Nigeria In The Eyes Of A Briton

[Shola Sholaz]

A British journalist, David Hayward, who visited Nigeria, captures his impressions about the country.
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Earlier this year, I was approached to do some media consultancy in Nigeria. I'd just left the BBC after 18 years, to set up my own business, so this seemed a great opportunity.
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I spoke to a number of friends and former colleagues. I'd heard many stories about Nigeria, seen the reports on Boko Haram and had my own impressions of sub Saharan Africa.
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The advice fell into two camps: a) Don't go, you'll get kidnapped or catch malaria.
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Either way, you're going to die b) Nigeria is a nightmare. When you arrive, you'll be swamped by hustlers trying to rip you off, steal your luggage and all your money. If they don't get you, the corrupt police officers and officials will.
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I was mainly to be based in Asaba, the capital of the Delta State, one of, if not the biggest, oil producing states is Nigeria. In an attempt to be a bit more thorough with my research than asking a few old mates, I contacted the office of BBC Media Action in Abuja.
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The fairly pragmatic response was: "We treat the Delta State as a hostile environment. It's an oil producing area and there is a strong risk of kidnapping. However if you have armed security, this risk will be slightly reduced". I took this to be reassuring and made sure an armed security clause was written into my contract. I spent some time talking to my wife Jo and children about the prospect of going to Nigeria.

[Folami David]

No matter how bad Nigeria is painted all around the world, we still have a lot of people from other countries visiting us. That's dope!