The Envoy was only trying to be diplomatic unto saying that only few percentage of Nigerian are into crime activities in their country, there are many Nigerian who involves in criminal activities in S/Africa but there are higher percentage of good Nigerian over there as well. Rather than Nigerian trying to defend themselves before the global community, we should work at changing our fraudulent attitude & activities which has further destroy our names.

Some Nigerian men visited SA for 1 week in June 2010. Their chaperon took them to have a meal of Amala in a Buka in Yeoville (A notorious neighborhood in SA) and about 20 Nigerian guys showed up from nowhere and demanded Owo Ile. They obtained them with intimidation. As someone said earlier, what are those kinda guys doing in South Africa? I tire o.

Even when you are legit, your friends would still taunt you about selling drugs to them. The high commissioner is saying the truth. It is even so bad that some employers don't want to see Nigerians in their organizations. That is a bit high handed but almost every man is guilty of one form of perception issues or the other, so I cannot totally blame them.

The fact is that these guys who destroy our image outside do it all over the World and not just SA. If we have good leaders; those people have no business leaving the country in the first instance. Na wa.

our basic problem is poor leadership (lack of intergrity) on the path of our leaders, and degraded level of patriotism at the level of we citizens,

When a government does not care about it's people , the people 'll look to vices to escape this entrapment. The government has failed the people of this great nation called Nigeria. It's a shame!

big disappointment to the continent of Africa.

The S/Africans ain't serious. Its their own myopia and criminality that manifests when they attack foreigners indiscriminately. Nigerians minick the ambience and ADAPT, if the rules are lax, they will exploit it, if they community is crime prone, they will exploit it, if its a law abiding state, Naija will also adapt there. The naija hoodlums in SA only copied their environs. even the S/Africans can't deny that their local indigeneous criminals out weigh naija's in ratio.
@otumfour
if you have nothing to say that'll benefit anyone, why speak. Ghanians have one superiority complex that i cannot decode. Wetin una get way man neva see, i lived in Ghana for a while as a kid and while i can attest to the advancement of the state infrastructure and development, i can't say much for the people themselves, cos till I made myself Ghanian other kids acted like i was a leper. Shey una don get oil, I wish y'all the best with that there.

charlley!! parnassuss bruv, u no for bore mahn, we be 1 oooo ma bro,
I bet tht leper incident has happened to a Ghanaian in Nigeria too, the problem here is generalizing,
lets try to luv

If you check most of these so called nigerians that are into crime in south Africa, china, Malaysia, Indonesia etc you will find out they are from eastern part of Nigeria. Since the Nigerian govt destroyed their Biafra vision, they have sworn to make Nigeria a laughing stock which it has turned to. No be their fault sha cuz govt is
the worst enemy of Nigeria

With Nigerians everone is against them and they are always right. Why don't they stay in their country for christs sake, if you guys think everone is against you? It was Ghana, now S.A.

The greatest problem we have is that we fail to realize that we have a serious fundamental problem and that problem is us,u and i.

At the moment nigeria is hot up on an election that 98 percent of the aspirants are known thieves,rogues and thugs,yet we call ourselves smart people and victims of foreigners aggressions in their own land when knowingly cast spells on ourselves by tolerating rogue leadership.

@ edoboi, I don't want to say that your last post is SENSELESS and STUPID!

@ Ikengawo

keep living in cloud cuckoo-land! Mate, stop deluding yourself and face realities. What the man said is the truth! The few Nigerians tarnish the image of the country by indulging in all sorts illegal activities and it must be condemned! Simple as that! Where from all these superiority complex bullcrap?! Don't act like the ostrich and face realities, everywhere you go, you hear 9ja in bad light, and thats not only in Africa!

know your enemy my friend.
these ppl dont like nigerians, period, good or bad.
They snub our artists at award shows that are entitled 'african', if nigerians were selling drugs they would hate us, if nigerians weren't selling drugs they would hate us and in the end of the day the reality in south africa is zimbabweans and nigerians are getting all the jobs and black south africans aren't.


south africa has the highest murder rate in africa and top five murder rates in the world.

do you really think it was nigerians that brought crime in?
if so then cool, but regardless they will hate you as a nigerian cause they see you as a threat. All nigerians aren't going to be good ppl. there are more american drug dealers the nigerian ones and it's technically the biggest narco state in the world, but americans aren't known as drug dealers or users, now nigeria, which with ghana has the lowest substance user rates in the world and suddenly nigerians are 'drug dealers'

alright cool.

