sometime ago, i came across an article concerning Nigerians in the U.S army.
According to the piece, Nigerian
citizens, on a path to quick American citizenship, have played the wrong hand and found themselves in the world's number
one hotspot- Iraq. Delving further into the meat of
the story, I discovered that although the exact
population of these soldiers were unknown, there
major motive for 'going green' was the quest for
the enviable dream of becoming a U.S. citizen. This supposed piece of news took just four lines of print
before giving way to plagiarized stuff from either
Yahoo, CNN or BBC online news sites about
information that were no longer newsworthy ,
except to our unnamed and misinformed journalist
from the Daily News. To anyone familiar with the U.S.
military and the current situation in
Iraq, that story may well be
described as sensational junk journalism stemming
from 'unresearched and unverified pepper soup
joint' sources. That piece, at best, is a figment of the writer's disjointed imagination. Are there Nigerians
in the U.S.Army? Yes, of course. Are some of them
currently deployed in Iraq? Again the affirmative;
and that's where Mr. Anonymous and the truth part
ways. Here are a few facts that the reader should
know in order to see the full picture. Fact one: The U.S. Army is not the only branch in Iraq, but also the
Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps and the
National Guard units. Fact two: There are Nigerians
spread across all these branches. Fact three: they all
offer chances to U.S. citizenship. Fact four: there are
also citizens of other African countries in the US military and currently deployed in Iraq as I write. Nigerians have a passion for the military way of life.
Judging from the number of applications the
Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) receives each
year; as well as the number of those who show up
for the annual recruitment exercises across the
states of the federation, one can see that the quest for a life of service, discipline and regimented way
of life is part of our national psyche. Reasons
Nigerians join the military include a chance for an
adventure, an opportunity to work towards a
secure pension, an escape from poverty and
hardship; a chance to receive an education and a chance to travel as well. Openings in the Nigerian
military are few compared with the available
applicants and so the way to get in is often tainted
by the Nigerian factor aka the godfather
phenomenon. The love for the uniform does not always die when
a Nigerian migrates abroad. Be it the U.S., U.K. or
any country that will accept the, Nigerians dash at
the opportunity to be in the military and serve with
pride. An interaction with many of these men and
women will reveal that citizenship was often the last thing on their minds when they made the decision
to serve in uniform. This author has met service
members who enlisted in the military in order to
have money to pay for college (bet your reporter
never knew that,) travel, have a career, and strange
as it seems, to experience war. Few, if any would cite a quick path to citizenship as a motive for
joining the military. Ironically, many Nigerians who
enlist in the US armed forces are 'stones rejected by
the Nigerian military.' Not counted as good enough
for the Nigerian side (or no godfather), these men
and women will go on to prove themselves in the world's greatest military, occupy more professional
positions and earn a hundred times more than they
would have in beloved naija. It must be pointed out that the minimum
requirements for wearing the uniform in any
branch of the US military is that the applicant must
be a permanent resident (green card holder ) of the
US. A green card holder is 99.99% sure of
becoming a US citizen already, so where is the wisdom in joining the military in order to obtain
citizenship? The expedited citizenship process did
not come into action until the year 2003 when
President Bush signed an executive order, opening
the way for those who so desire, to apply for
citizenship as soon as they enlist. It will amaze our reporter that there are Nigerians in the military who
have no wish to become American citizens despite
the fact that Nigeria accepts dual citizenship.
Consequent upon this, one can then ask: if the
expedited citizenship process came into being in
2003 and there had been Nigerians serving in the US armed forces since God knows when, then how
can anyone in their right mind soil their names by
saying that their service is a cheap gambit aimed at
obtaining American citizenship? What ignorance!
People should stop bad mouthing the choices we make....

ok

Et puis quel

wonderful piece

Not even good luck Jonathan or the fake sovereignty can convince us.













I'm just reading, who knows, it might on Lindaikeji front page aoon . oooops!

A Nigerian-U.S soldier..

Would love to read that, buh its too much, @op kindly summarize

Nigerians and our war mentality

Op, it appears you're a member of the American Armed Forces. Some Nigerians are one hell of clownish people. They'll say things that are untrue just to soil your name and personage. Hard is it here to find people that joined the army without any consideration for material and retirement packages. Nothing is done for the passion here. Just the money.

So, that's why they do think you guys so.

Live your life, you owe no one any explanation.

daresma93:
Nigerians and our war mentality

You never know the real value of life until you have seen war....

So what exactly are you arguing about? And who is this "journalist" you were referring to?

Care to give a link to the report by those media?

no

Mumblings of an american chauvinist.

You know one thing my friend.....


We live by the choice we make...whatever their motives are...let them be.


