According to Shah Alam Antlers Soccer Club head coach, Ibrahim Madaki, it would not be fair to assume that all Africans are bad just because a few of them are involved in criminal activities.
"Bad and good people are everywhere. So it's not fair to associate someone with a crime just because of their skin color. There are still many of us who have a great deal of respect and love for this country (Malaysia) that is considered to be home.
"We also work and live happily in Malaysia," he said in an interview with Sinar Harian yesterday.
Ibrahim, who is from Nigeria, said he has never faced discrimination from the locals.
He said this while commenting on the negative public perception of Africans in the country, although only a few made problems with criminal activities.
Meanwhile, according to the Taylor's University lecturer in Communications and Media, Associate Prof. Dr Ali Salman, many Africans venture into various fields of education, engineering, information technology and sports that contribute to human capital development in the country.
"There are Africans working with Petronas as well as Telekom Malaysia," he said.
Admit by Dr. Ali, of course, that he and his colleagues from the African continent are not comfortable with the crimes committed by some of their countrymen here.
"We support the police and immigration efforts to curb criminal cases involving Africans.
"However, we are not comfortable with the way the report was made and the way the authorities consider all Africans to be bad. This creates a tense situation between Africans and locals," he said. Therefore, he further stated, in other to overcome the situation, the authorities must look into the causes of the problems that often occur and involve Africans.
"As an African who has lived on this blessed land for 29 years, I can offer some suggestions if needed.
"I would suggest that the government oversee the agents in the affected countries to bring in Africans by promising them job opportunities but eventually when they are tricked, some of them tend to involve in crime, he said.
He also did not deny that he had been cynical by locals during the Black Money case.
"I want to rent a house and it's hard to get it as many rejected because am from Africa. The host country does not want to deal with us," according to a recent experience.
For Ogunleye Gbenga Olatunji Anthony, however, he does not deny that crimes committed by Nigerians in Malaysia have tarnished the image of Africans especially from their home countries.
"As Nigerians, we are known as a hardworking society. But some of us were tricked by agents who were administering visas to Malaysia.
"They are promised jobs and a good life in Malaysia. When they arrived, they realized that they had been cheated and they were desperate to commit a crime in order to survive," he said.
Ogunleye, who works as an exam coordinator at a private college in Penang, said he believes the crime rate could be reduced if majority Africans have job in Malaysia.
"There are still many Nigerians who work legally like me. That is why I feel that the perpetrator of this crime is trapped in a state of unemployment and desperation to earn living," he said.
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