Lagos, Nigeria 2007 (Photo: Paolo Woods)
Anti-Black racism from Arabs is nothing new, but anti-Black racism from East and South-East Asians is not what most Nigerians expect. For an Asian to call us "monkeys" is beyond preposterous. For Asians to shout and yell at us, even to the point of physically assaulting a woman in her 40s is unbelievable. As you may be aware, Nigerians thrive on respect, as do Asians. Older people, Asian and African, command respect, yet to my non-Nigerian colleagues this does not translate across nationalities. I see that they have respect for each other, but literally zero, zilch, none, for older Nigerian staff. I know a bit of the language, so I can understand when they are insulting us in our presence, calling us "bastards."