₦airaland Forum

Comments From Non Nigerians on This Issue:

sangell3 wrote:
Wonder how many of those 'degrees' are genuine.

I am sick and tired of being told how beneficial immigrants are. Let me clue the Houston Chronicle in. The United States became the world's largest economy back in 1890, the very year the frontier was officially closed. By 1929 90% of all the private cars in the world were in America. It was not a wasteland of rednecks and hillbillies until the greatest flood of immigrants
in human history arrived in the final decades of the twentieth century. It was the world's most powerful and technologically advanced society.

This flood of immigrants came not to build America but to exploit it and I, for one am tired of them using OUR schools, our economy and our infrastructure. Go home and build your own countries if you are so talented.

Where is the Nigerian Apple, Microsoft or Bechtel? We were told by liberal academics that flooding our universities with foreign students from Africa, the middle east etc would promote democracy and western values in the third world. It hasn't or at least not so as I can tell. Time to severely restrict immigration into the US to those who already have engineering or medical degrees ( and ones that meet our standards as to quality) rather than provide
places at our public and private universities who want to get one.


5/20/2008 4:26:08 AM
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nonewsisgoodnews wrote:
[b]It is amazing to read some of the comments in this thread. A Nigerian comes to America, and moves next door to an American who has a 10th grade education and who works as little as possible.

Ten years later, the Nigerian has two college degrees, and works in a pharmacy making $100,000 per year, and his American neighbor still has a 10th grade education, and still works as little as possible.

So, how does "Bubba" excuse his failure "Well, he must have cheated, must of threatened them college professors and they just GAVE him those degrees, then he must have bribed the people that gave the state licensing exam, he must has "scammed" the pharmacy into hiring him".

Bubba, get this straight. The reason the typical "Texas Bubba" is a failure is he is ignorant. Stop hating immigrants. Go back to school. Work 80 hours a week like an immigrant. The key to success is hard work, not hating people who are smarter than you and more successful than you.[/b]5/20/2008 6:40:11 AM
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JasperDawgs wrote:
Nigerians are the most well educated people in the USA? Yeah right. And Asians are the least educated. And America would collapse without illegal immigrants. And the moon is made of cheese. And,
5/20/2008 6:59:07 AM
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cab56 wrote:
The Nigerians families that I know are great. There kids go to school with my daughter. The girls and boys are at the top of there class in private schools. Almost all are amazing students and citizens and atheletes It has been an honor to know the several families that I have met. Oh by the way I am a 50 year old white Guy that drives a pick up truck. These are the immigrants that make America better. It's not about race it's about making America better.
5/20/2008 5:57:09 AM
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mariohou wrote:
[b]Why is it that CCN did that big expose about Nigerians in Houston, the largest US concentration and the corruption that they are involved in. From bad check righting to Health Care fraud. I personally know of a Nigerian that committed perjury in court. Something that is beyond my comprehension….[/b]5/20/2008 2:34:15 AM

The tribal dimwits at it again.

Mine was farting in class in elementary school. Boy it was terrible, even the teacher ran out of the classroom. Lolol, if only mum wouldve stop feeding us with beans then.

Flirty, but hard to catch

Good luck with that.

her feet. . . . . well oiled and pedicured.

ashy feet, sole, ankle and hands is an automatic turn off.

Lol, funny one. What if she's wearing brogue shoes or sneakers? I know you are a foot man, you like sucking them huh?

Smile

Overall clean/cream look of the guy

Accent, omo he must speak correct english o!

That means you cannot date a guy who speaks correct yoruba but lacks the oyibo diction?

I was impregnated and abandoned, says physically challenged NTA presenter

By Tunde Busari


SOME of the regular viewers of the Nigerian Television Authority, Osogbo, are by now used to a programme called Ohun Oju ri (Life‘s Experiences), a weekly phone-in, interactive show aired every Monday between 12.30pm and 1pm. Apart from the human interest content of the programme, its anchor makes it a really compelling viewing. As a result, the profile of the series is soaring in ratings compared with other programmes on the station.

