Go and sit down:Why It Hurts Me So Badly When You Say The Woolwich Hatchet Killers Are Not Nigerians

I am really hurt. All over twitter I have been seeing people say that the Woolwich killers are not Nigerian just because they were born and raised in the UK, and have never been to Nigeria a day in their lives.

At the end of the day, they have Nigerian blood. Their names are Nigerian. And their culture/heritage is Nigerian. How can some people one moment say that Sade is a Nigerian, when she is half white, and born and raised in the United States, but turn around and say that these men are not Nigerian?

I understand that you believe that you are protecting the name of your country by trying to "disown" these men because they have done something that Nigerians are not proud of. But please do realize, that you are also disowning me and many other Nigerian youths who are born and raised abroad.

I am born and raised in America, and just because I have never been to Nigeria. That does not mean that I don't love my country. Yes. Nigeria is my country. Yes I am PROUD to have Nigerian blood. I eat and cook Nigerian food daily.

Even though I am in America I always wear ankara prints PROUDLY everywhere I go. When people ask me what nationality I am after they hear my name, I proudly tell them that I am a Nigerian woman. So my question to you all is, do you realize how hurtful it is that you say that this man is NOT a Nigerian man just because he was born and raised abroad? Because if that's the case, then you are telling me that I am an American woman.

You are stripping me of what is rightfully and by default my heritage, and my culture. In an attempt to hide your shame, you are excluding me from the right to call myself a Nigerian woman. Do I have the right to call myself a Nigerian woman? Or are you trying to strip me of that? I send money home from my own pay check, EVERY month to support family members that I haven't even met. But they are the brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, etc. of my own parents. And they are Nigerian, so I can NEVER turn my back on them.

Am I not a Nigerian? Because I was not born and raised there. Because I have never been there? Please, think about what you say before you say it.

Source: Sent in by a member