Public affairs commentator, Dr. Ope Banwo, has defended an American woman who recently criticised some aspects of her experience in Nigeria, saying Nigerians should address the issues she raised rather than accuse her of demarketing the country.
Banwo said the woman’s comments should serve as an opportunity for Nigerians to reflect on some of the challenges confronting the country, particularly poor infrastructure, flooding, inadequate public facilities and indiscriminate urination in public places.
Reacting to the controversy generated by the woman’s comments, Banwo said he did not understand why Nigerians were “dragging” her for speaking about what she experienced in the country.
According to him, rather than getting angry with the woman, Nigerians should pay attention to the “embarrassing truths” she revealed and work towards addressing them.
“To me, this is not demarketing Nigeria at all. The Nigerian market is bad by itself in many respects, even if we have our great points. This is showing Nigerians the mirror of what she sees, and it’s not pretty,” Banwo said.
He questioned how public urination had become commonplace in parts of the country, while also expressing concern over the high cost of living in some of Nigeria’s most expensive residential areas.
Banwo specifically cited areas such as Victoria Island and Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos, where residents reportedly pay huge sums to rent or acquire property, despite challenges including flooding, inadequate infrastructure and unreliable electricity supply.
“I mean, how can we just be peeing everywhere? Or paying millions of naira for real estate to live in supposedly luxurious areas that are not better than a ghetto, with their pathetic infrastructure?” he said.
According to Banwo, the situation should embarrass Nigerians and motivate them to demand better governance from elected officials.
He argued that governors and political representatives are aware of many of these challenges but often focus more on short-term political gestures than on solving the underlying problems affecting residents.
“Our governors and representatives see and know these things, but they are busy sharing rice to win power without fixing these issues for us or punishing those who don’t think anything is wrong to pull out their penis in public and pee everywhere,” he said.
Banwo added that he appreciated the American woman for speaking openly about her experience, describing Americans as generally direct in expressing their opinions.
“Frankly, I appreciate this American lady for speaking out about her experience. These Americans are direct and don’t care, and maybe this will get us angry enough to do something about it,” he said.