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    Fixing Stereotypes...My Way
    Fixing Stereotypes...My Way
    Fixing Stereotypes...My Way
    Ebook235 pages2 hours

    Fixing Stereotypes...My Way

    By Dr. Harbhajan S. Batth

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    About this ebook

    The phenomenon of stereotyping is commonly used to make things
    mindlessly easier for us to understand. To categorize individuals and to
    classify them into groups so we can make sense of the world. We use it in
    various contexts: Indians are snobs, arrogant and underendowed, Chinese
    do not know how to drive, blondes are dumb, Nigerians are scammers etc.
    We are all guilty of stereotyping at some point in our lives. It may be based
    on nationality, color of skin, gender, race etc. The categorization of a group
    of people that we tend to pigeon-hole is based on but limited to our
    personal experiences, what is showcased and broadcast in media, the
    stories that we have heard and so on; but we make the mistake to apply it to
    an entire group.

    Having spent two decades of my life in West Africa, through this book I
    intend to challenge the epidemic of stereotyping of Nigeria. There is
    corruption in Nigeria but don't label the entire country as being corrupt,
    there is corruption in India too.

    There are scams in Nigeria but don't label all Nigerian as scammers, there
    are scams in Hong Kong too. There is drug trafficking in Nigeria but don't
    label all Nigerian as drug peddlers, there is drug trafficking in Mexico too.
    What follows in this book shall give a window into the consciousness of the
    minds housing Nigerian stereotypes. Please be mindful that along the way
    the filter of typecasts will cloud your vision. Therefore, through my
    narrative based on first-hand experiences, I invite you to get to know what
    Nigeria and Nigerians are all about. Remember, oftentimes the reality is far
    more attractive and superior than what we dare to acknowledge.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDr. Harbhajan S. Batth
    Release dateDec 16, 2019
    ISBN9780463994788
    Fixing Stereotypes...My Way

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      Book preview

      Fixing Stereotypes...My Way - Dr. Harbhajan S. Batth

      Dr Harbhajan Batth

      Suziette Ukey-Agazie (Storyteller)

      Preface

      This book intends to give a window into the consciousness of the minds housing Nigerian stereotypes. Please be mindful that along the way the filter of typecasts will cloud your vision. Therefore, through my narratives based on first-hand experiences, I invite you to get to know what Nigeria and Nigerians are all about.

      Hi, I am Nigeria,

      I bagged my independence in nineteen sixty,

      It has been a few long years, to be precise it totals nine plus fifty

      Though neither sought nor known,

      In these fifty nine years, I have successfully managed stereotypes, quite a few.

      Hi, I am Nigeria,

      You thought you had me figured out

      Even before you knew my grids on the world map

      That was a mistake perhaps

      Hi, I am Nigeria,

      Love me or hate me, I am sure you‘ll embrace me

      I invite you to first experience me and only then judge;

      Through the journey, don’t let logic, accountability and reason escape your intelligence

      Hi, I am Nigeria,

      I can easily do it myself but would rather give you control

      And the power to decide what my DNA is,

      That’s because ignorance isn’t always bliss.

      Hi, I am Nigeria,

      Let’s begin this short and sweet journey

      At the end, whether you agree or disagree

      You shall fall in love is what I can guarantee.

      Acknowledgement

      I will like to use this medium to say thank you to all who made me ‘Nigerian’ by show of kindness, friendship and otherwise. It was fun getting to know the real Nigeria.

      Also, I will like to acknowledge all who made this book a reality, from my family who encouraged me to the people who contributed their stories, advice, cheers and prayers.

      To my editor, Nkoyo Eze, thanks for an amazing job and to my mentee, Suziette Ukey-Agazie.

      There is no country without a peculiar national image at any point in time. The behaviour and activity of a ‘people’ go a long way in defining their national image.

      Hi, I am Dr Harbhajan Batth and this is my story.

      FIXING STEREOTYPES…My Way

      Prologue

      The phenomenon of stereotyping is commonly used to make things mindlessly easier for us to understand. To categorize individuals and to classify them into groups so we can make sense of the world.  We use it in various contexts: Indians are snobs, arrogant and underendowed, Chinese do not know how to drive, blondes are dumb, Nigerians are scammers etc.

      We are all guilty of stereotyping at some point in our lives. It may be based on nationality, color of skin, gender, race etc. The categorization of a group of people that we tend to pigeon-hole is based on but limited to our personal experiences, what is showcased and broadcast in media, the stories that we have heard and so on; but we make the mistake to apply it to an entire group.

      Having spent two decades of my life in West Africa, through this book I intend to challenge the epidemic of stereotyping of Nigeria.

      There is corruption in Nigeria but don’t label the entire country as being corrupt, there is corruption in India too.

      There are scams in Nigeria but don’t label all Nigerian as scammers, there are scams in Hong Kong too.

      There is drug trafficking in Nigeria but don’t label all Nigerian as drug peddlers, there is drug trafficking in Mexico too.

      What follows in this book shall give a window into the consciousness of the minds housing Nigerian stereotypes.  Please be mindful that along the way the filter of typecasts will cloud your vision. Therefore, through my narrative based on first-hand experiences, I invite you to get to know what Nigeria and Nigerians are all about.

      Remember, oftentimes the reality is far more attractive and superior than what we dare to acknowledge.

      The Global Village

      Ethnic stereotypes are boring and stressful and sometimes criminal. It's just not a good way to think. It's non-thinking. It's stupid and destructive - Tommy Lee Jones

      Chapter 1      The Bomb Shells

      I have observed that one cannot get results on half-hearted attempts.

