Hungarian Immigration Mistrusts Our Embassy?

I read Sammie Adetiloye's report titled, "Nigerian May Face Prosecution over "Proxy" Passport". I could not actually pinpoint my emotion as I tried to make sense of the story. It's not a fresh report but common sense of a most refreshing sort. It's like a cobra being fascinated by its charmer. Perhaps I should say the report is disturbingly provocative, considering the impact on Nigeria's image.

Although Adetiloye, publisher Theafricansunshine.com, deliberately withholds the name of the Nigerian in question, the story highlights some intriguing finds. Equivocal it may be, I observed two significant things as I leafed through like one would a newspaper. The plight of Nigerians regarding passport issue and of course, the integrity of our officials in Hungary being questioned by the Hungarian Immigration officials.

I have written extensively on both issues, which as a Nigerian vastly disturbed me. I had dealt with the first issue in my Open Letter to Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister while I chew the second issue everyday like kolanut - in my write-ups. Our representatives around the world need to get their act together or face the wrath.

Here is the heart of the report: "The Hungarian Immigration officers, who doubt the ability of the Nigerian Embassy officials in Budapest to serve as a genuine consultative body on suspected fake Nigerian passports, have gone to the British Embassy to seek help".

Gone to the British Embassy to do what? Agbedo. This is simply odium. And it must not be the paradigm by which to solve the problems confronting nationalities of a Sovereign nation in a foreign country. Or am I just making mountain out of the mole hills? Is it right for the Hungarian Immigration to go to the British Embassy in this situation? I need your help please.

Reports like this make you want to puke. You feel that Nigeria is forever tied to Britain's apron. Anger, sadness, shame, insult, uncared for, and scepticism are some negative feelings that tend to overwhelm or probably drown you at work. Unable to concentrate, you submerge your head completely as if under water. Your values have been attacked.

You wonder at the Hungarian Immigration’s audacity, for doubting "the ability of the Nigerian Embassy officials in Budapest to serve as a genuine consultative body on suspected fake Nigerian passports", and instead decided to seek help from the British Embassy; you utter a sudden low cry to the dismay of your colleagues; you try to figure out what on earth is happening; then you pray for wisdom and understanding to become Nigerian representatives in a foreign land.

Nigerian Head of Chancery, Olutola Onijala, was quoted as saying, "How shall we justify the possibility of our passports being obtained by people who did not make themselves available at the Nigerian passport office?" Good talk. I say good talk because I strongly believe Nigerian passport - our image - should be unwaveringly secured.

While I agree with him, I need to point out that it’s highly essential for our embassy to query the rationale behind such break of protocol. Why should the Hungarian Immigration officials bypass the Nigerian Embassy before ascertaining the genuineness of Nigerian passports? Can it be vice-versa? I doubt it.

Mr. Onijala should have known the impact of Hungarian Immigration behaviour. It's unfortunate that Nigerian Head of the Chancery does not get the message or the gist. It suggests that Hungarian Immigration does not trust our embassy while more trust is being put in British Embassy.

The Nigerian who was accused of possessing a fake passport puts it succinctly: "And I was surprised to hear one of the officials say, in the presence of my wife, that the reason they didn't consult the Nigerian Embassy was that the officials there were corrupt". This is clearly one insult too many. If the Hungarian Immigration actually spoke about our embassy with such mistrust, what then would they say about ordinary Nigerian like this writer?

Get me wrong if you like. I am not in any way saying that our embassy should defend illegality. However, it must be the port of call in order to ascertain the genuinenesss of its passport, rather than the British Embassy. That's my bone of contention. Any right thinking Nigerian should be peeved that the Hungarian Immigration ignored the Nigerian Embassy and consulted the British Embassy over an isssue entirely Nigeria's.

What then is the function of the Nigerian Embassy here in Hungary? Is Nigeria still under the British rule? Is there no protocol to follow? Mr. Onijala was further quoted: "For the sake of the image of our country, we should desist from obtaining passports by illegal means". Again, this is a brilliant statement.

Meanwhile, for the sake of the image of our country, the Nigerian Embassy should fume over the fact that the Hungarian immigration would have to confer with the British Embassy over the issue that affects Nigeria and its citizens.

