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Uproar At The Nigerian Consulate, New York as Female Diplomats Complain They Can No Longer Tolerate Disrespect From The Acting Consul-General By Tony Kabena African Sun Times, March 11-17, 2005
A big uproar is about to burst into the open at the Nigerian Consulate in New York unless something is immediately done about it. Female consuls or the diplomats, those officials at the Consulate who are sent from Nigeria, are howling about the disrespect they receive from the Acting Consul-General, Mr. Victor Bosah. Mr. Bosah has been the Acting Consul-General since the substantive Consul-General, Ambassador Mrs. Mandu Ekong was appointed an Ambassador to a different country in June of 2004. Mr. Bosah was then the Consul (Commercial), in charge of "attracting" business to Nigeria, for which he is acknowledged to have been a total failure. Most of the women said that is where he should have remained. Since he took over as Acting Consul-General, "he's behaving like Mr. Abacha's double," said one complainant, referring to the former and late dictator of Nigeria, who died in 1998 and stole more than $5 billion of Nigeria's money. Officers requested total anonymity for fear of retribution if their names were used. Apart from the women, the men complained too. "When you come into his office, he doesn't even acknowledge you, pretending to be doing something," said one male officer. "Listen, the man is just one level above most of us in the service, he's not the Permanent Secretary, even the Permanent Secretary doesn't treat the male officers with the kind of disrespect that he treats us." The current Permanent Secretary of the Nigerian Ministry of External Affairs is a woman. But it is the women who bear the brunt of Bosah's insolence and abusive language. "When he wants you to see him on his 14th floor office, I hope he never smells the 10th floor where the Consul-General's office is located, he will just pick up the phone and bark at you, 'Come here,'" said one of the female officers. "What kind thing is that? Even my father never talks to me like that. But this man thinks we are his slaves, to treat us anyhow he wants." "The man is egotistical, abusive, insolent, and lacks basic human manners," said another female officer. " I would have thought it was an Igbo thing, but when you have big officers like the current Nigerian Ambassador to America, Prof. Obiozor in Washington, DC and that of Dr. Wigwe upstairs, (referring to the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations), you see how down-to-earth these people are. They don't go about trotting like peacocks. Come to think of it, he behaves like a peacock," and the lady began to chuckle. "I am ashamed to say this, but you know how a peacock trots around, holding its head high while its behind is wide open." She fell into a big laughter. "I am glad I can laugh, but it is a very very serious matter. We are all suffering in silence, not wanting to ruffle feathers. You don't know who is behind him, why he behaves like he's God himself." "I remember it was your newspaper that gave the name, "The Peoples Consul-General" to the former Consul-General, Mr. Taofiq Oseni. Well, let me tell you, if I were to venture a name for this man, my choice of word would be an imbecile." "Yes, that would be my choice of word, because look at what happened at last week's reception for the visiting wife of Vice President Atiku, Her Excellency Titi Atiku. The lady then related what happened at the party at the 20th floor ballroom at Nigeria House. It wasn't funny, the lady started. I mean when big and charismatic Bello called him to the podium, what did this man do, he disgraced himself. First of all, when he comes to the podium, he couldn't even properly acknowledge the Vice President's wife. He said, The Vice-President's wife, Titi Atiku. I mean give me a break, where did this man learn his diplomatic protocol. Then the man proceeded to insult the Vice-President's wife, thinking he was Chris Rock himself (the American ascerbic comedian). If you were there, it wasn't funny at all. You know what he said to the Vice President's wife, "it is because you are visiting New York that New York has experienced this heavy snow." I mean what type of insolence is that in the name of a joke? If you were to look at television, New Yorkers are already complaining of the heavy snow, that they want it to stop, and then this pompous idiot comes along, and pins the whole debacle on Mrs. Titi Atiku. Mrs. Atiku was as surprised as anybody else, and I don't think she was amused at all. You could hear the smirk of laughter, contrived. Then after the man said he was not going to talk for a long time, he proceeded to monopolize the mike (microphone), babbling like a baboon. You know even the Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Aminu Wali was not amused either. When he came to the podium, do you know what he said, "Well," he said, "since my tenant has used up all his rent, meaning all the time allotted, I am not going to speak that long. Imagine." Those who have dealt with Victor Bosah from the outside don't have anything good to say about him either. "Without talking about the perennial problem at the immigration section, which he seemed to have exacerbated since he took over, the man is nothing but a retarded moron," one of the businessmen said. Another said his ego is beyond belief. He then proceeded to narrate what happened when the Celebrate Africa Foundation had its event in Wall Street, where many African Ambassadors assembled, including the Nigerian Ambassador Mr. Aminu Wali. Said this man, you know what happened. This man was so angry because he had not been seated next to the Ambassador, he complained bitterly. The source of his complaint was that the young well-known Nigerian artist, Mr. Ibiyinka Alao, whose works are being shown all over the most prestigious places in America, had sitted next to the Ambassador. Mind you, there were many Ambassadors, and even a Minister from Senegal. All of them couldn't be accommodated in the front row. Even the Nigerian Deputy Representative, Ambassador Simeon Adekanye, didn't complain either, though he was not seated in the front. You know, the next time the organization had a reception for Ambassador Wali at the Schomburg Center, he didn't show pretending he was doing something else. Even some people who attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new Executive Members of the Nigerian Lawyers Association in New York, said they were extremely embarrassed at Mr. Bosah's behavior at the event, how he was soundly snoring away, showing disrespect, disdain and utter disinterest in what was going on, while his counter-part at the table, Judge Johnny Baynes was wide awake because he was very interested in what was going on. When these other anecdotes were relayed to the lady, she said, "Well, you see the picture of a man who believes all the women in this office must prostrate, or rather genuflect, in front of him whenever he summons us." Remorsefully, the lady acknowledged and said, "You know when we are posted here, we start to believe in our own self-importance. We forget we are here to serve the people, even the common decency of due respect to your own fellow officers, a lot of times escapes some of us. Victor Bosah is one of those who don't know anything about decency to his fellow officers." Chimed in the other lady, "We don't care what kind of god-father or god-mother he has back in Nigeria, we want to be rid of this rubbish called Victor Bosah. Listen, we can't talk publicly about this because if the American press were to know what was going on here, do you know the kind of further embarrassment the Nigerian government will suffer. Let the authorities that be deal with this matter before it gets to a very boiling point. It won't be a laughing matter." Stay tuned for more revelations on Victor Bosah.
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