Finally, London ‘Bridge Is Falling Down’

London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, My fair… Just about every educated person is familiar with the traditional nursery rhyme “London Bridge Is Falling Down” which deals with the collapsing London Bridge and attempts, realistic or fanciful, to repair it...

Several theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme and identity of the “fair lady” of the refrain. However, the meaning of the rhyme and identity of the ‘fair lady’ are no longer mysteries for the average Nigerian traveller on whose face the London bridge seems to have collapsed.

Rated the 6th largest oil producing nation in the world, Nigeria is also termed the “Giant of Africa” and its dense population makes it the most populous black nation in the world. But it does appear that all the appellations are nothing but self-adulation as they hold no sway whenever America and Britain decide to impose varying degrees of sanctions on the nation.

In this special report, Vanguard’s Levinus Nwabughiogu samples opinions regarding the recent imposition of 3,000 Pounds Sterling Travel bonds on Nigerians by the Government of the United Kingdom.

Again, Britain has sneezed and sent shivers down the spines of Nigerians. Like in some theatrical stance, both countries have continued to demonstrate that once upon a time, they lived as mother and daughter. And so, from time to time, Britain stirs up a controversy suggestive of the fact that She “discovered”, colonized and reluctantly later gave independence to Nigeria.

Just on Monday this week, news made the rounds that the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) had plans to impose 3,000 pounds as travel bonds on the citizens of six countries, among them Nigeria, Ghana, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Pakistan and India.

While Nigeria and Ghana are West-African countries, the rest are Asian – all bearing the tag “high risk” countries. Interestingly, the other countries were also colonized by Britain and so, with that, are tucked into the conglomerate of the Commonwealth Nations.

But that is an intimacy that seems to be lost on the home policy of the British Government each time the need arises. Instead, Britain always appears brutish and lashes out heavily on these countries. Such was the case when the country came up with the new travel policy during the week.

Hear the British Home Secretary, Ms. Theresa May, who said: “This is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands, while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain.”

She added: “In the long run, we’re interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services.

“Consequently, from November, a pilot scheme which will target visitors from those countries who will have to pay the UK government a form of cash guarantee or deposit to deter immigration abuse will commence. They will forfeit the £3,000 if they overstay in Britain and fail to return to their home countries by the time their visa has expired.”

Apart from security reasons which many believe prompted the charges, sources also disclosed that the Home Office of the British Government might as well be targeting countries with high volumes of visitor visa applications and what it deems to be relatively high levels of fraud and abuse.

Meanwhile, the development came as a shock even though it wasn’t the first time the British Government would be imposing stringent sanctions on the country. Since then, a lot of concerns have been raised by Nigerians just as some democratic institutions such as the National Assembly, in stout defence of Nigerian citizens in Britain, have also threatened to reciprocate the hostile measure.

A peep into history indicates that in September 1986, the Margaret Thatcher administration decided, at the end of a cabinet meeting that in future, travelers from Nigeria, India, Ghana, Bangladesh and Pakistan would need to obtain visas in their own countries before traveling.

Before the 1986 decision, nationals of all Commonwealth nations, except Sri Lanka, did not need visas to travel to the UK.

Justifying the decision, Home Secretary at the time, Douglas Hurd, said: “We have to have immigration checks, and I think it is more sensible that these checks are carried out before someone sets off on a journey.”

Reacting, the opposition Labour Party described the Thatcher government decision on visa requirements for the five countries as racist. Then shadow home secretary in the Labour Party, Gerald Kaufman, said: “It is typical of this government that in future, white visitors from racialist South Africa will be able to come here without a visa while a visa will be required for parents and other family members of British citizens living and working in this country.”

But as the country heats up, many Nigerians have evaluated the measure and appear divided in their views. While some bemoaned the UK government’s decision, many lashed out at the Nigerian Government and the elite whom they said had not made the country any better for the people.

They were also emphatic about the dilapidated social infrastructure and poor living conditions which the government has refused to improve on.