In spite of this, I am aware of the Western media's ignoble propaganda against Africa. In this era of globalisation cum technology, it's quite hard to conceal one's horrid habit. The Hungarian Immigration may have sufficient evidence to support its claim that "the officials there were corrupt", yet the Nigerian Embassy, not the British Embassy is the appropriate place to verify the genuineness of Nigerian passports. On this I stand.

copyright 2007 mysmallvoice@yahoo.com

People

Winner ot the Brirish Book Prize

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She is from Abba, in Anambra State, but grew up in the university town of Nsukka where she attended primary and secondary schools and briefly studied Medicine and Pharmacy. She then moved to the United States to attend college, graduating summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State with a major in Communication and a minor in Political Science. She holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins.
Purple Hibiscus won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. It was also short-listed for the Orange Prize and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and long-listed for the Booker Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, Prospect, and The Iowa Review among other literary journals, and she received an O. Henry Prize in 2003. She was a 2005-2006 Hodder Fellow at Princeton, where she taught Introductory Fiction. She is presently pursuing graduate work in the African Studies program at Yale. She divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She is from Abba, in Anambra State, but grew up in the university town of Nsukka where she attended primary and secondary schools and briefly studied Medicine and Pharmacy. She then moved to the United States to attend college, graduating summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State with a major in Communication and a minor in Political Science. She holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins.

Purple Hibiscus won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. It was also short-listed for the Orange Prize and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and long-listed for the Booker Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, Prospect, and The Iowa Review among other literary journals, and she received an O. Henry Prize in 2003. She was a 2005-2006 Hodder Fellow at Princeton, where she taught Introductory Fiction. She is presently pursuing graduate work in the African Studies program at Yale. She divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Open Letter to Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister

By Hakeeem Babalola

I feel constrained to write you this letter. The main reason is to focus your attention to the woeful plight of fellow Nigerians in Hungary. There are many problems but I would place special emphasis on passport issue, which is the most essential document for all travellers. It could be recalled that Nigerian government made it mandatory to be physically present when applying for Nigerian passport in order to make it authentic anywhere in the world.

On 17 July 1998 the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) introduced a new Standard Nigerian Passports called the Standard Machine Readable Passports (MRP). One of the procedures for acquisition of a Nigerian Passport is "capturing the applicant into the photographic and data collection computerised machine," which simply means the applicant must be physically present. This is commendable effort to save the country from additional humiliation among the comity of nations. Of what pride remains a nation if its international identity is not secured.
Here in Hungary however, the non-availability of such Standard Machine Readable Passports (MRP) is causing both physical and mental pains for Nigerians, and indirectly tarnishing the image of the country in general. The affected Nigerians have been pushed to result to “illegal” means of obtaining Nigerian passport. The most common way is by proxy, which of course renders such passport invalid.

Therefore, Hungarian authority randomly confiscates such "suspicious" passports in its bid to curb or reduce such illegality. In doing so, we have seen cases in which genuine passports are being seized as well. Apart from this, Hungarian immigration has launched what could simply be described as rigorous passport scrutiny when entering or leaving its territory. It does not matter whether one is a frequent traveller or not. As long as green Nigerian passport is presented, Hungarian immigration would likely consider such passport illegal pending verification.

Nigeria has maintained Diplomatic relations with Hungary since 1964 on concurrent accreditation initially from Warsaw, Poland, subsequently from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, before effective presence in Budapest in 1992. Now, Nigerians in Hungary are wondering why passport machine has not been installed in Hungary, especially when it serves other neighbouring countries (Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia). After all, Nigerian Embassy in Hungary gives “a panoramic view of the role of the Nigerian mission in Hungary as General Administration, Consular and Immigration matters especially the welfare and well being of Nigerians in our host country…”

I would use Tunde Adeosun who recently lost his Nigerian passport as illustration. He is as helpless as a baby. It seems he can get little things done without his passport. He needs it in virtually every transaction with Hungarian government. For now his Nigerian passport is basically his identification card. Although he said he would not in anyway result to obtaining passport by proxy, he asks: "What exactly is the duty of Nigerian Mission abroad, if something as important as passport cannot be provided?"

In my opinion sir, the solution is quite simple. Provide this MRP machine to the Nigerian embassy in Hungary, or alternatively provide a workable plan whereby it would be easier for Nigerians to obtain this essential travel document – without hassles. I argue for your ministry intervention on wholly pragmatic grounds. I should state that travelling to neighbouring Austria is not part of the solution. The reason is because Nigerians without passports are not officially allowed to cross borders.

