₦airaland Forum

Not Even Safe In West Africa: What Cape Verde Taught Me About Being Nigerian

When I first stepped off the plane in Sal, I was excited. Tired, yes, but excited. I had looked forward to this trip for weeks. As someone who works long hours in tech, rest feels like something I have to earn.

My friends and I had done all the prep, flights booked, hotels paid for, internal transfers sorted, and even an itinerary for sightseeing. We were just five friends chasing rest and a bit of thrill. Nothing more, nothing less.

But what happened at Amílcar Cabral Airport stripped away all that planning, all that joy, and
replaced it with something I’m still struggling to describe.

We were stopped the moment we landed. No questions, no checks. Just stopped and quietly marked as people who didn’t belong. Within minutes, we were being forced back onto the same plane we had just exited. When we resisted calmly, firmly, we were shoved, threatened, and surrounded by officers with guns.

We weren’t allowed to explain. We weren’t asked anything. It was as if our fate had already been decided before the plane even touched the runway. That decision was based on our nationality. Our passports. Nothing else.

For three days, we were detained in a back room in the airport. No proper access to water or food. No showers. No communication. We were held in complete isolation from the world. And yet we had done nothing wrong.

Since I got back, I’ve thought a lot about how quickly dignity can be taken from you, especially if you’re Nigerian.

There was something painfully familiar about the way it happened. The silence. The disbelief. The feeling that your voice doesn’t matter. That no one will listen. At home, we fight for visas.
Abroad, we fight to prove our innocence. To show that we’re not criminals or traffickers or fraudsters. We spend our lives building good reputations only to be treated like walking threats.

It’s not just painful. It’s exhausting.

There was a moment, during the second day of our detention, when I looked around at my friends and saw the same hollow stare in everyone’s eyes. A kind of quiet resignation. I recognised it instantly. It’s the same expression I’ve seen on my parents’ faces when talking
about the country. It’s the one you wear when you know you’re being mistreated, but you also know you won’t get justice.

And I keep wondering: Why is this normal for us? Why is this what it means to be Nigerian in the world?

I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to Cape Verde, but I do know this story matters. It’s not just about us. It’s about how easily African governments violate each other’s citizens, how easily we are made stateless in spaces that look like ours, and how important it is that we keep speaking up.

Even when it hurts.

Source: https://independent.ng/not-even-safe-in-west-africa-what-cape-verde-taught-me-about-being-nigerian/

The was you are treated is a reflection of how our leaders treat us.

You were not allowed to speak there,how many people who tried to speak here have been imprisoned?

The way you were denied your rights here,how many persons were denied one of the simplest rights-the right to vote and be voted for in the last elections?

The look at the way our leaders treat us and extend same to us.
But thank God am different,thank God for contact.

This write up reminds me of a similar incident, A Nigerian student wanting to study in Cape varde he was deported because they said his yellow card looks like a fake.

Cape vardeans are extremely racist, many of their women fall for white American men that will always jilt them, they respect anything white skin

Aside the high number of mulatos and beautiful beaches there's nothing there.

Hmmmmmm

Lizard 🦎 of Africa indeed

Yahoo Boys,drug traffickers, human trafficker etc have ruined our reputation all over the world.

They see us all as criminals first and we can't blame them.


A country were even teenagers can't enjoy innocent relationships anymore, a 16yr old girl is looking for a man to sleep with and take care of her while a 16yr old boy is looking for means to do fraud so he can buy 10m Benz so he can sleep around and smoke/drink all day.

The adults are completely nothing to write home about....everyone is looking for who to play a fast one.


Money Money Money.......no morals and conscience.

That's why I always say that both people who support stupid leadership and those who don't support it will pay a heavy price for it. Even the man who leads a stupid government pays a heavy price for it; nobody is spared.

Together, we must learn a lesson!

And I bin dey plan to travel to that country for vacation.Their women too fine.At least I for see one or two fish roast like Ned Nwoko

What were you finding in that ordinary Cape Verde that you could not get in Nigeria

Nigerias government should learn how to play dirty international politics sometimes. These smaller countries can be influenced to treat Nigerians much better..
Nigeria might be a mess at the moment, but when smaller countries like Cape Verde and Benin republic start to toss Nigerians up and down, it means the government of Nigeria is aloof and unaware of how to manage her global influence and reach.

Nigerians are some of the most despised people on earth.

That's the truth, and it is not entirely without justification.

That said, I don't know where I kept my British passport, and I havent bothered to check in years. Last time I was in London, I arrived on a Friday and left on Monday. I couldn't wait to be back in this our 'terrible' Nigeria. I don't even hate the UK. I just have zero interest in living in a foreign country.

I am so much content being at 'home'. Not that Nigeria is great. Infact, it is terrible is certain respects. But strangely, being in Nigeria gives me a mental satisfaction that no other country on earth gives me.

I can't truly explain the feeling.

symbianDON:
Source: https://independent.ng/not-even-safe-in-west-africa-what-cape-verde-taught-me-about-being-nigerian/

Are you reporting to us or you've reported to the appropriate authorities in Nigeria when you escaped death in that funny country?

When others dey japa to hustle for better pali, you dey reason am say na mumu moves.

And that Obi is still busy destroying our reputation on international tv.
And his supporters are happy with it

So Sad to say the least

Maybe una too dey lousy on the plane.. one thing I have learnt is that most time whenever I travel, people hardly believe I'm Nigerian until proven because I move in total silence and I blend in easily.. I'm introverted tho but my stance doesn't give room except for my dark skin.

Sad

When a droggie is your president what do you expect ??

Tech indeed!



Oga tell us what really happened, I don't believe that shìt!

symbianDON:
Source: https://independent.ng/not-even-safe-in-west-africa-what-cape-verde-taught-me-about-being-nigerian/

If that’s your picture in Ivorian jersey on your profile, then why are you impersonating Nigerians

Tell us the truth,. Many Nigerians travel to Cape Verde most times and there haven't been such incidents

Ha!

Many birds dey chop mango but las las na bat the collect blame.

Naija be like bat.

GOOD MORNING

IN OJUKWU'S VOICE

Nigeria my country, giant of Africa treated like an insect , who are we to blame

domDva:
When a droggie is your president what do you expect ??

Why did you allow a druggie to be our president?

The level of hatred others has for Nigerians is alarming .
Imagine being jealous of the wealth of someone you consider an elder brother only to find yourself at his level one day... you will want to show him shege now

I'll sell herbs tho

Ordinary Cape Verde?!

There is something you're not telling us.

I have been to at least 6 African countries including South Africa, Ghana, Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Kenya and at no time was I treated with disdain by their immigration officers!

The price of bad leadership,ordinarily what should take a Nigerian to Cape verde for holidays,when you have Obudu mountain cattle ranch,Yankari game reserve,Ogbunike cave,Olumo rocks,Kura force in Plateau state but all the mentioned places have been taken over by terrorists or gross mismanagement.
As long as we keep on making the wrong choices every four years,there is always going to be consequences.This is simply a law of nature,we will keep going down drain until we discover oil.