Nigeria is
currently embroiled in a
diplomatic stand-off with Brazil
over an incidence that occurred
at the University of Lagos.
Female students from Brazil who
are part of a one year exchange
programme at the university,
refused to stay in the hostel
accommodations provided for
them on campus even after
school authorities provided
generating sets for the rooms,
installed air-conditioner units, and
equipped the rooms with water
purifiers, DSTV, internet access
and working telephone lines.
The foreign students turned down
the rooms and asked instead for
accommodation in any of the
reputable five star Hotels in
Lagos. The Nigerian programme
coordinator refused, telling them
that their Nigerian counterparts
in Brazil had settled down into
the student accommodations
provided for them in Brazil so
there was no reason the
Brazilians shouldn't stay in
Moremi Hall in Unilag.
Unbeknown to authorities, the
foreign students contacted their
Embassy claiming that they were
in fear for their lives and this led
to Interpol agents being called in
to 'rescue' the Brazilians from
Unilag.
This has now resulted in a tense
exchange of words between
officials of the two countries but
the Brazilians are unrelenting in
their decision to remove their
citizens from University of Lagos
and from the exchange
programme. Speaking from the
Brazilian embassy in Lagos, one
of the rescued girls explained why
she and her fellow exchange
students were afraid for their
lives. According to her, during
their induction, when they first
arrived in Unilag, they noticed
that a lot of Nigerian girls had
Brazilian hair on their heads.
This did not alarm them and they
even found it amusing when they
learnt that women were willing to
pay as much as $2000 for the
hair of their compatriots.