Besides, the fee being charged for a lost or damaged Nigerian passport in Austria is simply ridiculous. €22 for swear affidavit; €365 as fine; another €117 when approval is received form Abuja for administrative and passport charges respectively. €504 in total – for a Nigerian passport! The same passport costs less than €100 in Nigeria. Any wonder why passport by proxy is on the rise! Is it a crime to lose one’s passport? I mean why is the need to pay fine? I remember President Obasanjo’s take on the exorbitant passport fee when he came to Hungary in 2001. He had declared it was mainly to deter Nigerians from losing their passports every now and then.

I am not sure whether such move has actually dissuaded those Nigerians who must lose their passports. I am inclined to question the rationale behind such exorbitant fee. Is it to dissuade or to generate revenue at the expense of hard working Nigerians in the Diaspora? Perhaps this is a way of making Nigerians in the Diaspora pay tax to motherland. Providing MRP machine obviously would eradicate the need to obtain Nigerian passport by proxy, which in turn would compel Hungarian authority to respect our passports without prejudice. Your ministry needs to find ways in order to procure this machine for the benefit of Nigerians in Hungary and environs. Sir, I have been a little bit appalled by the levity with which your ministry treat this issue.

To be fair on your ministry, I understand that the Internal Affairs Ministry is responsible for the issuance of passport, and that the officers at Abuja are known for their unresponsive attitude whenever Embassies send queries to them on any issue. Yet the responsibility of the Foreign Affairs Ministry as spelt out in Chapter 2, section 19, of the Nigeria constitution includes: the promotion and protection of the national interest. You need to sort things out with internal affairs ministry. Even though Nigerians abroad are considered inconsequential as observed by the Information and Communications Minister, Frank Nweke Jr., I believe Nigeria itself is consequential enough to have its image protected.

@March 2007 mysmallvoice@yahoo.com

Living with Immigration Torture

X-rayed in Malta
In June 1990, I was subjected to a search at Malta Airport. The officers did their job with care and dignity as they stretched me to the limits. After about an hour delay, I was taken to the hospital where two stand-by doctors x-rayed my chest, or should I say my body. What were they searching for? No one cared to tell me. After they had satisfied with me, my passport was returned, and then I was allowed to go. "Enjoy your stay in Malta," said the immigration officers who had accompanied me to the hospital.

I do not remember what I felt on that day, but I knew they attacked my good name and reputation. I knew I was charged falsely or with malicious intent. Although the officers refused to tell me my offence, I had obtained from one of the doctors that it was drug they were looking for. I was not angry but I remember I was sad. I thanked God. What if they had deliberately planted it during the x-ray? May Tochi, a Nigerian youth whose soul was abruptly terminated by Singaporean government for drug peddling – rest in peace. In perfect peace.

Dollar Before Entering Rome
In March 1995, I was on transit in Italy en-route Nigeria, my country. My transit visa allowed me to stay in Italy for two days if I so wish. I was the only non-white on the plane. Along the immigration control I was separated from other passengers by a man appeared to be immigration officer. He pointed to another route for me to follow. I refused, especially when he could not tell me the reason why among hundreds of passengers, I was singled-out. I was already furious but quickly surpressed such "evil" emotion. Anger has never helped me solve any problem. He followed me to the immigration counter where his colleague demanded for my passport. I handed it.

"Nigaria," he announced rather than said, grimly. He then leafed through my passport. "You live Budapest...show me ID card."
"My Hungarian ID is for Hungary only," I retorted though it was with me.
"You want stay two day in Rome."
"I’m on transit."
"How much you have?"
"You’re not my financial advisor."

It was at that moment he referred my case to his superior officer, who was not as rude. He too inspected my passport. "Okay, just show us $100."
"I have no money to show...I’m going to my country."
"Then you won’t see Rome."
"That’s fine with me. Absolutely fine with me."
Oh heck! I was going to spend my money in Rome anyway. Besides, Nigeria was where my heart was.

On my way back, Italian immigration officers ordered Africans to form a separate line. Some of us protested, while some obeyed. Among those who obeyed was a Nigerian lady whose two little children carried British passport. It was genuine for they eventually allowed her to go, but she had to stay in a different line specially made for non-whites. They turned deaf ear to our protest to know the reasons behind such segregation.

How Many Kilo Do You Carry [Into America]?
In October 1996 – my first visit to the USA – America subjected me to their awful poetry of guilty by association. My ordeal started immediately we disembarked. I was not the only non-whites, but I was certainly the only Nigerian. A woman positioned herself in front of the aircraft as if she had been waiting for a scapegoat. As soon as she saw me – someone must have previously described me in details – she flashed her badge (custom), pointing to me to move aside. I ignored her – completely. Being a custom officer even gave me added confidence to neglect her. Besides, I simply detest it whenever someone single me out, especially pertaining to immigration issue. Afterall, there was no 9/11 then. Afterall, I would never engage in anything that may tarnish my image, and that of my country.

