A Trodden Path

This is a note that I published on facebook two years ago after an unfortunate incident in Victoria Island, Lagos where a young lady was physically assaulted in broad daylight by military men. A few days ago, after being piqued at the sight of a military man violating the recently passed state law prohibiting the use of motorbikes on the Third Mainland bridge in Lagos, I decided to publish this article to a wider audience. ...................................................................................................................................................... November 5th, 2008, I felt elated. For apparently no reason. I mentioned this to my boss and he said it was just hope. Hope that if an african can rule God's own country, then there's no limit for me. I replied that there was no way that directly transcends to me here, in Nigeria. Obama being the US president doesn't stop some cretin in a uniform under the guise of being a police "officer" h

Now, all this hullaballoo (noi) about Nigerian terrorism is really getting on my nerves. Apparently Nigerians have an unintelligent preoccupation with keeping up appearances (explains why consumer loans are so popular among middle-class bankers). Personally, I am more worried about our reputation as fraudsters (or "419-ers") than as terrorists. Why? Because we ARE 419-ers! You see, a reputation needs to feed off actual reality to be sustained. I mean, look at the numbers. The probability of running into a Nigerian terrorist, 1 in 140 million. Probability of a Nigerian fraudster? Just check your email for the next "system update" email from "Interswitchng.com" The problem is not the Nigerian reputation. The problem is the Nigerian. The Nigerian looking to score the next big government contract, or that believes anyone that works in an office from 8-5 is "rich" and should not mind sparing the "boys" some change. I believe we over