FEATURE

 Agony of blacks in Germany

Temple Chima Ubochi

The embassy of Nigeria in Germany & the unlawful loss of Nigerian nationality: An open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan (Part 1)

Dear Mr. President, this column hopes you have patience in abundance, because, it’s going to take your precious time, as it will go into minute details here, so that you would understand the sorry plight of Nigerians in Germany and then be able to find a way to help them. In order not to make it boring, this article would be serialized, please endeavour to read them through.

Mr. President, this writer decided to write this, because, some Nigerians in Germany pleaded for it. And the experiences shared in this article are from different sources. Many Nigerians opened up to this writer and some of their stories are what you, Mr. President, will soon read in this part of the article. This column hopes that at the end, the affected Nigerians would be succoured in a way. Before going further, Mr. President, you need to have a mental picture of what it’s like living in a German society and the kind of people the Germans are. This part of the article will start with some of what Nigerians are experiencing in Germany and whatever that’s written here, is just a tip of a colossal iceberg when compared to what many Nigerians are actually going through there.

Germany is a very racial society; for Germans, hate is a virtue and blood of discrimination runs through their veins. They do discriminate even among themselves as regards to who has blond hairs, blue eyes; who come from eastern part of Germany (former DDR) or who speaks Bayern etc. Most Germans are arrogant, unfriendly and they have a very narrow outlook on the world because they seldom travel. Their world starts and ends around them, although there are few exceptions! Nigerians (blacks) in Germany are going through hell over there. Discrimination and language barriers prevented almost all Nigerians from breaking the glass ceiling there.

There’s racism everywhere! The history of all advanced societies is littered with sad stories on racial discrimination, inequality and profiling. The struggle for integration and equality is still going on in the United States, Britain etc. Although not as pronounced as in Germany, the Unites States, Britain and other first world countries have and are still discriminating against the people of colour in one way or the other. Germany is the epitome of racism and the reason may not be far fetched. The blacks started coming to Germany, to stay, as from the 1980s and that was the first time the present generation of Germans started have close contact with them, unlike Britain and United States which started having contacts with the blacks centuries ago. May be as the years pass by, the racial antagonism, tension, acrimony (whatever) would abate and Germany would then be like present day United States or England, where there are less pronounced racism. Is it possible? Who knows! This column wrote this on Friday, October 17, 2008:

“Let me take some of you down the memory lane: Nigerians and blacks started coming to Germany late (from the 1980s) and consequent upon the fact that Germany hadn’t any colony in Africa during the colonial era as Cameroon, Tanzania and Namibia were taken away from it when it lost the Second World War, made Germans not to be conversant with blacks until the mid 1980s. When the blacks first came to Germany, the experiences were despicable. Don’t forget that this is a country that produced Hitler and Goebbels (Hitler’s propaganda chief) who had the philosophy that the Aryan race (Germans) is the most superior race and that whosoever occupies the centre of the earth (Germany) should rule the whole world. These were some of the beliefs which informed their pursuit of the first and second world wars and the plan Hitler had (had he succeeded) was to sack all Africans, killing some and using some as slaves and the African continent as a place to dump refuse and to grow food because of its tropical weather. Hitler and his Germany saw blacks as imbeciles that must be wiped out from the face of the earth or used as beasts of burden. That, they would have accomplished, had they succeeded in conquering the whole world. Germany was the heart of racism, Germany exported racism to other parts of the world.

In the mid 1980s till early 1990s, many Germans then used to cross to the other side of the road if he/she see a black walking towards him/her; some of them will even spit whenever a black passes them by; some will leave their seat in the bus or train, if a black enters and sits at the same seat with them; some wayward children will even like to touch a black to know if our skin colour is water soluble and can wash off, some will even call the police when they see a black person walking around in their neighbourhood. The only thing most Germans knew then about Africa and its people was that the blacks live on tree tops, are primitive and crude, that’s all they were taught in schools about Africa. Another thing the older Germans then remembered was Biafran war and the pictures of children with protruding stomach and skeletal figure (kwashiorkor)”.