I read a lot of threads here and in other topics that involve south Africa, people always say Nigerians are hated because they are smart "in everything they do". That's wrong, i am a south African and i am not xenophobic, when i hear the word Nigerian i think drugs, prostitution and lies and their movies, and this is what south Africans know about Nigerians.Those who arrived here first has damaged your country's image, so i think its time to mend it there is no need for insults, thanks

BLACK Africans are good in complaining,and winening about Nigerians and drug, have any black man ever research about the issue of drug in south Africa, the role apartheid played in the manufacture of substance that are used in making drugs available in black townships, nobody want to talk about the majority of the Igbo race that where infested with drugs in the Whiteman’s plantation during the slave trade, now reverse is the case everyone is complaining mostly ignorant black folks, who doesn’t know when a race is decimated completely out of their mental ability to think and do their own thing just like black south Africans. the envoy statement was indirectly, and insult to the Nigerian people when he stated that south African is a lawfully country, analyzing is comment means

Nigeria is lawless country, with all these, some cowardly Nigerians tribes go a long way presenting themselves as saints and calling Igbo’s as culprit to crime, they should begin to know that as long, we all have the green pass, we all, wll be associated with crime in south Africa, we should stop this finger pointing. South African political leadership are making fool of Nigerian leaders they don’t give a dem of anything called Nigeria they just want to export their neo colonist. what does it mean when a law enforcement officer will be train to kill a fucken Nigerian, the south African black people are now running their mouth wide against Nigerians cos they are free, when Nigerians where busy donating their widows might, to their freedom then, they never knew that 1percent of Nigerians where criminals. Nigeria made a lot of enemies with western world cos black south Africans and that is the price we are paying, u don’t fight against the white man and get away with it. so its better Nigerians mend their relationship with the white south Africans.b/4 they use this ungrateful blacks against our business minded people and care givers called niger

Naija peeps make me laugh too emotional,they think with their emotions.For you guys its about us and them.Why don't you look at the facts,which is the course of this negative perception EVERYONE around the world have about you.

In South Africa we have a movement called LEADSA,which is about YOU making the change in your country and challenges you to become a good countrymen and ambassador.It start with YOU.
http://www.leadsa.co.za/

SOME OF YOU NIGERIANS HAVE BIG TIME ISSUES. WHEN A CRITICISM IS LEVELLED AGAINST YOU, INSTEAD OF YOU PUTTING ON YOUR OBJECTIVE THINKING CAP NO NO YOU QUICKLY DISMISS THEM AS EVIDENCE OF JELOUSY, HATRED ENVY ETC.
A BA HOW ON EARTH WILL YOU IMPROVE AS A PERSON OR NATION. I DONT KNOW ANY NON NIGERIAN WHO ENVIES NIGERIANS. FOR THE RECORD YOU ARE NOT ALL THAT IS YOU WRONGLY AND DECEPTIVELY PERCIEVE YOU ARE . THERE ARE FAR INTELLIGENT SMARTER AND GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE DOTTED ALL AROUNG THE GLOBE INCLUDING AFRICA. THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER HAD A LEGITIMATE CONCERN BUT NO NO NO ITS A SIGN OF ENVY. WHO THE F ARE YOU

If a man calls U a horse the 1st time, U punch him on the nose
He calls U a 2nd time u call him a jerk
he calls U a 3rd time well, then its time 2 go shopping 4 a saddle

That would depend on if he is your god since why is he always the one calling you names as if he himself is unassailable . If not, easier to shoot the blighter.

LOL, why would SA be "jealous" of Nigeria? That is rather juvenile I say. Also Nigerians are not being killed in SA, xenophobic attacks affected all people from Africa, not just Nigerians, which was sad because no white people were chased out the country or burnt alive because they were foreigners. My problem is with Africans harbouring so much hatred towards one another, forgetting that we have always been at the bottom of the "food chain", surely we should be united instead of killing each other like animals, very sad when brother turns against his own brother.

Anyway, there are a lot of Nigerians in SA, good ones and bad ones, it is the bad ones that are painting Nageria and Nigerians in a bad light, no need to get emotional about it people, it is a fact!

