The Diaspora Nigerians’ Image Problem of Drug and Fraud: A Case Study of the Malaysian-Indonesian Experience through Newspaper Reports

Email: owoyemi2@yahoo.com Abstract: It is no longer news that the economic and social problems in Nigeria have led to mass migration of Nigerians to other parts of the world for better job opportunities and/or education. South-East Asia has had its fair intake of some of these Nigerians especially in recent times. However, some unscrupulous Nigerians in their bid to make quick money have used the opportunity afforded by some of their host nations to commit crimes ranging from drug trafficking to internet fraud. The negative activities of these few have had a bad impact on the image of the entire citizenry of Nigeria in diaspora and this has led to stereotyping and prejudices-at times with dire consequences. Using the textual analysis method, this paper looks at the activities of some of these criminal minded Nigerians in diaspora through newspaper reports in Malaysia and Indonesia with a view to pinpointing the problems they are creating in these societies, their negative effect on other Nigerians and what solution(s) could possibly be implemented in curbing their activities.


Introduction
The aim of this paper is to look at some of the newspaper reports on the image problem that Nigerians in diaspora are grappling with and proffer solutions by which this could be overcome both in Nigeria and the different nations hosting Nigerians in diaspora. However, in doing this, this paper specifically focuses on Malaysia and Indonesia as these two nations are now the choice destinations of many outbound Nigerian travelers.
It is pertinent to point out at the outset that a study on this theme is necessary because, since the middle 1980s when Nigerians started moving out of their nation in droves to other parts of the world due largely to the economic downturn brought about by the Structural Adjustment Program imposed on the nation by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (Jumare, 2001), the image of the nation and its citizens have continued to nosedive with dire consequences. This situation is due to the activities of some of the unscrupulous elements within the citizenry who-in their craze to get rich quick-involve themselves in activities that are against the laws of their host nations and sometimes against international laws. The reactions of host nations to the activities of these few individuals have resulted in a tarnished image for the rest of the Nigerian diaspora citizenry and this has resulted in a stereotype in which anything Nigerian is seen as a bad omen. The consequences of all this is that the innocents are lumped together with the guilty because there is no mechanism to differentiate, at a glance, a crook from a gentleman or a responsible woman from 'a sleazy lot'.
Despite all the hatred and hardship this has brought on the citizenry, a sizeable flow of Nigerian outmigration has not ceased-in fact it has increased in this decade compared to the eighties and nineties-and neither has the activities of criminals among the migrants decreased. Rapid development in information and communication technology has added a new dimension to the activities of these criminals. Thus, with this development, this paper intends to bring to light the activities of these unscrupulous Nigerians in Indonesia and Malaysia.
However, it needed to be said that there is no dearth of paper on the issue of Nigerians in the diaspora. But most of them are yet to address this particular issue as it concerns Malaysia and Indonesia that is the focus of this paper. Nonetheless, to mention a few Jumare (2001) dwells on the movement of Nigerian academics to other parts of the world due to the non-functioning of the Nigerian educational system. This movement result in what is termed the brain-drain syndrome but the down side of it all, according to him, is the non-availability of jobs for many of these lecturers and hence their turning to doing menial jobs. In other words, these academics prefer these menial jobs to returning to an educational system which has been bastardized and starved of fund necessary for its proper running. Hence, the diaspora seems to be more comfortable to these academics even if it means not getting a job that is commiserates with their qualifications. This problem addressed by Jumare partly explains why there is an influx of Nigerians to Malaysia for academic purpose. With brain-drain as a result of the non-funding of the educational sector by the government and the constant strike by the universities, the best of Nigeria academics are scattered everywhere on the globe hence the drop in standard and the subsequent migration of students' outside the shore of the nation for better education with a constant academic calendar.
Another article on Nigeirans in diaspora is that of Lampert (2009). In this study, Ben Lampert looks at how Nigerians in diaspora have been contributing to the development of the nation especially through local/village association. Using the Ayege village association in London as a case study, he elaborates on how this affiliation works to better the lot of their community at home. Likewise, he looks at how this village ties could undermine the larger entity called Nigeria. However, he concludes that if the activities of organizations such as these are well harnessed, it could be turned around to help in the developmental project of the Nigerian nation.
While the article of Mahroum et al. (2006) focuses on the issue of diaspora generally, it nonetheless concerns Nigerians in the diaspora as members of the emigrant communities. The paper articulates how the potentials of these communities could be used to benefit their various nations by the source countries through turning brain-drain into brain-gain. According to the authors, the expertise of these diasporas could be harnessed through many methods by their home countries through, for example, networking, sharing of knowledge, remittances and investment. The authors believe that by using the right approach and providing the needed leadership governments of the source nations could turn their citizens to a source of gain for the nation and an avenue to further the development of their nations through this group of people. We could add here that it is for this same reason that the organization, Nigerians in Diaspora, was formed by the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. He believes that with Nigerians becoming global citizens, they could contribute immensely to development of the nation through their expertise which could be called on by the government when needed especially when they are well organized.
It was also in view of the above that another article written by the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Soludo (2006) becomes very important to mention here. According to him, the bulk of the Foreign Direct Investment in China is provided by the Chinese in the diaspora. He averred that if Nigeria could organize and encourage its citizens in the diaspora to invest at home just as the Chinese in the diaspora did, Nigeria will become another economic surprise just as China.
The significant of the three articles above is that, with the view that Nigerians in the diaspora are doing very well, most Nigerians at home always put pressure on Nigerians abroad to remit money home and to take charge of responsibilities which otherwise they would have been excused of. This in turn has made many diaspora Nigerians to look for money by all means in order to satisfy the demands at home hence the involvement of some of them in criminal activities especially those with little or no qualification to get a good job abroad.
Finally, as earlier said, articles on Nigerians and the diaspora are in-exhaustive. Therefore, it suffices us here to just add that of Emmanuel Akyeampong's paper entitled, "Diaspora and Drug Trafficking in West Africa: A Case Study of Ghana". This article is an interesting piece especially as it discusses an issue which is also of interest to this paper. The paper looks at how drug trafficking had been an issue since the colonial times and how the whole process has been internationalized especially through the borders of Ghana and other West African nations such as Nigeria. One can say that it is through the internationalization of drugs as Emmanuel Akyeampong posits that some Nigerians coming to the East now see Malaysia and Indonesia as a soft target for their drug peddling activities hence the problem which these nations also face presently and which forms one of the issues in our paper (Akyeampong, 2005). This paper is divided into six parts, beginning with the introduction. The second part explains the methodology employed in doing the research. The third part looks at some of the newspaper reports on the activities of diaspora Nigerians in Malaysia and Indonesia focusing specifically on the issue of drug trafficking and advance fee fraud both of which have led to Nigeria's battered image in these nations. The fourth part focuses on the effect of this menace on Nigerians living in the diaspora. The fifth part proffers solutions on how to curb this menace among sojourner Nigerians both by Nigeria and the host nations. The sixth part is the conclusion of the paper on this issue.

