A lawyer from the United Kingdom, Kirsty Brimelow, has recalled experience of her first visit to Nigeria
She said she had a positive experience the first time she visited Nigeria, recalling that she left her bag in a taxi and it was returned by the taxi driver
She said that the impression that Nigerians are corrupt and untrustworthy is quite unfair
The chairperson of the Bar Committee on Human Rights for Wales and England, Kirsty Brimelow, has expressed displeasure over the impression that Nigerians are corrupt and untrustworthy, saying she had a positive story on her visit to Nigeria.
Brimelow, who was recently in Nigeria at the invitation of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to train lawyers on legal rights and protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in northeast, Nigeria, said she left her bag in a taxi the first time she visited Nigeria, and it was returned by the taxi driver.
In her interview she granted Daily Trust, she said the moment she realised that she had left her bag in the taxi she boarded, she felt she couldn't recover the bag because of the negative stories she had heard about Nigeria.
Brimelow called her phone which was inside the bag and the taxi driver answered the call and returned the bag to her.
She said: "A positive story on my very first visit was an incident that happened when I was in a taxi and I was going somewhere in Abuja. I had a bag with me, which contained my passports, telephones and other personal belongings. I was rushing for the meeting, got out and left my bag in the taxi.
"My first thought was that 'it's gone!' You won't recover it in London and I thought Nigeria with its reputation for dishonesty and corruption, that the bag was gone. But what happened was that I decided to telephone my phone that was in the bag and it kept ringing but there was no response.
"Eventually somebody picked the phone up and it was the taxi driver. It happened somebody else has gotten into the cab and saw my bag and handed it over to the taxi driver who also did not take or keep it to himself, answered the phone and brought the bag to me.
It was a really nice story and that was my first experience of Nigeria. I know it might not be typical, but it remains with me."
Brimelow said that her major memory of Nigeria that she usually takes back home is the warmth, kindness and hospitality of the people.
She added: "I have always been extremely welcomed. I have also met a lot of people living in really harsh conditions but they are so kind and generous, and they keep a good sense of humour as well, which I love.
"There is this impression of Nigerians as corrupt and untrustworthy, but that has not been my experience of the people here. The impression is quite unfair; I'll encourage people to visit Nigeria, it's a great country."
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