By Adeola Aderounmu.

My attention was first drawn to the gruesome murder of our dear brother Aikpitanhi Osamuyia through an article written by Sonala Olumhense in the Nigerian Guardian on Sunday 17th June 2007. Am I supposed to be surprised that I didn’t find this important News on BBC online News about Africa? To be sure, I conducted a local search on BBC website. I will not be able to explain why the BBC is quick to report news about drowning migrants trying to reach Europe and not about a migrant who has been senselessly killed by the Spanish Police on a so called deportation flight to Nigeria. Let us imagine that it is one Briton or an American that was killed….I leave the rest to your imaginations. What is the value of an African life, a Nigerian for that matter?

Though news from BBC and CNN are arguably bias regarding Africa, one cannot still explain how they choose what News is priority or worthwhile. Somehow, News organisation and journalists have prejudice for what is News and what is not. They have some funny standards or criteria to decide what to publish and what to ignore.  I mean if you can get breaking News on sinking migrant ship or boat, how can you not get breaking or late News about a deportee who was murdered on a flight especially after the pilot re-directed the flight back to Spain? It is a strange world.

Foreign News Agencies are trying really hard but Nigerians should thank the Home Press like the Nigerian Guardian for example for been the newspaper company that they are; otherwise living in the Diaspora (someone said there is no Diaspora) would have been living in the dark concerning things of true Nigerian interests. With internet and blogs, Nigerians are now not only creating News, they are writing them as well. Thumbs up!

And so Aik Osamuyia was killed by the Spanish police and the incidents as bad as it was did not get global attention. The Nigeriavillagesquare.com appears to be the arrow head in making this injustice known worldwide. Some other Nigerian online News services also devoted some space and reference to the story. Good job!

One more time, I am hereby expressing my disgust for the Spanish police. They discharged their duties beyond the limit of human undertakings and far above the acceptable limits of human error. In trying to deport Osamuyia by all or any means possible, they killed him.

There is a letter that has been signed by thousands of Nigerian across the world on nigeriavillagesquare.com.  The letter and the demands in it will not bring Osamuyia back but it is well thought and necessary. Beyond the letter, we (Nigerians) must begin to look at our existence from all angles irrespective of where we are and what we are doing.

Truly, home is the best! But Osamuyia was not willing to go back home. It will be difficult to see the views of Osamuyia but I would only imagine that, like me, he has seen the obvious disparity between living in Europe and living in modern day Nigeria. He was not willing to return (that much we have read) and he had his reasons.  Only those who are his close friends or families can give us detailed accounts of his entire travails preceding the unnecessary murder.

The most unfortunate thing however, is that he died and didn’t get the chance to fulfill his dreams of a better tomorrow. To ensure that Osamuyia did not die in vain, the Spanish interior minister should resign with immediate effect and the police officers who killed Osamuyia should start preparing for their trials and be ready for a long time behind bars. Anything short of this will mean that the Spanish government as an institution is a huge joke.

The Norwegian Police killed Obiora Eugene last year and they are still going about their abnormal duties. Every year around the world, people of African origin (maybe we should refrain from calling ourselves blacks) are killed senselessly and for nothing. In Russia, in the US, in the UK and other places, we have seen and read true life stories of unnecessary tortures and killings. Does anyone have the statistics of the number of harassments that people from Africa encounter daily globally? 

Back home, the Nigerian government should create the environment that will discourage her youth from running away without the thoughts of ever returning home. When I came to Europe for the first time in January 2002 and went back in November of the same year, I remembered a few people questioning me on “why I returned after only about 10 months”. A friend actually told me that he would never have thought about returning if he was in my position. There are many Nigerians like this, even those that are well established abroad. Some have sworn never to step on Nigerian soil again.

In 2006, I saw boys and men who told me that if they ever travelled abroad, they will not return to Nigeria until they are about 80 years or not at all. It was very difficult for me to explain to them that living abroad is not what they have in mind. The main reason I couldn’t do that was because I will be returning to my new base in Sweden. How can I convince them not to have such a thought about living abroad when I have shifted my base from Festac Town to Stockholm? They see people returning home in flashy cars without knowing how they got the money to buy the cars! They see their friends building mansions without knowing how the projects were executed. In their minds, living abroad is all you need to make money and shine!  But I must be quick to add that some Nigerians are reaping excellent results for their honesty, hard work and perseverance back home. They are too few sha.

I do not blame Osamuyia at all. The last time I visited Nigeria, I virtually ran away after 2 weeks! I am sorry if this statement hurts anyone. The previous times in 2002 and 2003, I actually stayed up to 2 months each. Nigeria is my home and I will always want to be there but the last time I visited, I was sure I didn’t want to stay 2 months. Things were at an all time low points. When I left on December 28 2006, a lot of people were actually heading back as well to the United States and other places. The stories for the sudden rush back were all the same. No light, no fuel, endless queues at fuel station, fear of daylight and dark nighttime sophisticated armed robbery, high cost of living, …., ….., ……, ……..  Fill the gaps.

