Everywhere you go, Nigerians are completely disappointed with the service, no, non service, being rendered them by their embassy in total contradistinction to what obtains in embassies of even far smaller African countries.
First, the good news. I do not know if there is any Nigerian columnist who is not sick and tired about the seeming disdain with which those in government treat their suggestions towards making governance more relevant to the citizenry, and that is where they read you at all. It is in view of that ugly truism that I personally feel elated, seeing indications of some actions of government, coming so soon after the publication, only last week of ‘Wither Nigeria’, even if they happen to be merely coincidental. I had written the article of that title from both personal, and communal, fear arising from the total breakdown of law and order in our country; a situation which has resulted in armed robbers, but more especially kidnappers, operating at will anywhere in the country, even seemingly gaining the upper hand over the Nigerian Navy the manner in which they daily use the waterways to transport their victims from the Ogun/Lagos riverine areas to their operational base in the Niger Delta area. You can then hardly measure my joy reading in the newspapers this past week that the Southwest Governors’ Forum will soon meet to discuss, among other things, “the activities of some criminal elements parading as militants, now ravaging parts of the region.” Given the fact that murderous Fulani herdsmen have become totally untouchable, it is my hope that the forum will, in discussing this menace, turn a blind eye to party affiliations and adopt the Fayose Model which, happily, has legislative backing, of dealing with this national irritant. There can be no two ways to it if we do not want to turn Yoruba land to another Benue where people are so helpless, they are being slaughtered in their numbers.
Although the recruitment of 10,000 policemen which the Police Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Mike Okiro said would cost N8.6 billion has now been scaled to 155,000, according to newspaper reports, I feel happy they remembered anything about it at all, probably after reading ‘Wither Nigeria’. Both organs of state, the SWGF and the PSC need no longer be told that Nigerians are direly expectant.
Now, the truly worrisome.
News from the entire five continents of the world indicate that nothing could give a Nigerian a worse headache than having anything to do with the Nigerian embassy in his/her country of domicile. To douse doubts or any suggestions of exaggeration, I request my readers to kindly watch the video: http://www.cbc.ca/i/caffeine/syndicate/?mediaId=2402334111 – a RAW Frustration at Nigerian High Commission, this time, in Canada. This has become a perennial horror for our compatriots overseas most of who left Nigeria during the 16-year PDP stranglehold over our country. It is benumbing that after two years in office, the present administration has not done anything to make matters better but concerning that, as in many other areas, President Muhammadu Buhari must be blamed squarely for his retention of far too many appointees of the last administration to the utter bewilderment, countrywide, ,of those who worked tirelessly for his victory.
In a CONSULAR ADVISORY COMMENTS By NJOKU SAINTJERRY (Beijing) & Vera Sam-Aniagolu late November 2011, it was shown that similar videos have erupted from Bangkok, Malaysia, even Senegal. Everywhere you go, Nigerians are completely disappointed with the service, no, non service, being rendered them by their embassy in total contradistinction to what obtains in embassies of even far smaller African countries. And it is not as if the officials involved are not aware of their complaints. It just so happens that it is forever beyond the ken of Nigeria, and those manning her embassies abroad, to solve what are mostly everyday problems. For instance, one of the strategies they sought to adopt in founding solutions, under the leadership of our dear friend of blessed memory, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, as Minister of External Affairs, was the Regional Conference for Heads of Missions divided according to the five regions. The minister, without any equivocation, “called on the countries heads of missions to consider the welfare of Nigerians that are resident in their respective regions their paramount responsibility.” How far those efforts, and possibly others, have gone in mitigating the problems of Nigerians in those countries are eloquently attested to by the following discussion, a few weeks back, on the ever vibrant Ekitipanupo web portal. Since I do not have their individual permission, contributions will not be ascribed. They are, however, presented, in seriatim.
Happy reading.
“Fact is that there are actually no public servants in Nigeria. They’re all public masters. You even beg them to do what they have been appointed to do and also have to send delegations to thank those of them who manage to do what is expected of them. It’s a different world in Nigeria”
“They can’t even provide passport booklets which are usually paid for by Nigerians! I think it’s more than a shame”.
“Even when the passport booklets ‘finally arrive ‘from Nigeria, it takes between 3-4months for the Nigeria High Commission in London, that is not fit for purpose, to process and issue a new passport —passport that should be a right of every Nigerian and not a privilege as against a maximum of 2weeks to process a British passport. During the time of Prince Ajibola as acting High Commissioner, it used to take up to a year to get one if you were lucky and well connected or you were prepared to pay the EGUNJE fee!!!.What a rotten nation”.
“Your mention of Prince Bola Ajibola who was the Acting Nigerian High Commissioner caught the eye. That man as far as I’m concerned had no clue of what the High Commissioner’s role should have been during his tenure. Siji Lapite’s case comes to mind when the poor boy, bless him, was accused of being caught with drugs by the police in Hackney. He was later to die in police custody. Despite the fact that Nigerians came out en masse to protest the cruelty of the police in the way in which Siji was manhandled by the police that later led to his death, this man was busy blowing unnecessary grammar to the media instead of taking the British Government and their police to task for taking a Nigerian life. I should know as I was involved with the protest at the time and was part of the coordinators of my union showing disgust at the actions of the police.
Nigerians in the diaspora are on their own as the Embassies are never there to protect them”.
“l remember Lapite’s case very well. I am sure you are not surprised that the situation with our High Commission is the same today as it was during Lapite’s unfortunate tragic case. 23 or more Nigerians are deported every month from the UK. Those Nigerians are on their own with no inputs or help from our High Commission. The only time l can remember we had some semblance of what a High Commission should be was the five or six years Dr Christopher Kolade was our High Commis-sioner. I used to visit our mission then on regular basis for meetings and functions. Since he left, the place has reverted back to the dogs. l am sure you will recall the time of one hapless Alhaji Alhaji was being interviewed by the BBC and he couldn’t look straight at the camera because he was busy reading his prepared answers. Trust BBC to focus on his sheets of paper with his prepared answers. It was so embarrassing.”
“My son who lived in England said that it made more sense coming back home to renew your Nigerian passport than to do so in London. He travelled home three months ago. He claimed that it saved him a lot in terms of money and time. The situation is even worse in a place like Canada, a country where many towns are separated from the capital by continental distances. There is no single consulate outside of the Canadian capital. It is therefore a big project (air travel, hotel accommodation, hassles at the Embassy )to renew your passport.”
To all of which I reacted thus: In a government of ‘change’, there should be change and we must all work towards it. I will, therefore, for the sake of our helpless compatriots in those countries, like to take this issue to the public space by running these comments in my column.
