerians think about Nigeria. What would you think about Britons if Mr. Tony Blair goes about treating Britons with brazen contempt, rudeness, and disdain? What would you think about the citizens of the USA if their congressmen got bribed regularly by President George W. Bush (II)? What would you think about Germans if a Nigerian civil engineering company has been found to have cornered all major German government contracts, and has all past and serving German Chancellors on its payroll? What would you think about the French if the wife of their former president, a very high profile member of the French Establishment, is also a well-known trans-national cocaine trafficker? Please understand that Nigeria is far better than what its prodigal elite think that they can offer. Let us all stand up against those false messiahs who blabber, jabber and gibber balderdash sanctimoniously to Nigerians, and make them understand that the problem with Nigeria is GOOD LEADERSHIP. Period. Nigeria’s adverse foreign image is a painful indictment of the handicap imposed on the country by its abysmally fraudulent and uncouth so-called leaders, and Nigerians are the worse for it. It is a pity, but then, one day go be one day, sha! I am still waiting for the Turquoise Revolution, and I know it will happen. One day go be one day. Muchas gracias

a.k.a onyekasbiggestfan  # 3 | 19.06.2006 04:53

Ms Abraxas, I first encountered young Onyeka when a friend sent me a link to his blog entry about how much he admires Adolf Hitler. I thought it was a joke. I thought I was reading the work of a brilliant satirist. But the more time I spend at http://onyekanwelue.blogspot.com, the more uneasy I get. Look at this, for example: http://onyekanwelue.blogspot.com/2006/06/come-and-see-american-misspell.html Tell me this guy is not teetering on the edge of something dangerous...

Onyeka Nwelue  # 4 | 20.06.2006 03:56

Ms Abraxas, It is unfortunate that you dismissed my article with such HUGE grammar. I could have replied earlier, but I had to check your WORDS in the dictionary to make sure that I understood what you mean. And I have, but it was really tough. I have no other option, but to accept what you have said. You actually dismissed my article without commenting on my experience in India, which wasn't caused by President Olusegun Obasanjo, but by some shameless Nigerians who come and engage into crime. This is no assumption or presumptions as you would call it, but REAL. No one told me about the way some Nigerians misbehave here, but I learnt it myself and can attest to it. Nevertheless, I have nothing against what you have written, but WE are the ones that are actually doing bad, by blaming our leaders always. Have a nice time in Spain or wherever you might be now. Gracias

Onye Igbo  # 5 | 20.06.2006 15:05

Onyeka nnwamu (My child Onyeka) If this is your real name, and you are truly just 18 years old, then you should know the Igbo saying " Nwata kili na akpali okenye a bugo onwe ya onu" For none Igbos on the board, and for this child who apparently does not know his culture, this simply means " a child that insults his elders has already cursed himself" So, as far as I am concerned, you are finished. "Tufiakwa" On another note, it seems you are an apologist for Obasanjo. It appears you come from the "efulefu Igbos" (useless Igbos) that were recently hounded and cursed at the Igbo summit in Owerri. I feel very sorry for you and your kind. No one is fooled here. A spade has been called a spade.

Bunch17  # 6 | 20.06.2006 18:40

This chap seems to be a few planks short of a bridge. Scary!

Chinedu  # 7 | 20.06.2006 20:37

I see nothing that the young man has written which is so dangerous or insulting to anyone as to provoke the sort of strong, if incongruous, reactions one is seeing on this thread. He was speaking about racism, and expectedly the response on this thread reflected the usual mental apathy which is the trademark of the present generation of African adults. I think it is quite a feat to develop a certain level of involvement with Literature as such an early age, and all I can advise is that Mr Onyeka focus on and develop his writing art, as well as remain true to his Igbo roots, and also stay out of trouble.

Onyeka Nwelue  # 8 | 21.06.2006 17:10

My dear Onyi Igbo, remember that the Igbo say that 'onye ana agwo ibi, afo na-eto ya, ekwesiri ichuba ya n'ime ohia'. Iam apologetic if I must have offended you, but I can't even recollect the mistake I have made in what I wrote. And for you to say that I come from the 'efulefu Igbos', you are actually melting and breaking your penis. If this is an insult, I probably think you should accept it. Moreover, I have the belief that you didn't even my write-up, but read the comment from the first reader, which actually deceived you. Someone who claims he knows his culture must be able to stand up to tell the world the much he knows about his culture and you do not even sound like someone who values the so-called culture. For your information, I am from a well-known Nigerian and Igbo family that has at least brought honour to Nigeria, but we must not ridicule ourselves by claiming that we are educated while we are not, like you, who cannot even read. Read, read and read. Read what I have written and stop ramming nonsense. Stop talking nonsense, please. Read it again and again. Respect is reciprocal. I can't show any respect to you as far as you have opened this penury-ridden mouth to call me a 'useless Igbo'. If you are not a bastard, I would say you are one. Chineke kpokwa gi oku! (Why should I ever respect you?)

Anike  # 9 | 16.07.2006 12:08

You are doing positive things that, in my opinion, should be encouraged and nurtured with care even if/when anyone feels you made a mistake. Don't be discouraged by any destructive criticism. It comes with the territory, is what I heard. I wish you the very best.