Thursday 30 October 2008

Re: Embassy Angers Nigerians

Dear Mr. Babalola:

Good day to you. I have just finished reading your article with respect to the above caption. I am not shocked at all. Nigerian officials only exist for themselves. They do not have any sense that they should be representing Nigerians. Having said that, there is really nothing to celebrate about Nigeria's supposed independence.

In Toronto here the story was different. Some of us demonstrated at the party because there was nothing to celebrate and this eventaully prevented the ambassador from attending. He was very angry and tried to get us arrested, but his naivety was exposed by the police who told him there was nothing illegal about demonstrations in Canada - I guess he thought he was in Nigeria.

Next time, maybe you guys should go there and demonstrate, they will hear you then. Trust me. You guys should let them know that next time they try to hold a "by invitation only" independence day dance, your group will demonstrate at the site of such party. You mark it, you will hear from the embassy very quickly - they are chickens who cannot stand demonstrations.
I wish you good luck in your struggle with these irredeemably corrupt officials. Have a wonderful day.

Regards,
Majek Adega
ChangeNigeria Group
Toronto, Canada


Dear Mr Babalola,

I can not but agree with the above comments of my fellow Nigerian (Majek Adega). The celebration of our Independence Day (should) signify our national unity, which is even more important for those of us living in diaspora. I think this negligence sums up what the embassy in Budapest stands for.

A few weeks ago I was invited (unfortunately due to late invitation I personally could not attend) an African Development Forum sponsored by one of the arms of the United Nations, held in Budapest. The aim of this organization is to arouse commercial and investment interests among business people in Hungary.

As you can imagine, the official representatives of our great country were invited. Surprisingly not a single "busy" member of the Nigerian Embassy officials in Hungary could attend - they had better things to do (hopefully something that yield more dividends for their country) than giving a short speech about Nigeria, or talking about the business environment at home, or even encouraging business people to invest in or trade with Nigeria.

When the Hungary organizers asked you to rally around and get Nigerian business people to attend such occasion, you cannot but advise them that their best bet would be the Nigerian Embassy. But alas! They had tried, but our people were too busy...

There are a million ways to hold a celebration party and still have the reputation of the embassy intact. When you do not have enough trust (and respect) for your people, believe me, those foreign dignatories invited will come and politely "toast" with you, but they have no more respect for you than you have for your own people...

Oluremi Durosaiye, Budapest