A casual look at the presenter will give the picture of an active, urbane and articulate woman, generously endowed, and with a beautiful and appealing voice that can melt a heart of steel.

A closer look, however, will reveal a physically challenged woman, who moves in and out of the studio with the aid of a pair of crutches.

But this physical disability, to Funmilayo Kayode, the lady in question here, is a mere distraction, and not an obstacle to her ambition to be great in life. She has interestingly demonstrated this rare determination since she lost the use of her legs soon after her first birthday anniversary on November 28, 1976.

”As I just grew up to find myself in this state, I quickly realised that I had to double my efforts to survive,” she says. ”And that was what I did, and I am still doing up till this morning. I don‘t have any other life to live than this. So, I am determined to make a good use of it.”

Kayode‘s self-help drive was particularly fired by her Kwara State-born father‘s crass intolerance of her sorry state, a development which eventually led to the crash of his marriage with Funmi‘s mother.

She recalls, ”He (the father) told my mother that there was no place for a cripple in his family. He said she should go and do whatever she liked with me. You know I was too young to know this, but I later realised that that was what really happened before my mother packed out.”

But not long after the separation, the mother, then an auxiliary nurse, got another suitor and sealed her second marriage. ”I was then put under the care of my grandmother,” Kayode states. ”But my mother did not abandon me there. She usually called to see me, but that was different from living together. Anyway, grandmother did her best to take care of me.”

However, an experience, during her stay with the grandmother re-defined her perception of the society in relation to physically challenged people.

Kayode says, ”During a Christmas period, they prepared all the kids in the house and took them to a Father Christmas show. I expected them to take me along, but they left me at home. I felt sad and said, ‘If I were not in this state, they would not have done that to me.’”

After that experience, Kayode became more aggressive in her resolve to match her able-bodied counterparts in terms of performance at school and on the playground. She became so active that she started to frighten her playmates.

It was in such spirit that Kayode threw herself to more challenges of life after her primary school. She says, ”I then gained admission to Our Lady of Apostle, Maryway, Odo-Ona, Ibadan in 1989. But I must say that I studied under serious hardship, which I will never forget.

”In fact, I could not write my West African Examination School Certificate Examination inside the classroom with others. Who would carry me? So, they gave me a small space beside the window of the hall. That was where I wrote all my papers in May/June 1994.”

When the results were released, Kayode recorded an above average performance, which qualified her to seek admission to a higher institution. She was naturally happy. But the joy turned to sadness ”when I was told to go and learn hairdressing. There was nothing I could do, but to agree.”

Yet her focus remained on making it to the university or, worse, a polytechnic. While she was learning hairdressing, she was also frantically looking for a paid job from which she could raise money to buy the University Matriculation Examination form. Her heart was far away from the vocation imposed on her.

”I went to COPEC in Ibadan in search of a job,” says Kayode. ”I am happy to say that I met God there. The owner of the company, Chief Raymond Zard, just took a look at me and took me like one of his children. He even said I should not work, but to come and be collecting money.”

Surprisingly, Kayode turned down the offer. ”I refused the offer because I wanted to work with my hands to appreciate the value of money,” she adds. ”I started the work as an account clerk and saved money to obtain my UME (polytechnic) form.”

Kayode scored well and got a slot at the Polytechnic, Ibadan, to study Science Laboratory Technology. A protracted industrial action by the academic staff of the school a few weeks into resumption, however, aborted her dream.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese philanthropist did not disappoint the ambitious girl, whose struggle had also caught the attention of yet another philanthropist, a professor at the University of Ibadan, and Lagos-based Chief Cosmas Okoli, a former president of the Nigerian Sports Federation for the Disabled.

