Another gem from Quora

• Nothing works and no one seems to care, it’s all ‘someone else’s problem’.
• Being objectified as a potential source of money, rather than a human being. As an obvious none Africa foreigner, every single person who approached me uninitiated, be it in the street, a bar, or hotel, (even inside a supermarket) would try to hustle you.
• The smell – Reaking BO to make your eyes water. Once again no-one cares about personal hygiene whether they are rich or poor.
• The inedible food which gave me food poisoning all the time. Got so bad I ended up living on canned soup (when I could find it to buy) and multi-vitamins.
• Total lack of customer service culture. Ordering food took hours even with no other customers, over half the things on menues were never available (I think they were just to there for show) and when you finally got your food, after complaining two times at least, it was either overcooked and/or stone cold/inedible/wrong order (all of the above) Complain…’so sorry sir’ or ‘no have, tomorrow sir’ shrug shoulder and even laugh at you nervously. This was at the local equivalent of high end hotels and restaurants too.
• It’s a kleptocracy, he who steals the most has the most power. No shame and no self respect. The exception being government officials and rich business men (usually the same persons) who thought they were gods as they had already achieved the position to steal whatever they wanted unopposed, thus they had egos bigger than mountains! Whether you claim to be a Christian or a Muslim, money is the only God there.
• Considering the obsession with money no one understands ‘time is money’, and they waste yours without a care. It take 5 times longer to do anything than it does in the West and that’s if you can even get it done. Local saying ‘Nigerians get paid to turn up to work, everything else at that point is extra’.
• Insanity that is traffic. Someone told me ‘Nigerians don’t Drive…they move vehicles’. No rhyme or reason to driving as it is done either at insane speeds weaving all over roads in smoke belching car about to fall apart or brand new BMW/Mercedes covered in dents and scratch’s. Or you’re stuck in traffic jam for hours because no one will let anyone else through ahead of them, even an inch. So traffic jams up everywhere and no one gets to where they’re going fast. People driving on pavements or even embankments to get a few yards ahead of others in jams and then forcing themselves back into the traffic stream, it’s called playing chicken with your paintwork. Total disregard for safety of self or others and absent of restraint. Total chaos.
• No responsibility for consequence of your own action to others. When there is an accidental it’s either ‘the Devil’s work’ or ‘Allah’s will’ never their own fault. Oh and shouting, lots of shouting!
• Lack of any credible law and order. Can’t remember the number of times I got pulled over for an attempted to extract a ‘dash'(bribe) from the white man driving himself (see traffic..I didn’t trust my life to a locals driving skills). Worst as a MOPOL who was guard at my accommodation compound armed with an AK-47 and so drunk he swayed back & forth and had to lean on my car to stand up. Last thing you do when you’re on trouble is call a police officer.
• Constant threat of being kidnapped for ransom, something with is at epidemic proportions amongst the local population and just a fact taken for granted. Local phrase is ‘(ATM) Any Time Money’. Trouble is as a foreigner there is an unrealistic expectation that you’re worth millions$ and when they are not forth coming they start to send you back piece by piece till they get some cash! Local phrase for kidnappings foreigners is ‘white gold’. While I was there they murdered a husband of French couple on a camping trip (yes crazy I know), kidnapped a 70y+ American nun and dozens of other foreigners. One point they even invaded high end supermarkets in Lagos to kidnap the foreigners, boarding schools to steal children in the night plus local Doctors and Nurses strait out of A&E, Lawyers and Judges out of courts, Professors, teachers from universities and schools, all kidnapped weekly.
• Constantly collapsing water & power infrastructure. 3–4 days a week no water in morning. Power off 8–12 hrs a day, no fuel or spare parts for backup generator, etc. This was in the Capital city Abuja, in a high end suburb for embassies etc. Driving round the city at night was dicing with death as only 20–30% of streetlight work or have power to work and 90% of the few functional traffic lights (nearly always ignored) turned off…but still crazy drivers, this time with only 50% having 2 functioning headlights!
• I could go on and on…I don’t have a positive thing to say about the place. Basically if the 57 countries I’ve visited in the world this is the worst hands down and I never want to go back.

Oh and just in case you think my opinion is isolated, check out these articles from the BBC in Nigeria, even an interview from their own President.

Can Buhari get Nigerians to queue again?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news…