In Europe desperation of some male-Africans is horrendous and pathetic

Seek first the advice from Prophet Makandiwa, make a pilgrimage to Nigeria and seek audience with TB Joshua immediately; With prayers you will win the 2019 EU parliamentary elections; said the young Nigerian man. Contribute your tithes whatever you can pay to the holy men of God to cleanse yourself from evil, he continued. I will be your spiritual manager and will pray for you and fast with you, sister. If I was stupid, I was going to believe the stuff and nonsense the young man was saying without winking his eyes, a sign he is telling blue lies. It is however easy to spot deceit in a man, all of them have breathing issues, supposedly a virtue.

The European parliamentary elections were slowly heating up; they were held on May 26th, 2019. Every candidate was busy positioning him/herself to these highly charged elections, a competition of ideas to sell to the electorate to get that mandate to execute duties outlined in the manifesto. Admittedly, the EU parliamentary elections were challenging politicians of all political party-divides. The debates levitated around migration curiously asylum seekers and migrants prefer Germany as their destination. This time around it put mainline political parties on the spot, have previously been casualties in elections times for their liberal policies on asylum seeking and migration.

It was a great privilege to be elected as EU parliamentary candidate on the Feminist Party: The Women. The second move was to present my ideas about my candidacy: In Europe, politics is all about competition of sound ideas. I thought about migration politics like many other candidates on one hand, but on the other hand the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development under Minister Gerd Müller was dangling an EU Marshall Plan with Africa. As a woman of African descent, I thought it was more compelling to seek a mandate for the EU parliament articulating the EU Marshall Plan with Africa and how it can be a game changer for African women especially in rural communities where women and children predominantly live.

It was the first introduction of my candidacy at the Bremen market; I was given a 10-minute slot to talk. I cannot be modest, my message was received just by lamenting the plight of women who make those perilous journeys in the Sahara Desert some of which get raped, some die, some are taken as slaves in the North African marketplaces. I also talked about women who seek asylum in Germany for reasons relating to gender- specific reasons in their home countries. These facts and not rhetoric impressed the Bremen residents together with a young man from Nigeria who listened diligently on the sidelines of the market dwellers.

Coming down from the platform slowly and at the same time enjoying the positive resonance of my first ever political speech at the Bremen market, the Nigerian young man came straight to me, shook hands, and was impressed, he said. A black woman seeking EU parliamentary seat in Strasburg, he quickly offered me assistance, he could be one of the campaign managers. "I am from Nigeria," he said. At a first glace, well, I had no reason whatsoever to doubt his honesty and ability to be my campaign manager. I know several decent Nigerians in Bremen, some medical doctors or lecturers' nurses and teachers. I told him I needed to speak to him first and we work out how I can slot him in my campaign trail.

We met at the State & University Library Bremen, told him exactly the place he will find me waiting for him. He came 25 minutes late, anywhere, that is normal by African standards. My worry was mostly about his body language, seemed not to appeal to me as someone of honesty and integrity, I had to speak to him first to remove that first doubt. Before he could reply he tried to assume the upper hand by arranging our sitting positions. It seemed he did not want other library visitors to eavesdrop our discussions. I respected that, but personally I had nothing to hide whatsoever in the topic we were discussing as the section we were in was for such interactions of people working together on whatever.
Without wasting time, I asked what assistance he would offer me in my campaigns as campaign manager. It was the upper hand he wanted to command right from the start of the conversation: "what is your religion," he asked without answering the first question. I was taken aback but decided to be polite for once, he is a young man of African origin, respect and politeness was my first reaction. "I am Catholic: why, I am an atheist, I don't believe in God anymore. Christianity is redundant in my life. He was shocked to his bone marrow, a black woman who openly speaks about being atheist! It is just unheard of!

I realized how he struggled to continue the conversation each time I threw him out of concept. But he tried again delicately nursing the mood that was predicating disaster, "do you know Prophet Makandiwa from Zimbabwe? I will assist your campaign at spiritual level. I want us to pray together so that you win the elections. You can win them if you place all your trust in God, he said." He took a piece of paper with drawings stating the supreme power in humankind come from recognizing that God is Man. Here on earth, you need a man on your side ever to win the European Union elections. My offer to you is to "fast and pray" together with me.

I interjected and boldly told him that yes, I do seek a mandate on a Feminist Party ticket. I asked him if he understood what feminist and atheist is about and what we stand for as a party. I don't share spirituality with strangers, I said. He replied he had done his homework, told me about my numerous political articles on internet. "Please remove all those articles on internet if you want to win elections. You need real prayers, TB Joshua can pray for you and you win elections but before you go to Nigeria you must have prayed with me, fasted with me and we engage spiritually in preparations for the pilgrimage together to Nigeria.

"I invite you to come to our church in Hemelingen-Bremen. You will find black people there, Christian brothers and sisters from Africa who will assist you in prayers to get elected in the European parliament," he said. For him to emphasize that I can only win EU elections through his prayers and fasting was his only budget account to get me. He was as sure as a cock; I was going to be impressed about his Christian values. The power of the prayer was supposed to move me and soften up to him as the only solution to my desired entry into EU parliament.

