We Should Discourage Negative Profiling – Osinbajo

The majority of Nigerians living overseas, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, are honest and industrious.

On Monday evening in Ottawa, Osinbajo made this statement at a discussion with representatives of Nigerian organizations from several Canadian provinces.

On Sunday, the vice president of Nigeria left for Canada for a three-day high-level visit.

According to a statement made on Tuesday by Laolu Akande, the vice president’s spokeswoman, Osinbajo said that despite the industrious nature of Nigerians, a few bad eggs were tarnishing the nation’s reputation abroad.

“The vast majority of Nigerians all over the place are honest, straightforward people trying to survive in those places and be responsible citizens wherever they find themselves. That is the story of the vast majority,” Osinbajo was quoted as saying.

“What you tend to find is that a few people do the damage. There is a negative characterisation that comes out of that.

“We can engage with our people and have a lot more conversations around trying to prevent people from committing offences and crimes, but more importantly, being able to self-regulate in our communities, talking about it frankly and openly.

“We must engage countries also so that Nigerians are not profiled. This is something that we have been doing, working with embassies in different countries to be sure that Nigerians are given a fair chance and that there is no negative profiling of Nigerians.

“Look at what is going here (in Canada). There are so many Nigerians — professionals and politicians — who are in very serious positions of responsibility.”