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In defence of my country
By Yemi Omotoso
I WISH to comment on Evan Moore's article "Abandoned in Nigeria", a front-page story in the Houston Chronicle issue of Sunday September 12, 2004. The ordeal of the seven adopted Texas kids abandoned in an orphanage in Ibadan, Nigeria has been well published by all local media in Texas.
It is a story that offends and should continue to offend the senses of all humans possessing the barest level of humanness, regardless of their colour, culture, race or tongue. In Evan Moore's version of keeping up with the story however, he went to great lengths to give the sad story a bit of bounce, more flavours, and more juice. Unfortunately, in doing this, he has unconsciously (I hope) splattered truths with half-truths and sometimes falsehoods about Nigeria, the country, its people and the city of Ibadan.
In his words, Nigeria is a "... country both rich and corrupt... a chaotic culture in which economically driven crime is rampant". He described its upper and middle class as huddled "... behind cinderblock walls topped with concertina wire and shards of glass". Its police "... are ineffective at best or corrupt at worst". Ibadan's nightlife is "... ruled by thugs... where robbery, kidnapping, rape and burglary are widespread..." and "... the abduction of the young for slave labour and prostitution is common". He referred to Ibadan as "... once the capital of Nigeria..." and to the orphanage as "... arranged haphazardly on a hillside ... a scene of misery... no electricity, no running water... understaffed and neglected... (with) no toilet " not even a dug latrine..." About the Ministry of Women's Affairs and Social Development he wrote "... a state agency lacking any better facility than the state orphanage..." etc.
Corruption has little to do with riches and more to do with greed, I would have Mr. Moore understand. That is the only reason why man has managed to be corrupt in the poorest of world economies as well as in the economically liberated societies of the West including the United States. Concerning his statement about the upper and middle class behind cinderblock walls, he should be aware that an overwhelming number of houses being built since about four decades ago in Africa, especially in big cities like Ibadan are built with cinderblocks and complemented with perimeter walls, concertina wires and shards of glass as the case may be. No class of people within the civic society is removed from his behaviour. Those complements are necessary security additions. Without various electronic burglar devices, a swift police system and relative access to personal small firearms, most houses in Europe and North America will also be built with cinderblocks, hidden behind walls with shards of glass. The desire to protect and assure the safety of lives and property is a uniform attribute of the people of the world. Nigeria's case should not be taken as indices of prevalent violence among its civic class.
His calling the Nigerian police ineffective is rather unfortunate but not totally false. The lapses seen are direct results of the still evolving political system. It does not however call into question the commitment of most of these officers to their call of duty. This is why some of them pay the ultimate price with their lives in the course of official assignments. If this picture of police ineffectiveness is a basis of labeling a country violent and dangerous, then Mr. Moore has put the same label on most of the rest of Africa along with the Caribbean, most parts of Asia and South America. Are some of the Nigerian police officers corrupt? Yes, very much so. But police corruption is everywhere in the world. I am sure Mr. Moore will know that such cases are fairly common occurrences over the past few decades even here in the United States. The point is, a few corrupt officers do not define the whole group.
Comments about Ibadan nightlife are cruel and untrue. For its sheer size and population, the city is among the safest in Africa and compare favourably with others outside the shores of its continent. Ibadan is a city that goes to sleep early on weekdays but has the ability to stay up late on weekends. Instances of crime occur everyday just like in any other city saddled with similar size and an assortment of peoples. However, crime does not rule the city at night and kidnapping, rape and burglary are not widespread as claimed. The night is a good cover for crimes and a few of them happen at night in most cities. Daytime violent crimes also occur in big cities all over the world. In the Sunday September 12, 2004 and Monday September 13, 2004 issues of Houston Chronicle alone, the following are the headlined violent crime stories that happened within Greater Houston: "Homeless man stabbed to death" (in Pasadena), "Shooting victim left at fire station", "Pedestrian killed in drive-by attack", ""Suspect sought in fatal stabbing" "Tomball), Police on lookout for two who robbed pharmacy" etc. All except the last occurred over one weekend.
