Uzokwe's Searchlight


If Nigeria is seen by other countries to be policing herself and her citizens with stiff penalties for crimes committed outside and inside Nigeria, they may no longer see the need to be punishing all of Nigeria for crimes committed by a few.
Monday, July 19, 2004


Alfred Obiora Uzokwe

ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE TO YOUR FRIENDS
REMAKING NIGERIA'S FOREIGN IMAGE
- OBASANJO IS RIGHT, BUT...



he shrill sound of the telephone woke him up from a very deep slumber. He lazily rolled over to the far end of the bed and fumbled for the light switch. Turning it on, he reached for the phone. "Hello", he answered. "Max", the excited voice on the other line crooned. "The wedding date has finally been fixed, I have sent out your invitation. Please do not disappoint me", the voice added. Maxwell Salami, a successful software engineer, living in a suburb in the North Eastern United States, was very happy to hear that after many years of uncertainty, his cousin and best friend, who still lived in Nigeria, had finally decided to tie the nut. It was going to be an occasion for him to see other relatives and friends that he last saw many years ago. After further exchange of pleasantries and catching up with current developments in their lives, they hung up.

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For the next several days, after the telephone conversation, Max weighed the pros and cons of traveling to Nigeria for the wedding with all members of his family. Eventually, financial reality check forced him to settle with going alone. Once the decision was made, it was time to attend to first things first. He had to make his flight reservation.

He hopped onto his computer and began to surf the net, looking for a good price deal on flights emanating from JFK to Lagos. After about 25 minutes of Internet search, he zeroed in on a flight that would take off from New York, land briefly in London Heathrow Airport the next day. He would then change planes, but would fly with the same airline to Lagos Nigeria. He was very pleased that the total amount of layover time in Heathrow Airport before proceeding to Nigeria would be one hour and twenty minutes. "Honey, I found a great deal on the internet", he called out to his wife who was getting ready to take the kids to an evening activity. "What was it", she responded excitedly. Max explained and then showed her the price on the computer screen. She was very happy that they were not going to shell out the exorbitant amount that people had been telling her for the flight ticket. "Now I am going to consummate the deal by booking the flight with my credit card", he told her. "Go on", she said happily before leaving.

Maxwell put a check mark in the box that indicated acceptance of the terms of the on-line flight-booking contract. This was a routine he had become used to. Being a frequent flyer within the United States, he had made countless airline reservations through the Internet and paid with his credit card. After checking the box, a message came up on his computer screen, telling him that he would now be directed to another screen where payment would be required so that his flight would be confirmed. The statement further stated that if payment was not made, the reservation would not be complete and the flight of course could not be confirmed. As Maxwell waited to be redirected to the said screen, he whipped out his credit card, ready to type in the number and expiration date. After a few seconds, a new screen appeared but instead of asking for his credit card number, in bold letters, a message read, "your booking is not yet confirmed". It further read that because of his destination, Lagos Nigeria, he had to call an 800 number to complete his transaction. He was given a reference number to supply the attendant when he called the 800 number. Maxwell Salami was baffled by this but decided to do what was being asked because he really felt that he had a very good price deal.

He quickly picked up his cell phone and dialed the 800 number. In a few seconds, an attendant answered. After identifying her name and that of the airline, the lady pleasantly asked, "What can I do for you today?" "I just made a reservation with your airline but was given a reference number to call and complete the booking", he told her. "What is your reference number sir?" the lady asked. He supplied her with the number and for a few seconds he could hear her typing it in. "Okay, I just pulled up your itinerary and reservation", the lady said. "You will now have to take this reference number and go to a ticket counter in any of the major airports like JFK or Newark. They would be able to issue your ticket when you get there" Stunned by all this, Maxwell notified the lady that he had made countless flight reservations on the internet and paid with his credit card from the comfort and safety of his house. " Why are my being given all this runaround this time?" "Because people from the part of the world where you are traveling to have perpetrated a lot of credit card fraud. To purchase with credit card, you will need to be identified in person. This process is an attempt to stem the tide of credit fraud in those areas" As if she had not rattled Maxwell's cage enough, she added nonchalantly, "Please note that you will have 48 hours to complete the transaction otherwise the reservation would be erased by the system. You may also go to any major travel agency and please be sure to go along with the reservation reference number and a photo identification". Seeing that there was no use protesting, Max ended the conversation and slowly put the phone down.

Why is this commentator recounting the above story, the reader might ask? One is recounting it because of the so-called "Image and National Economies" project that was launched in Abuja, on July 14, by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The president stated that the project was an attempt to "tackle the negative publicity and impressions that harm the nation's good name"[The Guardian, July 15, 2004]. The incident described above, which is real and which happened to a real Nigerian living and earning an honest living in the United States, buttresses General Obasanjo's argument that Nigeria's image has been battered abroad and was in need of repairs. It is also a testament to the fact that a few bad Nigerian apples have succeeded in soiling the whole bunch. Inotherwords, the credit card machinations of a few Nigerians is costing those Nigerians that live honest and honorable lives in the United States. This is not the first time this type of thing has happened. There was a time when an email was circulated where I work about Nigerians and advanced fee fraud. What an embarrassment!