Methodology and Scope
This research is library base as it utilizes materials that are sorted out from the library, library electronic archives and newspapers. Reports gathered through the library and e-resources such as Lexis Nexis help us in viewing the researches that has been done on the issue so far both online and in books while the newspapers reports serves as our primary documents for the investigation of the issue at hand. These materials are then subjected to content analysis in order to bring out the desire issues from them and to highlight how the image of drugs and frauds committed by Nigerians are presented in news reports in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Content analysis describes a family of analytical approaches ranging from impressionistic, intuitive, interpretative analyses to systematic, strict textual analyses (Rosengren, 1981). However, since the specific type of content analysis approach chosen by a research varies according to the theoretical and substantive interest of the researcher and the problem being studied (Weber, 1990), this research utilizes the interpretative and textual analyses methods of content analysis in examining, explaining and dissecting the data that are gathered from newspapers in Malaysia and Indonesia.
In view of the above, the scope of this research is limited to reports from newspapers randomly picked in two nations, Malaysia and Indonesia, and does not include materials from other news sources in other parts of the world. Although, this research recognizes the fact that Nigerians are widely spread around the world, nonetheless, it has narrowed down its study to two nations in the same region, so as to give an accurate account of what is going on in the region concerning the image problem of Nigerians living in the region. Likewise, the newspapers were randomly picked so as to eliminate the issue of bias from a particular newspaper(s). In other words, it is meant to show that the reports are coming from nearly all the newspapers and not just a newspaper.

The Image Problem of Nigerians in Indonesia and Malaysia
The influx of Nigerians to Indonesia, according to most of the newspaper reports, was based on the growth in trading opportunities between the two nations. Nigerian traders saw Indonesia as a source of cheap textiles which they could import to Nigeria and resell at a higher price for profit. As for Malaysia, it is seen as a hub for education of which the standard in Nigerian has deteriorated as a result of lack of funding, inadequate infrastructure and a non-enabling academic environment. Some see these two nations as a potential place for employment opportunities which is also a problem in Nigeria at present (see Appendix 1). But for such group of people, their expectation turns out to be a big mistake as they found out on arrival that it is hard for them to get a job as quickly as they had expected. In fact, according to some of the newspaper reports, it is this category of people that end up involving themselves in crime. Unfortunately, they are in large numbers compared to the ones who come for legitimate business and genuine education-genuine education because as we shall see later, some may use college education as an avenue to legalize their stay while they pursue illegal activities.
Intending migrants, who left Nigeria for gainful employment in Indonesia and Malaysia, with little academic qualification or no qualification at all, were usually misled due to their ignorance and gullibility to lies from shadowy travel agents in Nigeria out of the desire to make money. Such agents misled individuals into believing stories of imaginary successes and abundance of job opportunities in some of the Asian nations whose miracle growth have become popular subject of national discourse in Nigeria. In other words, the problem of these Nigerians starts right from Nigeria itself when they start preparing for their outbound journey. Thus, after spending hundreds of thousands to make their way to these Asian countries, these migrants, who might have borrowed money from friends/kin and had joyously announced and celebrated their migration plan, came face to face with grim reality in the new nation. They became stranded either because they could not raise money to finance their return journey or out of shame decided to stay on and 'struggle' to make ends meet believing that one way or another, they will make it so as not to return empty handed and become object of ridicule in their community.
Since most of them did not come in with a proper working visa or permit-another problem which bespeak of their ignorance-even menial jobs are not readily available to them. They soon become aware that the options open to them are limited and as a result, they become public nuisance by joining gangs of drugpushers or fraudsters (Vanguard, 2008a;2008b) believing that this will bring them quick money which will enable them to return home as one of the rich 'bigguys'. It is also important to acknowledge the fact that some Nigerians do come as 'readymade' criminals with a wealth seeking mission to accomplish. At times, their coming is either to establish a base for their ring/syndicate, as is apparent in some of the newspaper reports, or to deliver their 'content' to a local dealer in an already established cell abroad.
The descriptions above fit into the situation of some of the diaspora Nigerians in Indonesia and Malaysia. A general reading of the newspapers in these two countries clearly indicates that they have become a problem through drug trafficking and fraud, the two criminal 'get rich quick' avenues out of joblessness. Some other offences such as misbehaving in public, being too laud, showing off and serving as gigolo to wealthy married but lonely women, are minor issues which could be easily handled by the host nations compared to the issue of dangerous drugs and advanced fee fraud. In short, the motivating factor for the involvement of Nigerians in diaspora in drugs and advance fee fraud boils down to the craze to get rich quick and that contrary to their expectation of a better life they had to struggle to make ends meet.

