By Omoju Olusola Benjamin
One of the advantages of working onboard cruise ships is the fact that we practically wake up in new countries every morning. If you are not on duty and you are not in port manning, it is your lucky day. You can join thousands of guests on an adventure of the town usually in company of other crew members who are equally not on duty. Typically, you could be exploring the town in company of Americans, Asians, Europeans, Australians and even pacific islanders, all in a single trip.
It is a beautiful morning. As we settled down to eat in a restaurant overlooking the Colosseum, I could not but appreciate the rich and diverse culture displayed on the table. We had a white South African, two black South Africans, one Thai, two Filipinos, one Scottish, one Indian, one Malay and my humble self, a Naija boy, all settled to appreciate the best cuisine Rome had to offer before we scuttled back to the ship for ‘all onboard’ in less than three hours.
One habit we don’t encourage on cruise ships is browsing through the phone on the dining table. It is disrespectful of others and won’t encourage conversations as well as team bonding when you are busy with your phone. We meet people, hear about other cultures and make lifelong friends at dinner so your phone must not stand in the way. I broke the rule. A quick glance atmy twitter feed revealed that Chidimma, the Miss South African hopeful of Nigerian/Mozambican origin has finally withdrawn her participation from the beauty pageant. This generated a friendly conversation with my South African friends on the table. Expectedly, the white south African cared less.
Repeatedly, my South African friends kept telling me that I won’t appreciate the level of decadence Nigerians brought to their country. They stated that Nigerians introduced drugs to their youths and would bribe their Police to look away. They said they are not against hard working Nigerians thriving and contributing meaningfully to their country.
Unfortunately, the case of Chidimma does not support the hypothesis that they are not against hard working Nigerians even when they have genuine reasons for some of their agitations.
Chidimma is someone you would classify as hard-working South African of Nigerian origin. Her only crime till they started investigating her was contesting against other South Africans that had no Nigerian blood in them. If Chidimma had no Nigerian blood, she would not be investigated so she is neither a criminal nor lazy. Therefore, it is safe to conclude she was persecuted based on her roots.
If it is true her mum, a Mozambican stole the identity of someone to register her birth, she should be punished as that is criminal. However, the very reason why they started fishing for evidence to disqualify her is her Nigerian blood and that is the basis for my submission. You started calling for her disqualification first because she is of Nigerian origin and went ahead to fish for evidence to nail her and label her family criminals. Therefore, her major sin is her Nigerian origin and if I must spell it correctly, that is clearly XENOPHOBIA. Surprisingly, her mum who is alleged to steal an identity to register her birth is Mozambican, but Nigerians are getting called criminals instead because Chidimma’s dad is Nigerian. Mozambicans have been relatively spared the barrage of insults that followed suit.
Chidimma can’t be absolved from all blame too. If you are contesting for Miss South Africa, you can’t surround yourself with only your Nigerian family and displayed Nigerian and Mozambican flags on your Instagram page at the detriment of the country you want to represent. There is something called patriotism, many Nigerians don’t understand that. We disparage our country at the slightest provocation. We have made JAPA another blossoming career so citizens of other countries can’t understand why we abandon our country and call it all sorts of bad names at the slightest opportunity. Therefore, it may seem strange to Nigerians that South Africans are jealously protecting their national pride by insisting that someone that truly represents the rich culture of their country and appreciates it should be given the mantle to raise their national flag as Miss South Africa.
We need a more united Africa. However, if there is something I learnt by working among over one hundred nationalities worldwide, I learnt never to appear to be the wisest in the room. Nigerians should stop this delusion of grandeur that they are the smartest in Africa, that other African women are dying to date them, that South Africans are lazy etc. If you are that smart, your country won’t be so challenged that the best way out for many Nigerian youths is JAPA. Creating an impression that you are wiser than others will make enemies for you and put you in the spotlight.
I wish Chidimma an opportunity greater than what she missed by this unfortunate incident.
