A LACK of knowledge about different cultures can make people ask strange questions when they meet you, according to Taiwo Matthew, a Nigerian who has lived in Ireland for the past nine years.

Dr Matthew, who made history when he was the first black man to be elected to local government in Ireland in 2004, said he was often been asked questions such as "Do people live in trees in your country?" or "Are there toilets in your country?" since he has come to Ireland. "One of the key reasons why I got involved in local politics was precisely because of all these misconceptions and lack of information about Nigeria and Africa in this country.

And if misconceptions continue it leads to stereotyping and racism. I believe a bridge can be built where people can learn about each other," said Dr Matthew. When asked if he sees himself as the next Rotimi Adebari, who is the first black mayor in the country and currently at the end of his one-year term as Mayor of Portlaoise, his answer is "why not?"

Together with his wife, Iyabo, they arrived in Ireland in 1999 and currently live in Ennis with their two girls Ololade (13) and Sikemi (10) and a son Tomiwa (8). Both Dr Matthew and his wife are from the Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria, in the western part of the country.

Although Abuja is now the capital, Lagos is still deemed as one of the biggest cities in sub-Saharan Africa. His mother and some of his siblings, including his twin sister Kehinde, still live in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country which is composed of 250 ethnic groups. Dr Matthew studied medicine at the Ogun State University Medical School.

He continued his studies as a post graduate at the College of Surgeons in Dublin and recently also completed his MBA at University College Dublin. Not a man to be lazy, Dr Matthew has also been the pastor of the Christ Faith Tabernacle Church in Ennis for eight years.

This church has a branch in Limerick with meetings at the Mary Immaculate College, where he regularly speaks. "The most precious thing to me is knowing God and to speak to people about the love of God," he added. He feels that the church has a big role to play in the community.

Dr Matthew is not only a medical doctor, pastor, councillor and dad, he has also helped inform people about his home country. "In my own personal experience there was a time in Limerick where people were not ready to accept immigrants, mostly immigrants from Africa. That was when I just arrived.

I was invited to speak to a group of community leaders in Limerick, about who we – the Nigerians – are as a people. In those times some people had never seen a black person before. So it was the fear of the unknown. I told them who we are as a nation, that many countries in Africa were colonised by the British, so many African people speak English as their first language, and others also speak French or Portugese.

And to be honest there has been tremendous progress and change. Themain obstacle would be ignorance. Many Irish people had in those years not been outside their country, maybe not even outside their county." Originally Dr Matthew came to Ireland to seek asylum, as Nigeria was under military rule for almost 33 years before a civilian government took over.

"The hospitals had not enough resources. It was terrible living like that. As a doctor you were trained to save lives, you saw people brought into casualty but you were helpless, you couldn't do anything because the resources for medical help were not there. We began to speak up, but many people were killed in that time. So many of us decided to find a way to get safely out of the country. It was really hard and a terrible experience. I hope that the sacrifices people made were not in vain."

His first reaction towards Ireland nine years ago was that the country is "very wet. And my next shock was that I thought everyone in Ireland goes to church. Both my wife and I have been taught in schools in Nigeria run by nuns and priests originally from Ireland. So the natural conclusion was that Ireland was a very religious country and everyone goes to church. But on the contrary, this doesn't happen."

Dr Matthew feels without any doubt that Ireland is now their home. And because this community has helped him so much he feels it is important to give back to them the lessons he has learnt. He would also want to give back to the third world and to Africa. His wife trained as a lawyer back in Nigeria. She has also continued with her studies here and did a postgraduate in Human Resources at the University of Limerick.

His children are very happy in Ireland and in their different schools. "They have adapted wonderfully to school and to life here in Ireland. My oldest girl has always been the best in Irish in her class," Dr Matthew chuckled, with a hint of pride in his voice. And when it comes to Limerick he and his family have two favourite places, the Crescent Shopping Centre and Pizza Hut, because they all love pizza.