The Drug Image Problem
In terms of trafficking and selling dangerous drugs, newspaper reports from Indonesia are not encouraging. As far back as 1996, a Nigerian was arrested for trafficking and distribution of dangerous drugs in Indonesia (JP, 1996. See appendix 2 for this report). From this time onward, there is not a single year that this issue does not make part of the newspaper reports as more and more Nigerians are arrested and jailed for the same offence.
The situation in Malaysia, which currently hosts over 14,000 Nigerians, is equally alarming (Goh, 2012). Newspaper reports show that Nigerians had become a thorn in the flesh of the Malaysian society in so far as the issue of trafficking and selling dangerous drugs is concerned. In fact, the reports indicate that most of the international drug syndicates in this region and Asia were controlled by Nigerians and their local accomplices (MMO, 2013).
As a result, once an Indonesian or Malaysian meets a Nigerian, the image conjured in the mind of the locals is that the newcomer is a drug pusher or a drug seller. This has resulted in a kind of stereotyping which is unpalatable to those who are legitimate expatriates, businessmen and students in these two nations. In fact, many Nigerians now prefer to introduce themselves as coming from other African nations because of this problem. This situation has also not helped Nigerians when it comes to dealing with law enforcement agents in these countries as many have allegedly been wrongfully questioned, detained and even killed because they were Nigerian nationals or carried the green passport of Nigeria.
However, what is worth noting in is that, except for situations in which the trafficker is arrested at the point of entry, locals are also involved in these illegal activities as mules or carrier for Nigerian drug traffickers (Shuman, 2007; NST, 2010c see appendix 2 & 3 for newspaper report on this).
The news item in appendix 2 shows that even though the major owner of the package is a Nigerian who knows what he was expecting, he knows the limitation of his operation in the country and therefore had to seek the help of a local who could escape the suspicion of the local authority and easily deliver the package to him. Thus, one can conclude that while Nigerians are a problem to the society, locals are also a problem when they succumb to greed (NST, 2007;Ha, 2010).
Likewise, some of the locals apart from serving as mules and courier for these criminally minded Nigerians also help them get away with this crime especially if they are well connected or are law enforcement agents who have compromised their position (Harsanto, 2003a;JP, 2002;TS, 2010a).
Apart from the involvement of locals with this Nigerian drug syndicate, another problem which precipitates the prevalent drug problem is the availability of market for the product. The availability of market for these drugs is also a motivating factor for the constant smuggling of these substances to Indonesia and Malaysia. For example a newspaper report in the Jakarta Post points out: "In the last week, police seized nine pinches of morphine and arrested nine university students participating in a morphine-fest on Jl. Cempaka Putih Timur, Central Jakarta." This shows that the culture of taking dangerous drug has become fashionable to the extent that university students even hold a fest for it. And this situation is no different from what is obtainable in Malaysia as a newspaper report shows that students in tertiary institution and secondary schools too are not immune from being a market for these dangerous substances (see newspaper reports in appendix 4).
To further put this fact into perspective, describing the activities of the police in curbing dangerous drugs in Indonesia for the year 1997, the Jakarta Post reports that "At least 157 people--including 24 foreigners--have been arrested this year for their alleged role in drug smuggling, dealing or using in the city. This number excludes hundreds of people rounded up at weekends during routine police crackdowns on nightspots here" (JP, 1997; see appendix 5 for the full report).
As for Malaysia, Bernama and the New Straits Times reported the activities of the law enforcement agents in curbing the activities of these criminal-both locals and foreigners. According to one of these reports, "Nigerians topped the list of 557 foreigners detained for alleged involvement in international drug trafficking this year with RM350 million worth of drugs seized. A total of 156 Nigerians were arrested, followed by 116 Iranians, while the rest were from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Cyprus and other African countries." (Mustafa, 2011; see appendix 6 for the full newspaper reports).
Thus, even though the buck stops at the desk of these Nigerian traffickers, their activities could not have become rampant so as to constitute a threat to the society if the locals have not co-operated with them in one way or another. Likewise, if the market is not there for them to sell these substances the effect on the host society would have been minimal and it could have been easily curbed. But the availability of market for them couple with the co-operation of some locals have made their trade buoyant and boosted their confidence as they believe that if the locals would stand by their sideespecially some of the elites-they can go scot-free even when they are caught by the law enforcement agents.

