Blessing

The video of this Nigerian family being deported from Ireland should break something in every one of us Nigerians. Not because they were right or wrong to seek asylum. But because of what those comment sections reveal about how the world sees us. Read those comments. Irish people, Europeans, Westerners, all united in one thing: they don't want Nigerians in their countries. They don't see a family. They don't see children who've integrated, excelled in school, and made friends. They see Nigerians. And to them, that alone is reason enough to send them back. Let that sink in. Our people are not just being deported, they are being rejected. Not for crimes, not for failure, but simply for being Nigerian. And the painful part? We created this reality ourselves. They call us fraudsters, scammers, Yahoo boys. They've painted 200 million people with one brush, ignoring the millions of hardworking Nigerians who are doctors saving lives in their hospitals, engineers building their infrastructure, nurses caring for their elderly, and lecturers teaching in their universities. Nigerians who have won Nobel Prizes, built billion-dollar companies, and contributed more to their economies than some of their own citizens. But that narrative doesn't trend. What trends are the fraud stories, the deportations, the rejections. And we've given them enough material to keep that story alive. You see Nigerians online celebrating foreign citizenship like they've won a lottery. Canadian passport, UK citizenship, Irish residency. We wear these like badges of honour, like we've finally escaped. But ask yourself: when last did you see a Canadian celebrating Nigerian citizenship? An Irish person throwing a party because they got a Nigerian passport? Because the value is one-sided. Deep down, even we know what we're running from. Nigeria is not a poor country. We have oil, gas, solid minerals, arable land, and a population of over 200 million. We should be the ones other nations aspire to. We should be giving, not begging. But instead, our people are scattered across the world, sleeping in refugee camps, being humiliated at borders, and treated like burdens. E dey pain me! Why? Because the Nigeria we've allowed to exist has become so unbearable that our citizens would rather face deportation and humiliation abroad than dignity at home. Because we've chosen bad leaders over and over. We defend them when they loot us blind. We're more interested in our tribe and religion winning than our country working. And now the world watches us run, and they mock us for it. You want to be angry at those comments? Fine. But the anger should be directed inward. At us. At what we've allowed Nigeria to become. At the fact that we can't even unite long enough against the "bad leaders" destroying our future. Every Nigerian seeking asylum is a walking billboard that says: "My country has failed me." And the world sees that billboard and draws one conclusion: Nigerians are people running from a sinking ship. Walahi I dey para gan. But here's the hard truth: no matter how many foreign passports we gather, no matter how far we run, when they look at us, they will always see Nigeria. E clear na. And if Nigeria is a failure, we are failures in their eyes. Deportable, unwanted, and disposable. The only way this changes is if we stop running and start building. The only way the world respects us is if we make Nigeria a country worth staying in. A country where a mother doesn't have to beg Ireland for her children's future because their future is secure at home. Until then, we will continue to be deported, mocked, and rejected. We will have no one to blame but the Nigeria we chose not to fix. A man whose house is on fire cannot complain when his neighbours refuse to let him sleep in their barn. They know he will bring the smoke with him. INALEGWU.