This is Nigeria - A Detailed Overview
Bazemaster"I returned to Nigeria to start a Business, and my first experience at the Airport was a bad sign. Everyone patronizes you for gratification, the crowd at the Airport watching and spying on your unguarded moment to steal from you, the Government officials in tattered uniform accessing you to make demands for bribes and gratification, they all patronize you with an entitlement mindset, as if you owe them. The beggarly demands for gratification are astounding. I was stunned at the decay of the airports in Nigeria."
"Driving on the street of Lagos, the Police are a menace, a gang of criminals who treat every citizen as idiots because many do not know their rights and for survival, many others have accepted the compromise in the society and have begun to cut corners to make profits. You could even cut poverty with a knife walking on the streets of Lagos. On every face, you can see a wave of piercing anger, everyone is ready to fight back, and everyone seemed angry. But they are too afraid to fight the government that brought pain upon them. They are not united though they all unitedly suffer. There is suffering on all faces. Nigeria has lost the remaining sanity which we saw growing up in the 70s."
"I took time to observe the society that I had left for a few years. The decay is obvious, I stood at some point to watch the Madness of the Police, how they abuse citizens who themselves are too scared and wearied by long unabated sufferings imposed by the government. The Nigerian Policemen in one of the Bus stops employ area boys to collect bribes for them (both men and women Police). The area boys will stand in front of a passenger Bus and make signals to their Police employer when Bribe is not paid and the Police will stand in front of the vehicle until the money is given to his or her employed tout."
"There seemed to be no decent reputable officer of government remaining. I was told I needed the new identity card to carry out some transactions. I visited one of the local government areas in Lagos. I saw old men and women on crutches, tired and wearied by age, and I witnessed how government officials were asking them for bribes to enrol them for an identity card that ought to be free for citizens. I almost wept to see the pains in the eyes of this older generation, old enough to be the parents of those demanding bribes from them. When it was my turn, I had my Spy Camera to capture the event, I recorded the demands (which I later deleted when she got wind of my recording after I told her that I was recording her bribe request. She pleaded with her life that she does not want to lose her job)."
"At the VIO office at Ogba, I witnessed another cartel of criminals who would jack up fees for either a driver's licence or a Plate number. Individuals NOT the government make gains, they have a representative at the glass house, who will give you their bills as if they are doing you a favour to acquire what ought to belong to the government. Police will stop you and tell you the same document you got are fake, somehow the crime is a connivance and you wonder who to trust. The country is in a Mess."
"Unfortunately, there is no President at the moment, I cannot imagine having a man with a forged certificate as my President when I have witnessed a better country where things work well."
"The Frustration of darkness NEPA, the Area Boys at every Bus stop and all the menace innumerable. I gave up the Idea, Lost the money I had invested because you have to help the government that taxes individuals to death to do their Jobs. I missed my flight but I had to pay a penalty to get out of the country."
"Indeed, Nigeria is a dangerous place to think and a risky place to argue. It beats me to find dumb people still supporting the madness headed by madmen who run wild as Rulers."
"I mean Nigerians deserve particular pity because every day, they go through a lot in all they do."
"To register for voters card - struggle; To collect voter's card - struggle; To register for NIN - struggle; To collect NIN - struggle; To vote during the election - struggle; To register for WAEC/NECO/JAMB - struggle; To write any exams in the country - struggle; To check your result in any of the exams - struggle; To enter public transportation - struggle; To come down from public transportation - struggle; To open a bank account - struggle; To deposit money - struggle; To withdraw money - struggle; To purchase employment form - struggle; To get interviewed - struggle; To register for any programme - struggle; To buy petrol/kerosine/gas - struggle."
"The struggle to get things done no matter how ordinary it is in Nigeria is endless. Too much struggle. Very hard before a Nigerian gets anything done without struggling and fighting for it. Some students were reported to have fainted in UNICAL due to the same struggle. People struggle in banks, faint and die Same in petrol stations."
I'm tired. May God help us. Amen!