The Advanced Fee Fraud Image Problem
The issue of advanced fee fraud is not different from what was explained above concerning dangerous drug trafficking by Nigerians. This is the second image that the mention of a Nigerian conjures up in the mind of the people. To many of the people in Indonesia and Malaysia-and by extension the world over-once a Nigerian is mentioned, he/she is either a drug pusher or a fraudster and he/she cannot be trusted in anyway. This issue has led to a situation in which many genuine businessmen and contractors have lost many business opportunities and have become less worthy in the business community the world over. The fear and lack of confidence that the advance fee fraud has created in the minds of foreign investors towards Nigeria and Nigerians coupled with corruption and lack of social amenities, explain the gross lack of employment in the Nigeria because while old industries are closing down, new ones are not springing up as investors kept their distance from the nation (JP, 2003). The few, who are bold enough to try, ends up being victim of scammerssome of whom pretended to be government officials or relatives of powerful elite with link to the government. Thus, all of this has resulted in a negative image for the whole citizenry especially those in the diaspora where these criminals have established their base.
Meanwhile, it needed to be pointed out that the advance fee fraud phenomenon, like the economic downturn which drove many out of Nigeria, became prevalent during the era of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. During his tenure as the military leader, Babangida turned a 'blind eye' to the activities of these criminal elements to the extent that people like Fred Ajudua, a lawyer by profession, became stupendously rich through this activity which is a common knowledge to all in the society. He thus set the pace for others to follow because it becomes a common saying among the people that those involved in this scam are 'smart' and 'intelligent' people who are putting their intelligence to good use in a different way.
However, with the advent of the internet and its wide use in Nigeria, this scamming problem took a new dimension as the sphere of reach of these criminals increased and expanded throughout the world (JP, 2003). At the click of the mouse, these crooks get connected with people from all over the world and the gullible and greedy ones have fell prey to their cunning and shrewd maneuvering which have resulted in many losing their life savings (JP, 2003). The modus operandi of these fraudsters was put into context by the former Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, Saidu Mohammed, who had to come out to explain to the world, especially the Asian region, about the effort of the Nigerian government in curbing this menace and the image problem and embarrassment it is causing the government and the people (Pereira, 1992;JP, 2003; see appendix 7 for the full report).
Apart from the methods of these fraudsters explained in the newspaper report above, they have also evolved different ways of hoodwinking the gullible on the cyber space especially through the promise of love, marriage and relationships. Many lonely, old and young men and women have fallen for this particular type of scam or fraud with dire consequences both financially and emotionally. Now turning to the countries of our concern, Indonesia and Malaysia (especially Malaysia which is economically better than Indonesia), are no exception as target of these advanced fee fraud mongers. The newspaper reports from these two countries show that apart from scamming the local citizens the crooks also use the two countries as their operational base to scam people from different parts of the world (Asiaone News, 2011, www.asiaone.com; see appendix 13).
In Indonesia, newspaper reports show that some of these Nigerian scammers are involved in credit card fraud, financial scam and love scam. The Jakarta Globe reported that a Nigerian scammer took a whopping sum of US$234,000 from many of his Indonesian victims while claiming to be a British soldier with links to the deposed Libyan president, Muammar el-Qaddafi. Through the facebook, he was able to convince many of his victims of a business deal and made them part with their money only for them to realize that they had been scammed. It was only the suspicion of one of his victims which eventually led to his arrest (Pawas, 2011; see appendix 8 for this report).
However, it is important to note in the report that this Nigerian was not acting alone. Rather he was being assisted by a local woman, who also doubled as his girlfriend, in order to make his mission less detectable. From the report, she was the one opening bank accounts in which the monies were deposited-a thing which could have been difficult for the Nigerian to do because he will not be able to provide the necessary documents and even if he does, he could be queried by the banks if they noticed large amounts of money coming into his account. Thus, the involvement of this local woman aided, greatly, in his scamming activities.
Another report shows that some Nigerian scammers who are in Indonesia have perfected the act of scamming the Indonesian people through the use of SMS by deceiving them that their number has won a price and if the person follows up on this, he/she is then made to go through a process which will eventually result in them parting with their money. Yahoo Indonesia culled a news report from the Indonesian Tribunnews.com thus:
Likewise on the issue of love scam, it was reported on Detiknews that an Indonesian lady, by the name Jenifer, met and fell in love with a man on the internet who claimed to be an American soldier. After they had become acquainted with each other, the money scammer promised to send a parcel to her through a friend who works with the United Nations office in Indonesia. She was contacted by the said friend who said he had a parcel to deliver to her but he insisted on opening the parcel before doing so. After opening it, he threatened her saying she could go to jail with the content of the parcel. After terrifying her, he started demanding money from her and she continues to give the money to the tune of 700 million Rupees until he demanded 1 billion Rupees at a go and she out of fear and desperation confided in her lawyer friend who then lodged a report to the police. (Yunita, 2010; see appendix 9 for report).
The situation in Malaysia concerning the activities of Nigerian fraudsters and scammers is not different from the few Indonesian examples given above. In fact one can say that in Malaysia, it is worst because they not only scam the local people, they also use it as a base and involve the locals in their worldwide operations.
From the Peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysians have fallen victims to these criminally minded Nigerian scammers and this has led to the erosion of confidence and the good will that Nigerians hitherto enjoyed in Malaysia -especially as a result of their football prowess in the world and in the Malaysian League. Now, Nigerians are seen as a menace to their society due to the activities of these scammers all over the country. The report in the New Sabah Times in appendix 10 gives credence to this assertion.
Other reports detailed the activities of Nigerians relating to 'love scam' on the internet (see Mis, 2011;NST, 2012a). However, just as in Indonesia, some locals are accomplices as they serve as receivers of these funds for Nigerian scammers (NST, 2010b). The newspaper report in appendix 11 offers an insight into the working relationships between such Nigerian fraudsters and the local.
Finally, to underscore how this particular crime has become a menace to Malaysians, the police reported that at a time, a total of 76 foreign scammers were arrested out of which 67 were Nigerians (see appendix 12 for this report). This report underscores the fact that Nigerians are heavily involved in this activity and the effect on the image of Nigerians as whole and the nation in particular is enormous. In terms of trust, confidence and sincerity which are prerequisite for co-operation in international business transactions, Nigeria has lost out and its businessmen have suffered greatly because foreign investors and business partners are no longer willing to do business with them.

The Effect of the Public Image Problem
As for the Nigerians living in the diaspora, the effect is unquantifiable in terms of battered image, mistaken identity, victimization, stereotyping and unavoidable circumstantial police brutality sometimes leading to death! (Abah, 2000).
As earlier said, while Nigerians mainly go to Indonesia for business purposes, others prefer to make it their second home where they could carry on their business activities and raise their families (DI, 2008). But with the activities of these drug trafficking and internet scammers, life has become uncomfortable for the genuine migrants as they constantly come under the scrutiny and unnecessary harassment of security unit. In fact, this has led to the death of some Nigerians in what is seen as extra-judicial killing (NST, 2012c;Abah, 2000;JP, 1998;TG, 2000) while some have been imprisoned unjustifiably due to stereotyping which, presumably, had caused judges to sometimes overlook genuine claims of innocence and meted out unjust punishments to some of these innocent Nigerians (DC, 2005;Fidrus, 2004). It has also led to situation in which some Nigerians who happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time being lumped together with criminals with the consequences that they are made to pay for the crimes of their fellow countrymen-especially if the main culprit was able to escape at the time of his/her arrest (Fidrus, 2004;Harsanto, 2003b).
Thus, all the above have made life difficult for Nigerians in Indonesia and as of 2011, it was reported that a total of 56 Nigerians were on the death row as a result of their involvement in drug related offences.
The situation above is not different from what obtains in Malaysia. Many Nigerians arrived for a variety of reasons and the fact that Malaysia is a commonwealth nation with English as one of its spoken languages made it a destination of choice for most Nigerians-especially as it concerns education. First, Nigerians choose Malaysia because of the availability of accessible education opportunities and the opening up of employment in the education sector to foreigners. This was further made possible because of the use of English as a medium of instruction and the advanced level of infrastructure and social amenities.
Second, economically, Malaysia is better off than most of its neighbors and the cost of living is relatively cheaper compared to say Singapore and other developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The fact that its education is also relatively cheaper, with necessary modern infrastructure available to students, makes it a country of choice for the children of Nigerian elite and the middle class. This being the case, others, who are not so well off and some with sinister motives also mix up with genuine education sojourners and as a result use that opportunity to enter the country.
Third, Islam, being the official religion of the state also serves as an attracting factor in the movement of Nigerians to Malaysia. Most parents believe that with the practice of Islamic culture and the freedom to live in an Islamic environment, their children will be better off as they will not be influenced by the immoral western lifestyles which could be detrimental to their children's future. Most importantly, the availability of an Islamic university which uses English as its medium of instruction in a broad range of specialization makes Malaysia a country of choice-especially for those who had previously studied in the Arab world and need to learn English in order to fit into the system in Nigeria when they return. Thus, the influx of Nigerians into Malaysia resulted in an accompanying extra baggage of those who are criminal minded, using the large population of Nigerians in Malaysia as a cover for their criminal activities. Some profess to be Muslims in order to take advantage of the people especially ladies who they messed up by marrying and abandoning them and their children later on. Sometimes they are used as drug mules and receivers of fraud/scam monies (NST, 2012b;TP, 2012).
Finally, Nigerians choose Malaysia for business purposes. It is now common to see Nigerians doing business peacefully in Malaysia and this has also led to a situation in which many Malaysians have gone with them to do business and invest in Nigeria (Moses, 2010;Adi, 2004).
However, just as in Indonesia, there are some Nigerians who have made Malaysia their second home by settling down there and working as expatriates, businessmen, lecturers etc. and raising their families in peace. But, the criminal activities of few Nigerians have made life unbearable for them as they too have come under the stereotyping gaze as a result of the activities of the few incorrigible Nigerians. Like Indonesia, many Nigerians have been punished unjustly-there have been instances of genuine students who have been detained unjustly because of suspicion etc. (DT, 2010) and some even killed extra-judicially (NST, 2012c) due to minor misunderstanding. Thus, Nigerians in Malaysia have had their image battered due to the activities of those few bad eggs that mingled with genuine students, businessmen and workers.

