Nigerian Americans

Inhabitants of Nigeria (Niger area) in western Africa or sub-Saharan Africa have been part of the American story from its beginning. As soon as the first immigrants began to arrive from Europe, there was a need for manual labor to build the new world. The need for slave labor touched every ethnic group in the continent of Africa, especially those not far removed from the Atlantic Ocean. According to C. Reef, the first Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. A case example detailing the description of a runaway enslaved person of Ibo origin was reported twice in the Virginia Gazette of March 21 and June 20, 1766.

However, the term Nigerian American refers to present-day immigrants from colonized Nigeria, after independence in 1960. Prior to independence, individuals of Nigerian extraction made it to the United States as stowaways on travel ships. Among the prominent stowaways from Nigeria was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was in the United States from 1925 to 1934.

During this period, and several decades later, Nigerians who traveled to the United States did so as students to further their education, with plans of going back to settle and work in Nigeria. Most of the Nigerians who traveled to the United States pre-independence, and in the decade after independence, eventually went back to settle and work in Nigeria.

Because of the political instability that started a few years after independence and eventually led to the civil war of 1966 to 1971, most Nigerians began to see life outside Nigeria, especially in the United States, as desirable. Following increased educational awareness and better perception of standards of living, Nigerians began to see immigration to the United States as a goal.

As established in the Nigerian constitution, after independence, a Nigerian could hold only one citizenship, not dual citizenship, as was customary for all citizens of the British Commonwealth. This constitutional requirement made it difficult for Nigerians who traveled to the United States after the civil war to truly make America their home. However, this changed in 1991, when Head of State General Ibrahim Babangida made it legal for Nigerians to hold dual citizenship.

This policy paved the way for Nigerians in the United States to become naturalized American citizens and remain Nigerian citizens, making it possible for their children, who were born in the United States, to also become Nigerian citizens. This policy development helped increase the immigration of Nigerians to the United States, as they proudly showed renewed dignity and love for both their country of birth and their country [Page 1617]of adoption. This particular issue was revisited as Nigeria adopted a new constitution in 1999; it was aggressively debated and was finally allowed to remain because it has given immense gains to Nigerians.

The term Nigerian American is a recent designation that became popular in the 2000s, as Nigeria as a country was becoming politically stable. This was the result of a successful transition to a democratically elected government as well as the smooth transition that followed the death of a democratically elected president.

...