Yeoville is not a notorious place, quite the opposite, it is a place where the arty kind of people hang out so from that alone you would know it is a peaceful place. It is Hillbrow that is bad!

I should also add that these xenophobic attacks took place in townships and rural areas, no one was chased out of their homes in the suburbs, poverty could have led to resentment in this case. From my observation, Somali people were most affected, followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans. A small number of Nigerians may have been affected but definitely not a considerable amount.

YES, SA has it's problems, violent crime, rape, AIDS and others I can't recall at this moment, we are dealing with these issues, Nigerians killing each other and selling drugs here are just adding to the problems we have already. Do some of you know that Nigerians kill each other for drugs using local people to commit these murders? Desperate people will do anything. . . . . . . .

Let's not get emotional about this, let's be objective!

:/

Redsun is about the only person talking sense here

^^^
In your opinion I guess?

Actually comments like yours makes redsun's comments standout even more in my opinion.

In an effort to understand the mentality of the Nigerian people, I have joined this forum. I have been working in the offshore industry in Nigeria for 18 months and can quite honestly say that I will return to South Africa with very little change to my perception of Nigerians that I had even before I started working in Nigeria. In South Africa, we have a lot of crime, it is not the peaceful quiet country that the West is trying to brainwash the world into believing. Nigerian gangsters are unfortunatel responsible for a lot of the crime, particularly in the major cities. The big difference is that the majority of people in South Africa do not tolerate crime and corruption. The general Nigerian seems to welcome corruption and it is a part of the social system. Everyone seems to be on the take and it is virtually impossible to do anything or go anywhere without having to dash someone just to do their job. I am astounded that government employees openly take bribes without any fear of punishment. Customs officials, immigration officials, security officials, they are all on the take whenever they see an opportunity to take a few Naira off a passenger at the airports or sea ports. Even the cleaners don't do their jobs properly unless you give them extra. The negative perceptions foreigners have of Nigerians will not change unless the Nigerian people do something about changing their perception of what is right and what is wrong.

@Whitezulu:

In an effort to understand the mentality of the Nigerian people, I have joined this forum. I have been working in the offshore industry in Nigeria for 18 months and can quite honestly say that I will return to South Africa with very little change to my perception of Nigerians that I had even before I started working in Nigeria. In South Africa, we have a lot of crime, it is not the peaceful quiet country that the West is trying to brainwash the world into believing. Nigerian gangsters are unfortunatel responsible for a lot of the crime, particularly in the major cities. The big difference is that the majority of people in South Africa do not tolerate crime and corruption. The general Nigerian seems to welcome corruption and it is a part of the social system. Everyone seems to be on the take and it is virtually impossible to do anything or go anywhere without having to dash someone just to do their job. I am astounded that government employees openly take bribes without any fear of punishment. Customs officials, immigration officials, security officials, they are all on the take whenever they see an opportunity to take a few Naira off a passenger at the airports or sea ports. Even the cleaners don't do their jobs properly unless you give them extra. The negative perceptions foreigners have of Nigerians will not change unless the Nigerian people do something about changing their perception of what is right and what is wrong.

First, you dont need to join this forum to understand the mentality of Nigerians and just this forum cannot provide you with that. At best, you will get a little feel of the younger generation who have "time to kill" and use this as an avenue to vent "steam".
I agree with you that the Nigerian system is riddled with corruption. I also agree with you that such corruption is not good for the image of Nigeria and the government needs to do something drastic (like a former  govt of Gen. Buhari & Tunde Idiagbon tried to achieve, some years back) to checkmate the cancerous influence of corruption.

Having said that l find it very amusing seeing that you delude yourself into "feeling cool" by blaming the criminality in your own country on Nigerians! C'mmon, be honest with yourself, Nigerians account for less than 5% of criminality in S.Africa but like we all know, it is very easy and convenient to blame every ill in your society on foreigners, and who else better than these Nigerians who are "loud, assertive, generally smart (in a cunning way!) and have this "swagger" about them such that they appear even arrogant, in your backyard!

One thing l have also observed about "white folks" is that they "assume some air/feeling of superiority" to any "dark skinned person" they come across. The white folk will be your 'best buddy' if you can accept and adapt to his pedestal of superiority even when it is obvious that you are more intelligent and better qualified than him.


