COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT NIGERIANS

A lot of times Nigerians meet foreigners around the world who are clueless about Nigeria and Nigerians. Their ignorance and the agenda of many Western media outfits make them see Nigerians a certain way. I’ve travelled quite a bit and often times I’m shocked at the kind of questions people ask me about Nigeria in this 21st century. Some of those questions are innocuous but some are just…..Anyways I’ve compiled a list:

1. “Nigerians are loud and rude”

We are generally loud but loudness doesn’t always mean rudeness. Our being boisterous (which isn’t the case with everybody) is always misinterpreted. If you ever visited Nigeria maybe you’ll understand why we’re that way.
From phone conversations to family prayers, virtually everywhere in the country is noisy. It’s hard not to be loud if you were born and raised in such environment.

2. “Your English is so good! Where did you learn it from?”

Seriously? Is that a question? Even if we have many indigenous languages, we speak English not ‘Nigerian’. We were colonized by the British so English is our official language. We find it offensive when you ask questions like; “How come your English is so good?”. Stop it!

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3. “Nigerians are corrupt”

First of all, there’s no denying the fact that there are corrupt people in government and even among the ordinary people but it would be so unfair to think every Nigerian you meet is. We are not fraudsters! In Nigeria we have the best and the worst just like in many other countries. How can you label every Nigerian dubious even before having any sort of conversation with one. If you’ve met one or two corrupt Nigerians in the past there were individuals.
Yes, corruption exists in Nigeria but so too in many other Western countries. Don’t be deceived by the propaganda the Western media is selling – painting Nigerians and many Africans ‘black’. These same media would hardly project the strides Nigerians are making in entertainment, business, education, sports etc across the globe.
By the way have you googgled Burna Boy? He was nominated for a Grammy Award. We have other international acts like Wizkid, Rema, Tiwa Savage to name a few. You should also googgle Chimamanda Adichie, Amina Mohammed and Tijjani Muhammad-Bande etc.

4. “Nigeria is unsafe”

This is another popular misconception. There is no war in Nigeria! The country is mostly a safe place for people to visit, live and carry out business transactions. There have been cases of insurgency but it’s mostly restricted to the northern part. There have also be crimes in other regions but again, not in the kind of scale portrayed by the Western media.