The Nigerian president kicks off a debate about how his country is perceived abroad
By O.A. | NAIROBI
IT was meant to be a friendly occasion at the State House in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, at which President Goodluck Jonathan would thank foreign diplomats for their work on February 6th.But he couldn’t help himself and delivered a broadside typical for his government. He said foreign representatives must correct what he deemed to be misconceptions abroad about his country. “The knowledge you have acquired here should be used positively to help us as you go back home,” he told the departing Italian ambassador.
Few diplomats dispute that Nigeria is not viewed especially favourably by outsiders. The country is a leader in advance-fee fraud over the internet, known globally as "419" after the relevant (and rarely enforced) section of the Nigerian criminal code. Corruption is so endemic that many visitors have paid their first bribe before leaving the airport. Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group, has kidnapped and killed numerous foreigners and bombed the UN office in Abuja, though admittedly ordinary Nigerians are the main victims. Other groups have kidnapped oil workers. One former British government minister estimated that 70% of Nigerian visa applications are fraudulent. Nigerian peacekeepers are known for the efficiency with which they loot liberated locales.
Reactions in the rest of Africa to President Jonathan's exhortation to foreign diplomats were predictably hostile. One caller on a Kenyan radio talk show called Nigerians "wordy, needy and domineering". That seems unfair. As Africa's most populous country, and arguably its most dynamic, Nigeria is bound to upset others. Its businessmen compete fiercely across the continent. Its "Nollywood" film industry swamps neighbours with cheap but popular fare. Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian billionaire, dominates the African cement sector. South Africa, long the continent's economic and political powerhouse, is losing status to the west African nation, thanks to its commendably ebullient efforts.
Many Nigerians swat away criticism as misrepresentations. The government vigorously objected to an unfavourable portrayal in the 2009 sci-fi film "District 9", which showed Nigerian resident in Johannesburg selling weapons to invading aliens and offering them prostitutes. Ministers in Abuja were so upset they hired a public relations firm to "undo the damage".
The best way to do that is surely for President Jonathan and his government to tackle the country's manifold real-life problems. Late last year, the highly regarded governor of the central bank, Lamido Sanussi, informed the president that $20 billion was missing from the accounts of the oil ministry--this in a country where most of the 160m citizens live on less than $2 a day. Mr Jonathan called the claim "spurious" and tried to sack the governor, who refused to leave.
Corruption is the poison that taints almost all institutions capable of making Nigeria work well. The World Bank has estimated that since its independence half a century ago at least $400 billion have gone missing from government coffers. How is no great secret. Many examples are well known. Princess Stella Oduah, the aviation minister, recently used official funds to buy herself two luxury BMWs for $1.4m. Despite a public outcry she remained in office until this week.
How might foreign diplomats explain that when they return home? And what are they to say about Nigeria's new anit-gay laws, perhaps the world's most unfair? Not only are homosexual intercourse and marriage illegal, but even public meetings by gay groups are banned. Intolerance seems to ail Nigeria rather than misrepresentation.
