FIRST THEY SUGGESTED – THEN THEY CAME FOR ME

Whilst watching a lady deliver a speech yesterday, my colleague confidently stated that gap-toothed ladies were generally hot-tempered. Before I could say a word he listed 5 gap-toothed ladies he had come in contact with who were hot-tempered. I dared not argue with him. He had empirical evidence, I had none.

I was wrong not to have corrected his impression, otherwise men cannot be trusted and women are terrible behind wheels, boys are stubborn and girls are bad in math. Blacks were daft until the 70’s. I am just saying the obvious. Nigerians are con–men. Jews cannot be trusted. The world is a better place (sic). Blonds are dumb. Christians are decadent and Muslims are fanatical (middle-eastern ones are terrorists). I could go on and on. It’s just my opinion – till I make a movie carefully depicting and supporting my stereotype to the exclusion of all others.

I have heard Nigerians defend the movie District 9, which stereotypes Nigerians as cannibals and prostitutes to mention only 2. This is sad. Everyone I know who tried to shrug off the movie suggested that stereotypes are commonly employed in movies. This is unfair. The movie District 9 in my humble opinion is a direct assault on Nigerians for the following reasons:

1. Illegal immigrants in South Africa consists various nationals. Only Nigerians were mentioned. This ensured the stereotyping of Nigerians, to the exclusion of others.

2. Stereotypes of fraudulence, illiteracy, poverty etc is often overlooked. However, those of cannibalism and sexual acts with non-humans are unacceptable. Imagine shooting a non-comic movie which suggests that somewhere along their evolutionary path, South-Africans inherited some reptilian DNA.

3. The movie tried to elicit some sympathy for the aliens (immigrants). Nigerians, on the other hand were portrayed as taking advantage of the aliens. This is a covert attempt to deny the role played by indigenes in the ill-treatment of immigrants. It also suggests that Nigerians should not be seen as victims notwithstanding the fact that Nigerians themselves are immigrants. This lopsided portrayal of reality hides one society’s sin whilst chorusing another’s – It is a political statement. If future riots against immigrants occur in South-Africa, both South-Africans and other immigrants could band up against Nigerians.

4. To lace an already terrible stereotype with a dose of insult by using a name which refers to our immediate past president is a direct attack on Nigerians.

What should we do? On this I am no saint. Though political analysts are best placed to advice us, as an ICT expert I say we mount denial-of-service attacks (overwhelm their servers with requests, thereby making their websites inaccessible) on all District 9 and affiliated websites.

Finally, genocides like the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide had their roots in attitudes and behavior which we see around us every day. It is only when these attitudes and behaviors are manifested in the extreme that genocide can occur. Genocide is the last step in a continuum of actions taken by those who are prejudiced and boy are we prejudiced, such that explosive material is being gathered against Nigerians – enough for mischief-makers to cash in on. Don’t assume they won’t. It starts like a joke. How you may ask? Consider the words attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984).

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.