But at the time of filing this report, there were speculations that the British government might rescind the decision – though no step in that direction had been taken.

Meanwhile, Saturday Vanguard exclusively sought the views of some Nigerians on the issue and below were the excerpts of that encounter.

Must we go to UK?—Ambassador Leo Okougwu, Ex-Nigerian Envoy to Romania & Bulgaria
If you are going to a foreign country, you prepare for it. If you are overstaying, then please, ask the host country, let them know that you are overstaying and this is the reason why you are overstaying. It is a very simple exercise. But if you are overstaying and the country doesn’t know that you are overstaying, it is wrong.

If our Legislators made a law saying that this will happen if you overstay in Nigeria, you have to pay a certain amount of money, then that has to do with the sovereignty of that country. But if you don’t want it that way, you must put certain things about other countries intoconsideration before enacting your legislations. If the British did that and looked at the circumstances in that case and then said, because of the experience we have been having, this is what we are going to do and they come up with a regulation and it is approved by their parliament and you said you are going to oppose it?

If you want to go there and they said you have to deposit 3,000 pounds and you said you don’t have it, then, don’t go. Are they forcing you to come? Must you go? Why must you go because you have money and next door, you have people suffering? What for?

Develop your own tourism industry. Look at your hospitals. Equip them. I tell you that the people you are going to meet in UK hospitals might be Nigerian doctors. But why are they there? It is because you are not encouraging them to come back home by having bad hospitals; by having tacitly equipped hospitals. That’s why most of them are there. Encourage your doctors to come home and do what they have to do.
Blame it on the leaders —Dr. Ogbonnaya Onuoha

The decision taken by the British is born out of national security and national interest . Maybe there is national pride to stop other nationals of countries of the world from getting quick
access into their country. If we have a good country, which I think we do, but the leaders are not as good in their intervention as what we have in other countries, it’s up to them to now ask the government why it is so.

Nigerian leaders should bury their heads in shame—Annkio Briggs, Social Crusader and Human Rights ActivistAny government official that is arguing the demand that the British government is making should know they have every right to make that demand. If Nigeria doesn’t like it, they should also make the same demand on the British citizens. But I think the government officials should be ashamed of themselves that they are spending time arguing over this issue.

It is actually an embarrassment to all Nigerians that we are singled out in this manner and it is because of the lack of accountability and the failure of government that has made this possible. It is not your fault, it’s not the market man’s fault; it is the fault of the Senators and the members of House that are now arguing the point. You see, you and I don’t have that luxury. The man in the community and in the market doesn’t have that luxury.

It is up to you and I, the man on the street, the man in the market to make sure that our so-called politicians and the elected don’t abandon us and fly out, and how do we do it? We do it by taking power, by having people’s power and insisting that everybody must get medical care here. That way, we will make sure that our hospitals work and our roads are good.

As a human being and as somebody who will speak up against injustice, whether in Nigeria or outside of Nigeria, I think that we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the United Kingdom is a country and therefore like Nigeria.

And the United Kingdom is a country governed by its own rules and regulations. The UK, like Nigeria, has the right to change its laws when it suits them against whomever they choose. The British government must have a reason why it proposes this. But to someone who is aware, we know that people, not just Nigerians, but people seeking greener pastures travel to other countries like Europe and America.

All over Europe and America, people are dying in the desert trying to get to places like Italy, Turkey and places like that. When you look at that, you can begin to see why any country would want to make sure that only the people they permit are in their country and that when they tell you to come in for six months, or for two months, or two weeks for medical reasons or for education or whatever, when you finish that you will go.

The fact that people have overstayed and continue to over –stay, whether we like it or not, is a strain on the country. It is an economic strain on them. It is a social strain on them in the sense that, fair enough, there was the issue of the young man who strapped a bomb to himself on his way to America. The only reason why he boarded was to blow off the plane.

This was a young man who traveled to the UK for studies, for exposure. He got exposed in the UK and also had some level of contacts while he was in Nigeria.