”There is no way I will forget these three ‘fathers‘ in my life,” Kayode says. ”Prof. Adedeji, now late, also took me like his child to the extent that on the day of his burial, I performed the dust-to-dust rite for him.”

Kayode got another admission to the Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun to study Accounting Education. It was not long into her course before she showed brilliance and won a Federal Government scholarship, which saw her through her three-year programme.

However, getting a job after graduation became a Herculean task as she came face-to-face with the challenges of discrimination against the physically-challenged wherever she turned. But a non-governmental organisation called Life Vanguard provided the platform that catapulted Kayode to celebrity status today.

”They employed me and gave me a post in the department in charge of physically-challenged people,” she says. ”I was more or less the coordinator of these special people. And I was very happy doing the work because of my direct contact with the disabled, most of who started seeing me as their model.

”I even organised a special treat for them on Valentine‘s Days. I took them to a popular eatery where they enjoyed their Valentine‘s Day.”

It was the success she recorded at Life Vanguard that inspired the idea of floating a TV programme to showcase the rich potential in the disabled. That was in 2003.

This project, however, did not sail through without a challenge. Lack of funds to buy air time posed a threat. But Kayode scaled through and went on air for the maiden edition of her programme on October 3, 2003.

”I have Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, Mr. Segun Akinwusi and Mr. Ben Adedire to thank for their support. If not for them, the programme would not have gone on air. They really tried for me when sponsors were only making promises,” Kayode says.

There is no doubt that she is a never-say-die woman. She is always full of hope as she clutches her crutches and strolls around with confidence on the streets of Osogbo, the capital of Osun State. Kayode, however, carries a heavy heart. She is not happy with the way the society treats her and her likes.

”It is not fair to treat us as a class of people, who can never do anything well in the world,” says Kayode. ”I have had the opportunity to travel to Ghana for a programme on the disabled; what I saw there was marvellous. But I thank Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola for the concern he has shown. He once gave us a brand new 10-seater Peugeot Expert, which was unfortunately burnt during the last election problem.”

Kayode still laments a situation where men are not ashamed to walk up to them for love relationships, only to shy away from the responsibility for the resultant pregnancies.

She says, ”That is my story for you. This person pretended, slept with me and ran away when I told him I was pregnant. I don‘t want to go into details. I know God is there to judge both of us. He said I should abort the pregnancy, but I had my baby on October 2, 2007 at a hospital here in Osogbo.

“I am the only person caring for the baby despite my state. Many of the disabled people I know are single parents. And to make it worse, the father of my baby is not poor; he has a good job as a senior officer here in Osogbo. There is no excuse to abandon me except that he is ashamed to be seen with me. I will not say more than this about him,” Funmilayo, who does all household chores with ease despite having a housemaid, says.

But i still think that this is a case of "under achieve, over celebrate"

oooppps,  my bad. Who is coming to knock me again

Once again, a breathe of fresh air can be fulfilling. I don't know whether your likes and you always log in here every morning only to read headlines like:

1. Leprosy kills 500 in Gombe state

2. Edo gov dies on top of a transexual

3. Unilag shut down

4. Oil pipeline explosion in imo state

5. OYB castrated for sleeping with his boss' wife etc,

maybe i'm wrong, but i seriously doubt that nigerians are the most educated immigrants in the us, when we also have chinese and indian immigrants . and believe me, those people are driven. na them dey hammer perfect 800 on GRE tests.

we may be the most educated african immigrants, but overall, i don't think so. not based on any links, just a derived opinion

Not entirely true, the article emphasized on college degrees. Recently, Indians et al moved into IT in large numbers and most of the IT professionals have no college degrees. Personally, i know Indians still dominate the medical sciences but when it comes to degrees in physical sciences, engineering, arts and law, they may be found wanting. That's why most big cities in the US like Chicago,LA,NY and Houston have more Nigerian lecturers than any other immigrants.

Must we dwell on only negative news about Nigerians? can't we get a break sometimes?

