I read this and was shocked !!!

I got to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the morning of December, 30, 2006 having left Murtala Mohammed International Airport the previous night. I was on a leave of absence from my teaching appointment at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta. I got a pleasant thrill from the cold Nairobi weather, something I had experienced on my previous visit and prepared for.



My wife was at the airport to take me home. Meanwhile, I was issued a three month visiting visa at the Kenyan Embassy in Lagos which made it impossible for me to purchase a returning ticket commensurable to the one year leave of absence I was granted by the polytechnic authorities. What the personnel at the travel agency I was unfortunate to buy my flight ticket from assured me was that I could extend my visa at the immigration office in Nairobi, and my flight ticket at Kenya Airways office in Nairobi. In consonance with their assurance, I went to the immigration department three days to the expiration of my three-month visa to request for an extension.



Thus early in the morning of March 25, 2007, I arrived the department of alien immigration in Nairobi (the building is called Nyayo House) and queued with other immigrants with similar request. I can recollect vividly that I stood behind four other immigrants—two Asians, one Canadian and one American. The clerk behind the counter swiftly dealt with the three aliens—she examined their passports and asked them to fill forms and pay certain amount of money, their fingerprints taken, after which their passports were returned to them, they were instructed to come back in three weeks for their alien cards. The whole process did not take more than thirty minutes.



When it was my turn, the lady collected my passport, took one bewildered look at it and asked me to report to one Mr. Wanda on the seventh floor. I stood on the spot for seconds frowning. After a while, I shrugged and went to the lift. Mr. Wanda was not in the office; I waited at his door. About an hour later, an immigration officer asked for my mission I told him I was waiting for Mr. Wanda. He advised me to come back the following day as he was not sure Mr. Wanda would be coming to the office that day.



I was there the following day. Mr. Wanda was yet to arrive. I was chatting with one of the junior officers at the counter when a woman who later turned out to be a senior immigration officer arrived and asked my mission. I told her I was waiting for Mr Wanda. She informed me pointedly that Mr. Wanda would not be reporting for work that day. She demanded my specific mission. I told her that I wanted my visa extended and the lady behind the counter at the ground floor asked me to see Mr. Wanda. She frowned, thrust his palm forward, ‘Let me see your passport.’ I gave it to her. A mild exclamation. The following conversation ensued:



‘What are you doing in Kenya?’



‘I am on a leave of absence which I am spending with my wife.’



‘You are married to a Kenyan?’



I nodded.



She looked at me pointedly and said there was no way I could be allowed to stay more than the three months I had spent. She advised me to go and buy my flight ticket; she would allow me to spend one more week in Nairobi.



‘But I am here with my wife.’ I shouted.



‘It does not matter. Why not take your wife to Nigeria instead of polluting our cou
ntry.’



I was flummoxed. ‘Polluting your country?’ I retorted. She ignored me and said, ‘The best you can expect apart from what I suggested is to wait for Mr. Wanda; he will be in the office tomorrow morning.’



‘Okay.’ I said, collected my passport and sauntered out of her cubicle of an office, reflecting.



By nine the following morning, I was at Mr. Wanda’s office. He was available. I met him writing a memo. Curiosity, that proverbial instinct that killed the cat took control of me. I stretched my long neck and peeped at what Mr. Wanda was writing and caught a hazy picture of his designation: he was a principal assistant controller of immigration or something similar to that. My curiosity heightened: why am I referred to such a top-notch for a simple immigration matter, something a common clerk handles for other nationals?



‘Can I be of any assistance?’ The question cut through my thoughts. I managed a smile to camouflage my bafflement. I stammered a response, ‘I was asked to come and see you. I need to extend my visa.’



‘Let me see your passport.’



I handed the document over. He collected it, looked at the cover and sighed, ‘Nigerian.’

After he had read the visa pages he asked me what I have been doing in Kenya in the last three months. I told him that I had been visiting my wife.



‘Just that?’ he frowned.



‘Visiting my wife who I had left in the last two years is not enough reason?’



‘If you were a Kenyan and your wife, a Nigerian, it would have been okay but the way it is, now…Kenyan immigration laws do not recognize your kind of union.’



Thoroughly perplexed, I appraised Mr. Wanda curiously. ‘I am also researching a story I am writing about Nigeria and Kenya.’



He looked at me sharply. His countenance relaxing into a pleasant grin, ‘What do the two countries have in common?’



I brightened up and regaled him with a bit of my findings. He looked at me nonplussed and nodded. ‘I agree with some of your comparisons’ he said as he extracted a piece of paper and scribbled on it. He tucked the paper in the pages of my passport and handed it over to me with instructions to take the passport back to the immigration office on the ground floor where I would be attended to. I did as Mr. Wanda said but instead of my visa extension signed at the ground floor, I was asked to take it back to the seventh floor, to Mr. Wanda for his signature! What is so special about extending a Nigerian visa?

I knocked the door and entered. He collected my passport and countersigned the visa page. He then plucked a giant iron stamp from a rack and stomped my passport with it. ‘Why is Nigeria this special?’ I asked under my breath.



