We live in different worlds. These worlds are not tantamount and are incomprehensible for outsiders. These worlds are further separated by false stereotypes surrounding each of them.
We live in the world of winter, cold, matryoshka dolls, Kalashnikov rifles, and vodka. We start our morning with refreshing vodka, hug a bear, grab a Kalashnikov rifle, put on an ushanka-hat and go to work through the everlasting snow. That’s what the majority of our Nigerian agents think of us. In reality, it is absolutely untrue. 99% of Russians have seen a bear only at the zoo, has never held a weapon, and no morning, excepting, perhaps, the 1st of January, starts with vodka.
Nevertheless, the stereotype exists. How do we combat it? Well, we don’t, we just move on.
We live on the other side of the planet, and we have white skin. We are white.
We know the most popular stereotype of the African people. You’ve got to take advantage of the white people. You should fool or cheat the white person out of his or her money. If you do it, you are a hero.
Is it true? We don’t know.
Now, when such words as “discrimination”, “tolerance”, “equal rights” are prevalent, it’s inappropriate to speak in terms of “white” and “black”. You can be seen as a racist. We are not racists, we are not nationalists, we don’t have any prejudice. However, we feel like we are bound to talk about it. It’s not about philosophy, it has to do with working together.
The whole world knows that Nigeria was a British colony for a long time. The colonial period didn’t come to an end for a long while, not before the creation of Biafra state, the destruction of this independent state, three-year civil war and the declaration of independence of Nigeria. There are a lot of grounds of, at least, the distrust of the “white” people. In the 1960s, all the eyes of the world’s community were on Nigeria, however, the population of modern Nigeria never received any aid from the world’s community and the independence of the Republic of Biafra was never officially recognized.
50 years have passed, free and independent Nigeria is developing, many European states are investing in it, the living standards and the quality of life are rising, the quality of the education is improving, the Nigerian youth wants to take part in the development of their country. Many international companies enter Nigeria’s market. So did we. We have been working in Nigeria since 2017.
The distrust of the white people is slowly disappearing, however, there is still a long way to go to complete trust. Isn’t it so?
All in all, if you are ready to work and develop your business with us, we expect achieving common goals to be the guiding consideration rather than skin color, your colonial past, or the stereotypes about us. We will have to trust each other as if we were from the same country, just came from different cities.
In this article, we are telling you quite candidly that there are and always will be obvious differences between us. But the key to success for both parties is to focus on our common goals and values. We must have common ground in our goals, in the ways to achieve these goals. We must do meticulous and diligent work every day. We must find cooperative solutions to cope with the problems, despite the fact that we are very distant from each other physically. And above all, we must change the way we communicate. A partnership is not a word. It's a state. The state you choose yourself. As each of us is free to decide whether one wants to be partners with someone. It's a lot like a vow but without a dress and a preacher. It’s a deliberate and conscious choice. This choice applies not only to today. By making this choice you decide to be with this person in order to achieve your goals. By making this choice you bet on your future, and you bet it will be successful. By making this choice you say “no” to all the other choices. This choice is full of hope, faith, and happiness. There is no happiness without trust, consciousness, and the understanding of inevitable success.
That’s exactly what you should be choosing, dear reader when choosing us. The skin color is just a color. It doesn’t affect anything.