Solutions to the Drug and Fraud Image Problems
Having said all the above, it is now necessary to proffer solution(s) on how these menace could be addressed both in Nigeria and abroad. In the next section we suggest ways in which these criminally minded Nigerians could be tamed or rehabilitated and their activities eradicated or, at least, reduced to the barest minimum possible.

Solving the Leadership Problem of Nigeria and Eradicating Poverty
The House of Representative committee on Nigerians in diaspora appalled by the numbers of Nigerians who are languishing in various prisons abroad said in anger: "…there is failure of leadership in Nigeria, this is not what should be happening to us. It took one leader to change things in Brazil. Let's also change things with our votes, your vote is your power. Are we saying we reward hopelessness, we reward bad leadership? You said it's bad but you brought them to power again. So Nigerians must rise up for Nigeria" (TG, 2012). According to the chairman of the committee, Honourable Abike Dabiri, the reason why Nigerians engage in criminal activities abroad boils down to the issue of bad leadership at home and lack of provision of "basic amenities" for the ordinary citizen. This situation, in their view, has led to mass exodus of Nigerians from the nation to other parts of the world where some engaged in activities that were not desirable to the extent that "we are now the largest number of drug couriers, we are the largest number of fraudsters." Thus, they asserted that there is an urgent "need to do something" (TG, 2012). However, in their words, "it's not all negatives, we have [Nigerian] industrialists, pharmacists, doctors and educationists" (TG, 2012).
In the same vein, it was reported that Nigerian poverty level has risen to about 71.5% with the northern states topping the list while most citizens are barely able to afford their basic necessities despite the economic growth that the nation is experiencing (NT, 2012). The report goes thus: POVERTY in Nigeria is rising with almost 100 million people living on less than $1 a day despite strong growth data showed on Monday. The percentage of Nigerians living in absolute poverty-those who can afford only the bare essentials of food, shelter and clothing-rose to 60.9% in 2010, compared with 54.7% in 2004, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Although Nigeria's economy is projected to continue growing, poverty is likely to get worse as the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen (NT, 2012).
Putting the above in perspective, Statistician General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, said "It remains a paradox ... that despite the fact that the Nigerian economy is growing, the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty is increasing every year" (NT, 2012). The negative effect of this impoverishment, apart from the exodus of Nigerians for greener pastures outside, is to breed violence that the nation is currently witnessing in the northern part of the country because "…the North-East and North-West, where the Boko Haram sect originated, are the poorest regions in Nigeria" (NT, 2012). While "The South-West, which includes the thriving commercial hub Lagos, had the lowest levels of poverty" (NT, 2012) and this shows why the southern part of the nation is crisis free.
The above shows that the failure of the Nigerian leaders to develop the nation and utilize its resources for the benefit of the masses is one reason why so many Nigerians who had lost hope in the nation left in order to earn a better living and were in the position to help their families back home. This desperation has led to many engaging in undesirable conducts in order to get rich quick and help lift their families out of poverty. The change of attitude in Nigerian leadership to one that recognizes the need to intensively work towards eradicating poverty, so as to curb the exodus of Nigerians, is probably the most effective approach towards reducing criminal activities among Nigerians both at home and abroad.
It should be remembered that not long ago, in the 1960s and 1970s, when Nigerians go abroad for studies and other activities, they were always eager to return home because they felt that the situation at home was better and therefore saw no reason why they should stay abroad when they could contribute positively to its development. But with the advent of a generally corruptible leadership, resulting in widespread mismanagement of the nation's resource (Ihekweme, 2000) starting from the Babangida era, Nigerians moved abroad in streams because of the hopelessness of the situation. It is instructive to say that instead of improving, the situation continued to get worse and the advent of the fourth republic in 1999 marks the beginning of impunity and lawlessness as military men turned politicians virtually hijacked the nation and made its people hostage to corruptible rule. Thus, the poverty level in the nation and the desperation of some Nigerians to get out of it led to misdemeanors related to drug trafficking and fraud/scam.
In the light of the above, there is, therefore, an urgent need for change which, it is hoped, will bring a sense of moral reformation in society and consequently the likely return of many Nigerians in diaspora-especially those who had to resort to drug trafficking and scam. However, while wishing for such reform to arrive, it will not be out of place to propose some possible reconfiguration for a future civil society in Nigeria.
First, it is important that Nigeria be restructured to reflect the ethnic distribution patterns and geographical divisions of the nation. Nigeria is too big a nation to be governed in a unitary fashion in which everything goes to the centre and in the process, the resources of the nation are mismanaged and embezzled by those who are opportune to get to the centre while the majority of the people wallow in abject poverty. Since the six geographical zones have been recognized by all Nigerians as legitimate division of the country, power should be devolved in a true federalism of regions each headed by a Chief Minister, who manages its resources with about 30% going to the centre. Each region should have its own police and other law enforcement agents with the exception of the military. At the federal and regional levels, a parliamentary system in which all representatives are in touch with the grassroots from whom they seek their mandate every four years. In the present setting, ministers are elected without the mandate of the people thereby behaving the way they like as they are not answerable to the people. But through parliamentary democracy, things will be different. Likewise, the provision of social amenities and employment will rest largely on each region and the people will know who to hold directly responsible in case of failure and mismanagement. In the present situation, blames are traded by both the state and federal government on who is in-charge of administrative jurisdiction or who is responsible for the present predicament of the nation. While a provincial government will operate in each region, the centre will have a president who will be incharge of the nation as a whole and his/her duties will include control of the military, foreign affairs and other duties that may be deem fit by the constitutional agreement of all the regions. In essence, Nigeria needs to return to what it used to be after independence when each region took care of its interest and people (that is, before 1966 when the military took over and introduced the unitary system). The present unitary system is a misnomer and is not appropriate for a nation like Nigeria with a large population of about 170 million, land mass of 923,768 sq. km. and ethnic nationalities of more than 250 groups. Decentralization will be the ideal political way for the nation to live together and, although it is not without its own problems, but studies shows that if properly implemented, it could yield the desired result for the nation (Diprose and Ukiwo, 2008).
The clamor by Nigerians for a sovereign national conference to discuss all these issues and restructure the nation is a genuine call and it is only those who benefit from the present chaos that wants to maintain the status quo. This call is a patriotic call and it should be heeded by the political class. The ongoing Boko Haram menace is a pointer to the deterioration of the Nigerian nation and if nothing is done urgently to restructure it, Nigeria may not exist as a nation in the not too distant future. The existence of Boko Haram and other ethnic militias is a pointer to the fact that Nigeria is approaching-if not already-a failed state status. The political class needs to act now in the interest of all at home and in diaspora. Moreover, findings have shown that Nigerians, home and abroad, feel more attached to their ethnic origin first before the nation as a whole and are more likely to contribute positively where it concern their indigenous land (Lampert, 2009;Reynolds, 2009).
However, after the ongoing conference is concluded and some of the suggestions above are agreed on, if government officials at all levels are fearful of the possibility that they may lose out in the new arrangement, they could help by reviewing the constitution to reflect the preceding suggestions while they continue as members of parliament until their tenure runs out and a new election is held. Whatever is agreed on could be fully implemented in the new political dispensation.

