Nigeria: You'll keep hearing from us in the diaspora

Out, yet about

I have been out of Nigeria for a long time, 29 years in 3 days and I have my reasons. However, my absence from Nigeria has not become isolation or disengagement from Nigeria. I have a Nigerian heritage, I share elements of my identity with Nigerian, and I have significant members of my family, parents, and siblings in Nigeria.

What gets me agitated is when people assume Nigerians abroad have abandoned the country and by that should have no say in what happens there. There is a trope of othering that is becoming the mainstay of some influential commentators n social media who expect us to shut up and slink into insignificance rather than be heard or seen.

Fossils endure still

I had to deal with this way back in 2007 when a son of the then President of Nigeria working for Microsoft visited home and regaled us with pictures of servants at the presidential palace of Aso Rock sleeping in atrocious penurious conditions without any sense of appreciating how unreflective that situation was.

He went on to say, “I like how Naija (jargon for Nigeria) people who have abandoned their country like you carry on as if they are more Naija than anyone else.”

Blog - Did I abandon Nigeria?

In my addressing this issue in the blog I wrote then, I gave reasons why I might have abandoned Nigeria, it was however rich of him to suggest those in the diaspora were carrying on as if we were more Nigerian than anyone else, considering he is of great privilege and his father was still around 3 decades after he first left power in 1979.

See us here

Then, I do not presume to suggest that Nigerians in the diaspora should arrogate to themselves primacy in the affairs of Nigeria, but they can neither be ignored nor be seen as insignificant. A few months ago, a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers averred that Nigerian migrants remitted 6.1% of its GDP in 2018 at $23.63 billion which was a 17% increase on 2017, with estimates expected to rise in the next three years to US$25.5bn, US$29.8bn and US$34.8bn respectively. [PwC Report PDF]

The Central Bank of Nigeria disputes the estimate suggesting it is closer to a tenth, what is surprising is how nothing is said to account for the sudden downward trend that had been growing linearly for over a decade. [CBN – Vanguard]

I have used the case of the volume of remittance to propose the idea that like as taxation might spur a popular demand for government accountability, leading to better governance. The contributions of the diaspora cohort should earn them a right as stakeholders to have a say in what happens in Nigeria.

We’re all affected

The truth is everyone who has a Nigerian heritage is affected by the situation in Nigeria whether at home or abroad. The prosperity of Nigeria is the prosperity of all of us and the less of a burden on those who sometimes have to cater for the absence of a social welfare system and other social services and infrastructure deficits that hold progress back in Nigeria. Beyond that, we should be able to have a conversation on the political, economic, social and human rights situation in Nigeria towards affecting and improving outcomes.

Last night, I had to tackle another of those myopic and reductive views of Nigerian in diaspora and their contributions to the Nigerian system in all its ramifications. We might have left Nigeria, we are still involved, engaged, affected and contributing in varied measures to address issues that concern family, friends, strangers, charities and any other sphere we can find to influence for the better.

I left Nigeria for the last time on a delayed flight with Nigeria Airways on the 30th of December 1990, I am part of that pontificating lot that remitted over $25 billion to Nigeria in 2018, we've earned the right to pontificate whether it is liked or not. https://t.co/mCMivYFbXb

— Akin Akíntáyọ̀ 🏳️‍🌈 #FBPE (@forakin) December 26, 2019

Our voices will be heard

We are not going away and those who cannot stand other Nigerians abroad having a voice would have to lump it or leave it, we all have a stake in the country and earlier we begin to realise we need each other, the better it would be for us to create the unity of purpose to bring the change, we desire to see in Nigeria.

Our silence will not be bought nor will our contributions which arrive as remittances but permeate the full-body polity of Nigeria be considered insignificant as to render us voiceless.

In brotherhood/sisterhood we have to stand to make a difference, we the unwitting ambassadors of Nigeria in our respective foreign communities creating the impressions that help positive views of the country along with the hardworking hands and minds in-country making a direct and effective difference in the lives of their localities.

Nigeria: The telling silliness of silly tellers

Remittances abroad

The issue of money remittances to Nigeria should be an easy task, at least when I do it from here.

Before, I used the MoneyGram [1] services through the GWK outlets but just about a year ago the MoneyGram services were replaced by Western Union [2].

