Nigerians Abroad: Before insulting your Fatherland …
By Haruna Abdullahi Haruspice
In 2017, when I got selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the US, the first culture shock was the level of development that greeted me. Everything seems heavenly, and the urge to remain there crept up, but I told myself, people sacrificed to make America what it is today, so I shall be going back to Nigeria to make Nigeria great
Being in Nigeria comes with heavy toils, but again, it takes constricted toil for the gold to be mined. Nothing good ever comes easy, not even the breath we inhale. I have seen many people relocate abroad, and their first feedback to us is to denigrate Nigeria. One thing they forget, however, is that no matter your newfound freedom abroad, you are nothing but a stranger. You walk hard with the rope of second-class entity hanging on your neck.
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Many have relocated abroad even before Nigeria’s independence, and many will still go even tomorrow, but one thing is certain, your home is your home regardless of her shortcomings. Only cowards trade their nationalism. Patriotism runs in the blood. Only Nigerians travel abroad and begin to insult their country. Forgetting that the same country made you who you are. Insulting the land because you are on top of the tree is sheer tomfoolery. Indian migrants are more in the UK, but you hardly see them pour invective on their country.
Only Nigerians find pleasure in scorning Nigeria, to them, the country has failed them. But you are a product of the same Nigeria, why not do everything possible to make Nigeria great instead of using available platforms to denigrate Nigeria?
Our forefathers were shipped to the west against their will and all their lives they resisted the western ideology. Their resistance gave rise to pan-Africanism, black movements and African renaissance championed by the likes of Martin Luther King, Muhammed Elijah, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marly, Ben Egunna and co. Today, our people save their hard earned money to travel abroad in search of liberty anchored on estoricism. It takes nothing less than 15 million naira to travel and settle in the UK and begin new life again. The same money you made from the same Nigeria you said has messed you up. Very ironic indeed!
I have no grudge for your sojourn but please try not to insult Nigeria because of your newfound fatherhood. Cos las las you go still return home to honour the remains of your ancestors except you want to exhume them to the western world where you pay to bury the dead.
Please I do not begrudge you, but please , respect us who choose to stand in for you. You no beta pass us. Gaskiyally musing
Haruna Abdullahi Haruspice, an award-winning Social Media Influencer