I continued walking. She followed me closely while making use of her walkie-talkie. Honestly, I was not afraid even though I had not travelled extensively then. But I knew I would have to see the immigration before custom. Within a twinkle of an eye, two men had joined in pursuing me. They were far from me but I knew their mission. They were closely observing me. For what, I thought. It was then it dawned on me that I might have opened a can of worms.

Miami Airport is quite long. By the time I reached the immigration, the two gentlemen flashed their badges. "Immigration," one of them said.
"Good," I replied.

And so my agony started. They demanded for my passport, and then other documents. I handed it but it was obvious they were not satisfied. And so the drama (for that was what it was) started.
"Why didn’t you take a direct flight?"
"Because it’s much more expensive."
"What were you doing in Amsterdam?"
"I was on transit"
"What’s your mission in the United States?"
"To join the Meridian Ship as a crew member."

Furore in Amsterdam
Then it flashed into my mind that I had caused furore in Amsterdam when I refused to declare my mission upon interrogation by Delta Airline desk officers in Amsterdam. For fifteen minutes I stood my ground, claiming that my mission in the United States was none of their business since they were not immigration officers. Besides, I had crew member visa in my passport. My Hungarian colleagues with the same visa were allowed to pass without any question. It was humiliation that brought tears. But I was determined not to show them my documents other than my passport – the only document demanded from my Hungarian colleagues. Eventually, they allowed me to board since I won’t yield.

Now I was facing the penalty?
"Where is your Hungarian I.D or something?" asked one of the immigration officers.
"In my passport. It’s in my passport."
He didn’t check it. "Any document from your employer?"
"Yes" I gave it to them.
"Original?"
"That’s all I received. It’s what others received too."
"You’re not going to New York tonight," the woman charged or boasted. "You’re going back to Lagos."

Lagos? I laughed. It was a joyful laugh. And it was at that moment I knew they did not even know what they were doing. Because I did not even obtain my visa in Lagos. There’s no way I could have been deported to Lagos. I laughed again when I realised that my laughter was hurting her. Let her be tortured like they were torturing me – just for the fun of it. I do not remember all the conversation, but I definitely remember the woman cutting in.
"Don’t play with me," she said with authority, "How many kilo do you carry?"

My joyful laugh flashed itself again. I was indignant at the way I was being treated, but I remained confident. "What!"
I was later told that my profile fitted that of a typical drug pusher. More than six months to be spent in America with only one hand luggage without any check-in; I did not only passed through Amsterdam where drugs are legalised to a certain amount, but I had caused furore. The drama was going on when one of them who had disappeared suddenly re-surfaced. "Let the boy go," he said. He had phoned my employer. What surprised me most was how quickly they changed their hostile attitude. They flashed their best smiles. It was contagious despite the sadness. "Welcome to the United States of America...it is because your country is in the black book of America."

And so what? I departed with the quote from one of their forefathers, "It is better for hundred criminals to go scot-free than to punish one innocent soul." Although my subsequent visits were smooth, the experience of that day lingers on.

Egyptian Immigration Deported Two Nigerians
In July 2004, I witnessed a situation whereby two Nigerians – a man and a woman – were sent back from Cairo Airport to Murtala Muhammad Airport. The man on the suspicion that his British visa was fake, while the woman on the suspicion that she had improperly obtained her Nigerian passport. I found out what appeared to be the truth, but then Egyptian immigration officer is neither British nor Italian immigration officer. Are they?

Passport Scrutiny in Hungary
In July 2006, I was going to Ireland to participate in a Socrates Course for Secondary School Teachers. It was on that day I realised the advantage of arriving much earlier at the airport. Hungarian immigration subjected me to a forty-minute-passport verification. My grudge was not even the eternity it took them to accept the genuineness of my passport, rather the logic behind such scrutiny.

For example, I have in my passport several in and out Hungarian stamps. Doubting the authenticity of my passport means the officer who delayed me on that very day was either doing it as a routine (Hungarian authority has seized many "suspicious" Nigerian passports) or never trusted the judgement of his colleagues who had stamped my passport more than fifty times, or simply transparently being mischievous.

