Mr Simonim began by claiming to know Nigeria", a country made up of 36 different states, without justifying such an ambitious claim with some concrete facts. Most Nigerians, would not put a bet on such a claim.

Mr Simonim asserted boldly that many prisons in the Western world hold Nigerian drug smugglers, but he gave no facts or figures to prove his assertion.

Is his inflammatory claim that Nigerians are arrogant is a sad generalisation for a country of more than 100 million people? Many friends and colleagues have visited Nigeria without the slightest embarrassment at the Lagos airport, but Mr Simonim informed your readers that "it is impossible to get through Lagos airport without bribes."

In addition, referring to a country where there are hundreds of reputable hotels, Mr Simonim declared that "it is also impossible to obtain a hotel room without bribing the receptionist."

It is needless to point out other loopholes in his letter.

In my few months in this country, I have come to know there are many good Kenyans and some uncultured ones, some sober intelligent Kenyans and some arrogant fools. If, on the basis of such knowledge, I make "indefinitely adverse comments" about Kenyans, when I return to Nigeria, comments that are not justified by any established facts, such comments would be misleading and erroneous - just as Mr Simonim's letter.

John-Okoria I.,

Nairobi.