ABC's hugely popular news program 20/20 aired a special on Nigerian scammers. It has made the papers here today and of course we are all affronted. Check it out here and let me know what you think....According to The Guardian, the program goes on to describe my Lagos as "a crime ridden disgrace of a city" and has shots of Oshodi to buttress its point. I am upset all round. Mad at these 419ers that give programs like 20/20 material to embarrass us with. Mad at 20/20 for in my mind not showing the muguns for what they are - greedy fools, mad that Brian Goss and his team have the guts to use a Nigerian song to make their point, mad at it the fact that in some respects, they are right, mad at it all
There is also a side news item on the same site above that tells the story of an ex-congressman who happens to be the father of Chelsea Clinton's current boyfriend (and rumoured fiance) serving a jail term for his love for scams including the Nigerian black money scam.
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My dear I feel you o, I am so irritated at the media's one-sided and exaggerated portrayal of Nigeria and Nigerians, but what upsets me more is that we have given them fodder for what they are saying. Hope you had a good, restful weekend.
i have said before that this sort of reporting is very one-sided. it takes two people to create a scam, the scammer and his victim, who often vulnerable to his own greed. but noone ever reports that, because they are the ones telling the stories, so they make out that they are innocent, when in reality they also sought to dupe the fraudster of his share of the "bounty". if the scam had been real, would they have honestly parted with he scammer's share, or would they not have hidden behind the protection of american law to keep their ill-gotten gains?
in the and though, we have ourselves to blame for the fact that our people are able to perpetrate such in our collective name. that is our national shame.
it is sad though, to see us all tainted by this vile brush
I'm sorry but I can't begin to feel angry at ABC over this.
WE put ourselves out there.
Since when did WE expect balanced reporting from Oyinbo people..ehhn.
Since when?
And Nigeria is now the new name for fraud. When we see this fraud being committed we NEVER report it.
(I'm not talking about us here)
We just shrug our shoulders and say.. oh well.. as long as they are not stealing from me.
I've met people who admire these 419ers and let's be brutally honest.. they are not a tiny minority of people.
This is what we do abroad.. we loot, we defraud, we rip off, so that we can come home and shine..
Those of us who are busting a gutt to make a difference are left feeling helpless and irritated at this.
Let's name it and shame the devil, we are enabling the people who are destroying Naija's name abroad, through no fault of our own really, but because we are not actively denouncing them.
Is it because we have become so used to our governments 419ing us?
this issue has become a big problem. Naija's name in the West is rubbished. No one thinks you can do a good job if you say you are Nigerian and everybody thinks you will defraud them.. if you think otherwise then you best believe that you are mistaken.
I must say...
I think the scammed should be arrested for attempted money laundering...
but the real issue here is.. we Naija people are all over this like a rash..we love short teerm money, we love shit we didn't work for.. and if we think that ABC is anyway influencing people to hate or distrust Naija's then we are in denial.
Because nobody trusts Naija people abroad anyway.
Again...I'm going bunkers about this whole Naija 419 thingies...I don tire o...the nerve of these people to think ripping people off of their means to survive is a very nice thing to do...
Abeg I don't blame ABC...its TRUTH...its not like they're lying or somn. What are we trying to protect? Lies?
Nigerians!!! My people!!!
How did this happen? Loads of people are involved in fraud BUT how did Nigerians stand out with their 419???
It is true, loads of people do ODU and all.
I think the IDIOT 'victims' are IDIOTS. They are 'oloju kokoros', 'long throats'! Why should I respond to an email that says I will get money for handling 'highly suspicious' money!
i watched it. i had serious problem with them saying "disgrace of a city"...and even more problems with the music video they used as us glorifying that lifestyle... infact..i NEVER heard of the black money scam...this was the first time...wonders never cease... the underlying fact is if there werent greedy ppl out there...then this wouldnt be a profitable line of business...they need to DO a show on ppl's motivations...how they get sucked in...we'll realize they too are as much scammers as the 419ers are....
heard that music video was actually banned...so how did abc get it...doesnt really matter i guess....
i thought it was good they were arresting folks...but im like...they'll probably be out soon...or this is all for show...im trying to be optimistic but it's hard
The thing that bothers me is that a tiny percentage of fools is ruining our reputation.
I have to say that the 20/20 piece was balanced. I dont blame them. They didnt lie. They issued the facts.
That music video + the disgrace of a city comment was just horrible.
Was it not in NY that the cops just killed an unarmed guy and sprayed him with tons of bullets..hmm
talk about disgraceful cities..
I watched a Dr Phil show on Nigerian scammers and that was just garbage..trash journalism.
As someone said tho, they didnt say anything about the greedy people who get scammed..I feel bad for them but it takes a good sized amount of greed and lack of ethics to fall for those nigerian scams
Overall, very unfortunate!
Bella Naija...
I disagree.. it is not a tiny percent of us doing this.
It is widescale.. if it's not 419 via email, it's fraud, ripping off social security e.t.c.
It's endemic amongst us naija folk.
To deny that is to enable the 419ers and to deny the overwhelming evidence that Nigerians are participating in these scams at an overwhelming rate is to deny what is right in front of us and leaves us no further away or even clean from this mess
I concede that Nigerians are participating in 419 but this fraud is world wide. Other Nations are involved also but all of the are still classified as 'Nigerian'.
As for the fool that still wants money from Dr sloan after being told that he'll feature on ABC's 20/20. I suppose he was driven by the greed of all the ill gotten gains he'd have to flash and do other honest, hard working citizens like us at Christmas 'longerthroat'. Then others would think we're being 'lazy' in the diaspora and not churning out hummers and jeeps back home at neck breaking speed. *SIGH*
You can check out Nigeria Politricks for the videos of the Nigerian scam ABC 20/20 Program...it's a shame we are still going through this humiliation, but you can read more on the 419ners and Mugus!
talk about naija having an average income of $1 per week is absolutely ridiculous. how did they come about their figures, thats wat i want to know. its not Ok for them to paint the scammers black and paint the scammed holy. in my books they are both thieves. trying to gain from where they didnt invest. no one is saying all nigerian are saints but then dont say they are all NO GOOD either.
I was really disappointed with the show. It seemed like Brian Ross really hated Nigeria with statements like " crime ridden, shame of a city". Other problems i had with the program is
1. the term mugu, has nothing to do with the white race. its just anyone foolish enough to fall for their scam
2. 419 is not widely popular and celebrated in Nigeria. I have noticed none of the other picked this up, this maybe as a result that u have been out of the country so long or i dont know. But take it from someone who just left Naija, its not wildely popular in Nigeria.
3. finally $1/week average income seems more like what people in the devastated region of sudan would be making, not something u see from the financial capitol of Nigeria.
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