      My journey as an expatriate started way back, in 2001 when I was selected by my parent company, the New India Assurance Company, for a foreign posting. New India, as it is popularly known, has operations in about 28 countries and staff are often posted based on the availability of vacancies following screening tests.

      In the past, I had made two unsuccessful attempts for empanelment to foreign posting. The third attempt was successful and I was on the top of the list of successful candidates.

      The first two failures were on account of my casual approach of going for the screening test without preparations. I was under the impression that having a successful career and exceeding targets on a year-on-year basis would be enough for the interview board, but I was wrong. One needs a lot of preparation to face such a diverse group of board members.

      First and foremost, you need to know a lot about the company, you need to be up to date on the technical, marketing and corporate governance fronts. This, followed by knowledge on what is happening in the country of residence, across the globe and a bit about the countries where the vacancy is. Finally, you have to know more about prospective companies.

      Having been placed on the top of the selected panel for foreign posting, I never imagined that of all the countries, I would be posted to Nigeria. This news came as a bolt out of the blue.  When I broke the news to my father and wife, none of them seemed excited. The only impression that people had about Nigeria was that it is an African country known for drugs. My father asked if I really wanted to go there while my wife supported the decision saying I should give it a try since the posting was just for two years. It would be renewed for another two years if the hosting company approved for an extension.

      When my weekend gangster friends who often visited for late-night drinks heard about my Nigeria posting, they laughed at me saying that I was going to a country located somewhere in the African bushes. A colleague of mine really scared me with some newspaper cuttings with the headline - ‘HIV rampant in sub-Saharan countries’. Neither he nor I were aware of where Nigeria was located in Africa not to mention Sub-Sahara Africa. However, a few friends gave me their own sermons about the dos and don’ts of working in Africa.

      Funny enough, a pseudo-intellectual friend of mine said, ‘So you are going to Lagos, my cousin works for the U.N peacekeeping force in Kenya, I will tell him to meet you’.

      As if that cousin of his could take a bus and meet me in Nigeria. I had a hearty laugh as I realized many fellow colleagues in India have no knowledge of Africa. For them, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria were neighbouring countries. Nonetheless, I firmly made up my mind to accept the challenge of being posted to Nigeria.

      Around the beginning of the century, India invested in the information and technology sector in a big way and we could see the I.T. boom in major cities. Fortunately, I had a 386 Intel processor desktop at home with access to the internet through analogue telephone dialling. I thought before I sign a bond with my company to work in Nigeria, I must do some research online so as to understand the country’s biases. Surprisingly, I could not get much information except that Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and it is located in the western part of Africa. There were a couple of other news stories about rampant drug trafficking, there was nothing exciting to look forward to.

      After browsing the net, I was in a dilemma about accepting or rejecting the offer. Again, it was my wife, a senior lecturer in the Linguistics Department in Education, who encouraged me to proceed and sign the bond and further advised that if I did not like the assignment I could return after two years. She would manage the home front alongside her job.

      Though I had travelled abroad a couple of times to the UK, Nepal, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan and some other countries as a tourist, this was my first time going abroad to work.

      I boarded an early morning flight from New Delhi airport and landed in Lagos by 3 pm. Thinking, I would have to report to my new office the same day, and since I was joining them as the number two executive, I thought I must look the part. So, I wore a suit and a tie with a nicely tied matching turban. While boarding the plane, I noticed I was the only person immaculately dressed even in the business class; all my co-passengers, Ethiopians and Nigerians were dressed up in smart casuals which was, unknown to me, the way to travel long hauls.

      I got the biggest shock of my life when I landed in Lagos. The flight was late by two hours and the airport looked like a rural bus stop. The air-conditioning was either blowing hot air or not working; the climate was hot and humid. Everyone was jostling at the immigration counter to get their entries processed and I was asked to join a queue for foreign nationals.

      The only solace I had was that the immigrations officer greeted me in my mother tongue, ‘Sat Sri Akal’. I was thrilled and amazed by his greeting. It made me feel at home and very comfortable. I thanked him and asked if he had ever been to India. He narrated his story, that he did his Masters in Arts at the Punjab University, from the year 1980-1982 and I told him that around that time I was also doing my LLB in the same university. Thereafter he gave me his contact card.

      To my surprise, my first interaction with a Nigerian, an immigration officer was so enthralling that out of excitement I forgot my passport at the counter. The same officer noticed after a few minutes and came running after me at the baggage collection point to return my passport. He further advised me to be very mindful of documents as the environment outside the airport may not be favourable.

      At the baggage collection centre, the revolving belt was not working and everyone was struggling to reach his or her luggage. It was not funny at all, but the protocol officer sent by my company was very supportive and helped me to pick up mine then I went for customs clearing. He greeted the customs officer and to my surprise, bribed him in broad daylight. The officer took the money with a big smile and welcomed me to Nigeria; then we were gone. I had seen corruption in various parts of the world but this kind of visible bribery was a shocker.

      The moment I came out of the airport, the equation changed again. Many touts came rushing towards me, asking if I needed a cab or needed to make an exchange of some dollars. This took me back to a warning I had received before leaving for Lagos. I was told by my parent company that while at the airport I should not listen to anyone nor talk to them, so I stood at the airport stone deaf.

      I also realized that Nigerians have the comfort of time; no one seems to be in a rush. My flight was delayed by two hours and the officer of the company came an hour late to pick me up, when I confronted him, he said he got stuck up in traffic for more than 3 hours. I then realized that the tenure here was going to be hard-hitting. However, while I stood waiting for the company’s protocol officer to pick me, an armed policeman flaunting an AK47 rifle stood by my side, driving away the touts.

      To cut long story short, while I was hot under the collar about infrastructure, I was equally impressed by the Nigerian uniformed officers as they were very courteous and friendly while the reverse is the case

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