More on district nine, because I still have not gotten over it

It was vehement, one of the most disturbingly aggressive arguments I have ever had. I say this even as I must add that since I am confrontational especially about the things I am passionate about; I have had very many aggressive arguments. This one particularly, made my blood pressure rise. My neighbour and I were about exchanging pleasantries. Just I was telling her that the previous week I had watched a South African movie (district nine) that extremely aggravated me because of the content and the representation of Nigeria as scavengers, fraudulent and immoral. She shocked me by saying “well it’s true, Nigerians are cannibals, they are 419ers, and don’t they groom their girls for prostitution?” It took about 10 seconds before I recovered. At the time, my natural wind traits had come into play. I proceeded to ask her, if she meant to tell me that she was a prostitute, if her brother was a scam star and if her father fed on humans? Because these are the people that are being referred to as Nigerians, the stranger who rushes to help you push you car to start, the neighbour who sends food to you during sallah celebrations, the pastor whom you rush to when you are challenged and he fasts and prays like your problems were his
Of course, she felt slighted and proceeded to express her views and continued by saying that Nigerians are bad, its what we portray to the outside world that they would know of us. But then again I told her corruption was not limited to Nigeria, that infact I wasn’t aware of any nation that didn’t have its fair share of menaces and corruption. I told her that great American has a huge number of pedophiles, I told her that it was their reckless living that sent the world into global recession(even though I was a bit to extreme on that one) I told her that the west produced the guns that sent fear and shivers up our spines back home, I told her that in the united kingdom, it was terrifying walking at any time, because u could be mobbed, I told her that in south Africa, it was their beliefs and values that led them to sleep with the under-aged because they thought the act would heal them of their illnesses. I reminded her that during the apartheid, Nigeria fought the hardest for South Africa to ensure that apartheid was abolished. I told her that the international community also thought south Africa a corrupt nation, that they had very high rates robbery cases, that they also had scammers, they theirs had the highest number of immorality cases. I went ahead to ask her if she thought they had any moral standing to castigate Nigeria. And then to ask her why she did not think that a country whose media did not know that it was unethical to defame, was a corrupt nation; Or that could it be that their educational system is so bereft that it did not teach them the international ethical media practices. I asked her if it was OK, in any form, for anyone to bite the finger that fed them. We give them highest market for their media and telecomms industry. We backed them up financially and morally in their struggle against apartheid.
One of my neighbours argument was that in foreign nation were you find Nigerians, they represented as scammers and prostitutes. But I went ahead to remind her that there were actually a greater number of Nigerian in those countries that earned a decent living. There were doctors of great worth, scientist who had contributed so much, lawyers of great repute. Economist and top cadre staffs that had contributed in no small measure to the economic buoyancy of those countries. I said to her that in those countries they were Nigerians who because they wanted to earn a decent living washed plates, worked three jobs and even washed dead bodies in the cold. I asked if those ones should be blacklisted because they were a few bad eggs. I asked if she should be called a prostitute because she is a Nigerian. I reminded her that Nigeria was a country with an official population figure of 140 million. I told her it was the most populated Africa nation, that 1 of every 10 black persons was a Nigerian and that 1 of every four black African was a Nigerian. My point being that if south Africa with 50 million people had the same rate of corruption as ours, then it was far more corrupt, that if it had 10% less corruption than ours it was still far more corrupt. I let her know that blacks were not doing so well in S.A and that Nigerians even did better in that country. The South Africans knew it and decided that that Nigerians should be killed. I asked if a country that did not value human lives because there were not their citizens had any moral inclination to portray another as bad.
I also told her that if she wanted to rebuke her daughter, she would do it with love and moreover she would do it behind closed doors and that if someone else did it for her she would feel hurt and slighted especially because she had done nothing to abate her daughter’s negative traits. I let her into the Yoruba adage that says and I interprete “it is only a bastard that points at his father’s house with his left hand.” I hoped that she understood that she was the bastard who pointed at her father house with her left hand.
I must add that my neighbour is a smart girl, and as I argued with vigour and passion and points, her vigour, passion and points matched mine. Now that was the scariest part. Because, in the past I have heard really foolish and invalid arguments against Nigeria. But here was a smart girl who felt strongly against her own country. I do not think Nigeria is the most glorious nation, I do not think it has given me so much to proud of, but I strongly refuse to let a bad mother punish my baby because she was naughty. I also feel that if not for anything, this nation gave me birth and life, it also gave me a sense of belonging and it is the one place I can truly call my own. For these reasons will I never ridicule this nation, with bright potentials, it is almost blinding.