[size=18pt] Goodbye America, welcome Nigeria [/size]

The meeting was drawing to a close when 56-year-old Paul Adujie sprang to his feet and announced into the cordless microphone that he was heading back to his native Nigeria after a 22-year stay in America. Adujie was among the 90 U.S-based Nigerians who recently met at a New York hotel to debate the social, economic and political problems bedevilling their poor but oil-rich country of over 150 million people.

“I think the time has come for everyone to work toward the Nigeria of our dream,” Adujie told the gathering. “It’s wrong to stay here and do nothing. So I’m ready to return home to contribute to the process of making the next election fair and credible.”

There was a loud applause and a smile sprouted from the edges of Adujie’s lips. He then proposed a motion that the group, which calls itself the Nigeria People’s Parliament in Diaspora, should arm a team with sophisticated gadgets and send it to Nigeria to monitor the poll. The motion was unanimously passed and he again beamed with smiles.

Adujie is now making his promise real. In November, (he is keeping the exact date close to his chest because he fears for his security), like a few other citizens abroad distressed by their country’s multifarious problems, the Nigerian will quit his lucrative job at one of New York’s biggest law firms and abandon the comfort of his posh home in Queens to lend a helping hand to his fragile country.

“We all need to get involved,” he said in an interview at a friend’s home in the Brooklyn district of New York one recent Friday evening.

“At this point in my life, I’m ready to allow myself be shot to death if that would bring about a better Nigeria. We all need to be catalysts for change as we try to fix our country. No one will do it for us,” said Adujie, relaxing on an armchair adjacent a twin bed in the spacious, well kept and slightly perfumed one-bedroom apartment.

Dressed in a black suit, a white striped shirt, a red tie and an ash-coloured bowler hat, Adujie’s demeanour alternated between animation and despondency.

For the years that Adujie has been away, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and the world’s most populous black nation, has made very little progress. Although the country has enormous oil resources, earning about $25 billion a year, according to the Revenue Watch Institute, it remains among the most poverty-stricken in the world, ranking 158th out of the 182 countries rated in the United Nation’s most recent Human Development Index. Corruption is rife. Basic infrastructures have broken down. And its elections are perpetually flawed, its leaders often lacking legitimacy.

The general election initially scheduled for January but now tentatively fixed for April, presents another opportunity for the West African nation to reinvent itself. But apprehension is mounting worldwide that the election might throw the country into another round of political crisis.

“Nigeria is in trouble,” wrote John Campbell, a former U.S ambassador to Nigeria, in a controversial article for the Council for Foreign Relations in September. “National elections scheduled for 2011 have the potential to undermine the country’s current precarious stability by exacerbating its serious internal ethnic, regional and religious divisions.”

Adujie, a tall, dark, stocky man, who refused to take up US citizenship for fear that it might dilute his ‘Nigerianness’, deeply loves his country. He is troubled by the problems confronting it and does not want predictions like Campbell’s to come true. And so, like, a few other Nigerians in the Diaspora, committed to seeing a fraud-free election in their country, the New York lawyer is packing his stuff and heading home. He says he is ready to commit everything he has got to the process of remaking his country.

“I am leaving my job and the comfort here not because I am not aware of the condition in Nigeria, not because I’m foolish,” he explained, trying to damp down his feeling of despair.

“I’m doing that because I love Nigeria. The Americans who go to Iraq and Afghanistan - 17, 18 years-old who join the army, the marine or the navy to fight on behalf of America - do so because they love their country.

“They do so because they have the dedication, the commitment and the passion, nationalism and patriotism for America. Why can’t I or other Nigerians make that commitment?”

Adujie does not plan to run for office in the election. Neither is he a supporter of any of the candidates in the polls. His primary concern is for the electorate to be sufficiently enlightened so they can make informed choices in the elections.

“If the electorate is able to measure the comparative qualities between the candidates or between the various political parties, whatever decision they then make would be an informed one, not one based on bags of rice, bags of salt, five naira (Nigerian currency) or such other short-term benefits that take them for granted and defeat their long term interest,” said the lawyer, punching the air for emphasis.

Adujie came to the US in December 1988, after completing a law degree at the University of Maiduguri.

