A Nigerian who relocated recently to Canada got a job with a bank. In her bid to prove to the bank how valuable she could be, she told her supervisor that she had many contacts that she could convince to open accounts with the bank. The supervisor told her not to bother to ask anybody to come open an account with them. She was advised to just focus on her job in the office, that those who wanted to open an account with them would come of their own volition. She was surprised.
Another Nigerian who relocated to the United States went to the bank nearest to him one morning to open an account. He approached the receptionist when it was his turn and proudly informed her that he had come to open an account with the bank and that he had the money to deposit and all the necessary identity cards and documents. He expected a broad smile to emerge on the face of the bank lady like the morning sun making its first appearance of the day. But the expression on the face of the lady did not change. She handed a card to him and told him that he had to call the number to book an appointment to come and open an account.
The Nigerian man was shocked. He told her that for safety reasons, he didn’t want to keep the money and asked if he could pay it into a temporary account first. But he was told politely that he needed to book an appointment. As he was leaving the bank, he was wondering what type of bank would reject the money that was brought in by a customer.
Another Nigerian landed in another Western country and attended a church service some weeks later. He was well received with his family. During the service, he expected that the minister would take some minutes to ask for newcomers to the church to stand up for recognition, so as to be welcomed officially with a song like: “You are welcome in the name of the Lord. I can see in you the glory of the Lord. You are welcome in the name of the Lord.” That was not done.
He was disappointed that the church was not concerned about bringing new members into the fold and getting bigger. He felt that after the service, they would welcome them better.
At the end of the service, the bishop who visited the church stood by the West door with the vicar greeting people. The vicar asked after their welfare including whether they were new in the country. When he confirmed, the minister asked if they had settled in well, if they had any issue they needed assistance with like accommodation. He said no. The minister and other members invited them to join them for tea and coffee after the service.
When they were done with tea and coffee, and were leaving, others bid them farewell and said they hoped to see them again. He was surprised that nobody gave them a form to fill where they would supply their names, phone numbers, email addresses, home address, etc, for follow-up. He was wondering how someone from the church would follow up with them if no personal contact details of theirs were collected.
As they stepped out, they saw that the bishop was going to his car clutching his bag. “How could a bishop carry his bag?” our compatriot wondered and ran after the bishop and asked him to allow him to carry the bag for him. The bishop was puzzled but obliged him out of courtesy. They got to the car and the bishop opened the door, started the ignition and thanked them as he drove off. “A bishop driving himself!” he exclaimed.
These were some of the experiences Nigerians in some Western countries shared when we met recently at an event. We laughed our hearts out as different people recounted their experiences and those of other Nigerians they knew. But there was something striking in most of the stories. Beyond the humility and simplicity of people in the Western world, one can see the clear message of respect for the privacy of others.
Contrast that with what happens in Nigeria. The Nigerian who suggested that she could convince many of her contacts to open accounts with the bank that just recruited her was acting based on her experience. In Nigeria, high flyers in banking are employees who bring in the biggest accounts. Promotions are determined based on that. Consequently, female bank employees, including married women, become vulnerable to sexual harassment in their desperation to secure big accounts of organisations and high net worth individuals. For that reason, beautiful ladies are preferred as marketers by many banks. Their dressing, though corporate, is tailored towards being sexually appealing. The consequence is strain on marriages and strain on the health of those who work in banks, as they are under immense pressure to bring in big accounts.
Similarly, it is almost impossible for one to attend a church in Nigeria for the first time and not be “specially welcomed” with a form to fill and follow-up calls later. Some churches even have “marketers” who patrol certain neighbourhoods on weekends, stopping people at random and telling them about their church. They usually have some church leaflets they share. Their name and phone number are written on these leaflets. They tell those they talk to bring the leaflet to church. For anybody they convince to attend the church, they get paid a token. The new person also gets a token as “transport fare” for attending the church for the first time.
Why do Western countries not engage in aggressive and intrusive marketing? The reason is that they respect people’s privacy and don’t want to be seen as trying to take actions that seemingly compel someone to patronise them. Phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses and the like are private information. If you need to patronise a product or belief system, it should be your decision. Nobody should try to subtly or brazenly push you to do so. Also, people are not usually eager to give these personal details out, especially to those they don’t consider as close friends and family. These contact details are also linked to people’s bank accounts, credit cards, tax accounts, and social security numbers. Scammers can gather such personal details and use them to hack into people’s accounts.
It is for the same reason of respect for the privacy of others that people in Western countries are not usually keen to pick up the phone and call others on their personal lines, even when they have their numbers. They would rather send a message or an email stating when they will be free and asking the other party to confirm their availability for a chat. If they need to immediately call someone, they still send a message and ask: “Are you free for a quick chat now?”
The reason for this is that one never knows what people are doing at the other end. They may be driving, sleeping, working, making a presentation, holding a meeting, taking a course, preparing a document, attending to a client, customer or patient. And given that jobs are paid for on the basis of hours, each hour is properly accounted for. Call to people’s private lines only occurs in times of emergency.
That is the opposite of what happens in Nigeria. You meet someone this minute and exchange call cards or phone numbers. Ten minutes later, the person has added you to a WhatsApp broadcast group and started bombarding you with messages, videos and stories every day. Sometimes, someone you have never had any dealing with starts calling you at 12 midnight. You eventually pick thinking that there must be an emergency. The person simply asks if you are related to one Paulinus that attended a university somewhere in a particular year. You are shocked to your marrow? Was that why you called at this time of the night? Could this question not have been answered through a message? For many Nigerians, there is nothing wrong with that. Whatever they need, they get immediately. There is no room for “later.”
–X: @BrandAzuka
