For one, the World is aware of their plight and the UN has condemned the bombardment of Lebanon. There is global awareness of the current crisis in their nation, which has led the UN and EU to call repeatedly for a ceasefire in the on-going war between Israel and Hezbollah. Nigeria has little or no significance in middle east politics, hence any protest in Nigeria about current events in Lebanon is of little relevance. Lebanon and the Lebanese people should take some responsibility. They are the ones that act as host to Hezbollah, and Hezbollah has used it camps in southern Lebanon to fire rockets into repeatedly, until Israel decided to respond in kind. So I think these mischievous Lebanese nationals should henceforth take their protests elsewhere. My main concern however, is with the security of lives and property in our country. There is pattern of violence whenever protests along ethnic and or religious issues are at center stage in Northern Nigerian. Given this kind of volatile atmosphere, it is ill adviced for anyone to plan on staging a protest in that region of the country. We know too well that regardless of how peaceful such planned protests may be, violence can erupt so easily, and unless the organizers of this protest have some other motive up their sleeves, they ought to know better.

Take for example the Cartoon riots that left over 200 people dead. Nigeria had nothing to do with it. That aggravation was between some disgruntled middle east Muslims and a Danish tabloid that published the cartoons. Somehow, some northern Nigerian Muslims managed to drag other Nigerians into the equation, and the result was another senseless slaughter of innocent people. So I am quite weary and Nigerians should too when we hear of such an event as a planned protest in Kano by some Lebanese nationals over the bombardment of their country by Israel. It is very obvious that these people are trying whip up religious sentiments with the aim of destabilizing the volatile peace that currently exist there. If these crooked Lebanese had any sense of decency, they would have thought twice staging any such protest in northern Nigeria given the tendency of certain Nigerians to go over board and turn such occasions to a killing spree.

I have heard first hand from Nigerians that have lived in Lebanon of how they are treated by the Lebanese public and it is very demeaning.

As a matter of fact, a close friend of mine often recounts his ordeal when he played semi professional basketball in Beirut a few years ago before moving to the US. We used to laugh at stories of his ordeals in Lebanon, but it is no laughing matter. Many Nigerians in Lebanon also suffer similar indignity.

According to this friend of mine, whenever he left his apartment to go grocery shopping, people would jeer and spew racial insults at him. Often times, he would ignore the racial comments directed at him and act as if he was completely unaware of the insults, but then they'd point at him and shout "Nigger" just to make sure he knew it was him they were referring to. This was no isolated incident either. It happened so often that he eventually had to get used to it. Nobody should have to go through that.

The one that blew my mind was an incident that occurred at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on his way back to Lebanon after a visit to Nigeria to see his parents during his off season. He said after he showed his passport and necessary travel documents to Nigerian immigration/customs officials, they asked him several un-necessary questions, and then asked him to step out of line for further questioning. He complied.

They then went away into an office with his passport along with his Lebanese work permit. After about 15 minutes, they re-appeared and told him he could not travel because there was a problem.

My friend knowing very well that his paperwork was legitimate and that he had never been in any trouble with the law, began demanding to know what reasons they had to prevent him from traveling. They could not provide him with answers, but escorted him to an airport security room in the building. There, he encountered an airport security officer. He again demanded to know what was going on and why he was being detained. The Security officer claimed he was unaware of anything, but that he (my buddy) should wait, and then left the room. Shortly after, a Lebanese businessman walked into the room and introduced himself to my friend.

My friend then enquired as to the man's identity and the Lebanese businessman apologized for my buddy's inconvenience revealing that he (the Lebanese) was the one who asked the Nigerian officials to detain him. When my friend asked why, his response was that he wanted a chance to negotiate a possible transfer deal with him regarding leaving his current basketball team, and joining his (the Lebanese businessman's team).

I told my friend that if had been me in that situation, it would have been an all out war. Imagine a Lebanese asking Nigerian officials at a Nigerian International Airport to detain and disrupt the travel plans of a Nigerian. This Lebanese that is not an airport employee had access to immigration/customs offices. He had access to the back end offices and behind the counter in a Nigerian International Airport, and still had enough muscle to have Nigerian security officials delay and detain Nigerian Citizens. What a shame!!!!! Which Nigerian can pull that off in Beirut? Not in this life time, and not even in a 100 life times.

This is one of the reasons why I have absolutely no regard for Nigerian immigrations/ customs. Above all, I have little respect for Lebanese folks.

I even encountered an obnoxious one at Eko Hotel, who found out in a hurry that he wasn't talking to a regular Nigerian, and then jumped in his car and sped off after a brief confrontation that he wouldn't forget soon. I'm not going to get into that. But people, Nigeria is really in serious trouble. If Lebanese and others can disrespect us in their countries as well as ours, then something is seriously wrong.