Nigerians in the United States have a message for Nigeria's acting president: Fix the electric power, end political corruption, get rid of the gigantic potholes in the roads and distribute the money from oil revenues to the masses.

"You see some Nigerians have been here for 30 years, 20 years. They can't go home -- why?" asks Abiodun Ogunsanya, who then answers his own question: "Because the country is not good."

Ogunsanya is one of the more than 150,000 Nigerians reported in the 2000 U.S. Census. At his barbershop in Cheverly, Md., Nigerian ex-patriots engage in passionate discussions about the affairs of their homeland. Many of them are fed up with the government, while others simply grew weary of daily deprivations, like the lack of consistent electric power in Nigeria.

"I don't know why we cannot have electricity in that country," says Gbenga Ajayi, a music producer who has lived in Maryland for five years. Ajayi flails his arms when he speaks. His words are met with shouts of agreement from men huddled together in the small Lagos Barber.

When Nigeria's acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, traveled to the United States for last week's nuclear summit, Nigerians met him face to face to voice their concerns. It was his first visit since taking over from Nigeria's ailing head of state in February.

In a crowded room at the Hilton Washington Embassy Row Hotel, Jonathan answered several critical questions. One Nigerian American told the acting president what was on the minds of many. "The first thing Nigeria needs to fix is light," she said, "and every other development will follow." After a round of applause from the audience, Jonathan responded with a Biblical reference that harked to the high level of religiosity in Nigerian culture.

"In Genesis, they say God said, 'Let there be light,' " Jonathan said. "How I wish we could have that kind of magic wand now to say, 'Let there be light' and there was light."

But Goodluck Jonathan does not have a magic wand, and he doesn't have much time either. He has about a year left as acting president and Nigerians are holding him accountable to make the most of it. "He has very limited time," said Paschal Agubuzo, manager at a restaurant adjacent to the barber shop. "We Nigerians know the need to create a better economy in Nigeria."




                               [size=14pt]READ THE REST AND WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:[/size]



http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04/21/frustrated-nigerian-americans-eager-for-president-goodluck-to-de/



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                                  Question:

                               Why dont you return to Nigeria ?



                                Answer:

                           
                             Because the country is not good




                                    What an  idiot.

they cant go home because the country is not good? I hate this kind of statement.

who begs them to come home in the first place? You dont need a good country to be a common barber.

Yes ooh I won't go home because of lack of the basic necessities waw, waw, waw . Let me just stay in another man's land and keep complaining about what's happening some thousand miles away boo ho.
No one is willing to put in the work or help out. Just like dat Nigeria's problem will be resolved through mouth service. How do u think US was built? Through mouth service? Opinions like that just irks me. Like America, Britain or any other developed and developing country would be where it is if they all talked and did nothing.
And just another thing why is it only Africans that are diaspora I've never heard about other nations in diaspora or does the term apply to Africans only?

^^^ untill i came here i only heard that term used to describe jews (easter europen jews in particular)

Oh wow. That's good to know. Thanks. I was just curious.

For the people who reacted negatively to the comments about Nigeria in the article that were accredited to folks of Nigerian descent living in Maryland, USA, I pray you live old enough to see what Nigeria will become.

By the way, Nigeria, like many African nations born out of idiotic colonial manipulation, does not meet true definition of a nation. It is unfortunate that one of the respondents to the post had the effrontery to refer to a commentator as “common barber”. This is typical Nigerian in display of utter ignorance.

Arguably, one of the greatest countries on earth was once led by a tailor, cobbler or barber. The individuals contributed immensely to the building USA into a greater country than founded. It is even shameful on the part of cesspit called Nigeria that the so-called “common barber” can not profitably engage in such trade in the country without owning generator and queuing for fuel. Nigeria is like a recalled vehicle running on a borrowed time.