Then recently, the young man who is a Nigerian by the fact that his parents are Nigerians but was born in the United Kingdom, tried to blow up a plane. So I am just trying to say that if this is happening in Nigeria, what will Nigerians do? Nigerians would be shutting their borders so that people from Niger, people from Mali, Chad or Cameroon do not cross into Nigeria illegally and perpetrate terrorist acts in Nigeria.

It is a serious punishment on Nigeria and Nigerians —Chief Sam Nkire, National Chairman of the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA)I think the leadership of this country must protect its citizens. It is a serious punishment on Nigerians and Nigeria has come a long way with Britain. Nigeria was colonized by Britain and so many Nigerians live in Britain and we haven’t been found wanting. We have always seen Britain as our second home. So it will be very sad to have that kind of imposition. If Britain wants to do that to other countries, I don’t think it is right to do it to Nigeria.

I don’t think that should happen because it is a free world. If a Briton wants to live in Nigeria, he is free to do that. If a Nigerian wants to live in Britain, it is up to him. I don’t think there should be any restriction. People should treat others fairly and equitably.

FG must protect Nigerian citizens….Chief Victor Umeh, National Chairman, All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGAOur Government must protect Nigerian citizens. That is very terrible. It is like asking Nigerians not to come to the UK anymore. So, I believe that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs with our Government will be able to liaise with the British Government and get that policy rescinded.

You canot restrict people from exercising their freedom of choice of places where they can get treatments if they can afford those treatments. But the important thing is that the pressure is on the Government of Nigeria to make our medical facilities excellent so that people can go to hospitals here, get treated and then go home without wanting to go abroad. If our medical facilities are functional and
good enough, there will be no need for anybody to travel out of the country.

It shows the failure of Nigerian Government—Dr. Oladimeji Lawal, Public Administration, Gombe State UniversityIt is a wake-up call for the country that we should build our nation. We should understand the fact that there is no place in the world that can never be a home. What the UK government attempted to do is a demonstration of a serious country that is concerned about the influx of people into its territory, that is concerned about the wellbeing of its people and its infrastructure. So, it is not a reason why Nigeria should be crazy about the UK asking you to come with 3,000 pounds and all of that. I mean, there is no big deal about it.

It is not a must that you should travel out of the country. It is not a must that you go and stay in another man’s land. Discover your own, make it attractive and people will be looking forward to staying with us, working and living with us if we have a comfortable environment. What they have simply told us is that we cannot continue to rely on them and then we should look inwards, develop our society, make our society comfortable for people to stay, work and live.

So, there is no justification for the cry. It is their country and they have made a policy as regards how they want to run their country, the kind of people they want to admit into their territory and how long they want you to stay. In terms of International Relations, it is a demonstration of a serious, focused country. So, if we think we are very responsible as a country, whether we go in there or not, it doesn’t matter.

This is even time to reciprocate what the UK has done by saying that the British national will have some millions of Naira before coming into Nigeria to know whether we are the ones that will feel the effect or them. The reactions of some Nigerians to this development these few days practically demonstrates that our governments at all levels are not serious of building a society where we find comfort and live peacefully.

It is insult on Nigerian people—--Comrade Yinka Odumakin, Human Rights Activist
It is a gratuitous insult on the people of Nigeria by the dwindled British Empire. If after all the years of colonizing Nigeria the Brits think they have not milked us enough, the Nigerian Government should bare its teeth against British interests in Nigeria. When Abacha stopped British Airways from flying to Nigeria, London had to beg.

Bottom-line:
Whether or not Britain reverses the decision, one thing the move has succeeded in doing is telling the Nigerian government and the elite who junket to the UK and similar places on a whim that the time to develop local infrastructure is long over due.

A country that got her independence 53 years ago, in the reckoning of many Nigerians, ought to have made itself the envy of the world. Once again, the President Goodluck Jonathan administration has been challenged to live up to its mandate.