He later attended the New York University and was admitted to the New York bar. Though 5269 miles away, the lawyer has kept tabs on events in his homeland. Early this year, he decided it was time to get directly involved in charting a fresh course for Nigerian politics. He shared his plans with friends and family members who warned him against the move. They reminded him of the insecurity, corruption, misgovernment and infrastructural breakdown back home.

Still, he is trudging ahead. When he arrives in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, in November, he plans to tour university campuses across the 36 states to speak to students and faculties about the need to vote for the right kind of leaders. He would also engage with major labour and professional bodies to persuade them not to sit on the fence before, during and after the elections.

Like Adujie, like Garrick

Mr Adujie is not the only New York-based Nigerian sacrificing his job and comfort and returning home to mobilize citizens for the elections.

In early November, 25-year-old Nosa Garrick, a freelance writer and desktop artist, will quit her job with Thomson Reuters and fly to Nigeria to help run Vote or Quench, a nonprofit for voters’ education she co-founded with four other young Nigerians based in the United States, France and Nigeria.

Ms Garrick’s family came to the US in 1998 when her father was transferred to the Nigerian embassy in Washington.

She studied French and Communication at St. John’s University in New York.

After a year teaching English in France, Garrick returned to New York in 2007.

She loved it here and with a green card already in her kitty, longed to live here for as long as possible.

Her plans suddenly changed one day last April. The Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, was on a visit to the US and was to appear on reporter Christiane Amanpour’s show on CNN.

A friend of Garrick’s, helping to produce the show, contacted her requesting a commentary on Nigeria. Her article titled “Dear leaders of Nigeria” and posted on Amanpour’s CNN blog, elicited 99 reactions, including some from Nigerian youths who challenged her to return home to help fix her country rather than pontificate from afar. Garrick was touched.

“For me, I thought there was no way I could turn around, not do anything and go on with my day,” Garrick, a smiling, tall, lanky, dark woman, said one recent Friday afternoon at a friend’s office in Manhattan, New York. She knew she needed to act, but she wasn’t sure how to proceed. So, she rang a few friends for ideas and before long, Vote or Quench - a social media-driven organization aimed at getting young Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora involved in elections and politics - was born.

The organisation now has a vibrant website and a lot of young people have signed on to the campaign, including Nneka Egbunna, a rising star, singer and songwriter, who now acts as the organisation’s spokesperson. Next month, Garrick will be on the ground in Nigeria to energize the campaign and work with other young people at home to insist on transparent and credible elections in their country.

“I want my kids to be able to go back to my country (she has no kids yet). I want to be able to live there and be okay, and not be afraid of kidnapping or of not having the basic infrastructures,” she said.

“I have realized that it’s wrong for me to stay here, see what’s going on and not do anything. If I am not part of the solution, then, I’m part of the problem.”

Nigeria, OPEC’s sixth largest producer of crude and one of America’s top supplier of crude, is notorious for fraudulent elections. Its last three elections fell far short of international standard and most western countries were outraged. Following widespread local and international condemnation of the 2007 poll, the government embarked on what it called a comprehensive electoral reform.

The head of the electoral agency and some of his commissioners have since been fired and replaced with a more credible team.

Adujie is hopeful that things would work well for his country this time around. “This is a time for rebirth and renewal for us as a country and as a people,” he said. “This is a chance for us to have the best president ever, the best governors ever, the best legislators ever.”


[img]http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls?CONTENTTYPE=image/jpeg&STREAMOID=t1lHr9HmLx1ugunbXIsjJC6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxQVldqQxu2kwVFRCTCftHGNnW_PgxgftuECOcfJwS6Jtlp$r8Fy$6AAZ9zyPuHJ25T7a9GKDSxsGxtpmxP0VAUyHL6IDcZHtmM2t7xO$FHdJG95dFi6y2Uma3vSsvPpVyo-[/img]

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5630843-146/goodbye_america_welcome_nigeria__.csp

I guess it's enough talk and more actions.

A lot of Nigerians are moving back home.

Does he have a job in America?

Aloy+Emeka:

Does he have a job in America?

“I am leaving my job and the comfort here not because I am not aware of the condition in Nigeria, not because I’m foolish,” he explained, trying to damp down his feeling of despair.

“I’m doing that because I love Nigeria. The Americans who go to Iraq and Afghanistan - 17, 18 years-old who join the army, the marine or the navy to fight on behalf of America - do so because they love their country.

Was in bold, size 12font, and in color blue, how you missed it is surprising.