My complaints here should not be misconstrued as trying to exonerate errant Nigerians. I am neither saying that there have not been serious cases implicating Nigerians in these crimes for which all are being punished. My contention is simply that broad brushing and blanket punishment is unfair. One is therefore agreeing with Obasanjo that Nigeria's image has taken a great beating abroad and something needs some type of makeover.

This writer is aware of a business concern here in Pennsylvania, who would not even entertain the idea of going to invest in Nigeria, even though he sees Nigeria as having a lot of potential. His reasons? He talks about the seemingly unchecked crime rate in the country. He also points to the frequent incidents where passenger buses are waylaid and business people murdered in cold blood by armed robbers. He never fails to remind me of how foreign businessmen have been swindled after being lured into Nigeria by Nigerians. He even cited a particular case where a businessman lost his life in Nigeria in pursuit of his money. This is a very terrible situation, especially for a country that is not self-sustaining. It is sad that this is happening to a country that needs the help of foreign businesses to exist and survive, all because of the machinations of a few.

In his speech during the launching of the Nigerian image reform project in Abuja, the president stated, "it has become imperative to inform the whole world that Nigeria and a majority of its citizens contribute positively in various areas of human endeavor". Again, the president is right. It would take concerted campaigns to bring the world to see that for every bad egg in Nigeria, there are thousands of good ones.

The disagreement I have with General Obasanjo on this "image project" is when he said, " it is time for us to collectively take definite steps towards shaping and articulating the kind of image we want our nation to have. We have to showcase the best of Nigeria at the local and international for a" By that statement, he seems to be insinuating that we have to sweep the bad under the rug and trumpet (showcase) the good. That would be a double life as far as this writer is concerned. The truth is that Nigeria and Nigerians are not innocent of the crimes or problems that they are being branded for. The only problem is that the crimes are being perpetrated by a few. Nigerians have been involved in all sorts of crimes abroad; they have been convicted of drug trafficking, advance fee fraud, credit card fraud and the likes. It is important therefore for us not to pretend that we are unaware that such problems exist. The campaign should simply be geared towards making the world understand that it is not a way of life in Nigeria.

Obasanjo should not just be seeking to burnish Nigeria's image or highlighting only the good as he says. The image project should be all encompassing and have a two-pronged approach. While we tell the world that corruption, fraud and other crimes are not the norm in Nigeria, we should simultaneously be cleaning out the skeletons in our collective cupboards. Inotherwords, while we are highlighting the nation's good qualities, the Nigerian government must begin to take meaningful steps in dealing with the people who bring disrepute to her image both in Nigeria and abroad.

If Nigeria is seen by other countries to be policing herself and her citizens with stiff penalties for crimes committed outside and inside Nigeria, they may no longer see the need to be punishing all of Nigeria for crimes committed by a few. For example, on the issue of robbers waylaying and killing passengers traveling from one part of the country to the other, there is no amount of image making that would change the mind of a foreign investor, who is afraid that he may lose his life if he travels to Nigeria. Therefore, rather than try to cover up such crimes with image making, the president should first develop a plan that goes after the hoodlums that embark on such acts. Stiff penalties such as public executions of culprits must not be ruled out. If we start registering strings of successes in apprehending or eliminating such hoodlums, we may not even need image-making anymore because the results will speak for itself.

During the image making project launch in Abuja, General Obasanjo said, "I know of a country which has a very high incidence of HIV/AIDS�and decided that they are not going to talk about HIV/AIDS because they want to present a cleaner, a more favorable image of themselves to the world"

Frankly speaking, if this is the president's concept of image-making, this writer feels that it borders on deception if not outright fraud. It is unconscionable that a nation would hide its AIDS statistics while people die from the disease. If the nation hides the statistics, how would they get help in handling the epidemic from other countries? It would be more prudent to take massive action like AIDS education, establish more diagnostic and treatment centers and work against poverty that encourages prostitution. If a country has a high incidence of AIDS and takes the right actions to combat it, the image making part would be to let the world know what actions are being taken to combat rather than hide it. It is more sensible that way.

We have been told that there are 1 million AIDS victims in Lagos state alone. Should we hide that statistic and tell the world that we do not have AIDS in Nigeria when infact hundreds are dying? Emphatic no. The right thing to do is to state the facts so that the world can help us fight it. We should start taking good steps to combat it and then tell the world what we are doing. Every country on the face of the earth, including the United States, has AIDS victims. The difference lies in how it is being handled. How much of the population is being educated on the issue? How many diagnostic and treatment centers have been established? How much money has been earmarked for the health sector? The list goes on.

Mr. President, while your intention on this image-making project is good and you should be commended, you must do it right for it to work. The 600 million being allotted to the project could be used for both image making and image repair through corrective actions that would deter the crimes or activities that gave us the bad image in the first place.

HERE I STAND.