Be strong Melissa, you must be going through hell and I feel very sorry for your predicament. My honest opinion is, however, that the man you are engaged to is not being honest or completely straightforward with you. I know of countless inter-racial relationships comprising of an Igbo man with a European/North American/Asian woman. Too many to mention. On a personal level, my father is Igbo and my mother is European and my mother has nevery been treated poorly or disrespectfully by the family. While it is true that Igbo parents prefer their offspring to marry within the tribe and sometimes even within the state (for example Imo marrying Imo), it is extremely rare that a family will go through such lenghts as you describe to prevent an inter racial marriage. Also it is extremely uncharacteristic of an Igbo family to prevent the brother of your fiance from travelling abroad the way you described. If anything the Igbo welcome any attempt to migrate in order to better our lot in life through education or business.

Of course anything is possible so maybe the family is against it the way your fiance described. But ask yourself this: is it possible that your fiance is using this as an excuse to back out of the relationship and doesn't want to tell you outright that he can't marry you?

Verify a story before believing or reacting to it. This story is NOWHERE on the internet except punch Nigeria. Abeg we don't live in the stone age anymore where people get their facts from 'he say she say'.

The first thing I did when I read this post was google terms such as oprah, nigeria and corrupt combined. Try it abeg u will get ZERO results apart from this nairaland thread. If she made these statements it would show up on the internet.

This is 2007 peepz don't be gullible.

I SERIOUSLY doubt Oprah made those comments! So far the only source I have been able to find running the story is Punch Nigeria. I have searched google, goolge news, live, yahoo and oprah's website.

Nothing,

Can anyone post a link from some international newssite that Oprah actually made the comments because I can find it NOWHERE apart from Punch Nigeria.

@ Afam

My response was only aimed at pointing out what I felt was 'wrong' with the website. A lot of other things are 'right' with the site and if you hadn't asked for critique in the first place I would never have given it.

I'm actually also of the opinion that a website can be developed from scratch in 3 days. I never disputed that so I agree with you there.

@ Afam

The fact that the photo gallery is not meant to be a casual or entertainment one is exactly the reason why it should be as user friendly and time saving as possible. Time is money. If I were a potential buyer I would want to see as many pictures as possible and would find having to return to the index too time consuming. I would wonder why something that would not take up to 8 lines of code and some 3-5 minutes to implement was left out. I would give up after a few clicks.

Now let me ask you, what is the point asking "what is wrong with the site?" only to respond defensively when simple flaws are pointed out?

@ Afam

"Now, tell me what is wrong with the site"

In the Floor gallery while browsing through pictures if I click on a picture for the full size I cannot get to the next picture directly. I have to go back and then click on the next picture. Not very user friendly IMHO ,  I mean this is so basic most picture galleries have index, next & previous links.

oh and 21stccDr, Grey's Anatomy is about as unrealistic a show on healthcare as I can imagine. Its basically a soap opera. ER or some of the reality med shows are much more realistic IMHO.

Toshman, for someone in Cardiff u seem to know A LOT about the situation on ground in Naija. Did u ever work as a doc in Nigeria?

Dupebaby what's your height. Your weight alone doesn't really say much about your build. With your weight AND height you can calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index) then you can really go about calculating your ideal weight. So then its easier to set goals. Realise that you WILL eventually add weight as you stop growing vertically and blossom into a woman. Also, one sure way NOT to gain weight is stress so just chillllll, I know its hard but with a calm mind and well defined goals you'll get there.

I've lived here in Amsterdam for 9 years. I'm in med school here. I'll try to answer your questions.

Has anyone ever been there?

see above

What is the place like

Amsterdam is a typical western European city. Its not as big as London but there are comparisons. I spent last summer in London and I can tell you, I prefer London to Amsterdam anyday. There are lots of bicycles in Amsterdam! One of the popular ways to get around. Also trams, buses and trains. Most people speak english, but without dutch, you will never really progress career wise (my experience).

Has anyone ever studied at any of their Universities?

I study in the university at amsterdam, there are about 9 uni's spread across the country. The universities are DRY. Its very dutch oriented. I miss the international feel of uni's in england. Most important degrees are in dutch (medicine, law economics). But the HES does offer english tuition.

What are the teaching standards like?

World standard. I can say for the medical degree that my university publishes in every international medical journal u can think of. The only thing I would say is that curriculum and teaching methods and infact the entire makeup of their eductaional system is so different from nigeria that most nigerians find it hard here. We prefer England or the US.

What about the living conditions and costs?

Conditions, better than the UK, standard of living high (if you are professional and making a good living). Costs are much lower than the UK.

What about the social life?

Not really my cup of tea. I prefer the social life in Naija or England.

And more to the point is there many Nigerians there

Well, there are a LOT of Nigerians especially in the big cities, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague. In the south east of amsterdam there is even a nigerian nightclub and you can get all the naija food in most shops. However, we all know that ''Nigerian'' is a very loose term. In reality you have Igbos, Yorubas, and Urhobos and from my experience they don't interact with each other. If you are Igbo you might feel at home cause there are a lot of Igbos here. Another thing I have noticed is the absolute lack of educated nigerians in holland. There are a few, but really as a nigerian studying medicine here I have yet to come across other nigerians who study, work professional jobs, etc. Most of them are into 419 or 'business'. This sounds harsh but its the plain truth.

Hope this gives u a clearer picture of holland. Feel free to mail me if you need help or more info while you're here