Please note that all those heading back are doing so because they already have something they are heading there for. Even the one working with a non-profit is not going there to find what it is she will be doing but already has that taken care of. I do hope every other person who reads this at least picks up on that as the reality is those who move down without making arrangements usually end up disappointed. I personally know of at least 3 separate couples who moved down to Nigeria in search of work, and came back after a period. One particular group came back after 2 months, their mother was murdered during their brief period down there.

Kobojunkie:

Please note that all those heading back are doing so because they already have something they are heading there for. Even the one working with a non-profit is not going there to find what it is she will be doing but already has that taken care of. I do hope every other person who reads this at least picks up on that as the reality is those who move down without making arrangements usually end up disappointed. I personally know of at least 3 separate couples who moved down to Nigeria in search of work, and came back after a period. One particular group came back after 2 months, their mother was murdered during their brief period down there.

LOL I dont expect anyone to go back to Nigeria without already making arrangements.

Like of the them said "not because I am not aware of the conditions in Nigeria, not because I am foolish".

Does he have a job in America?

This is really interesting, we all need to contribute in our own lil way than sit down and complain. We need to have these guys give account of their stewardship than walk away wit all their evil deeds. Ileke-Idi congrats on your new Governor, i pray he performs.

*Packing my bags, on my way to Nigeria*

High_Chief:

This is really interesting, we all need to contribute in our own lil way than sit down and complain. We need to have these guys give account of their stewardship than walk away wit all their evil deeds. Ileke-Idi congrats on your new Governor, i pray he performs.

*Packing my bags, on my way to Nigeria*

E seun suen suen o.

And what do you intend on doing in Nigeria? Any plans?

Absence from one's ancestral home does indeed make the heart go fonder, but that fondness can wear off real fast when the ancestral home in question is Nigeria, where conveniences like municipal water supplies, grid electricity, smooth roads,  honest police officers and domestic safety can NEVER be taken for granted, as they can be elsewhere.

For Nigerian immigrants to the west who venture back to Nigeria with lofty dreams of "contributing" to the upliftment of their homeland, the re-education process begins the instant their flight touches down at the airport, driving home the reality of the country they had viewed from afar through rose tinted glasses.  From the airport customs officials who demand bribes in exchange for easy entry, to the policemen lining the drive out of the airport who love to detain and harrass incoming travellers in order to search and pilfer from their luggage, to the arrival into residences where conversations need to be conducted at shouted volumes so as to be heard over the din of those omnipresent home electricity generators, the tolerance of those returnees for absurdity is put to test instantly and constantly.

Perceptions of institutionalized racism in the West are instantly replaced with real concerns about personal safety and basic physical survival, for those returning Nigerians, and the traumatic breaking point that sends them fleeing back to the safety of Western civilisation often materializes long before they could have ever anticipated prior to their departure from their adopted homelands.

^^^ Spare us the long sermon abeg. U sound like an ignorant BBC reporter.

glad Paul is taking his stanking butt home!

GOOD RIDDANCE!!!

Jakumo,
You're too much. Strong points.

MandingoII:

glad Paul is taking his stanking butt home!

GOOD RIDDANCE!!!

So ignorant.

wesley80:

^^^ Spare us the long sermon abeg. U sound like an ignorant BBC reporter.

I would be very interested to hear your rebuttal of any specific point I made above, sir.   Good day.

I just did an attorney search for "Paul Adujie" and NOTHING came up.

dude is a LIAR!

He is NOT a practicing attorney

Hot mess.

I personally think the corrupt-ness of Nigeria would envelope these returnee Americans.

He's going home because he cannot find work here.

He's a freelance writer.

and his services are not IN NEED.

since he cannot pay his bills - he's going home to TRY to be a Big Fish in a small pond.

good luck with all that.

MandingoII:

He's going home because he cannot find work here.

He's a freelance writer.

and his services are not IN NEED.

since he cannot pay his bills - he's going home to TRY to be a Big Fish in a small pond.

good luck with all that.

Someone needs to tie your hands together before you hurt yourself.
So 90 and thousands more NIgerians abroad who wants to go home are jobless?
Just because you couldnt find his name on Google maeans he's jobless?