Op......I don't know why you are pained...you of all peeps should have known that foreign journalists never paints Nigeria(ns) white...so we no send their opinion on our brothers and sisters serving in other militias.

Best of lucks to them.

I would comment after eating this hot beans and agege bread ..... Abeg nor vex

Who cares if you die for america?
That is your own business.
You don't have to explain your choices to us.
You and only you will bear the cross.

THIS OP MUST BE DRUNK••I WOULD RATHER HAVE MY CHILD JOIN THE USA MILITARY THAN TO JOIN NIGERIA MILITARY WHERE CORRUPTION AND NEPOTISM IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY••AMERICAN SOLDIERS DAT DIE IN THE LINE OF DUTY THEIR FAMILIES ARE ADEQUATELY COMPENSENTED...ComE TO NIGERIA AND SEE NA•IF THE PRESIDENT APPROVE 10MILLON TO BE GIVE TO THE FAMILY AFTER THE MONEY PASSES THE OFFICES OF DoSE POT BELLY GENERALS,YOU SEE THAT ITS ONLY 200K OR LESS THAT WILL BE GIVEN OUT•••NIGERIA ISNT GETTING BETTER DUDE..PLS LEARN TO MIND YOUR BUSINESS..ITS tHIER CHOICE NOT YOURS

Do I have friends or know someone in the US army?

YES!

Why did he/she sign up?

FOR FINANCIAL GAINS, JOB SECURITY, EASY ROUTE TO BECOME A US CITIZEN, ETC.

Is the person currently in Iraq or fighting a war?

NO! One of them is lounging here in Nigeria on vacation.

Summary of the whole story: whatever rocks your boat, you should go for it.

Osahon7:
THIS OP MUST BE DRUNK••I WOULD RATHER HAVE MY CHILD JOIN THE USA MILITARY THAN TO JOIN NIGERIA MILITARY WHERE CORRUPTION AND NEPOTISM IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY••AMERICAN SOLDIERS DAT DIE IN THE LINE OF DUTY THEIR FAMILIES ARE ADEQUATELY COMPENSENTED...ComE TO NIGERIA AND SEE NA•IF THE PRESIDENT APPROVE 10MILLON TO BE GIVE TO THE FAMILY AFTER THE MONEY PASSES THE OFFICES OF DoSE POT BELLY GENERALS,YOU SEE THAT ITS ONLY 200K OR LESS THAT WILL BE GIVEN OUT•••NIGERIA ISNT GETTING BETTER DUDE..PLS LEARN TO MIND YOUR BUSINESS..ITS tHIER CHOICE NOT YOURS

bros..... Its very obvious that you didnt read anything i posted..... If u had, u would see that i am actually against anybody criticising Nigerians for joining the U.S army because it is by far better than the Nigerian army... I guess u must have had too much to drink and as such are the one who is drunk.... Have some coffee to sober u up....

Christine01:
Do I have friends or know someone in the US army?

YES!

Why did he/she sign up?

FOR FINANCIAL GAINS, JOB SECURITY, EASY ROUTE TO BECOME A US CITIZEN, ETC.

Is the person currently in Iraq or fighting a war?

NO! One of them is lounging here in Nigeria on vacation.

Summary of the whole story: whatever rocks your boat, you should go for it.

exactly.... and for the record, not all of them are in iraq.... I said most of em not all of em....

FLYGERIAN91:
bros..... Its very obvious that you didnt read anything i posted..... If u had, u would see that i am actually against anybody criticising Nigerians for joining the U.S army because it is by far better than the Nigerian army... I guess u must have had too much to drink and as such are the one who is drunk.... Have some coffee to sober u up....

true Dude didn't read it at all or perhaps can't comprehend.

Interesting

nice piece! i have always wanted to be G.I joe but is not for citizenship or anything like that,would have loved to join the nigerian army but there is no glory in our military. a friend of mine in the USAF who has toured 4 different countries told me is better i join air force than US marine corp cos touring mogadishu,iraq,etc has been something i crave for.would source for articles bout this ASAP. merci!

cirmuell:
true Dude didn't read it at all or perhaps can't comprehend.

lol.....

god bless American I rather join the usa army so whenever I die I will go to heaven than joining Nigeria army living dead After which I will go to hell god bless American I rather join the usa army so whenever I die I will go to heaven than joining Nigeria army living dead After which I will go to hell

I rather die in iraq and go to heaven than to die in the hands of boko haram and go to hell

danielck:
I rather die in iraq and go to heaven than to die in the hands of boko haram and go to hell

danielck:
I rather die in iraq and go to heaven than to die in the hands of boko haram and go to hell

lol

danielck:
I rather die in iraq and go to heaven than to die in the hands of boko haram and go to hell

Lol