In Germany, only few Nigerians are making use of their degree obtained in Nigeria. Many well educated Nigerians are wasting away due to language barriers and the nature of society they met when they first came to Germany. Many Nigerians in Germany, especially professionals and graduates, have regretted ever leaving Nigeria in the first place. These Nigerians see their leaving of Nigeria as one of the worst mistakes they‘ve ever made. These Nigerians were those who left Nigeria during the IBB or Abacha locust years and never thought a Nigeria of today, with great potentials, despite its numerous shortcomings, would ever come. For many Nigerians in Germany, the dream of a “good life” abroad has turned into a nightmare and many would have preferred to stay put in Nigeria, had they known!

Nowadays, those going for higher degrees after obtaining their first degree in Nigeria, are forced to repeat some undergraduate courses, after scaling the language barriers. On completion of a degree programme in Germany, an African graduate with a German degree, is not judged like a German with a similar degree. No matter what a black person has as qualification, he or she is still seen as being mental inferior to Germans even when the black person is more qualified and does better job than his or her German colleagues. Most Germans judge a black person by the colour of his or her skin and not by the content of his or her character, qualification and ability. For a German, blacks are naturally wild or out of control or criminal minded, and many shops would start monitoring a black person immediately he or she steps in there, in order to see if the black would shoplift any thing. For Germans, every black is a suspect, even if such a person is wearing a cassock or a chasuble or a priest’s robe. For many blacks in Germany, racial discrimination or profiling happens on daily basis and have become part of their lives. Even the children born of mixed parents (an African and a German) are not spared.

Upfront, let’s clear a point. There are good and bad people everywhere; infact there are some German who are very friendly, helpful and compassionate, but, they are in the minority; some blacks are stealing and committing lots of crime, like many Germans too, but, the sins of a few should not be the reason for a blanket suspicion of all blacks in Germany. For Germans, being weak or physically challenged is unacceptable; like Hitler’s Germany where the weak and physically challenged were eliminated to keep the Aryan race pure, Germans of today have no compassion for the weak, the poor and the downtrodden, instead they (Germans) bring such people down the more to lift themselves up.

Many Germans have bloated ego and superiority complex, hate foreigners, pretend to be strong and don’t accept defeat. Germans, unlike the British, don’t feign or pretend when they don’t like a person. These are traits which run through their veins as blood and are inherent in almost all Germans. Now every German distances him or herself from Hitler and the atrocities perpetrated during that era, but, their parents and elders were Hitler’s accomplices, because, without their consent and support, Hitler couldn’t have almost succeeded in conquering Europe. The crimes against humanity Hitler and his henchmen were accused of, were carried out by ordinary Germans.

If a black makes his or her German work colleague a confidant, such a person may have dug his own grave, as the two, after discussing something, for instance, about their boss and his or her nagging behaviour, the German may tell the boss a one-sided part of their conversation, that’s, regurgitating all the black person said (of course adding salt and pepper to it) against the boss without saying what he or she also said against the boss during the conversation. The problem is that the boss may never try to find out the truth by confronting the black, rather, he or she (the boss) would start nursing an ill feeling against the black and the next thing would be to find a way to make life horrible for the black in the company so that he or she would leave (the company) on his or her own.

If a black person is performing better than his or her German work colleagues, such a black is marked out for elimination (from the job), because, Germans, even the dunce, think they’re more intelligent than black people. They’re envious and at the same time angry when a black beats them handsdown. If a black is always cheerful and friendly in his or her place of work, the German colleagues won’t understand how, despite the tormenting workplace stress, the black colleague still seems unfazed by it and is always lively. A black family bringing a German friend to their home is like somebody exposing his or her “anus” as this German friend may go out to narrate how the black family is living, whether the family is drinking only water, the kinds of African food and their smells. Please note that there are exceptions, who are even better than fellow blacks!

Germany is rich but its citizens are perpetually unhappy. That’s why Germans can’t understand why foreigners (blacks), who have nothing and are suffering indignation in Germany, still have a reason to be happy and cheerful, while they, despite being in their country with all the opportunities and all that can make life easier at their disposal, are always sad. When blacks congregate for whatever reasons, may be for a meeting or party or celebration, they are usually loud and their laughter are heard many metres away. German passing by or living around the place would be wondering how and where those foreigners found the will power to survive and still be happy in a mean German society where many of the indigenes see no reason or have no reason to be happy, and that makes them more angry (Germans are angry seeing blacks radiating happiness while they’re perpetually sad).