Having been away from Nigeria for so long, I did not know that everyone now had a national identity card – the MoneyGram service did not have that requirement; however the Western union service did.

I had to pull a completed transaction and first enquire of the recipient about having an identity card before completing transaction somewhere else.

Checking the transaction I made yesterday (12/02/2009) against what MoneyGram would have offered me, MoneyGram offers a considerably better exchange rate of about 4% more and 18% less commission. Slightly obfuscated text - ( Begin - MoneyGram rate 188.47 €200 + €9.99 = NGN 37,694.76 WesternUnion rate 180.14 €200 + €11 = NGN 36,027.60 - End )

The process

Now, all I have to show is my Western Union card and they can retrieve my details and enquire if the last recipient would be the same recipient for this transaction.

After showing my identification papers, the transaction is complete with me now thinking it is best to convert directly from Euros to Naira rather than using the intermediary of the US Dollar.

In fact, I have noticed how far the Naira has fallen from about EUR 1.00 = NGN 140 in November 2008 to EUR 1.00 = NGN 180, basically, that is greater than 20%, it is a lot.

Once the transaction is concluded on the sender’s end the recipient should receive just three pieces of information, the MTCN number, the amount payable and the answer to the test question.

There is a quality of multifactor authentication in this simple transaction and that should be it – the recipient should be able to present an identification document that matches the names to the person, the MTCN number and answer the test question.

Asking for the moon

Unfortunately, that simple task is now completely beyond the capabilities of the tellers in the banks.

On one occasion they were asking for the address of the sender and his date of birth – it is of no significance to the transaction, in fact, the recipient called me from Nigeria and switched on his speakerphone as I rubbished the stupidity of it all.

Again, if the slip already has the conversion determined by the sender, it should not then been converted again to benefit the issuer – one ends up twice charged and robbed blind just because they are in a position to frustrate the deal.

I was also surprised to learn that the form the recipient has to fill in requires that the recipient state both the question and the answer.

Well, what is the point of having the recipient state the question? Though it helps ascertain full communication between the sender and the recipient, it could well have been someone picking up the detail and using it.

Knowledge not recitation

The whole point behind requiring the recipient to answer the question correctly is to offer the teller the ability to vary the wording of the question to still arrive at the right answer – it is supposed to be a memory/knowledge thing not a recital.

But again, it reminds me of the educational system that pervaded my secondary school and tertiary education years in Nigeria – people wanted you ability to regurgitate what you were told rather than express an understanding through comprehension of what you had learnt.

The only parallel to that is requiring the interpreter of dreams to tell you both the dream and its interpretation – whilst having such is skill is legendary, the purpose of sending money home is not to hone the skills of soothsayer recipients but to hope that the business end of the transaction is stress-free, friendly and done with a sense of service and comportment.

Sources

[1] MoneyGram International

[2] Western Union

Nigeria: Jonathan Elendu - Confusing Western naïveté for great danger

America does not translate elsewhere

Western naïveté and I use those two words with caution but despair, seems to becloud the ability of people to see the dangers when they leave the comforts of their Western existence to ply their liberality in other countries they might call home – I review two very similar cases.

A young woman who is writing her Master’s thesis on women’s rights is no big deal if you are in the United States, when the American-born lady has Iranian ancestry, it becomes interesting and her lecturers might even support her need to research these issues about the country of her ancestry.

It is however looking down the gaping mouth of the lion when she decides to conduct her research in Iran – this appears to be the fate of Esha Momeni [1], an Iranian-American who was arrested on the 15^th of October for what was seemingly a traffic violation but is now in the notorious Evin Prison which houses Iranian dissidents and political prisoners.

Evidence we ignore

Esha Momeni would not have been oblivious of the incidents of the suspect incarceration of four Iranian-American citizens [2] for months last year who were in Iran for activities that should not have caused any issues in America but became an undue inconvenience that threatened their liberty and lives.

She might have been inspired by the work of Shirin Ebadi [3], the Nobel Peace Laureate 2003 whose high profile is probably the shield she has against harassment and the menace of the state security apparatus.

From afar or at risk

Ms. Momeni could easily have conducted her research by studying the works of the laureate from the United States and liaising with her to obtain more authoritative sources in Iran as part of a rigorous academic exercise but she had been schooled in the credibility complex that requires you be present with your sources of information or be considered less capable – In America, I would agree, but back in Iran, I think not.