Making the Nigerian Law Enforcement Agents Active in the Nation's Borders
The government can curb the activities of criminals especially as it concerns drug trafficking by tightening surveillance at the exit checkpoints around the nation so that drug offenders can be caught right within the nation and given appropriate punishment while at the same time making sure that they are rehabilitated while they serve their time. This proactive and preemptive measure will ensure that their activity is not international in scope and the nation can be made relatively drug-free while repairing the damaged image of Nigeria and its citizens through curbing the presence of Nigerian criminals abroad.
As for the internet scam, the nation's law enforcement agents should be equipped with up-to-date Information Technology tools which could effectively monitor the origin of most of the fraudulent messages coming in and out of the nation. Upon arrest, these criminals should be punished appropriately and like the drug traffickers above, the emphasis should be on rehabilitation so that they could put their good talent into useful ventures for themselves and the nation.

Tightening the Visa Procedure
This is one area in which Indonesia and Malaysia could help stem the influx of criminally minded Nigerians into their nation-that is by tightening the visa procedures and making sure that whoever is coming into the country is coming for a genuine noncriminal purpose.
Although the present regime in Malaysia has taken the bull by the horn by introducing the VDR letter which restrict criss-crossing from one university to another and help to account for genuine students from fake one and Indonesia has also tighten its visa procedure, nonetheless, more could still be done especially in the area of social visa.
Moreover, there have been many reports that the visa process in these two nations' embassies in Nigeria is too lax hence the influx of Nigerians to their countries. Many see them as a stepping stone to their final destination in Europe or America. There are also those who could not gain entry into their targeted country, thus turned to illegal activities in order to survive. If visa approval to final destination is more stringent, this category of people will not be able to enter the nation and become a nuisance in their transit countries. Thus, there is an urgent need to review the visa process and to ensure that only those with a genuine business reason are allowed to come into the transit country.

Controlling the Enrolment of Nigerians in Colleges and Universities
This particularly applies to Malaysia as it is the country of choice for private education for Nigerians. However, inasmuch as the expansion of private tertiary education is a welcome development for Malaysia, it is not without its own problem and there is a need to exercise certain control in the enrolment of foreigners, in private colleges which have tended to attract more mischievous students.
It is a known fact that most of the Nigerians who are usually arrested for illegal activities are always on student visa claiming enrolment in a private college or university. This points to an abuse of border facilitation and the private colleges and universities are accomplices in this scheme for their own private gain. The Malaysian government needs to do something drastic to address this abuse.
First, it should be known that Nigerians are by nature obsessed with status and this is reflected in the kind of universities that they prefer, even within the nation where those who attended federal universities are held in higher esteem compared to those who went to state universities. In view of this, no Nigerian will leave the nation to attend a university outside whose standing could affect his/her social status in the future. Most serious Nigerian students will prefer to attend a public university in Malaysia or a private university whose standing is known internationally. Thus, any Nigerian attending a nongovernmental university in Malaysia is likely to fall in the category of those who are only using this as a way of legitimizing their stay and are not bona fide students.
The fact above is further attested to by the newspaper reports (NST, 2012b;TS, 2010b). This underscores the fact that some of the private universities need to be brought under closer scrutiny concerning students' class attendance and seriousness in study and the government needs to have a sanctioning mechanism in place in which college operators could be made to pay dearly for harboring criminals in their institutions.