I would have wanted to say to him you are such a time waster on his face. My motherly instinct did not allow me to be abrasive to this gullible young man. Gullible, I don't think so; he was a sleazy and contemptible young man, trying his own chance to an oldie of over 60 years old. I started packing my books and notes together, I thought about the 30 minutes I had already wasted with a street-man, a rogue, a crook, a scam-bag. I realized I was dubbed. I, however, refused to climb down on my perception about Nigerian people. It was the first encounter with a dishonest person from Nigeria who uses religion to get his way with life here in Bremen. Surely you cannot paint all Nigerians with the same brush, it's not only politically incorrect but not true.

"You cannot talk bad about TB Joshua" he discovered his throat-voice again. Mrs. Winnie Mandela went to see TB Joshua and your President; Morgan Tsvangirai also went to see TB Joshua." I needed to lash out because I could not take it anymore. But those people are dead, I said. The young man was shocked. "They are with God in heaven," he answered his voice almost chocking for breath: he has breathing problems evidently. I asked him if he can prove to me that they are in heaven with God for sure. If he proves to me without doubt that those two prominent people are in heaven, I will join his church at once without any questions. A natural scientist with degrees in engineering background believes in science-backed facts and not spiritual beliefs.

He gave a defeated laugh at the same time visibly seething inside him, he was losing the plot with this woman. "You are insulting God when you say that sister. It is not good to be atheist, you know, sister. Take this paper and go through it again and phone me if you have given a thought about what we have talked about today. I am there for you, sister, God is there; Jesus is alive; he will help you win the EU parliamentary elections. It was obvious at that moment that he desired an exit-point physically and leaves this beast, an atheist: "all African women are religious in one way or another, but this one!" He seemed to say this in his body language: I suspected this because his eyes were giving several massages: disgust, fear, and pleading for rational as the last hope.

But the young man was desperate to get me just to come to church at least. He tried his luck once more at least to come to their church; the rest will be done by prayers from the elders inside the church. "But, please sister, come to church at least. The pastor and the congregation will be waiting for you, I told them you are coming. You will be allowed to give a speech, NORMALLY WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GIVE SPEECHES IN CHURCH; BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE SPECIAL; they will pray for you so that you are elected in EU parliament."

He tried to be convincing verbally to school me to know the importance of a prayer in every aspect of daily life. The task seemed to be impossible, an uphill task every minute, the more we exchanged questions and statements back and forth. It was evident by his mien he was not prepared for this reaction and he never saw this coming.

I thought I had been motherly enough, and the red line was crossed, I did what I know best: ATTACK; "what congregation is that;" I asked. A Pentecostal church, he replied. Oh my god: I burst out laughing, openly scornful. "You are inviting me to come and "kick and scream" together with you, what about those yelling and talking in tongues you are going to subject me into, that nonsense in my life, at my age. I would rather go back to the Catholic Church than to come and spend a minute with you in that church men do the talking and screaming; women do the crying and yelling. I must put up with that glorious nonsense. I can assure you now that I will not come, I said. "Young man, do you know who is Nomazulu Thata? I am an un-repented atheist/feminist." In all honesty: to be a feminist is a virtue I hold high.

As if it all that was not enough, on a Sunday morning at 8:30, the young man phoned me, he told me how he prays for me all the time. (Where did he get my telephone number?) "Please sister, the congregation is waiting for you today, I will be happy if you came. You need to soften your heart and accept God as your saviour." I was mad, having been woken up from a deep Sunday morning sleep. I will report you to the police at once. You are stalking me: I said. I reported him to the police: I told them about a dubious man who is interfering with my citizens' rights as a Bremer resident. I gave his name and telephone number to the criminal police. I did not hear from him again. I do, time and again bump into him at marketplaces: He walks away as quickly as possible so that we do not speak, not even greetings. Aha! I got him; one more case closed.

My mind and thoughts go to young women in Bremen who have been duped for various reasons and get trapped in sinister activities by men with criminal intents. To say Nigerians are criminals is not fair because this incident can happen anywhere in the world. I however learnt my lesson; it could have been worse. I wonder still how I fell into this trap with the cleverness and academic background I pride myself with.

Somehow this story embarrasses my slowness in responding to issues that could be dangerous. But I need to tell it all the same so that young women learn from it. Sharing this story with other sisters out there could be some form of shared assistance. Men with criminal minds will target those unsuspecting women and put them in serious situations that can cost lives. I take comfort myself by ever convincing and emphasizing it in my psych that he was interested in me as a woman: he is some of the many "Ben-10s" who wants to depend on old women to survive life challenges in Europe. (A Ben-10 is an overly young man who seeks love-relationship with overly old woman for financial reasons) In Germany such situations are called "überlebenskunstler".

The young man must have started dreaming of a life with this old woman in Strasbourg EU parliament buildings. The old woman, (sister, and mother by the day) will work, and he, (brother, and son by the day) will stay home and pray for her, the idea is not bad at all. It's as good as buying a state lottery ticket: win or lose: 50/50% chances. He lost the bait, who know next time. The try was worth it. We are authors of books, wool gatherers after all: such experiences are welcome. The EU parliamentary elections were contested heavily as is the rude trade in politics. No number of prayers shifted the EU elections outcomes because of dubious prayers.

It is also painful to realize how Africans fall into this trap of fanatic Christianity, the institution that assisted colonialism in Africa in the first place and for 5 centuries.