So, I was going through my mail. And I saw this timely writeup below by Quora.com user Alexandra Goldhar. I consider the write up to be a wake up call to Nigerians. This is because it shows us what others really think of us, and how corruption and 419 eyaff pour sand-sand for our garri.
Do you know that Australians are taught in classrooms that Nigerians go through old hard drives of second-hand computers to get passwords to steal information from people abroad? (Is that true?)
Read below to find out how Australians view our dear country. Some of the views are funny. Others not so funny.
Minister of Information, Government and Nigerian journalists, you have a lot of work to do o!
In fact, every Nigerian, we need to change our international image fast!
Or else one day, foreigners may be looking at you the way they were looking at the narrator below: as if you have come to their country to steal their hard drives.
Australians do not know anything about N
igeria. If you tell them, you lived in Nigeria; they will mention how they went on a trip to Tanzania to build huts ,they will ask if you can speak Afrikaans or Swahili, they will ask if you know some random African person, ask what is hello in Nigerian (when there are over 500 languages and English is the official language).
I was once invited to a friend’s house for dinner and I was asked by her mother, ‘what is Nigeria known for’. I was about to mention food, music and movies but this friend’s younger sister blurted out ‘corruption’. Everyone else on the table laughed. Then the father started talking about Nigerian prince scams and all other nonsense. I was told apparently that the sister wrote a paper on Nigeria and corruption.
I was in a computer class once and the teacher was teaching about e-waste and how in Nigeria, people go through old hard drives and such and find passwords which are then used to steal information from people abroad. I kid you not, the whole class turned around and looked at me like I was going to steal all their money.
Other conversations with Australians include them thinking there are no fancy cars in Nigeria, that there is crime and a lot of theft, scams as usual , poverty is rampant etc.
So, the reaction to Nigeria is not very positive.
However, I should add that the Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander population have a more positive view. I have Indigeonous friends who want to visit Nigeria with me and ask about the food, music and culture.
The white population on the other hand, not so much.
So sad
Our country’s image has been dented badly.