@jakumo, Ngr like every developing nation has got its fair and lets face it unfair share of problems, corrupt customs and police officers, bad roads, no electricity, insecurity and the list goes on. But it is no less a country of a 150M people in varying levels of existence from extremely good to downright terrible, to presume that all the negative factors are going to rain on you all at once for daring to live the comfort of your foreign base gives new meaning to 'GIGO' Garbage in Garbage out - and i'm left to wonder what u've been feeding on.

Americans are more stupid than i thought. LOL.

Wesley, I have to admit that your ability to "rise above" Nigeria's adversity is admirable.  One day I hope to acquire that Zen-like outlook and infinite tolerance, but, given my strict diet of carefully selected garbage, this particular aspiration may never be realized for me.

Someone needs to tie your hands together before you hurt yourself.
So 90 and thousands more NIgerians abroad who wants to go home are jobless?
Just because you couldnt find his name on Google maeans he's jobless?

search for yourself,


http://www.martindale.com/

^^^ so could you also please refrain from infecting others with your negativity and let them chew on a little bit of positivity?

wesley80:

^^^ so could you also please refrain from infecting others with your negativity and let them chew on a little bit of positivity?

I am being given way too much credit, Wesley, if my observations about Nigeria are regarded as "infectious", given that much of what I point out is well known to be absolutely true, regardless of whether I choose to address it or not.

Mandingoll, what is your problem with the guy trying to come back? Even if he has no job and wants to come back, is that wrong?

@Ileke-IdI

Thanks for been so un-Nairalandlistic and giving the hopeless some sprout of hope.
News like this are very welcomed and God bless Paul Adujie and those coming back to impact positively on this country. And d nairaland omo-ekiti as well.

Jakumo:

Absence from one's ancestral home does indeed make the heart go fonder, but that fondness can wear off real fast when the ancestral home in question is Nigeria, where conveniences like municipal water supplies, grid electricity, smooth roads,  honest police officers and domestic safety can NEVER be taken for granted, as they can be elsewhere.

For Nigerian immigrants to the west who venture back to Nigeria with lofty dreams of "contributing" to the upliftment of their homeland, the re-education process begins the instant their flight touches down at the airport, driving home the reality of the country they had viewed from afar through rose tinted glasses.  From the airport customs officials who demand bribes in exchange for easy entry, to the policemen lining the drive out of the airport who love to detain and harrass incoming travellers in order to search and pilfer from their luggage, to the arrival into residences where conversations need to be conducted at shouted volumes so as to be heard over the din of those omnipresent home electricity generators, the tolerance of those returnees for absurdity is put to test instantly and constantly.

Perceptions of institutionalized racism in the West are instantly replaced with real concerns about personal safety and basic physical survival, for those returning Nigerians, and the traumatic breaking point that sends them fleeing back to the safety of Western civilisation often materializes long before they could have ever anticipated prior to their departure from their adopted homelands.

I believe you are saying that Nigeria is not safe for those coming back but instead they should continue to hustle in a country where they face acts of racism everytime ? ? ? Nigeria is a country of class and you can always relocate to areas where you can feel safer and have a good life provided you can afford it
If a nigerian living abroad wants to relocate but think he can't afford to face the hustle and bustle of Lagos streets,he can as well move to Abuja if at all he can afford to buy a land and build a house in the municipal without the normal housing mortgage he enjoys abroad.Nothing can be placed above living in a country where your existence is considered less than human.

The zeal to go back home in this case is commendable but somewhat naive.
People do not realise the hopelessness of Nigeria.

The system is hopelessly corrupt.
With all your cutting edge ideas and exceptional plans to help import technology and even improve the
environment, any bodies you come in contact with be it govt or private bodies will just say:
Abeg later or come today ,come tomorrow.

They will even ask you if you brought some funds from wherever you came from so they can con you in some way.
Then you get home and walk into the embracing arms of armed robbers and terrible relatives.

Yea, im on my way.
monkeys

I'd rather be racially discriminated  by someone that looks different than be slaughtered by
someone that looks like me.

Fortunately, in the west if you show proficiency in any skill, the racial lines seem to fade.
(also if you are a success in general; actually then they even want to marry you).

However in nigeria if you like have 1st class in alien future technology, the employer will just
employ his illiterate nephew in th job and off to the village you pop.

Maybe in 2000 yrs time nigeria in general will have acquired the right mindset.
By then a generation of people who all know what the fuxck other nations are doing would have emerged.

Monkeys