Searching Greener Pastures
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"The line manager called her in for a disciplinary hearing. She saw the end of the road in her career but was not surprised, as this was often the case. When an African with an accent gets a decent job in an office, victimisation often occurred and the victim got the sack. She saw her colleagues gang up with a line manager hours before the hearing. The colleague who accused Gladys of aggression put up a theatrical appearance. She went in and out of the toilet crying her eyes out over an incident that happened the previous week. Her line manager and other colleagues went in and out of the toilet offering moral support and abandoning their work in the process. Talk of wastage in the public service. Gladys took it all in and wondered at their intelligence. Why did they lack emotional intelligence and failed to see the destruction they subjected themselves. She was glad at the turn of events, as she knew they had taken on the wrong person. She knew the plight of the ethnic minority and especially those with accents like her. A lot of African’s had been subjected to unjust racial discrimination and lost their jobs in the process without putting up a fight. Part of her reason for sound education was to free her from oppression."
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About the Book
Gladys left a comfortable life in Nigeria with family to study in England. Her husband, John, embedded in the traditional African culture, failed to adapt to life in England and left his wife to cope with the difficult lifestyle. Her marriage suffered and she experienced nostalgia and heartache. She left a collective society and found herself in an individualistic society where no one cared if you existed or not. This, to her, was a huge cultural shock.
She was faced with racial discrimination due to the colour of her skin and accent. She witnessed first-hand, lack of respect for cultural diversity by the Whites. The plight of the ethnic minority, especially the Blacks, saddened her. They were always at the bottom of the ladder of preference.
In a society where stereotyping and assumption determines acceptance or rejection, she questioned the greed of the African leaders, especially those in her country, Nigeria. These leaders make life at home difficult and unbearable for the people and they pretend all is well. Their citizens, in search of greener pastures, blindly subject themselves to voluntary exile and a new form of modern day slavery to the West, in the form of brain drain. Highly skilled and qualified professionals with University degrees from developing countries end up as menial workers in unskilled jobs like cleaners, care support workers, security guards, waitresses and check-out staff. They hardly get decent jobs because of their skin colour and accent. It is often difficult to retrace their steps and return home as all has been sacrificed for the sojourn. The role of the West in the indirect modern day slavery is also examined.
About the Author
Dolapo was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. A secretarial administrator, she worked in the Bank and ran her successful retail business before coming to the UK as a mature student. She is an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction and passionate about politics and leadership. She was in politics for a brief period before her sojourn. Writing and fighting injustice is her passion. In England, she personally witnessed various forms of discrimination and lack of respect for diversity. She met various ethnic minorities who shared similar experiences. She provides support and advice in fighting injustice at work and has succeeded in preventing unfair dismissal and getting out of court settlement. She regularly questions the greed of African leaders; especially Nigeria, and their lack of accountability to their nations and to Africa as a continent and the role of the West. Dolapo studied at Middlesex University, London and acquired BA (Hons) Retail Management and MA Human Resource Management. A Graduate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), she is a trainer, NVQ tutor and assessor and she runs her management training and development company. She lives in London with family.