I watched the CNN report "How to rob a bank"a few days ago.That i was pissed is an understatement.Do we deserve to be treated this way by a country which economy benefits from Nigerians even more that Nigeria?
Thank God Nigerians in that country have risen against it.
I think America is overstepping it's bounds.We all know who the CNN speakes for.

Brushparke, did they only televise this programme in Nigeria, and if not, was it directed at Nigeria?

Because, from the information you posted, it seems to be that it was just an editorial telling the viewer how to rob a bank.

No.It was a well advertised documentry. Infact aired twice.I can.t remember the exact dates. I sat down waitting to hear what they had to say.I was embarassed when i realised the programme was only meant to make Nigerians look like the best thieves in the world.

That is terrible. Bad publicity is not what Nigeria needs at this time. However, I can't say it is not something the country deserves. Try not to let the bad press get to you. Afterall, you must admit, Nigeria does have a problem with armed robbers.

I watched it. They focused more on nigerians in texas tho. Sad sad.

to be honest, if we can use the energy we are using to protest the bad publicity to invest in developing our country it would have been a better nation. if our country is good,the western press wont have much to say about us negatively. so let's make the nation good. press image is not our most burning issue now.

that is why a governor can spend 5 million naira to advertise a 2 million naira road he has not yet built. in search of good publicity. if things are great in a nation they wont need any press to announce it and even if any press comes to give a great nation bad publicity, the truth will stand against such press.

so let us concentrate on keeping our leaders responsible enought o develop the nation and dont invest so mush energy on the western press

toshman, are you serious about Governors using State money to buy stories about their accomplishments? If that is the case, those governors should be charged with mis-appropriation of public funds.

who will charge them? the legislature? they will buy those ones off.
the courts, they own the judges.

Drusilla,
I have been reading your posts and must admit that you are very articulate and smart lady. Pertainning to your last post, I am a little uncertain why banks want to hide information about the computer thefts. I am interested in knowing, please educate me. Thank you.

what is all the fuss about? if we all did our home work well we wont be in this mess.

Yes you are all correct,i i still think that what ever the case, Nigeria isn't the worst country in the world. What is really the problem.I think they are just jealous of our potentials and they want to make us feel we can do nothing but steal.

Drusilla,
I am an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. I am aware that by law (BOFID Decree), banks in Nigeria are obliged to report thefts and frauds to the CBN when they submit their monthly returns. The CBN will then combine the individual bank reports to produce a comprehensive report on thefts and frauds. This information as well as a plethora of other reports are free for public consumption. Thank you for your reply.

Abeem,

Is your point that the bankers of Nigeria do things differently?

Not so around the world.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=221092006

Banks acknowledge about £500m of such fraud a year in the UK - up from £213m in 2000 and £62m in 1995. But banking insiders have told Scotland on Sunday that as much as another £500m was discovered by the industry but never reported to police, under a controversial policy of dealing in-house with any theft of £2,000 or less.


And another:

http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/www.eff.org/Legal/prosecuting_computer_criminals.article

It is also probable that some major victims, like banks and telecommunications
companies, continued earlier policies of dealing with invasions of their computer systems without invoking the criminal justice system. Such invasions have always
presented difficult public relations problems, with corporate victims weighing their desire for prosecution against a feared public perception that their computer
systems are vulnerable to hostile interference.


And Another:

Bankers Mistrust

http://www.house.gov/science/ch27.html

Banks and financial institutions have notorious reputations for not reporting computer crimes. We have heard of cases in which bank personnel have traced active hacking attempts to a specific person, or developed evidence showing that someone had penetrated their systems, but they did not report these cases to the police for fear of the resulting publicity.

In other cases, we've heard that bank personnel have paid people off to get them to stop their attacks and keep quiet. Some experts in the industry contend that major banks and trading houses are willing to tolerate a few million dollars in losses per week rather than suffer the perceived bad publicity about a computer theft. To them, a few million a week is less than the interest they make on investments over a few hours: it's below the noise threshold.

Are these stories true? We don't know, but we haven't seen too many cases of banks reporting computer crimes, and we somehow don't think they are immune to attack. If anything, they're bigger targets. However, we do know that bankers tend to be conservative, and they worry that publicity about computer problems is bad for business.

Odd, if true. Think about the fact that when some kid with a gun steals $1000 from the tellers at a branch office, the crime makes the evening news, pictures are in the newspaper, and a regional alert is issued. No one loses confidence in the bank. But if some hacker steals $5 million as the result of a bug in the software and a lack of ethics,

Who do you entrust with your life's savings?


