Nigeria and the World

I know the title of the post could be interpreted in several ways, but basically, this post will be briefly sharing my view on the effects of Nigeria's growing negative reputation around the world, a reputation that has been constantly causing innocent Nigerians problems they know absolutely nothing about.

The question that always lingers on my mind is

        Why should I be held accountable for the actions of people I know nothing about? Just because we are Nigerians ?????

Some time ago a Classmate of mine was looking for a house here in Accra and I went on popular house/real-estate website (you can guess) to look for a few houses and agents, I sent a couple of phone numbers to her. The next week I saw her around campus and I made an inquiry and she was like you have no idea what these people did to me .....Apparently when she calls they go oh "are you Nigerian? "  and when she says she is Nigerian, they say "oh sorry the landlords/owners do not want Nigerians" 😅

This is actually her first time in Ghana.

Sadly, I was not surprised.

For many, it is the "way we are" ........Nigerians are "loud", "they destroy property", "they are problematic" and "gidi gidi" (whatever that means)...I have learned to actually just smile when I hear generalizations like that. These are the types of stereotypes that cause ethical targeted acts of violence (Xenophobia).

It would be wrong to treat me unfairly because some other Nigerian acted violently or criminally. I am not responsible for them. But, unfortunately, in most cases the reverse is the case, the actions of the criminals have set the tone (in most cases) for the mistreatment and treatment of the rest of us. On the flip side, Nigerians have been part of various positive and impactful events around the world, for the majority of Nigeria to be judged by the negative narrative is, unfortunately, a shadow of the kind of world we live in today.

A world where the negative seems to be more celebrated or more publicized than the positive.

Why does the bad seem to outweigh the good ??

I strongly people should never be stereotyped or categorized based on their race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity or religion. Nobody is the same, just because you met 3 people from a particular place that appear similar doesn't mean they are one and the same.

I am not supporting the misconducts of these people, they should be punished accordingly but their crimes should not be used as a measuring stick for ALL NIGERIANS.