A truly reckless statement!

I think reckless is an understatement. He's just a schmuck that takes pleasure in getting under people's skin,

Where is maureens picture now? I really don't know her but chioma is cool and preety.

Emeka Ike, Jim Iyke settle scores with a fight
Saturday, 10 May 2008
The very bitter feud raging between star actors Emeka Ike and Jim Iyke took a very bad turn a few dathat are idolised by many decided to settle their differences through exchange of blows.
Please don’t ask who had the upper hand.ys ago when the duo
We gathered that it all happened on set of a new movie produced by Arinze Egesinmba of Mega Movies and the two stars couldn’t contain the deep rooted animosity and roughened each other just one bit.

Those in the know say the battle royale started when the two artistes were already in costume to see the camera rolling when one stumbled on the other at the corridor and before you could say Nollywood, they were already pushing and shoving each other and letting out the steam which may have been breeding in each of them for several years now.

According to tale bearers what you started hearing was hollers of your father, you mother fucker. First cast and crew thought it was part of the rehearsals until it became very serious. No one could stop them at all as pleas from fellow artistes fell on deaf ears until they had seemingly purged themselves of the venom and bellyaches so to speak.

Why should these two fight in public with several youths who see them as role models watching. Make una remove the hands of the baboon from the soup o because e go soon become the hands of a human being.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7989&Itemid=81

While must i be embarrassed? there u are! please change your style

Very simple, just allow her to pass in front of you then you can access her from backyard !

Lol; You are a trip.  What if you see her sitting down in the train?

babe boo, na the yansh oo

What if she is approaching you from the front, will you run behind her to check out her junk in the trunk?

At least you said the truth.

Mine is accent; Lol, i find British accent sexy.

What is the most attractive factor you notice first in a prospective partner? what struck you first about him/her?

What's your most embarrassing moment before the opposite sex in your lifetime?

funny

naija and book. na book man pikin go chop

wetin book go help you do if na cleaner, care worker or undertaker you go use am do

Who told you Nigerians here do cleaner and security jobs alone? Do you know how many computer programmers, astronauts, physicians, archittects, lawyers etc here that are Nigerians?

May 20, 2008, 2:11AM
BACHELOR'S AND BEYOND
In America, Nigerians' education pursuit is above rest
Whether driven by immigration or family, data show more earn degrees
By LESLIE CASIMIR
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Complete coverage of immigration issues For Woodlands resident David Olowokere, one of Nigeria's sons, having a master's degree in engineering just wasn't enough for his people back home. So he got a doctorate.

His wife, Shalewa Olowokere, a civil engineer, didn't stop at a bachelor's, either. She went for her master's.

The same obsession with education runs in the Udeh household in Sugar Land. Foluke Udeh and her husband, Nduka, both have master's degrees. Anything less, she reckons, would have amounted to failure.

"If you see an average Nigerian family, everybody has a college degree these days," said Udeh, 32, a physical therapist at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. "But a post-graduate degree, that's like pride for the family."

Nigerian immigrants have the highest levels of education in this city and the nation, surpassing whites and Asians, according to Census data bolstered by an analysis of 13 annual Houston-area surveys conducted by Rice University.

Although they make up a tiny portion of the US. population, a whopping 17 percent of all Nigerians in this country held master's degrees while 4 percent had a doctorate, according to the 2006 American Community Survey conducted by the US. Census Bureau. In addition, 37 percent had bachelor's degrees.


In comparison
To put those numbers in perspective, 8 percent of the white population in the US. had master's degrees, according to the Census survey. And 1 percent held doctorates. About 19 percent of white residents had bachelor's degrees. Asians come closer to the Nigerians with 12 percent holding master's degrees and 3 percent having doctorates.

The Nigerian numbers are "strikingly high," said Roderick Harrison, demographer at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that specializes in researching black issues. "There is no doubt that these are highly educated professionals who are probably working in the petrochemical, medical and business sectors in Houston."