And another:

http://www.rtmark.com/old/more/harvardjournal2000winter.html

See Jim Benson, Cyberterrorism Resource Center (visited Nov. 8, 1999) (reporting that British computer hackers have extorted $ 1.6 million as "cyber-ransom" from two banks. The banks did not notify the authorities or the press for fear of hurting investor and depositor confidence). Publicity could expose the targeted company's vulnerability, thereby increasing the chance that Internet terrorists could succeed in their plan to disrupt the company's activity.

I watched it too. I think it was just meant to embarrass and humiliate nigerians. do they mean to tell us that americans, asians n others in america do not engage in identity theft?we're not the worst people. In fact, most of the most intelligent and successful people in america are nigerians. n they r honest.

Haha! Without sounding unduly unpatriotic, I think we deserve the bad publicity. Or are we to say they were “cooked-up”?

I just came back from Nigeria barely two weeks ago in which I had to make an unplanned journey to bring in back my son who had accompanied my wife to Nigeria endorsed on a Nigerian passport (because we still believe fervently in that green book) who was allowed out of the UK but was not allowed back in simply because he was endorsed on a Nigerian passport. Needless to say that I had to prove that indeed he was my son (almost to the point of disclosing when he was conceived) before I took him out of Nigeria and I found that particular scenario disturbing.
But indeed I learnt some hard lessons as well. Nigerians are involved in virtually anything untoward that you can imagine. Child trafficking, people trafficking, immigration racketeering just name it.

It is sad, as we are claim to be victims of an obtusely bad reputation but is it a lie? These are the questions we should really be asking ourselves as a nation.

I had planned to go to Nigeria later in the year more so to go access the state of things from “inside” and not just hide out here in the UK and be making postulations about what should and should not be in Nigeria, but alas, that journey was subsequently fast-tracked by events for me.

The Nigeria I met was not exactly the Nigeria that we are made to believe it is (or that many of us grew up in for that matter). And that cuts both ways if I may be sincere. It seems to me that there is a new breed of “happy go lucky” individuals who are indeed making the best of a horrible mess that the nation is now and on the other hand a near hopelessness on the part of those who can not see any ways out of the current situation.
The Naira is very well bastardised (or is it commonised) as you could easily be filling up your car with about N2000 or more and I could remember that about ten years ago while I was almost wrapping up at Uni that was a lot of money (in fact my monthly pocket allowance was not up to that as a student). It is very sad.
But I could not fail to observe the resilience of the Nigerian. The hope that still lies on faces that still believed it would yet be better (E go better now!) and I just marvelled at the spirit in the Nigerian. Only if we could channel those into meaningful productivity, what a great nation it would be.

Back to if CNN indeed needed to have broadcasted that piece. My people it is painful, but I would prefer it being in the public domain rather than it be continuously glossed over as an issue. It just makes the positive thinking rest of us more aware to the fact that we cannot just fold our hands and allow a discordant minority to continue soiling our hard –earned reputations. It is a tough call but I would rather that in fact we make so much noise of it ourselves too so that at a stage we begin a campaign to weed this rot out of our collective psyche.

It is also sad that we as a people tend to glorify material possessions for its sake and that is the root of all of these malpractices. We believe definitely that other guy with that sleek automobile (regardless of where the money is coming from) is a better person than us who are doing our bits and contributing positively to society. It should not be so and it is also one of the reasons we have not had any serious leadership in Nigeria to date.

The bad publicity is good. There are many of us who know these group of Nigerian criminals but, whould never turn them in. If the press can make it so their bad actions some how affect us. Then maybe we will do the right thing.

Please take a CLUE from the banks.

Nigerians will NOT gain a good reputation by talking to the police about all the crime Nigerians are committing.

Snitching for a better reputation, will just give the Media more times to show the world Nigerians in handcuffs.

Plus the laughing they will do in their homes at the idea that you guys are doing this to yourselves by turning the people in.

HINT

Abeem says that Nigerian banks honestly report thefts.


CLUE

Numerous articles say that American and European banks do not honestly report thefts.


Result

Nobody trust Nigerians Banks, except Nigerians.

Everybody even Nigerians love European and American Banks.


[size=16pt]Your Black. Get used to it. [/size]

Drusilla:


[size=16pt]Your Black. Get used to it. [/size]

tell them

Drusilla,
Your points are incontrovertible but the fact still remains that banking laws in Nigeria (and I am sure all nations for statistical reporting and other uses) require the banks to report thefts and frauds (Remember, or if you are not aware, that most of our laws derive from or are tailored after those of the developed world especially Britain and US). Now whether they ignore this law completely or they purposely reduce the amount and/or frequency of reporting the pilferage of their boot via the computer is another point which I am not privy to talk about. Besides the online banking system is still evolving in Nigeria, not comparable to the American and the European systems. The European banks and their American counterparts for the public relations reason you identified definitely have the incentives not to report the frauds in full, but I am sure when the thefts are discovered by the external bank examiners, they will be penalized accordingly. Also, they have the resources and they wouldn't mind paying the penalty, because the opportunity cost of acting otherwise can be very disastrous.

what did the report say?

what has AIT said

Abeem,

We live in a day and age where the fines and penalty's for breaking business laws are so low, that they are actually planned for as business products or conduct is discussed.