Unfortunately, Nigerians in general are too sophisticated to "play this role" for too long (they may do so when they are still trying to get a foothold in a foreign environment). When "the Nigerian" in a Nigerian begins to assert him/herself, which is always the final situation, the white folks go berserk! I am sure there is something about a Nigerian that generates "undeserved envy" especially from fellow Africans
Believe it or not, this alone accounts for more than 90% of the ill-feelings displayed toward Nigerians in foreign climes. "Crime" can then account for the remaining 10%.

Though "Corruption and imbecilic leadership" has not allowed us to reach our "destined heights", in truth, we are miles apart and ahead of all Africans, man-to-man!

if you go by statistics and hard facts,
*Are Nigerians more "narcotic" than the Mexican or Colombian or Jamaican drug dealers? NO
* Are Nigerians more adept, involved and successful at "online fraud/scams' compared to "Organized, white syndicates" from Eastern Europe? Again "No"
*Are Nigerians more involved in Gun-running and global trade in illicit WMD's, compared to Middle East, Americans and Eastern Europeans? Again "NO"

So tell me, where does all this noise about Nigerians being more criminal than everyone, come from, if not from people who have an axe, (borne out of jealousy-induced inferiority complex) to grind?

Infact, if l should go by my own experience in your own country South africa, .. ,  , (I was on an SAP training course in South Africa some years back with some colleagues. I was flush with "dollar estacodes" and bought a few electronic items at some shops in Sandton City Mall, in Johannesburg. Since these items were for personal use and for use outside S.Africa, we were told we would collect our VAT back at the point of departure, to prove that l was departing with them; fine
To the chagrin of myself and my colleagues, the S.African airport officials did everything within their power to frustrate our effort to get our VAT, running to over a thousand dollars collectively, back. They collected the "refund forms" and then delayed in processing it, knowing fully well that our flight is about to depart! Two of them approached us and told us that we should part with $500 and he would hasten the processing! He even warned us that like others, we will miss our flight if we insist on not playing ball. To cut the long story short, we had a choice to wait and collect our refund (and miss our flight) or to "play ball". Being who we are, we adamantly refused to play ball and insisted that even if it took ten days to process it, they should forward the money to our accounts in Lagos (We gave them the receipts and all details required).

Till this moment, except we will get the money tomorrow (and we wasted additional money making calls to them from Lagos!).
I bet you will blame that "racket" which has been going on for years, on Nigerians? From the number of foreign travelers facing the same problem that day at the airport, l am sure this is an organized crime and not just a 'one-off' thing.
So much so for "South Africans" who are better than Nigerians!

I need not remind you that one of us also almost got his expensive Mini DVCAM (bought at almost 2Grand, in S/Africa in those days when it was still a new gadget!) robbed off-him, by South Africans, on a main street! We ran and jumped into a Taxi as quickly as we can.
While l acknowledge that some Nigerians are corrupt, while l also agree that a few give us a bad name in foreign lands, with the connivance of the "Host Citizens", it is revolting to hear "A Pot calling the Kettle, Black"!
In terms of criminality, S. Africa is even worse than Nigeria but of course, every "bad black man" is tagged a Nigerian (I know we plenty like sand! and we stand out everywhere!)

I am even worried that Apartheid would have been sustained for longer if other Africans knew that this is what S-Africa would become, post Apartheid era!
Finally, thank you for pointing "one finger" at the criminality amongst some Nigerians ( we hope we will elect sincere people into govt who will deal ruthlessly with corruption), but we are aware that you also know that the other "four fingers" left, are pointing at you, yourself.

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Firstly, its an insult for SA to disrespect Nigeria for any reason whatsoever....If nigeria govt in d past had saved all her money to develop Nigeria, but they invested it in africa continent. For no reason should a nigerian be sited in any africa country. Nigeria was busy playing a big brother role to save africa. Now u c a country as small as SA, kenya, ghana, gabon disrespecting Nigeria.

chedza: I read a lot of threads here and in other topics that involve south Africa, people always say Nigerians are hated because they are smart "in everything they do". That's wrong, i am a south African and i am not xenophobic, when i hear the word Nigerian i think drugs, prostitution and lies and their movies, and this is what south Africans know about Nigerians.Those who arrived here first has damaged your country's image, so i think its time to mend it there is no need for insults, thanks

when i think of a south african; HIV aids, Paedophiles, murderers and personalities with xenophobic psyches comes to mind.. no offense

Anyway south africa would soon accept that they are st.up.id to go this trajectory