This is not so, however, going by Saturday PUNCH’s investigation
which revealed that there is a discreet hostility from the Béninoise to
Nigerians living in their country. Although Nigerians abound in the country -both as students or workers
– there is usually an aggressive attitude once a Benin indigene
realises that one is a Nigerian. The only people that seem to love
Nigerians in the country are their females. A Nigerian businessman, Promise Nwadigos of Digos Worldwide Limited,
told Saturday PUNCH that he visits Benin Republic regularly because of
the nature of his business. According to the civil engineer, the men of
Benin do not like Nigerians because their women easily fall in love with
Nigerians. He also added that an average Benin man was lazy and
expected his wife to be the breadwinner of the family. He said, “I come here every two weeks because of my car business and
also, I import white cement from India and marbles too. It is cheaper to
‘clear’ the goods here than in Nigeria. Most young men that come here
would want to live at ease. “I’ll prefer to date a girl from Benin Republic than a Nigerian girl
because they do not ask for money. In a scenario where you would give a
Nigerian girl N5,000 her, a Benin girl would rather you feed her,
accommodate here and give her N1,000. Benin people are not rich. Most of
them are low-income earners; so whatever happens here is mostly done by
Nigerians.” Nwadigos added that Béninoise girls like Nigerian men because they (Nigerian men) work very hard and take care of the women. He said, “They like Nigerian guys because we are hard working and
decision makers. The women work the most here. Their men are the type of
people that tie wrapper and wait for their women to bring food for
them. An average Nigerian guy will work and want to impress his lady
with his success. I know that some of the men here in Benin do not like
Nigerians. For instance, if you take a cab and they find out you are a
Nigerian, they are always aggressive, even with their bikes. “Their girls like us, they don’t just like us because we are
Nigerians, they like us because we are hard working, we know what we are
doing and we are rich. They love us for our hard work. Most of their
men here are taxi drivers and they do not go to school. Some are palm
wine tappers, some sell bread. They live a useless life.” However, an estate agent in the country, Cena Rodrick, told Saturday
PUNCH that Nwadigos claims were not true. He stated that Béninoise men
were hard working. He acknowledged that there was hostility towards
Nigerians but said it was because some Béninoise have been swindled
occasionally by Nigerians; especially the Igbos.
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