One day in December 2006 around the time of the oil pipeline explosion near Abule Egba, I woke up and asked my friends why they were all at home with me on a day that was not weekend. One guy told me that that was the “good thing” with Nigeria. “There is no work, so you can stay at home enjoy and relax”. Is that what they call sarcasm? These friends of mine are all graduates like me and we left the University around 1995! Many people still see getting out of Nigeria as a lucky chance. They do not see our struggles afterwards and so for now, they don’t care. They usually say expressions like, “Let’s trade places and let me try Europe for sometime too”.

I wondered what Osamuyia escaped from in Nigeria, but I am sure he didn’t want to return to it. He preferred another life, another chance. He was not lucky. He didn’t get much of the other chance, not for long in any case.

Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday yet our cyclic politicians have started sharing loots….wherewithal our eternal hope?

  May the Glory of Nigeria come, soon!

Adeola Aderounmu.

Today, I have filed an application for a permit to demonstrate with the Swedish Police. I don’t know when the permit will arrive or when I will be called to pick it up.

We cannot demonstrate or protest here on friday as it is midsummer holiday and everything is closed. 

What I have planned is to tender the famous protest letter at the Spanish embassy in Stockholm.

I am not sure how many Nigerians will leave their jobs on the decided date next week. But I will do all I can to mobilise as many people as possible.

For now, I’ll keep the information flowing by sms and calls as I await the Police Permit to allow us to gather. I should get it anyway, it was paid for! 

It was just today that I learn that another Nigerian named Obiorah was murdered by the Police in Norway recently.

If we don’t stand up to protest now, I think many more of us will die meaninglessly in the Diaspora.

May the Glory of Nigeria come, soon!

  

By Adeola Aderounmu. 

“Until the gruesome murder of Osamuyia, I had never for once thought about Spain as a bad country to live in”.

  

My thoughts of Spain are not for evil but of good. The first time I met a Spanish person was in 2003 in my student corridor. Raul is a young fine man, very friendly and always social. If you are attending University in Sweden and you happen to have a Spanish friend, you have just boosted your social life.

With Raul and his other Spanish friends around, my weekend was always spiced up. They make good parties and they enjoy getting tipsy from drinks.  The merry making of the Spanish is a clear departure from the boring attitudes of Swedish students in my corridor.  Raul returned to Spain and I left the student corridor apartments sometime around April 2004.

 In August 2005, I met another Spanish guy called Pedro. He is the funniest guy among my colleagues. He teaches spanish and I was teaching computer science at that time. In 2006, we found ourselves at a new school together again as colleagues. This time I am teaching science. Pedro and I have been at great parties, we have shared a room on a cruise and Pedro at some time wore my Nigerian clothes (Buba and Sokoto). He is a delightful person. I can speak well of him always.

My other knowledge of Spain comes from what I’d read mostly on BBC and what my friend Paulo told me about Spain. Paulo is my friend, a Nigerian who had lived in Spain, Luxembourg and now in England. Paulo lived for some time in Sweden before moving to England. As a matter of fact, Paulo met Raul and then Pedro because he spent most of his time around me while living in Stockholm.

  

I read that there are probably more immigrants living in Spain than anywhere else in Europe. This is mainly because of the closeness of Spain to Africa and the relative ease to explore the islands associated with Spain. I have read about the difficulties that the Spanish authorities have in controlling the influx of migrants into her territories. I have also read about hundreds of migrants that have died trying to reach Spain and also about those who get to Spain and are sent back one way or the other. Most of what I read are from BBC. This news service seems to dedicate extraordinary attention to migrants trying to reach Europe. It is a soap opera on BBC.

  Paulo told me great things about Spain and Spanish girls. He told me the ease with which he spoke Spanish in comparison to the Swedish that I am still struggling with 6 years on. So, with my personal contacts with 2 friendly Spanish guys and with the stories from BBC and discussions with Paulo, my thoughts of Spain were formed.   

For the most, I love Spain. I like the Spanish men (and women that I later met and interacted with). I received an email from Pedro last week; he is spending his summer holiday in Spain. He left his Spanish phone number and would like to be reached if anyone was planning to come over to Spain over the ongoing summer break. I had thought of visiting Spain many times but I didn’t. Instead, I have been to Germany and England where I have Nigerian friends on ground.

The lure to visit Spain is still there but this time, with the additional responsibility to make it a family trip. But instead of thinking of a flight to Spain now, I am now thinking about how I can lead a protest march to the Spanish embassy in Stockholm.

  

Suddenly, my thoughts of Spain have changed. Osamuyia was to be deported to Nigeria for some reasons. He was killed in a manner that lacks far less dignity than killing any animal! My new thought of Spain is that it is a country that has wild animals as Police officers. All at once, my respect for the Spanish people disappeared with this singular unspeakable attitude of some idiots in Uniform.

  

In the days ahead, we will like to see the public trial of these animals called police officers and we are much interested in their time behind bars. Spain as a country should apologise to Nigerians and the family of Osamuyia.

Above all compensations, the Spanish police as an organisation should teach its officers the principles and fundamentals of human rights. The course should also entail the applications of these principles so that NEVER again should this happen.

May the Glory of Nigeria come, soon!