As much as I’d love to NOT notice it, the negative discrimination directed at people in my part of the world, by those from other parts of the world continues to periodically show up.
This is especially as it relates to using 3rd party platforms – including web hosting, which is paid, as well as email, which is sometimes free.
Since 2005, when I began making formal use of the web as a Nigerian based in Nigeria/Africa, I have experienced all sorts of discrimination ranging from the subtle, to the direct or in-your-face kind.
Quite often when it has happened, I have lacked reliable access to any channel where I could get fair hearing, if anything at all.
And I’m not the only one.
Many people from my part of the world continue to face this challenge of having to endure one-sided relationships with providers they use, even when they are paying.
Only few muster the courage to say anything about it though. I belong to that minority – and I have quite a few stories to tell 
I recall reading and hearing several stories about a popular online payment processing platform used globally, periodically locking up funds in the accounts of people from Nigeria with little or no explanation.
This was often not unlinked to suspicion, rightly or not, of naughty activity based on our people’s Yahoo reputation.
In several cases, I have been made to understand that owners of such funds, even when supposedly innocent of any wrong doing, had to forfeit the money.
Now getting wrongly sanctioned by online companies due to my Nigerian identity is something I’ve experienced.
I’ve now returned to using LinkedIn.com, but a few years ago I boycotted that platform from March 2013 (a month before I relocated to Cotonou) in protest of unfair treatment.
What happened to make me take such drastic action?
I wrote 3 articles about the entire saga – which included one in which I complained that they continued to send me notifications after I opted out.
- If You Can’t Find Me On LinkedIn.com, Here’s Why… | SD Nuggets™
- Why I’ve Told LinkedIn to Delete My Profile (Talk About Trying to Give a Dog a Bad Name to Hang It) | SD Nuggets™
I only returned to that platform late last year because I believed I’d built enough name/brand recognition online to minimize the chances of such a mix-up happening again.
My nasty 2012 LinkedIn.com experience in which my account was suddenly locked with no explanation other than a “suspicious activity” note from the Support Staff taught me to tread with caution in dealing with the other providers.
Let me make it clear here that I seriously doubt that LinkedIn.com as an organization intended to treat me unfairly.
No.
Instead, I honestly believe the particular individual(s) who took those actions were the ones acting based in bias, taking advantage of their position in the company to do what they did.
Not long after the above incident, a website on which my published articles were being sold for $25 USD and above (they kept 60%) kicked me off their platform on a flimsy excuse.
What was my offence?
The editor claimed I’d submitted a low quality article that necessitated my being asked to leave.
I wrote a reply stating that I had several write-ups that had been selling on their platform, and if there was any new submission I made that did not meet any set standard, THAT would be a first.
I ended by asking what article he had in mind.
I got no response from him, so I went on my (i.e this blog) and posted about it.
Some days later I discovered my account had been reinstated, and the articles promotion plug-in from their site was once again displaying my published pieces on my blog.
But the next time I submitted a new piece (which you can imagine I’d taken extra care to write) the same editor promptly informed me that I’d been expelled from the site etc.
I felt so used and dumped.
See the article I wrote about it:
How to Unmask & Defeat Blood-Sucking Vampires! | SD Nuggets™
http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/how-to-unmask-defeat-blood-sucking-vampires/
Would you believe that less than a year later this same website that had stopped sending me updates, having kicked me out, suddenly began sending me email updates again?
I simply wasn’t having that. So, I wrote a polite email reminding them that they had expelled me, and stopped sending me member updates months before. It was therefore surprising to see that they were once again sending me emails containing messages meant for current members. I ended by making it clear I had no further interest in using their website.
So why am I bringing this up now?
Well it’s because those experiences have taught me to ALWAYS have a backup alternative action plan to deal with the possibility of a sudden and unexpected withdrawal of a 3rd party resource I may be using.
For as long as it is NOT in your control (i.e. someone else has the final say on who can use it and how), you would be wise to think up a viable alternative line of action to achieve your goal, in the event of an unexpected loss of access to the normal service you use.
This mental attitude has helped me remain unstoppable in every area of endeavour I have ever ventured in life. Indeed, I have found it quite useful to maintain a slight paranoid state of mind in this regard, wherein no matter how well things are going, I am constantly thinking that something is likely to go wrong, and therefore proactively planning to overcome whatever unexpected visitations of adversity that may incur.
Looking back, even as recently as 40 days ago, when the mailing list management service I have used for years suddenly disabled my sending access, this strategy has proven to be a REAL life saver for me!
When I clicked SEND to broadcast my Monday newsletter for that week, and the automated message popped up, my mind simply kicked into survival mode.
I instantly knew it was unlikely that I would be able to resolve it that night (or ever: they never replied my queries).
But since I’d always had a plan B in place, I simply put that in motion and less than 45 minutes later, I’d exported my subscriber emails to a new platform, configured the HTML message and clicked send to dispatch.
And guess what?
Since then I’ve actually found that what happened was a blessing of sorts in disguise, because as I type these words, I now have access to what is a superior mix of benefits on this new platform, compared the one I used before.
Not only does it offer more features, but it is also more usable on mobile platforms, so that I am able to do ALL I want to right from my Smartphone with no hassle at all.
Little wonder that I have had NO problem signing up for a paid quarterly version of the service!
Long story short: It pays to be prepared with an alternative action plan (or plans!) in case something goes wrong with your routine process/operation.
But – as my experiences have revealed – it pays even better to keep an open mind, in order to reap the best possible wisdom from every bout of adversity one goes through.
So, in a way, it becomes obvious that those who seek to cause you pain in the long run help you by forcing you to LEARN to be strong and deal with hardship in order to excel!
In my language, Yoruba, we have a saying that accurately captures the above:
Adani loro nfi agbara ko ni (Translation: Those who cause you pain teach you to be strong)