Mr. Wanda smiled, ‘very special,’ he corroborated ignoring my question. I collected my passport and, as I was leaving, he said, ‘Your extended visa expires on June 29, by June 28 you should disappear from Kenya.’


I paused at the door, turned my head and looked at him pensively for a long moment. He met my gaze with an unflinching intent. I nodded and left.

culled from http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/articles/1800/1/Why-Not-Take-Your-Wife-To-Nigeria-Instead-Of-Polluting-Our-Country/Page1.html

The colonial mentality is rampant everywhere in Africa-including our beloved naija! Just last summer, I was waiting for the porter at Transcorp to take my luggage outside, what did he do? sidetracked me and attended to a white man that came after me. And there were many instances where this happened- locals will give better treatment to foreigners than their own country-folk. The best cure for this colonization is to ship them abroad for 3months!!! When they see how the West really think about blacks, their colonized mindset will revert to normal

inspired_m:

The colonial mentality is rampant everywhere in Africa-including our beloved naija! Just last summer, I was waiting for the porter at Transcorp to take my luggage outside, what did he do? sidetracked me and attended to a white man that came after me. And there were many instances where this happened- locals will give better treatment to foreigners than their own country-folk. The best cure for this colonization is to ship them abroad for 3months!!! When they see how the West really think about blacks, their colonized mindset will revert to normal

You could've notified the management , did you?

I was in a hotel in lagos some time last year and i got terribly thirsty around 1 am in the morning, so i went down to the reception to ask for a bottled water and the guy doing the night duty told me that the hotel bar is closed for the day and he can not do anything else but to offer me a glass of water from their staffs drinking water filter and i accepted the glass of water.

But the next day i personally attacked (verbally) the hotel manager for his imcompetency and subsequently they started putting 2 bottles of water every day in every room's refrigerator ( to be paid by the client if consumed) till date.

inspired_m:

The colonial mentality is rampant everywhere in Africa-including our beloved naija! Just last summer, I was waiting for the porter at Transcorp to take my luggage outside, what did he do? sidetracked me and attended to a white man that came after me. And there were many instances where this happened- locals will give better treatment to foreigners than their own country-folk. The best cure for this colonization is to ship them abroad for 3months!!! When they see how the West really think about blacks, their colonized mindset will revert to normal

a terrible disease indeed. we simply dont love ourselves.

inspired_m:

The colonial mentality is rampant everywhere in Africa-including our beloved naija! Just last summer, I was waiting for the porter at Transcorp to take my luggage outside, what did he do? sidetracked me and attended to a white man that came after me. And there were many instances where this happened- locals will give better treatment to foreigners than their own country-folk. The best cure for this colonization is to ship them abroad for 3months!!! When they see how the West really think about blacks, their colonized mindset will revert to normal

A lot of our people do not know how to tip workers. Hence a person making minimum wage, will service someone they know will appreciate their service.

This is the flip side of servitude and colonial mindset. people from the West know they should tip well to get good service.
A long time ago, while I was still in school and working as ataxi driver, I happened to pick up a Nigerian here for a seminar. When I got him to his hotel, he paid me for the cab fare to almost the exact amount, leaving a change of about 15cents. I got back in my taxi after unloading and helping this dude carry his luggage to the hotel doors.
I was about to drive off, when I noticed this Nigerian bushman run after me, yelling, "my shange, my shange". (as opposed to my change). I stopped bewildered, and gave this man the 15cents change. You should see his beeming smile after palming the migre change.
A white man or other Westerner would have paid generously for the service received.

On the other hand, I was at the airport (Murtala) on day, on one of my visits to Nigeria. There was this stone drunk whiteman, walking and stumbling around and also bad mouthing Nigeria. He was telling all who cared to listen, how much he hated the country and the people. He almost stumbled into me. (That was the biggest mistake he made in Nigeria) I told him to shot the ****up. Noone invited him to Nigeria and if he didn't like it, he should get the ****out of the country.
Before long, their was a crowd of people interested in my lambasting this slowpoke, and hooping it up with support for me.
A policeman happened along, and I instructed him to arrest the man for public indecency. The policeman looked at me in amzement, probably contemplating my audacity.
I told this whiteman, that in his own country, I could make him pay for disrespect and public nuisance. (being a law-enforcement officer, this is no empty threat.
The man looked at me uttered a few words like "you obviously live in America" I affirmed his observation and them told him that "I eat people like you for breakfat everyday" He quickly sobered up and walked away quitely, to the delight and jeers of the onlookers.

Our people act too meek when it comes to the whiteman or other foreigners in Nigeria. This people only come to Nigeria to exploit and further pollute and enable corruption. Give them no quarters!

As for other African countries, we gave them the impression that we are corrupt and decadent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Bankole01

In as much as i agree with all you said here, i beg to disagree with your opinion on giving tips.

I dont think giving tips should be mandatory as one is being paid for the work done in the first place. In some countries its a crime.

That American find it okay to give tips doesnt mean it could work in other places. Afterall, there is no difference between tips and bribery if objectively viewed.
The major problem of Nigeria today is giving tips in large sum. Find out from EFCC on Iyabo and the rest.

@ Poster,
I don't get your story. Finally, why were you (as a Nigerian) being treated differently?