Camillus Eboh, Reuters, March 19, 2009
Nigeria is hoping a new patriotic slogan emblazoned on T-shirts and baseball caps can restore self-confidence and overturn its battered reputation.
Africa’s most populous nation is known for corruption, is poor despite decades of oil production and is increasingly used as a drug transit route and for e-mail scams and online fraud.
Under the slogan “Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation,” Nigeria hopes to eschew that image and “entrench a culture of moral re-armament,” President Umaru Yar’Adua said in a speech.
{snip}
But many Nigerians wear their country’s reputation for mayhem and chaos as a mark of pride—if you can survive Nigeria, you can survive anywhere, they say.
Original article
(Posted on March 25, 2009)
Comments
Drawing up a new slogan isn’t going to change anything. How many e-mails did you get today from those “good people” in the “great nation” that you could have a hundred million dollar fortune that was sequestered and they needed your credit card number to unlock it?
BTW, Nigeria isn’t a nation, it’s a leftover partition of Africa once possessed by the British. There are actually four nations in Nigeria. See the 1967-70 time period.
If you can survive Nigeria, you can do better scamming the welfare department New York City where you can be given “free”housing, “free”food, schooling, education, and possibly a car if you have a friend at GoodWill.
“Under the slogan “Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation”
No matter what they call it, Nigeria will still be what it is and its residents know this.
It is a lot more difficult to change the character of a people than it is to give them a new slogan.
BTW, Nigeria isn’t a nation, it’s a leftover partition of Africa once possessed by the British. There are actually four nations in Nigeria. See the 1967-70 time period.
The cool thing about the “Emerging African Nations” is that each time one nation breaks into several, each of the parts has an equal say in the U.N. and each gets the same amount of aid from the U.S.!!!
I’m interested to know: is there anything that all/most Nigerians share that would qualify them as a real nation? Or is their nationality simply the result of being born within arbitrary borders set by bygone politicians? “Nigeria” simply means “Land of the Blacks” as does “Sudan” and probably “Niger”. Nigeria encompasses hundreds of tribes and many languages. So what, exactly, is the “Nation of Nigeria”?
I’ve been there, done that and had my T-shirt stolen. Worked there for ages years ago and could not believe it could get any worse. How wrong I was! Long before eMails and the internet, they were using the great White technology known as Telex. Remember that? And then came Fax. They were scamming and using these cummunications from inception. I have seen entire rooms in the offices of the state oil company filled with nigerians beavering away at fax machines. In my innocence, I thought they were oil traders as that was what the door sign said! Then I read some discarded paper fax ticker-tapes, ah yes, I could read the perforations because we used fax in our office and we were often short of paper to print. Well, we were short of everying that the nigerian staff could steal! Happy days!!
My God! Why didn’t someone think of this before? T-shirt slogans! Just as “Black is beautiful” in the Sixties moved millions of American blacks firmly into the mainstream, law-abiding, and productive middle class, these T-shirt slogans will move Nigeria quickly and irreversibly into the family of prosperous, peaceful, and productive nations.
The government of Nigeria should begin negotiations with China immediately for the production of the t-shirts.
Correction to my post. They were telex ribbons and the room was full of telex machines. See what happens when you visit nigeria!
FROM: Dr Altaka Yurmani
Dear Sir:
I have been requested by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company to contact you for assistance in resolving a matter. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company has recently concluded a large number of contracts for oil exploration in the sub-Sahara region. The contracts have immediately produced moneys equaling US$40,000,000. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company is desirous of oil exploration in other parts of the world, however, because of certain regulations of the Nigerian Government, it is unable to move these funds to another region.
You assistance is requested as a non-Nigerian citizen to assist the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, and also the Central Bank of Nigeria, in moving these funds out of Nigeria. If the funds can be transferred to your name, in your United States account, then you can forward the funds as directed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. In exchange for your accommodating services, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company would agree to allow you to retain 10%, or US$4 million of this amount.
However, to be a legitimate transferee of these moneys according to Nigerian law, you must presently be a depositor of at least US$100,000 in a Nigerian bank which is regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
If it will be possible for you to assist us, we would be most grateful. We suggest that you meet with us in person in Lagos, and that during your visit I introduce you to the representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, as well as with certain officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Please call me at your earliest convenience. Time is of the essence in this matter; very quickly the Nigerian Government will realize that the Central Bank is maintaining this amount on deposit, and attempt to levy certain depository taxes on it.
Yours truly,
Prince Alyusi Islassis
[Note from Moderator: This post is an obvious scam, but was approved to make the point, and serve as the reductio ad absurdum of the concept of a new slogan. —Ed.]
Nigeria: Heaven on Earth
“Roads in many areas are generally in poor condition, causing damage to vehicles and contributing to hazardous traffic conditions. There are few working traffic lights or stop signs. The rainy season from May to October is especially dangerous because of flooded roads and water-concealed potholes.
Excessive speed, unpredictable driving habits, and the lack of basic maintenance and safety equipment on many vehicles are additional hazards. Motorists seldom yield the right-of-way and give little consideration to pedestrians and cyclists. Gridlock is common in urban areas. Chronic fuel shortages have led to long lines at service stations, which disrupt or block traffic for extended periods.”
And that’s just the traffic…
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_987.html
What! I am astounded, yes my very own self. You telling me that such an illustrious personage as Prince Alyusi Islassis does not exist? What am I to do now? I just mailed him 20 Billion Zim Dollars that I earned in a most honourable and legal way only this morning selling roast locusts in the market. I must appeal to all you good people out there to assist me in the most timely manner and with all due haste to recoup my heavy losses. I will await your impending visit in the lean-to outside the bicycle repair shed on victoria island (Queen Victoria, she very good fellow, sir) in the noble city of lagos. One of my wives and several children will be there too, to help me carry all the money I expect, in all charity, you will bring with you. Ah, just one little thing, don’t tell the prince.
