Stereotype simply means categorisation of a group people based on tribe, ethnicity or sociopolitical class. In the general sense, it is synonymous to racism since both concept share similar characteristics. We live in a world with humans with different background/ ethnicity and knowledge which influences our perception of the world. No human can act beyond their level of knowledge, which means our level of knowledge of specific things determines the way we relate.
During one of my discussion classes I made mention of a category of stereotype that is beyond tribe or ethnicity. The typical form of stereotype is usually more definitive. In terms of people believing a set of people having same demographic factors are bound to behave in a kind of way, in so doing people treat them based on the general perception about them. The one I'm about to make emphasis on is more about social class. Citizens of same nationality and colour segregated by political status and social class. Citizens of same colour treating their fellow citizens like dirt due to difference in social and political status, using the any form of authority within their reach as a tool of oppression to oppress their fellow citizens, it is called sociopolitical stereotype.
I believe everyone at some point have received some kind of judgement from others for crimes they are yet to commit. People believing that as long as you are from a specific social class, this is what what your behaviour should look like. Stereotyping is a very unpleasant and funny thing because it makes people hate individuals that haven't done anything to anyone and such individual would be wondering, why exactly am I hated this much? I have had my share of it but the one I'm about to share really took a while for me to erase the experience from my mind.
Last year December, I was privilege to be among the selected few for a trip to Mauritius. The planning of this trip has been in progress since around last year February, everyone putting all that was needed into place to ensure a smooth trip. Time flies really fast, slow and steady December came and we were all excited about the trip.
I was still in Oyo State as at then, so I traveled back to Lagos so that I can hurriedly take my belongings from there and embark on my trip. Due to some extra activities that were planned I was scheduled to arrive at Mauritius before my colleagues. Which means I had to prepare for the trip before anyone else though it was just about 2-3 days difference.
December 3rd I got to Lagos just to ensure I give myself enough time to rest before embarking on the trip and to also get some things. On the 5th, I went to the airport. I got to terminal 1, there was some kind check point there, they just check Luggage for any unwanted items before allowing take your items into the airport but what these officers were doing was totally different. While they watch some wealthy people pass by them and all they did was hail them and those ones have them tips.
For other people, especially if they perceive you to be young, they will call on you to perform their duties but that won't still stop them from collecting money from you. The way they ask is as if they are entitled to it and they collect it openly without caring about anyone seeing them. I kept wondering, if it was money they wanted why the harassment? is it only young people that are eligible to be criminals? I was still pissed about that without knowing I haven't seen anything at all.
I got to the airport early because I was cautious of Lagos traffic. I got there around 4pm and my flight was around 10:30pm. So I sat at the waiting room waiting for Kenya airways staffs to open up and when it was time, I took my bag and went there to begin my check in process. There were about 8 people in front of me on the line and 5 of them were Nigerians, while the remaining 3 were foreigners.
The moment I joined the line, the person the immigration officer was attending to was one of the 3 foreigners and the process was so fast, he spent less than 3 minutes in front of the immigration officer and they barely asked him any questions. The next person was a Nigerian, a guy around his early 30s. The way immigration officer scrutinized this guy ehn, it was as if he stole something from the airport. The same happened to the next Nigerian on the line but when it got to the turn of another foreigner, everything became cool once again. At that moment I knew I was in trouble.
Out of the 5 Nigerians on the line 3 were denied access and when it was my turn, the whole unnecessary question began again. The most funny aspect of it was that the guy before me was a foreigner, he was even showing were mosquito bite him in the airport, he was complain that Nigeria mosquitoes are cruel. I was there looking how the guy was treated just to be sure I was not misreading things, this foreigner did not spend up to 4 minutes before he was directed to the luggage check in.
The immigration officer scrutinized me ehn, to the extent I was nearly forced to ask, is it a crime to be a Nigerian? It wouldn't have pained me if the immigration officers weren't Nigerians too. I was like why do you hate your kind this much? If I was treated unfairly by a foreigner I would have understood but by my own people and watching them give special treatment to foreigners while they deny their own people such treatment was something unexpected. I know a lot of crazy things happen in my country but this was new to me.
How did I overcome it? Well, I started by regretting being a Nigerian. For those who had read any of my post about my country, you will know how proud I'm to be a Nigerian but since that time my perspective changed. Overtime, my nationality became burdensome to me till I wasn't bothered about it anymore because I realised there was nothing I could do about it. My people are the reason behind the mistreatment, most Nigerians fraudulent attitude is the reason why most people are on the edge.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Stereotype in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
Image 1 - All images used are mine or else indicated otherwise