A campaign is now being launched to free Esha Momeni as her friends clamour for justice in a way that they would not have had to gather if she were to have committed the traffic violation in America and the police had found recordings of her work in her car such that they would then go on to raid her home as they did in Iran. The billowing clouds of Western naïveté do sometimes becloud the realities of coming home.

Jonathan Elendu

Another fledgling campaign seems to be gathering moss for the release of Jonathan Elendu [4], an American resident and veritable source of information about corruption and the abuse of office in Nigeria through his Elendu Reports [5] website.

Some say he might even be a sponsor [6] of the more sensational SaharaReporters [7] website which publishes reports of egregious abuse and megalomania in Nigeria, some rather big toes [8] have been trampled upon and the offended are likely to be both cellophane-skinned and menacingly ready to claw out in retribution and revenge.

Remittances or money laundering

In America, Jonathan Elendu plies his trade without let or hindrance and he does have a somewhat high profile amongst Nigerians in Diaspora, he has name recognition and though I sometimes view Elendu Reports, SaharaReporters is a bit much for my sensibilities.

As a resident of the United States, Mr. Elendu probably sends remittances home to family as many other Nigerians abroad do and sometimes pines to see his relations by visiting Nigeria to fellowship with them as any social being would do especially in America.

However, Mr. Elendu is no faceless visitor to Nigeria and as he arrived in Nigeria on the 18^th of October 2008 he was taken into custody by the State Security Service [9] for talks that lead to questioning and possibly interrogation, the possibility of facing sedition charges did rear its head – he appears not to have been able to meet his legal representation.

As SaharaReporters [10] reports, Mr. Elendu was handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the charges of money laundering – criminalising benign remittances – might well be a convenient charge to frustrate the man till they emasculate him and make him recant the sterling body of work he has promoted for years.

Drastic measures for release

He has embarked on a hunger strike and one does sympathise because he is not Professor Wole Soyinka [11], the Nobel Literature Laureate 1986 whose writings and profile probably shield him from the menace of harassment and the menace of the state security apparatus and those who have the law enforcement establishment at their beck and call.

Mr. Elendu could have resisted the need to go to Nigeria and he sure must have been aware of the developing and worrying restrictions on press freedom and the episode that lead to the withdrawal of Channels TV’s licence [12] when a rogue message, purportedly from the News Agency of Nigeria linked questions about the President’s health to his imminent resignation.

Between sacrifice and being sacrificed

Individuals like many us blogging from abroad need to be aware of the fact that our quest for the truth and the incisive analysis of unpalatable events in Nigeria might not endear us to those in power – they might not be able to parcel us as diplomatic baggage [13] but once we are in Nigeria we are in the lion’s den except if we know the tamer and owner of the circus.

This is not to say that we should temper our work in seeking a better service of government in Nigeria through advocacy, blogging and exposure of reprehensible conduct in power, but these come with sacrifices as tempering our nostalgic tendencies, preventing relations at home from being associated with our activities from abroad and being smart about the use of sensitive information.

Else, there is a danger that we allow Western naïveté abroad to becloud the possibility of encountering great danger at home, the campaign for the release of Ms. Momeni seems to have a greater sophistication, I would hope there are others who know Mr. Elendu well enough to spearhead a campaign for his release that I would surely support.

Free Esha Momeni! Campaign

Free Jonathan Elendu!

Sources

[1] U.S. student arrested in Tehran while working on thesis project - CNN.com

[2] Freed Iranian-American scholar recounts ordeal in Iran - International Herald Tribune

[3] Shirin Ebadi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[4] BBC NEWS | Africa | News blogger detained in Nigeria

[5] Elendu Reports - Home

[6] Global Voices Online » Nigerian Blogger Arrested For Sponsoring a ‘Guerilla News Agency’

[7] Sahara Reporters : : News, Interviews, Articles, Reports, Photos, Events and Happenings in Nigeria

[8] Chxta's World: Weep

[9] State Security Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[10] [SSS plans to re-arrest Jonathan Elendu from the EFCC as he embarks on hunger strike ] Sahara Reporters News

[11] Wole Soyinka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[12] allAfrica.com: Nigeria: FG Withdraws Channels TV Licence

[13] Umaru Dikko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia