Tony Spike: ^^^
You put up quite an interesting but harrowing experience up there. It reminds me of experiences I had with two African colleagues while studying. The first, a Swazi, asked me why I was in the university. I was surprised at the question and I asked her if it was unusual for a Nigerian to be studying. She then replied, "But you are a Nigerian, you can get any certificate you want by forging it". It was the greatest shock of my life. I had to sit her down and lecture her. The other case was a white Saffer, he asked me this way, "Why are you wasting your time studying, when you can be 'streetwise' like other Nigerians". Honestly, I didn't know that being 'streetwise' means being a fraudster and drug lord until that day. I also sat him down and explained to him. The truth is this, how many of them can you lecture. Almost everyone is potentially afraid of Nigerians. We have an unusual and bad corrupt reputation preceding us, even in Africa.
So, whenever I come to Nairaland and see Nigerians abusing other African nationals, I just laugh. Nigeria has no reputation outside her borders. The earlier we know this, the better. Many foreigners already have that jaundiced view about us. Infact, to them, it sounds too good to be true meeting a honest and trustworthy Nigerian with solid integrity. We need to take back Nigeria. It will take years to rebuild back the already damaged reputation we have. Infact, it will take a very serious and just government (not the current one) to effect that change. I rest my case...

One thing u guys should know is this ..... Take a good look at the issue of James Ibori that was innocent here in Nigeria and convicted in UK. None of their leaders will ever try such trash man. Our leaders make the matter worse when a leader is a killer then the followers will surely be sets of assassins. Not saying these guys needs to be pardoned but our leaders are worse so it gives them impression to say anything bad about any Nigerian. I know we gonna get better but its a gradual step and i forsee a new NIGERIA in Jesus Name

It is people like the culprits in the original post who cause all and sundry to wrongly think that all Nigerians are scammers.

For example, Andrew Neil on the BBC1 programme "This Week" of 6 Dec 2012 11.35 pm started the programme by cracking an irrelevant joke and comparing something to "Nigerian email scams". The topic he was discussing had nothing to do with Nigeria but he still went ahead and cracked his racist joke all the same just like I have been noticing in a few BBC programmes of late.

I've made a written complaint both to the programme web page and also on the general BBC complaints page. The text of my complaint is reproduced below :-

Andrew Neil on the BBC1 programme "This Week" of 6 Dec 2012 11.35 pm started the programme by cracking an irrelevant joke and comparing something to "Nigerian email scams". The topic he was discussing had nothing to do with Nigeria but he still went ahead and cracked his racist joke all the same just like I have been noticing in a few BBC programmes of late.

These subtle and not so subtle distasteful and racist jokes about Nigeria have to be stopped by the BBC. I know that the BBC is painfully white in the words of a former Director of BBC but I expect the BBC to show a duty of care to its many Nigerian viewers who also pay their TV licence and are sick and tired of these racist jokes about their country.

Even if you at the BBC and/or majority of your viewers find such jokes funny, Nigerians do not.

If the BBC is saying that all Nigerians are email scammers then they are simply being racist and ought to be ashamed of themselves.

These are the relevant complaint pages if you want to make a written complaint :-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_week/contact_us/default.stm

https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/?reset=#anchor

jacoplain: In 2005, I was the only candidate invited for a second interview for the post of an Accountant with a Finance Brokerage in London and the Lady asked me why my "compatriots" were fond of fraud and 419. I told her that it was not all of us but the lazy ones but she obviously wasn't convinced and her fear got the better of her 'cos I didn't get the job.

Fast forward to Feb 2012 and I lost another Temporary Accounting Post because I protested at my line managers insinuation that a Nigerian Accountant may not be safe for their cheque book. My protest forced the HR Director to get her to apologise to me but he still gave her the leeway to either allow my contract to run on or terminate it and she chose to terminate it. Not that I minded the termination as there was no way I was going to feel happy working there after her subtle prejudice.

Employers don't get it when you feel aggrieved if they insinuate that Nigerians are fraudulent but if I am not a fraudster, why should I be a partaker of other peoples sins just because we bear the same moniker as Nigerians ?

Having said that, all those years studying to be an Accountant in London may be a waste afterall as with the antics of some of my Fraudulent country men being exposed in England by the day, then which employer is going to trust a Nigerian Accountant to look after their cheque books ??

What a sorry state the name Nigeria is in.

Ile latin kesho rode. Charity begins at home but there are a hardcore of our boys in the West who are intent on poisoning the name Nigeria for the rest of us. And the sad thing is that Nemesis is not catching up with them fast enough.

The name Nigeria has now become a laughing stock in the UK thanks to these thieves.

In fact I asked an IT Director of a Multinational where I was contracting a few months ago if she was Nigerian (not knowing she was Siera Leonian) and she retorted back "Don't Smear Me" in front of colleagues both White and African. I then ask her if there was anything wrong with being a Nigerian to which she had no answer. We were to work on the same project but her initial prejudice and her aggression meant we were never going to get along well.

When other Africans in the UK are now distancing themselves from Nigerians and also outwardly showing us prejudice because of the antics of the greedy fraudsters amongst us then it is a sorry state indeed.

But I still remain a Nigerian for life despite the fact that the name Nigeria is evolving into a corrupted brand on a daily basis.

Nigerians were once noted mainly for our Academioc achievements but at this moment in time our bad name acquired because of the 419'ers amongst us now means that some unscrupulous employers in the West are now beginning to cast aspersions onto the honesty with which we acquired those qualifications in the first place.

An example was in 2006 when I was an Accountant at a Hospital in London and the National Health Service sponsored and encouraged employees to sit a certain computer exam where you had to sit the practice test anywhere you wanted and on passing that, you could then proceed to the main centre to sit the real exam. In the practice tests, I scored 90% in the first paper and 92% in the second one. At the main centre, the first invigilator a white lady duly recorded my marks in the log book and allowed me to sit the real exam but the invigilator for the second paper (a black lady - Afro Carribean) took one look at my practice exam scores and said I had to retake the exam and I asked her why ? She answered back "How am I sure you did not cheat to pass". I had to then lecture her on how a lot of Nigerians were highly educated before we left the shores of Nigeria and that not all Nigerians are exam cheats. Obviously, I lost my cool and gave her a piece of my mind and refused to retake the mickey mouse exam and told her I was going to report her to her boss and she promptly supplied me with her bosses contact details.

Suffice it to say that in classic NHS political style, the whole saga was turned around with the victim now becoming the villain and I was duly summoned to a kangaroo disciplinary hearing where after 3 hours I was found guilty of "losing my temper" when she insinuated that I might be an exam cheat. Their "sentence" was that that finding was to be placed in my HR files and I would be observed for the next 1 year to see if I lost my cool again.

Not to disappoint myself or depart from who I really was, I went back to my desk and wrote my resignation letter on the spot and relocated back to Nigeria 3 days later to open a restaurant - a "castle in the sky" adventure that lasted 2 years before I threw in the towel and reluctantly came back to London in 2008.

My point is that it may soon get to a stage where more and more Nigerian professionals in the West are having their qualifications scrutinised because they happen to come from the same country as these lazy thieving 419'ers mentioned in the original post.

A bad Brand named Nigeria is not good for all of us, there are not enough voices of dissent condemning those amongst us who are daily tarnishing our already battered name abroad. Instead you are seen as out of touch and not smart if you don't hail or partake in the "evil prowess" of these fraudsters. We tend to forget that Evil flourishes when good people keep quiet. Eje ka panupo ba ole wi. Lets all with one voice condemn the thieves amongst us instead of hailing them as smart.

Rant over.

well I dont knwo what firms you go to.Im a Nigerian and have worked in the Uk at various levels.I have neverhad any problem looking for work as a Nigerian.I have worked here more than 13. years.its the way the percieve you that wohld make them that bold to ask you something in relation to ur nationality.in my own view you should have taken that matter to cour if you have evidwnce you where asked bout being a 419