I'm Nigerian by parentage, but British by birth.

I first went to Nigeria as a teenager, but was shielded from the worst of it, staying in mostly white inhabited hotels for the two weeks and carefully guarded by my mother.

When I returned in 2010 for my father's funeral as an adult, I saw the country for myself. From my family in the poorest part of Lagos, Makoko, to my room in a hotel in Ikoyi. The funeral took place in Keffi State near where my grand parents were married.

I'll be honest, I've never been so scared or disturbed in my life. The stench, the squalor and threatening people who seemed not to have been brought up properly.

We were hassled by police who tried to bribe us when they heard I was English and noticed the brand new rental car, people tried to get us to stop, to sell us things and shouted as we drove past - and people begged everywhere.

This is harrowing, but to be expected.

I came on here expecting to find people who'd be fighting to make it better, fighting to improve their own country and try to help, but everyone just talks about praying to one god or the other -- or denies anything is wrong at all, claiming to be proud of Nigeria.

So tell me: is it wrong to be ashamed? Should I forget about Nigeria and give up? Or are there people who want to see it become something better and are willing to fight for it?

I remember the first time I visited Nigeria after my initial migration. My mom was like " there's nothing like Nigeria air, so fresh and clean. It'll be good to be home". I believed her. When I first walked out of Lagos airport, I thought I'd suffocate. Mehn, the air was so stuffy and bleh. When I got to Ekiti, it was wayyyyyyyyyyy better; cleaner environment, fresher air, and nicer people. My people were very welcoming that it warmed my heart. Even the Fulanis and Hausas were nice I was so depressed that we had to go back to Lagos

Ki-Katanga:
I'm Nigerian by parentage, but British by birth.

I first went to Nigeria as a teenager, but was shielded from the worst of it, staying in mostly white inhabited hotels for the two weeks and carefully guarded by my mother.

When I returned in 2010 for my father's funeral as an adult, I saw the country for myself. From my family in the poorest part of Lagos, Makoko, to my room in a hotel in Ikoyi. The funeral took place in Keffi State near where my grand parents were married.

I'll be honest, I've never been so scared or disturbed in my life. The stench, the squalor and threatening people who seemed not to have been brought up properly.

We were hassled by police who tried to bribe us when they heard I was English and noticed the brand new rental car, people tried to get us to stop, to sell us things and shouted as we drove past - and people begged everywhere.

This is harrowing, but to be expected.

I came on here expecting to find people who'd be fighting to make it better, fighting to improve their own country and try to help, but everyone just talks about praying to one god or the other -- or denies anything is wrong at all, claiming to be proud of Nigeria.

So tell me: is it wrong to be ashamed? Should I forget about Nigeria and give up? Or are there people who want to see it become something better and are willing to fight for it?

The mere fact that you are ashamed/troubled is an indication you are a solution to a problem. Nigeria is enmeshed in challenges/problems, pick one and try and solve. Good luck

Odunnu:
The mere fact that you are ashamed/troubled is an indication you are a solution to a problem. Nigeria is enmeshed in challenges/problems, pick one and try and solve. Good luck

What exactly is he ashamed of? that Nigerians pray to God, are proud of their country despite all the ills and don't speak negatively enough of their country? I'm yet to get it, what's making the "British" who's "unfortunately" Nigerian by parentage ashamed? Is it really Nigeria or the colour of his skin?

He's ashamed of the abject poverty his people are in

Katanga I can fully understand your dismay not only at the open sewers, overpowering stench, garbage-strewn streets and massive overpopulation that is Nigeria today, but also at the fact that virtually every Nigerian wearing some semblance of a uniform devotes their every waking moment to seeking out victims for extortion, harassment or illegal detention.

Even after numerous visits to Nigeria I still find it very offensive indeed that such a large slice of the population devotes so much energy to victimizing others who appear or sound foreign, and that those career predators will be up in your face from virtually the instant you get off the plane at the airport. I also find much of urban Nigeria a very frightening place, where dropping your guard for an instant can result in you getting mobbed, beaten up, robbed or killed over loose change.

And yet, through it all, I know it could be worse in Nigeria - FAR worse. Read up on the mind-numbing daily homicide rates in Mexico's decades-old drug wars, the kidnapping epidemic in Colombia, the epic filth of Mumbai, where the street's dead are collected by the hundreds every morning, or the skin-head menace faced by all persons of color foolhardy enough to visit Russia, and then you will realize that Nigeria is not half as bad a place as many others out there.

As a UK passport holder, you have the option to distance yourself from Nigeria in public, and pretend you have never heard of the place, but yet, that African component of your heritage does live within the privacy of your thoughts, or you wouldn't have bothered to communicate with this particular internet forum. On a positive note, the sudden availability of mains electrical power Nigeria, brought about by the current Johnny B. Goode government, will bring about HUGE changes for the better, as that country emerges from a 30-year electrical blackout, and once-dormant industries gradually grind back to life, and begin to absorb the country's army of unemployed, desperate, hungry and opportunistic people.

In short, the best is yet to come for Nigeria, and it could be a heck of a lot worse than it is, even as it stumbles to its feet under the sure guidance of the restorative government in power there today.

Story! The Nigerian police tried to bribe you? Incredulous

Ki-Katanga:

We were hassled by police who tried to bribe us when they heard I was English and noticed the brand new rental car, people tried to get us to stop, to sell us things and shouted as we drove past - and people begged everywhere.

op you dont sound nigerian.

and why does every non-nigerian claim lagos and ijebu.

From my family in the poorest part of Lagos, Makoko, to my room in a hotel in Ikoyi. The funeral took place in Keffi State near where my grand parents were married.

where is keffi state?

sounds like you googled it.

Tpia - one of the reasons I'm ashamed to be Nigerian...