Nigerians in the City of Jaipur Talk about ‘Colour Discrimination’

The city of Jaipur is home to more than 200 Nigerian students. These Nigerians talked about the colour discrimination, which they have to face constantly at public places. They get to hear comments pertaining to their race, belonging and colour. But at the same time Nigerians say that Jaipur is still far better than Delhi.

An insight into historic times

There was a time when Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the train’s compartment in Africa because of colour discrimination. But then, taking inspiration from Gandhiji’s fight for the rights of the blacks, Nelson Mandela won the elections. With Nelson Mandela’s victory in South Africa, discrimination based on colour came to an end officially in the year 1947.

But, another truth is that colour discrimination still persists in the world around us. You can get to observe this discrimination in some or the other form in different countries of the world. Here we are talking about the colour discrimination faced by Nigerians in Jaipur.

Nigerian students, studying at various institutes in the city of Jaipur say that they do have to face discrimination because of their colour and race. They are looked at with distrust some times while hearing comments on their colour and race is pretty common, especially at public places. They believe that what is needed from today’s society is – Change of Mindset. And then we can share this beautiful world happily.

Let’s hear what some of our Nigerian students have to share –

Anigbo: Anigbo Amarki has come to Jaipur for pursuing a course in Biotechnology. She says that she has gone through times when nobody sat next to her, while she was travelling in a bus. She is not very good with the Hindi language but she can still understand a bit of it. She says, she has heard people question each other about the way Nigerians’ hair looks, their colour, etc. She says it would be easier for Indians to accept them as normal humans if they are taught acceptance from childhood days.

Emanuel: Emanuel is pursuing B.Pharma in Jaipur. He actually belongs to Lagos State, Nigeria. He shares that people stare at him for a while but then everything becomes normal. His friends had to face racial attacks while living in Delhi but he feels good in Jaipur. He says that people often create a mindset about races because of some bad news or criminal activity done by one person. You cannot judge a person by his race or colour. You need to get to know them as a person. He finds himself lucky to have found some friends in the Jaipur city.

Osama: Osama is doing his Msc. in Biotech from a private institute in Jaipur. Osama Bello says that some people address him as ‘O Kale’, meaning ‘Hey Black’. But then he answers them saying, “Yes, I am ‘kale’”. He admits that sometimes he just enjoys it while other times he does feel bad. However, he says that in India, it is easy to get to know people and gradually make friends with them.

While many a times, people live in misconceptions that all Nigerians are bad or criminals, it is not true. Not every Nigerian is involved in criminal activities like cybercrimes or smuggling, drugs, etc. They are also normal human beings, just like Indians. And then, a criminal does not have a race or religion or nationality. It is high time that we change our outlook towards people belonging to different countries, races, religions, communities, etc. and rather choose to see everyone as an individual.

So, forget about colours and races, and channelize love and friendship!