For instance giant pharmacy's made 2 billion off of vioxx, what do they care that they have been fined a mere 25 million for lying about vioxx's safety in human trials. These lies being the only reason that vioxx was allowed to enter the market.

They don't care.

Banks budget in their penalties, fines and punishments the same way also.

what has cnn said. have we asked THE bbc?

adeoba,

Cnn has some Nigerian thief on there stating that 40 percent of the Nigerians in America are involved in fraud.

At one point he or another Nigerian theif claimed an even higher percentage saying 6 out of 10 is involved.

So of course Nigerians have been upset by this.

Then of course CNN goes and makes this program one available to all the schools across America, so in effect, every student in America can probably tell you what a Nigerian theif is.

Before this report, they had probably never heard of a Nigerian Country let alone Nigerian people in America.

Drusilla:


Before this report, they had probably never heard of a Nigerian Country let alone Nigerian people in America.

Drusilla quite to the contrary, any person who owns an email account would be only too aware of the sheer number and diversity of too-good-to-be-true email offers of free cash windfalls that make reference to Nigeria or Nigerians.  After reading and deleting a few thousand of such scam-mails, even a grade-school child would eventually cotton on that the mass mailing of baited hooks has got to be some sort of national industry in Nigeria.

If you saw the CNN documentary, then you may have noticed the proud smirk on that convicted Nigerian fraudsters face when he claimed in his affected but undecipherable accent that a large percentage of Nigerians resident in the US are engaged in crime of one sort or another.  That ex-con glowed with pride because to a large chunk of Nigerian society, trickery, sorcery scams, embezzlement, deceit, forgery, identity theft and drug trafficking are still seen as legitimate paths to the prized end of getting rich by ANY means possible.

Alaskan Eskimos' Inuit language reportedly has over a couple of dozen words to describe various snow conditions, since the survival of those tribes is so closely tied to the land and its weather patterns.   Similarly the Yoruba tribe of south-western Nigeria uses over twenty different euphemistic words and phrases which all describe the time-honored traditions of lying, cheating, tale fabrication, extorting and robbing one's short-cut way to wealth.  At a more sinister level, human sacrifice motivated by the insane superstitious expectation to conjure up free cash from cadavers is RAMPANT in Nigeria, and is WIDELY perceived by Nigerians to be a sure-fire means of hitting the jackpot without having to engage in a lick of honest work.

In a nutshell Nigeria's sordid reputation on the world stage is well deserved, and has roots that run deep into the history and culture of that God-forsaken land, blinkered patriotic jingoism aside.

Jakumo,

Drusilla quite to the contrary, any person who owns an email account would be only too aware of the sheer number and diversity of too-good-to-be-true email offers of free cash windfalls that make reference to Nigeria or Nigerians. After reading and deleting a few thousand of such scam-mails, even a grade-school child would eventually cotton on that the mass mailing of baited hooks has got to be some sort of national industry in Nigeria.

You know you ain't right. Beautiful delivery.

We bemoan the state in which we find ourselves and when we are exposed as a corrupt people we cry foul.If the report is true in all its details,why should we wish it was never reported?Lets stop blowing hot and cold.Fani Kayode is the only one who can espouse the best views about anything nigerian.Has he not seen it?

na lie u de talk !!

why did president  bush have to pass a bill that comes hard on people that emblezz  private and pulic fund! how come CNN aint makin report about that! wonder why they are so protective! how come they never talk about guns that comes in from easteren europe, how white men some are in love of makin love to younger boys babys and $hit, always tell how much they give to africa as aid but never mention what they give to israel or palestine hmmmmm all you that think u no but u dnt watch it! spent more time try to figure out what change you me and us can make. now listen bro im are by anyway glamournisin crime or watever but i think we Nigerians shuld sometimes recgonise where the line shuld be drawn my friend!

so when u see clever people like information minister that understand when nigeria reiterated by warning its citizen in LOndon to be aware of robbery and money snatchin goin on in london in which nigeria citizen are specficlly are target! people like u will wallow sit back and do nothing !

but then check http://nigeriaworld.com/ see what london delegate whoever he is said!
nigerian are the 4th asylum applicants to uk and u believe it! we are know it all bulllsss but then i guess they hit back technical to what the headline comin out of nigeria like 2wks ago !!

god bless Nigeria!!