![\"[PDF]](\"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/He-called-me-voleur-COVER-3dOK.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In this article, I discuss one big mistake some non-Nigerian Africans seem to be making in thinking<\/strong><\/em> about Nigeria. To do this, I share a true story about a Francophone African undergraduate in his 20\u2019s, who called me a thief - and meant it. Why?<\/strong> Because he daily saw me typing away on an Internet connected laptop, and I never seemed to go out to \"work\u201d\u2026LOL!<\/p>\n According to him, working that way (i.e. selling information products<\/a><\/strong>, custom Excel-VB driven software<\/a><\/strong>, web marketing systems<\/a> development, and writing services<\/a><\/strong> online) was only possible in developed countries.<\/p>\n To him, that meant that I had to be engaged in 419 i.e. Internet scam business. <\/em><\/p>\n It did not matter what I showed him on my website<\/a>, or where I told him I\u2019d been (as detailed in my 11 page resume<\/a>).<\/p>\n Indeed, the little effort I made, to educate him about potential opportunities awaiting him online, simply put him off. He repeated \u2013 angrily: <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cVous \u00eates voleur!\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Since I\u2019d met him in April, he would once in a while ask me for money \u2013 and I\u2019d give him. He was a student. Over 20 years before, I'd been on campus like him. I knew things could be tough for students, away from home.<\/p>\n That day however, I refused to give him money he asked for. This was because I\u2019d noticed he never did anything useful with whatever one gave him. He spent recklessly, and also kept bringing a girl friend to sleep with, in a room he shared with the rest of us.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n He left, and we never talked about it. But he kept behaving the same way. I tried to ignore his excesses, but I felt I had a duty, as an older person, to set him right<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, one day I called him, and told him what I saw. Then I warned about the uncertain future, in terms of a post-university job search \u2013 which he needed to prepare for.<\/p>\n He assured me countless jobs awaited him in the labour market of his country:<\/strong><\/p>\n \"It's not like Nigeria, where you don't have jobs. Isn't that why you moved here?\"<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n (NB: <\/strong>In saying the above, he failed to recall what I'd told him in the past: That my clients were either foreigners based in his country, or who connected with me online. I relocated to take advantage of the stable power supply and polity. In reality, most people in his society could not afford my services!). <\/em><\/p>\n I told him about a personal friend, who\u2019d graduated for years, and \u2013 like many others \u2013 had been unable to secure a decent job, despite his qualifications.<\/p>\n (NB:<\/strong> This friend, today, manages a mobile phone shop for an expatriate owner\u2026with a\u201duniversity degree\u201d. But he\u2019s actually better off than most others!)<\/em><\/p>\n I asked him if he thought that he alone knew \u201cGod\u201d. In addition, I asked him, if all other graduates walking the streets, years after graduating, did not also pray to \u201cGod\u201d, like he did (I actually meant to say \u201cIF<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u201d he did pray \u2013 given his apparent lifestyle!).<\/p>\n That<\/span><\/em> was where I hit a nerve. <\/strong><\/p>\n He asked \u201cWhat do you know about God? Do you even have a university degree?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n He went on:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cLook, you\u2019ve always questioned the usefulness of traditional formal education<\/a>. Maybe you feel bitter because you did not attend university.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n He said the above, in apparent reference to what I\u2019d told him, and his colleagues, about \u201cschools killing creativity<\/a>\u201d \u2013 and why self-education must be embraced, even as one goes through school.<\/p>\n I\u2019d never imagined I would have to show proof of my university level education to anyone!<\/p>\n I was speechless for a few seconds, as I tried to think of how to express myself to get through to him.<\/p>\nAnd since he already knew I was a Nigerian, that made perfect sense\u2026LOL!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Why Did He Say This? (Here\u2019s What Led to Our Exchange)<\/h3>\n
My young friend countered that God would not let him have such an experience\u2026!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
(<\/em><\/strong>In my mind I said \u201cYepa. Chineke! This guy is challenging me to prove that I have a university degree<\/a>? Mo baje!\u201d)\u2026LOL!<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n