A Taste of Nigeria

Re: "What You Missed," an article summarizing news events in Athens over the summer (The NEWS, Sept. 5).

While cleaning the bag of beans I bought from one of the stores, I noticed two little stones. They could have passed for beans, but they were not beans... they were stones. I noticed also a black bean; this no doubt is a bean but a bad one. Looking at the entire pack again, I had no problem calling this a pack of beans, despite the stones and the bad bean.

I hardly have time to read the papers, but to stay informed about southeast Ohio, I always make out time to read the Athens NEWS and Athens Messenger. Having been away, I rushed to get a copy, reading page by page until I followed a particular story to page 26 where I saw the subtitle, "A little taste of Nigeria in southeast Ohio." I read with utmost shock the rude label you chose to give to my dear country, Nigeria. The story did not tell if the hoodlums you refer to are Nigerians. However, I am aware that the act of fee fraud is not Nigerian, though the piece identified fee fraud as being synonymous to an entire nation.

We have seen the high price careless reporters, columnists and editors have made us pay globally as they commit the fallacy of hasty generalization and exercise their so-called freedom of expression while trampling on the rights of other well-meaning citizens, yet editors continue to do their job without due recourse to past experiences.

The widely viewed documentary by a respectable media outlet about bank-account processing-fee scam and its link to Nigeria falls short of what is expected of responsible media. The featured Nigerians did not act alone; they acted in collaboration with known baseball players. Yet the documentary did not balance the story by telling the side of these fraudulent Americans. Though The Athens NEWS is not as big as other media, I expect so much from the publication because it is a learning tool, not just for journalism students but also for scholars, and should be an exemplary print medium.

Watching the amount of waste that went on day after day in one of the dining halls gave me heartaches. One day I could not but exclaim, "Do they really have to throw all that away? Can't there be an arrangement with an orphanage or poor people? Even if they must uphold the policy of not allowing student staff to eat, can't the staff members be allowed to take them home?" A staff member heard and responded sarcastically, "No, we don't throw them (freshly made chicken, biscuits, lasagna, etc.) away. We package them and send them to Nigeria!" That week I resigned.

But even at that, it would be morally wrong to describe Americans as wasteful or careless with words especially because I have met those who season their words with salt and bear in mind that for every meal thrown in the trash, there are three children even in America who could have been saved from the pangs of hunger.

A Nigerian proverb says that as long as there are bugs on your clothing, there'll be blood on your fingernails. As long as there are people who are selfish enough to want money they have not labored for, there'll be dubious people willing to aid their futile quest. Fraudulent people are not citizens of a country; they are fraudulent people and they must be so dealt with. The fact that an American or a Nigerian is fraudulent does not mean either country is fraudulent. Reducing an entire nation of over 130 million people to fraud is a grave insult on the nation and her people.

A "little taste of Nigeria in Southeast Ohio" is the adire (tie and dye) that has become a source of income to some. A taste of Nigeria is the Nigerian dishes you eat when you attend an African dinner. A taste of Nigeria is the beautiful people that bring aesthetics to Ohio University. A taste of Nigeria is the historical artifacts that grace the exhibition hall at the Ridges. A taste of Nigeria is the hospitality you receive when you visit our homes. A taste of Nigeria is the respect we have for the American culture. A taste of Nigeria is the gasoline that runs in innumerable automobiles. A taste of Nigeria is the lovely attires that make you go, "Wow! How can I get that?" A taste of Nigeria is the cultural-studies class I'd continue to give to young people in Southeast Ohio so that they learn not to give labels to people as we do to jars.

While global citizens and initiatives such as the Ohio Valley International Council (OVIC) are learning to push the borders that divide us, stakeholders like the news media cannot afford to sit on the fence. I look forward not just to the publishing of this piece but to an apology to Nigeria as represented by Nigerians at the Ohio University Athens Campus.


Athens News Editor's note:
We're sorry that we offended her and her country, by casually referring to what is commonly, if imprecisely, known as a "Nigerian" scam. These types of cons acquired the Nigerian label because when they first appeared in the 1990s, they often originated from individuals in that nation. TS.