I NOTICE THAT IN NIGERIA THEY LIKE MONEY AND FOOD-PATRICIA

You’re welcome to Nigeria

Thank you so much.

Is it the first time you are coming to Nigeria?

Yes.

What was your impression about Nigeria before coming to Nigeria?

I felt like I would  be taken hostage when I come to Nigeria ,  may be someone was  going to exchange me for drugs or something else.

That was your impression before coming to Nigeria?

Yes.

Now that you are in Nigeria what is your impression?

I see godly people like  I see God in everyone I meet. I see the goodness.  That’s  why I feel at home and comfortable now.

So have you adopted a Nigerian name for yourself?

Yes,I would like to be called  Ngozi  (Blessing).

Ok you are welcome.  How are the foods like, did they taste well for you?

Yes, especially the cat fish.  It was the best. It was a good experience but when I looked at it  initially , I was like I am not going to eat this thing but the taste is incredible.

How field work IS DONE in South Africa and do you also cover Southern Africa?

No , only in South Africa and I have been doing fieldwork  in South Africa  for almost three years. It’s challenging though in times of incentive because respondents expect more than what you are giving them.

Generally, what are the challenges of field work in South Africa apart from incentives?

May be getting the correct respondent or  even when you get the right respondent , the person may not show up for the interview  at the end of the day. Probably you speak to someone early in the morning  and  the person promises that he would  definitely show up and when it’s already time for the field the person is not there.  That is  the main  challenge  and people expect  to be given  millions when they do field work which is impossible.

Talking about methodology for doing research in South Africa ,do you still use pen and paper for research?

Not really , we now use tablet for field work.

Even in the rural areas?

Yes.

And there are no challenges with that?

There’s. Sometimes, the interviewer does really not know how to use the tablet with the respondent. In that situation at times the respondent has to respond for himself and probably somebody has passed a wrong response.

Talking about regulating market research in South Africa do you have an association?

Yes SAMRA.

You are a member?

No, I am not.

Why?

I hadn’t thought about being  a member but I will join now that you have mentioned it and you have asked me, so  I see that may be important for me to join.

IS there any similarity between what they do in field in South Africa and what they do in field in Nigeria?

I can’t really say because I have never seen you guys do field work but the project I have done with Chika, I see that they are more advanced in the way they do things . It makes market research easy for you like  when they are briefing you, they make sure that you understand everything.

How important or how necessary do you think training is in market research? 

I think it’s important as far as I have seen how Nigerians do things here and how they explained  things to me.  It was the first time it made sense to me. In South Africa, we do market research but it’s  not as clear as this.

How often do you have training in South Africa?

I worked for a company for 5years  and I didn’t  have any  training.  This is the only time I am saying to you that I understood most things taught us  because before  I couldn’t  differentiate between simple terms in market research.

What are you  taking away from the training?

When you start to do a Group Discussion in market research,  you need to do it honestly and get the right respondent,  no short cut.

Be honest with me now, what are the things you have experienced that you don’t like about Nigeria?

The first was my hotel. I had to change room two times because it was not clean enough even now I did not iron my clothes because there is no electricity and there is too much noise there. I am not a noisy person  though  I am very friendly.  I like sleeping to get peace of mind after I am done with whatever I was doing during the day. Apart from the hotel issue,  Nigerians are very nice people.  I got along with everybody I am here for just training and not to be bias and stuff like that so I am talking to everybody that is talking with me.

I am sure you went out on Saturday?

Yes I went out  and  I had fun. I went out with some friends  Chika, Francis and Creppy and we ate.  I started eating Isi- ewu (goat head) and it’s chilly. After that, we went elsewhere to try cat fish. I notice that in Nigeria they like money and food.

What about God?

Yes and God.

You know I don’t want to lie to you sometimes it depends on who I am talking to because you can feel if the person is sincere or not when you talk to the person. I am not going to talk about people who are far away from me.You can feel God when you talk to someone that this person is a child of God or he/she is sincere that they like God. So far with the people I am visiting here definitely I see that they are into Christianity and on Sunday I had a very bright experience I went to T.B JOSHUA. I attended  the service from 7am to 2pm.

And you’ re not tired?

I was extremely tired and at a time I had to go out.

What about the traffic in Lagos?

 I love the traffic in Lagos.  It makes me curious especially traffic in the small yellow car (keke napep).  I had the experience yesterday.

You have never entered it before?

I have never entered it before until  yesterday when I was coming back  from the  church.  I entered keke napep and I paid N150 . There is a lot of it in Nigeria and  I think it’s  the cheapest transportation. And then another thing I don’t like is the value of the naira.

When you have N5000 you will think that you have money but when you start spending it and when you don’t understand is like you are in a lost world because you don’t understand and how much you spend.

What else would you like to share as your personal experience that you will remember for a long time?

The laugh from Nigerians and their food.  When I saw  the food,  I was like no,  I am not going to touch this,  it looks scary but the moment you put it in your mouth I loved the food.  The way you guys are so close and the laugh that I see in Nigeria people,  I don’t usually see that in South Africa we don’t wish each  other well.  In  South Africa,  if you succeed they will want to succeed along,  they don’t care about the next person. I have  seen that you guys are one big family especially in Random Dynamic Resources .  I don’t even know who is the boss now because it looks like every one is the boss in this company, you will never  identify who the boss is because of the bond. And I consider myself very lucky  to be joining such people because I also know  that I will grow with you guys .  I know you guys will never make me do wrong things. The first thing I will take with me is the laughter.