Educating the Locals through Mass-Media and Information Dissemination Tools
This is an area in which Indonesia and Malaysia could help prevent their citizens from being used as accomplices in crime and thereby reduce if not scuttle the syndicates that operate these criminal activities.
As pointed out earlier, the involvement of locals in drug trafficking and scamming have greatly aided the success of their Nigerian counterparts. Therefore, there is need to educate Malaysians on the danger of their involvement in these activities and the effect on the nation and themselves as individuals. Many who have been recruited as drug mules are languishing in jail abroad and some have been apprehended locally and are now in jail as a result of their involvement with some of these Nigerians. Because of this, there is a need to enlighten the citizens about these activities and to warn them to stay away from such criminals.
Apart from educating the citizens, there is also a need for their governments to focus specifically on the elites and law enforcement agents. As analyzed above, locals are sometimes directly involved; they serve as cover and guarantor for Nigerians who are made to believe that they can easily get away with their crimes which sometimes they do (JP, 2002). Therefore, the government should always look beyond the criminals whenever they are arrested because behind them are some godfathers who will ensure that they eventually get off the hook and make the law look like a 'paper tiger'. The realization by such accomplices that they could be punished along with their godson will help in reducing the menace of these criminals.

Conclusion
The discussion above points to the fact that Nigerians in diaspora have an image problem that is brought about by the criminal activities of a few unscrupulous elements among them. Although the discussion focuses specifically on those living and working in Indonesia and Malaysia, the scenario is not peculiar to these two countries. It cuts across countries of the world where Nigerians are domiciled. The picture here is a prototype of the conditions of Nigerian life abroad generally and the earlier something is done about it, the better for the image of Nigeria and Nigerian sojourners abroad-even if it is just for a short period. As it is well known, there have been cases of harassments of Nigerians at different ports of entry to many countries due to this image problem. In fact, because of this, many dread to leave Nigeria as they feel embarrassed at the kind of reception that they always receive at the immigration checkpoints because of their green passport! Thus, it is not a problem of those living outside the nation alone but of all Nigerians both inside and outside the country.
Although some suggestions have been made here on how to curb this menace, with specific reference to the two countries under discussion, it is important to note that these suggestions could be further added to and expanded according to specific situations and diaspora conditions of Nigerians around the world. However, the bulk of the matter is the need for a change in the attitude of leadership in Nigeria and the use of the nation's resource for the benefit of the masses, so as to make living abroad unattractive to intending migrants just as it used to be in the old days. The restructuring of the nation should be a paramount concern of all patriotic Nigerians as the present unitary system has failed woefully and the earlier the nation is restructured the better. As the Indonesian ambassador said in his interview with a Nigerian newspaper (Ijioma, 2012), Nigeria can learn from the experience of Indonesia in harnessing its diversity and making it, together with a common national language, a strong point for unity instead of disunity as we presently have. Likewise, as he advised, Nigeria needs to diversify its economy by focusing more on agriculture and making the private sector the driving force of the economy just as Indonesia has done (Ijioma, 2012).
In the same vein, Nigeria can also learn a lot from Malaysia in the process of restructuring and developing the nation. In fact, the parliamentary system of government in Malaysia should be a learning point for Nigeria. Likewise, the restructuring of the Malaysian economy after independence and its Five-Year Developmental Plans (especially, the New Economic Policy, 1971 to the present) which covers several development plans with the specific aim of developing the rural areas, eradicating poverty and making the nation a high income earner, are things which Nigerian politicians and experts need to study and implement. All of these can be enacted into law and be made a punishable offence for any government which fails to implement it (either by prosecution through the court or impeachment by the state or national assembly). The current situation in which there are many abandoned projects with money disbursed to the contractor will be a forgone issue and this will in turn create jobs for the populace and reduce the stream of outbound migration with its brain-drain consequences. It will also curb the practice in which every new government abandoned what had been started by its predecessor to start afresh thereby wasting public money over and over again with no result to show for it while the youths cannot find employment after graduation as there are no jobs created by the government. But, if all these proposed reforms are implemented, just as in Malaysia, there will always be on-going projects which will lead to job creation and the return of a large pool of Nigerians in diaspora.

Appendix 2
Customs and Excise officers have arrested a Nigerian believed to have smuggled 300 grams of heroin in a book air-mailed from Thailand. A local man is also being held in connection with the case. Director of the Smuggling Prevention and Investigation Unit of the Indonesian Customs and Excise Office, Thomas Sugijata, said Saturday the two suspects, arrested on Friday morning, will be handed over to National Police investigators for further questioning. The Nigerian is identified only as Em and the local as Es, a motorcycle taxi driver. Sugijata said customs officers at the Soekarno-Hatta International airport became suspicious of the package sent through the Express Mail Service Company. The package was sent by a company called New Collection Crystal Co. Ltd. of Bangkok. It was addressed to Es on Jl. KebonKacang, Central Jakarta. The officers delivered the package to the Central Jakarta post office themselves, Sugijata said. Es was arrested by the waiting officers when he tried to pick up the package at the post office. Es told police he was paid Rp 20,000 (US$6.25) to pick up the package by Em, who was staying at the nearby Tanah Abang Indah Hotel. Es was to pick up the package and deliver it to Em, who said it had been sent by his girlfriend in Nigeria. Em was later arrested at the hotel by the police, who found Rp 50 million in cash and several documents in his possession. The 300 grams of heroin has a street value of around Rp 100 million here, Sugijata said (JP, 1996).