The German society is organized in such a way that a foreigner can never be “comfortable or rich” without indulging in something illegal. But many Nigerians in Germany are too clean to soil their name for riches; only Nigerians with low morals commit crimes “to make it big”. The taxation system in Germany and the economy are planned in such a way to cage people and prevent them from having a lot of money in their pockets. One can be OK; one may have enough to eat and drink, but, to save enough money for anything tangible is near impossible unless a person engages in something illegal. To be fair enough, this kind of regimented economic system also affects the real Germans too. The German taxes are killing; imagine Germany introducing parking meter for prostitutes. In Germany, it’s very hard for a foreigner to buy a house of his own due to the stringent conditions required, that’s why only few Nigerians have their own house in Germany.

It’s not today that Nigerians in Germany started suffering: In the early 90s, African food were hard to come by as there were no African food shops in Germany then. Nigerians there then improvised a lot as chicken stew became soup for their improvised eba, and egg became egusi (melon) for many. Then in mid 90s, African and Asian food shops started springing up in Germany. These shops become a source of relief for those Africans who are African food addicts. But the problem is that the products these shops are selling are imported from Africa or Asia making them very expensive. Unlike in the United States or Britain, these African or Asian food shops are still few in Germany; some big cities don’t even have more than two serious ones, while many small cities have none. Nigerian restaurants in all of Germany can be counted on one’s fingers. For the fact that these African or Asian food shops are few, the owners keep the prices of foodstuffs high. Africans are forced to buy them at such high prices, because, they don’t have array of choices, different from what’s obtainable in England where there are Nigerian shops on every corner. For an African to be able to eat those African food regularly, just like in Nigeria, he or she must be ready to be spending a chunk of his or her income. A black can murmur, argue, protest, curse his or her luck, display his or her anger, still he or she will buy the foodstuffs, unless, he or she wants to join the Germans in eating only bread, yoghurt, egg, pizza etc. Reprieve comes one’s way, if he or she travels home and takes those food stuffs along or if he or she receives them from someone who returned from Nigeria.

While those in Nigeria are only thinking about how to make their ends meet, their son or daughter or relative in Germany is not only thinking about meeting his or her own financial responsibilities in his place of abode, but, in addition, is also thinking about the well being of his or her family in Nigeria. It becomes a double overload. The relatives in Nigeria don’t think about what their son or daughter or relative (as the case may be) in Germany is going through to get the money he or she is remitting to them monthly. A Nigerian has to know the kind of job he or she is doing to earn more than 2, 500 Euro after tax monthly. Any Nigerian finding it easy in Germany must have surprisingly made a mark in his or her profession, or in business or in crime (there are few of them no doubt).

What many Nigerians families are going through in Germany is better experienced than imagined. A working Nigerian family with little children is pushed almost to the edge by the German law which makes it impossible for the family to invite a relative from Nigeria, for a period longer than three months, to help them in taking care of the kids while the man and his wife work. Unlike America or Britain, where a man can bring his mother or mother in-law or sister or any female relative, as long as necessary, to help them in taking care of the kids so that he and his wife can work, in Germany, such a relative is only allowed to stay for only three months, if and when such a person is granted a visa. For somebody’s mother or mother-in-law to stay longer than three months in Germany, requires the host Nigerian family to provide a proof of working permit, for the visitor, only obtainable from the relevant German Works Office (Arbeitsamt).

This office issues the working permit, needed for the extension of the visitor’s visa, only after the host family must have shown it a proof of employment for the visitor. Think about it: how can a man provide a proof of employment for his mother or mother in-law who may be above 60 years old when he has no company of his own? Even when the Nigerian manages to ask any of his friends, who have a registered company, to issue his mother or mother in-law a letter of employment, such is rejected by the Works Office (Arbeitsamt), that will then say that such a job should be given first of all to a German who needs job, that only when no German wants such job, can it be given to a foreigner. Then the period of waiting for a German to take or reject the job sets in and might last for eternity and at the end the whole aim is frustrated and defeated.

Because then, a three month non-renewable visa given to the visitor must have elapsed, and it will be time for the visitor to leave. But tell me why the Germans are afraid to allow a woman who’s above 50 to stay and help her son or son in-law (as the case may be) and his family as long as the host family has proof that it can take care of the visitor? Women above 50 years old can’t engage in any crime, so the Germans are not supposed to be afraid of allowing them to stay longer in their country. The reason is that Germans don’t want their society to be teeming with old black women; for them allowing Nigerians and Africans to bring their mothers or mother in-laws to Germany for longer period would “contaminate” their Aryan society. They don’t want to see lots of old black women walking their streets! Very unfortunate! This writer knew what he went through before his visiting mother was allowed to stay for six months in Germany in 2003; it was an experience not worth re-living.