Although it pains each time they punish me for the crimes they usually claim are being committed by fellow Nigerians, or being discriminated against because of my race, I take a little surreptitious pleasure in the fact that I and others like me have shown that not all Nigerians are criminals. And that to tell you the truth is my consolation for the immigration torture.

copyright February 2007
mysmallvoice@yahoo.com

Joyful tears in my pupil eyes

As My Pupils Graduate
Upon time their innocence so easily seen
They allow mama/papa dress & undress them
No red in their face when aunt bath them
But now girl or boy pals blush them so quick-

Years pass they circle round me to know
They allow me blow their nose
They crawl around me for more
As they tease and hate and love me-

Then they were not even as tall as a dwarf
Now they bend down to collect their reward
Experience and knowledge and nature
Nap those little devil angels from me-

I remember their tricks:
When they drain energy out of me
When they mock me aliases
When they make me weep-

Thence I think I’m less qualified
To empower them survival
In this jungle round city
Where strong pummel the weak

They make me mad – almost
My pupils, baddest and brightest
My pupils, wild and wise
My pupils, meek and might

I endure their incorrigible habits
I endure their youthful exuberance
I survive their pranks
I survive their laziness

Today my face wreathed in smiles
As they walk towards me:
“Thanks for being a teacher
Thanks for empathy and patience.”

A time for fellow feeling?
So my pupils have grown up!
To know the toil of a teacher &
Show remorse getting on my nerves-

Today as they graduate,
Their success my gain and joy
Joy without fear or guilt or regret
A reward of poor dedicated fellow

Hakeem Babalola 2006 copyright



Joyful tears in my pupil innocent eyes

Here comes night of innocent eyes
To sing the song we sang together
In presence of both parents
To reward the toil of a teacher

The world have known about my pupils
How brilliant and smart they become
To sing the song we sang together
Their voices the world to hear

In joy they wink their innocent eyes
As sparkle as diamond to the world stage
When the clap I hear glow my beating heart
Until their mouth refused to talk

So my heart starts to ache
So I begin to sweat
So I stumble
So I jump on the stage

My pupils start to weep
So I say: Weep
So they weep
And they weep

Shout, so they shout
Laugh, so they laugh
Clap, so they clap
Kick, so they kick

And so parents sing along
And so the world sing along
And so they become brilliant and smart
As we sing the song we sang together



What my pupils say of me
Teacher,
Be patient or madness become you
We can make you crawl like a toddler
Cause we know more than imagine.
Adult,
Like us but pretending otherwise
Oh,
Come swear before our innocence
If genuine enough as depicts.
See,
Your paper we care not
But the human in you
And we respond according.
Ah,
Come swear before us
If like us you never were
Aren’t we your mirror?
So,
You see you not in us?
How gone soon your memory
To know the picture of you.


Because Dem Say I Be Bank Robber

Me Africaness a crime in their eyes
Me Nigerianess a crook in their eyes
Cause I smart pass them in their own game?
They who enchant I with whiteness
Turning I into zombie functionally illiterate
Me forefather more harm they did him
When they forced him build their land
They rob his wealth and humaness
To buckle down his children children
But me dignity I must keep
Hence I enslave me soul
They make I guilty of me image
Dispower I from I and from I
They who define who I should be
But when I start to free meself
They remind I of me past
How it was they that empower I
Otherwise in darkness I waste
Though I believe not their thought
Humn… I’m I still not a victim?
Today their land I run for me bread
Today me father still borrow from them
Sure help shall I get to bondage I – again
When I start to know, me father they rebuke
Him not doing proper job on I
Help… me inheritance to seek
Else hunger become I – forever
And when I enlighten me father
About whiteman’s trick
Me papa disown I:
Oyinbo never go wrong!
Me father, victim himself
Is addicted to hooking help
The more I resist Oyinbo’s trick
The more they trick I
Then Oyinbo return half me forefather’s wealth
Deceive me father to feed I good education
Off they entice I to their land – again
Not like slave but like king’s servant
To drain me clan – again
Now I know –
Whiteman don’t like beggar
But beggar they want I to be
To remain what they want I to be:
Beggar, bank robber & laughing stock

When Shall This Bride Become?
Tomorrow,
When they are gone
All of them-
Those brain death rapists
Those hook worms
Arrow and spear hole their head
Tomorrow,
When they return
All of them-
Those impotent drain brains
Those mountain goats
Crown and cowtail honour their head
Tomorrow,
When we are no more
Destroyers and Builders
Fountainheads and falseheads
Must iron it out
Tomorrow,
When worms and goats
All of us-
All of them-
Deconstruct bobo match-maker’s aim
And truly
Shall this bride become