Nigeria has close to 180 million people ... and its only a very small fraction of Nigerias population who actually conducts those scams, but they manage to give a whole nation a bad reputation. I always thought no one could fool me, but I am not ashamed to admit that even I have fallen for a Nigerian scammer once. A man who actually had accomplished what so many Nigerians dream about ... getting a scholarship to make his Ph.D. at a prestigious German university. Getting not only a visa to study but later also one to stay and work. Having a great job working for a known human rights organization and being well respected for his work in human rights. Even being granted the German citizenship (ok given he got that one through marrying a German - another poor soul who had fallen victim to his scam). He has managed to get it all and instead of using it to show the world that not every Nigerian is a scammer he took all of it and used it to be just that - a scammer. He used his Ph.D., his status as a human rights activist and the fact that he already has a German citizenship to give him the credibility for his scam. Not only me but many many women believed and still believe that someone who has accoplished so much, who has so much to loose, would never run such a scam. And so when he first asked for money even I was blinded by this shiny front and believed him when he said that his father was in a Nigerian hospital and in danger to die if he cant get the heart surgery he needed. I loved the man and didnt want him to loose his father, so I gave him some money ... later of course I found out that during the 18 months I had been in this relationship with him - and even before - he had been telling this story many different times to many different women - who all, just like me thought they were in a relationship with him ... so he turned out not only to be a scammer but also a notorious polygamist. Although I stayed in this rather abusive relationship for a year and a half I stopped giving him funds after I had realized that his demands for money where a bottomless pit - every other week he had a new emergency he needed help with. But I know that some of the women gave him all they had and even more - tens of thousands of Euro. They took out loans to satisfy his greedy ever growing demands for more and more money just to realize that when the money flow stops so does his so called love for them. Still, this is only one individual who is evil. Only one particular man who is a disgrace for the human race and a burden for his people as his behavior is feeding the already existing prejudice opinion people have of Nigerians. But one bad seed does not make a bad crop and I will not judge a nation based on one bad experience. I love my Nigerian friends. Most Nigerians I have met are great, hard working and loving people, for which I am grateful to have in my life. So I want to say thank you to all my wonderful friends for showing me that this guy was the exception and not the rule.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 16:44:04 +0000