I visited
the Nigerian High Commission in Dar es Salaam today to get a letter of
introduction for the Tanzanian authorities for work. Going by stories I had
heard of how bad Nigerian Embassy/HC staff could be, I went there with no
expectations.
At the
front desk someone was chatting so loudly across with a guard in Swahili, so
they were both obviously Tanzanian. When a Nigerian staff came to attend to me
in the waiting area which was in the same room/hall, I could barely hear him as
these people were yelling. I looked up in shock wondering whether I was in a
market place or an office. I told him I could not hear him and looked towards
the front desk as if to say, ask him to keep his voice down but he made light
of the situation by saying he is like a Nigerian now. I know we could be loud
but in an office, this was not acceptable. And for someone who was sent from Nigeria to represent his country in another country to accept this, it shocked me a bit. I wondered if that was what he was taught from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!