Appendix 3
Police nabbed a Nigerian man and a local in drug bust at a hotel in JalanAlor here yesterday. City antinarcotics chief ACP Kang Chez Chiang said "police also seized marijuana weighing 1,100 grammes worth RM11,000 from the duo, aged 27 and 34. The Nigerian was a student of a private college here while the local man worked as a guard at the same college," he told a press conference at city police's headquarters here today. He added that police believed the duo had been peddling drugs in the Klang valley the last six months (NST, 2010c).
Eleven Nigerian students and a local woman, believed to be involved in drug trafficking, were arrested by police during four separate raids in the klang valley early this morning (NST, 2009). Police believe they have crippled an international drug trafficking syndicate with the arrest of two women, aged 19 and 21, who acted as couriers for two Nigerian drug dealers. City police Anti-Narcotics Department head ACP Kang Chez Chiang said the Nigerian men, aged 25 and 27, were also arrested in the operation on Thursday. "The two women were arrested while they were seated inside a car parked along JalanAlor, at 4am. "The team found 2.5 kg of heroin, wrapped in plastic inside a travel bag, in the rear seat of the car. "The women then led the team to the 25-year-old Nigerian man who was waiting at a nearby parking lot and to the fourth suspect at an apartment in Taman Metro, Kepong," Kang said yesterday. The heroin has an estimated street value of more than RM250,000. Initial investigations revealed that the women-one a hairdresser and the other unemployed -both acted as couriers. The women had just picked up their supply from the Nigerians, when they were arrested. They were paid US$2,000 (RM6,818) for each delivery (NST, 2007).

Appendix 4
Some 300 students in public institutions of higher learning are involved in drug abuse, Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Shafie Salleh said. Compared to 700,000 students in both public and private universities, the ratio of those involved in drug abuse was not serious, he told reporters today. However, it was a problem that needed to be dealt with urgently before it grew worse, he said after launching an "outreach programme" jointly organised by the Higher Education Department and public universities in Sepang (Bernama, 2005).
Cases of drug abuse involving school children in Terengganu have reached an alarming stage with some 100 students detained in narcotic-related cases last year. Last week alone, police detained seven secondary school students throughout the state for drug abuse. State Narcotic Department chief Supt Roslan Abdul Wahid said the figure could be much higher as the students picked up were screened randomly during operations and not during raids. "We believe there are probably more out there and we are planning to carry out more operations," he said here yesterday (TS, 2010a).
According to the National Anti-Drug Agency's (AADK) statistics in 2008, almost 70% of drug users in Malaysia were between 19 and 39 years old. More than half of them cited peer influence as the reason for starting the habit. In light of this, Sunway University College (Sunway) recently organised a campaign to educate students on the causes and risks of drug abuse (TS, 2010b).

Appendix 5
At least 157 people--including 24 foreigners--have been arrested this year for their alleged role in drug smuggling, dealing or using in the city. This number excludes hundreds of people rounded up at weekends during routine police crackdowns on nightspots here. Most of the arrested foreigners were charged with trafficking and possessing heroin. At least 40 of the local suspects were detained for using and dealing in Ecstasy, 25 for marijuana offenses and dozens of others for heroin, hashish or barbiturate crimes. At least 19.2 kilograms of heroin, 5,980 grams of hashish, 131,612 grams of marijuana, 50,000 Ecstasy pills, more than 2 million pills of the barbiturate Nipam and 3,050 BK tranquilizer pills have been seized. During the year, new terms were coined for popular drugs such as sabu-sabu for second-grade heroin and putauw for third-grade, while the demand for Ecstasy started to wane (JP, 1997).
Wednesday night. Hermawan said Williams was arrested after one of his alleged victims, NH, filed a police report. James met NH on the social networking site Facebook and claimed to be a member of the British army, he said, adding that NH agreed to have a "special relationship" with the suspect following the online encounter. Hermawan said that after a few months, Williams told NH that he had sent her $5 million in cash and jewelry given to him by Qaddafi but it could not be delivered because it was having problems clearing Indonesian customs. He asked her to transfer Rp 60 million to help him take care of the "administration fee," he said. "The suspect also asked for another Rp 150 million afterward," Hermawan said. NH grew suspicious after the package did not arrive as promised and she reported the case to the police. Hermawan said Sanny allegedly opened a number of bank accounts to collect the scam money. "We found a total of Rp 2 billion in the suspect's accounts," he said, adding there were indications that the money had been collected through similar scams. Williams is the fifth Nigerian man arrested recently for similar crimes, though it remains unclear if they are linked (wn.com/jakarta_globe). excess of 29kg. In order to release the parcel, Robert told the victim to make several payments including RM3,800 as fine for the excess weight and RM18,700 for Customs to release the parcel as well as RM96,000 for stamp duties and other penalties that were purportedly demanded by Bank Negara. The victim who was excited to receive the parcel then made the payments to several accounts given by the person named Robert Jestkin. On 18 October, Lyanna again contacted the victim and told him to log on to www.lyyod TSB Bank because an amount of 57,000 pound sterling would be transferred to his Maybank account. After logging on, the victim was again told to make a payment of RM147,800 for insurance and other services, which he made. However, after spending more than RM420,000 and there was still no sign of the parcel or the money in his bank account, the victim finally realised he had been conned and made a police report on 28 October. Saiman said the victim made 15 remittances with 11 transactions from his account in CIMB and four from his account in Maybank. The Commercial Crime Department has begun investigations but no arrests have been made. Saiman said as of 31 October this year, police here have received 17 such cases but the latest case involved the largest amount so far. Previously two women complained they each lost RM146,900 and RM102,000 from the internet scam. From the 17 cases, with the assistance of police in Kuala Lumpur, they arrested eight men who were mainly Nigerians who were believed to be involved in the scam (NST, 2011b). men and a Thai woman, whose ages are between 20 and 30s, were arrested following three months of surveillance. "They will be sent for urine test. Those without valid travel documents will be handed over to the Immigration Department for further action," he told reporters after the operation. MohdRodwan said the participation of the Higher Education Ministry was to verify on the status of those who entered the country on a student visa. "This is because we receive information that there are foreigners who register as students, but are involved in activities to cheat and deceive Malaysians through the Internet," he added. He said that between January and October this year, a total of 740 people had been detained for involvement in Internet scam, where 187 of them were from the African countries, 535 from ASEAN countries and the others, from other countries (Bernama, 2011).