The Associated Press's recent report on the US violent crime statistics for year 2003 shows that one in 44 people had violent crime committed against them all over the U.S in the year under review. This means that of its about three hundred million population, nearly seven million had violent crimes committed against them in 2003. The data used excludes those of murder victims. Yet, the statistical result indicates a downward trend in violent crimes across the country compared to previous years. Does this make all American violent or its societies dangerous to live in? To me, the answer is no. Is Ibadan or Nigeria a dangerous place to visit or live? My answer still is no.
Mr. Moore must have experienced the overpowering warmth and hospitality of Nigeria people although that is not part of his story. Given the potentials they know they have and the few opportunities they have to actualise themselves; given also that there is no government food, housing or disability aids to help individuals subsist, as you would find in the developed countries, Nigerians are in fact master to social anger. They show great restraint, they are vibrant on hope and keep fighting the odds everyday for their financial independence. A few fail to meet acceptable moral standards just like in any given society. They mix-up their values and become angry at and enemy to the society. The majority does not. Funsho in the story is not an exceptional case. He is a typical example of the attribute a Nigeria has.
Mr. Moore should have helped raised many pertinent questions relevant to the issue, questions that will give insight to how Ms. Liggins was allowed to adopt seven children as a single parent (seven for a couple is lots of parenting); who Victor Nwankwo is and his role in the matter; if Victor and Ms Liggings actually got married, and if they did not, why she gave or left custody of all her children to a total stranger in a foreign land; if Obiora Nwankwo is married or single; if single, why anybody would entrust full time care of seven kids to a young bachelor; if Ms Liggins communicated regularly with her children in the ten months they were with Obiora in Nigeria; if she did not, why? And why it took the American consulate eight days to rescue American citizens etc. Those are the relevant issues the public is still thirsty to learn about.
The print medium is a very powerful tool to help the general public form opinions about public issues. It is also their best source of documented information, a sort of vehicle to hop in whenever they desire vicarious travel. Nobody wants to go to a place that is branded unsafe by a source whose opinions he can easily trust. Pogroms have been carried out in Rwanda and Burundi; there is a systematic genocide going on in the Sudan, and Liberia, Congo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Algeria etc. in their recent past have grappled with civil wars laced with ethnic, religious or economic undertones. There is a way in Iraq, unrest in Afghanistan, uncertainty in Israel, tension in Korea, tragedy in Russia and unending awareness of fundamentalist Islamic threat and danger to the U.S.
There is violence and danger scattered over all the regions of the world, yet Mr. Moore has managed (unintentionally, I still hope) to cast Nigeria and the city of Ibadan as violent, dangerous places. Abandoning children (especially in a strange country, culture and among strangers) is a grave enough act. It does not matter whether they were seven Nigerian kids marooned in an orphanage in a strange land; say England, France, Germany or even the U.S. It would still have sounded as bad as it does now.
Or would it have been lots nicer to Mr. Moore if those kids were abandoned in orphanages in either Switzerland or say Norway or any other country with very low violent crime rates? Some adults took personal responsibilities to provide adequate parental care for these children. Apparently, they all failed. They are the ones who endangered the unfortunate kids. Not Ibadan or the generally good people of Nigeria.
Finally, Ibadan was never at a time the capital of Nigeria as is claimed. Also, the orphanage in question is connected to public electricity and water grids although those services are erratic in some areas and almost non-existent in most others. It is a reality that is not peculiar to the orphanage alone. It is actually a reality of national spread where one of both of those services at different times may cease in one area or state region for a short or extended period of time.
Not a thing to brag about, but it happens anyway. After having described the orphanage as having no electricity, no water, " not even a dug latrine, a picture of "fetid squalor", Mr. Moore went ahead to say of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development as being a state agency "lacking any better facility than the state orphanage". Does he mean what this says he means? Aw, come on. What also does he mean by Nigeria having a chaotic culture? Nigerians especially will like to know.
- Omotoso lives in Houston, Texas in the United States.
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