Why Nigerians only? Were the Saudi bankers trying to suggest that the Nigerians could be holding stolen cheques?
Coming from a country where a queue in a banking hall could mean shoddy service, no money, or humiliation, the Nigerian pilgrims must have been seized by the emotional memory of the banking situation at home, forgetting for a while that they were in the holy land. I have been in banking halls where such delays led to the customers raising their voices and asking the tellers and their bosses to hurry up. We are Nigerians. We don’t like to be delayed. Has anyone forgotten the case of the member of the House of Representatives who was asked to show his identity card by a security guard? He responded with a slap to the guard’s face. Don’t you know who I am? Don’t the Saudis know that we are Nigerians? The affected banks got off lightly with only a few smashed windows. It could have been worse. The bank managers should count themselves lucky they were not beaten up. The Tuesday encounter must provide a learning opportunity for the Saudi Arabian banking sector: don’t mess with Nigerian custo