The worse is that any family that engages the service of a nanny should be ready to “put down their pay slip” every month for the child minder (very expensive) meaning that they are working only for the child minder. Think of what Nigerians with children are going through; the stress is too much, because, in a case where the man and the wife are all working, they are always on the run because of one engagement or the other: Apart from going to work, the children will be taken to school or kindergarten; then in the evening, the children’s home work must be corrected, the children will be taken to evening lessons or football or ballet or music or judo practice (in some cases, one after the other, because, each child has his or her own area of preference). Although Germany do pay about 154 Euro for each child every month, that amount pales into insignificance when compared to the stress children bring and the expenses a family incurs every month (per child). Although parents will still be parents without this money the German state is paying, but, to avoid some people thinking that that amount makes a whole world, it’s good to put the record straight here. Children shoes, clothes, toys, books, out-door or recreational activities are very expensive. Children outgrow their stuff (wears, toys, books etc) so fast that parents are kept on their toes to replace them so that their children would “look like others”. In Germany, schools don’t use uniforms, and for that, parents must endeavour to replace their children’s wardrobe always. Many parents send their children for extra lessons and this is not cheap.

Somebody might ask: If life is not so easy in Germany, why are Nigerians still there, why don’t they re-locate back to Nigeria or to other countries? The answer is that Nigerians in Germany are afraid to relocate due to the fear of the unknown. They are afraid to go back to Nigeria, because, they don’t know where to start from there. Many of their mates in Nigeria have moved ahead of them and the things they sent home for safe-keeping were squandered by their families or those they gave them to, for safe- keeping.

Nigeria is getting better and there are lots of opportunities to be harnessed over there, but, without a start-up capital or a concrete plan or arrangement, which many Nigerians in Germany don’t have, nothing can work in Nigeria. Even if one has the wherewithal (resources) to re-locate and start something in Nigeria, but, without being frugal, the person might watch everything go down the drain and at the end, will revert back to square one and might regret ever making the re-location move. The lack of basic necessities of life and the brutish, nasty and short life obtainable in Nigeria due to lack of security, put many Nigerians off (stopping them from moving back to Nigeria).

The Nigerian children born in Germany keep some of their parents from re-locating back to Nigeria, because, the Nigerian educational and medical sectors including the infrastructure are all decadent and can’t attend to the needs of the returning parents and their children. A child who never experienced want or power outage or dry tap or mosquito bites or typhoid fever or roofless or unequipped classroom before, will take time to get over the shock the condition of things he or she will meet in Nigeria would give to him or her.

Many Nigerians in Germany may not re-locate because they may never have access to the medical care and prescription drugs they need in Nigeria. Although many Nigerians don’t go for periodic medical check-ups, but, the fact is that 2 out of every 5 Nigerians in Germany have serious medical conditions and need constant medication to be healthy. The stress and hardship many have faced here over the years have taken their toil on their physical and emotional well being. How many Nigerians here have high blood pressure or diabetics or eye diseases or other kinds of illness?

The problem is that many afflicted by any of the above mentioned illness are not aware of the health mess they are into, because, they never go for regular check-ups. Those who’re aware of their serious health conditions would think twice before re-locating to Nigeria due to the systemic rot bedevilling our health sector. Also, genuine drugs are hard to come by in Nigeria as the country is replete with fake drugs, and that’s a source of concern to any Nigerian thinking about what to do with his or her life in Germany.

Most of all, Many Nigerians in Germany would never re-locate to Nigeria; because, the Embassy of Nigeria in Germany, in connivance with the German local authorities, deceived them into renouncing their Nigerian citizenship, when the Nigerian constitution and the German law on immigration say otherwise. So a Nigerian, who was stripped of his or her Nigerian citizenship, needs a Nigerian Resident Permit (Green Card) to be able to go back to his or her fatherland. This is pure madness! Mr. President, this is where Nigerians in Germany need your help. But stay tuned, your Excellency, as the story has just begun!

To be continued!

By Temple Chima Ubochi

Bonn, Germany