Harrison analyzed the census data for the Houston Chronicle.

Stephen Klineberg, a sociologist at Rice University who conducts the annual Houston Area Survey, suspects the percentage of Nigerian immigrants with post-graduate degrees is higher than Census data shows.

Of all the Nigerian immigrants he reached in his random phone surveys 1994 through 2007 — 45 households total — Klineberg said 40 percent of the Nigerians said they had post-graduate degrees.

"These are higher levels of educational attainment than were found in any other ,  community," Klineberg said.

There are more than 12,000 Nigerians in Houston, according to the latest Census data, a figure sociologists and Nigerian community leaders say is a gross undercount. They believe the number to be closer to 100,000.


Staying in school
The reasons Nigerians have more post-graduate degrees than any other racial or ethnic group are largely due to Nigerian society's emphasis on mandatory and free education. Once immigrating to this country, practical matters of immigration laws get in the way.

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 made it easier for Africans to enter the US., but mostly as students or highly skilled professionals — not through family sponsorships, Klineberg said.

So many Africans pursue higher levels of education as an unintended consequence of navigating the tricky minefield of immigration, said Amadu Jacky Kaba, an associate professor at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., who has done research on African immigrants in the US.

"In a way, it's a Catch-22 — because of immigration laws you are forced to remain in school, but then the funny thing is you end up getting your doctorate at the age of 29," Kaba said. "If you stay in school, immigration will leave you alone."

Although Kaba, who teaches Africana Studies, is not from Nigeria (he is Liberian), he said he, too, found himself pursuing a master's and then a doctorate to remain in this country legally.

But not all Africans have to go this route. Some say their motivation is driven by their desire to overcome being a double minority: black and African.

Take Oluyinka Olutoye, 41, associate professor of pediatric surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. He came to this country already as a medical doctor but decided to pursue his doctorate in anatomy to help set himself apart.

"Being black, you are already at a disadvantage," said Olutoye, whose wife, Toyin Olutoye, is an anesthesiologist at Baylor. "You really need to excel far above if you want to be considered for anything in this country."


Family expectations
All this talk of education creates high expectations for children of Nigerian immigrants. The eldest child of David Olowokere, chairman of the engineering technologies department at Texas Southern University, for example, is already working on her master's degree in public health in Atlanta; the middle child is pursuing a bachelor's in pre-medicine. His youngest, a son, attends The Woodlands High School. He already has aspirations to go into engineering, just like his parents, Olowokere beams.

"The goal is for them to do as good as us — if not better," he said.

Oluyinka Olutoye put it another way.

"The typical saying in a Nigerian household is that the best inheritance that a parent can give you is not jewelry or cash or material things, it is a good education," he said. "It is expected."

leslie.casimir@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5791096.html

Obama 4 prez. If God is for Obama, who can be against him?

What if he is gay? He looks like one sha.

You make it sound like women are helpless,braindead and down right pitiful

Not at all! women are weak emotionally and Nigerian men are capitalising on that to ruin their lives. Accept it or live it. Morever, giving women certain extra priviledges because they are oppressed in our society does not mean that there should be unequal rights for both genders. We pay the same taxes, don't we? As a matter of fact, i think that women should be given a little tax break because of the rrough roads they have to travel just to measure up to their male counterparts.

I think Ladies should simply have this in mind when they get approached by a chap.

If it sounds too good to be true, then it is too good to be true.

There is no need for a website.

I just hope it's that easy. Smooth talkingg cassanovas use what you really want to get into your pants. Must women in north America are in dire need of emotional support and smooth talkers easily offer that to get access to your veejay. i just hope that women should be less greedy, reduce their high expectations to a considerable height and try as much as possible to be real sometimes. We can be our own worst enemies sometimes.

I think both men and women are susceptible to sexual harassment in Nigeria. Sure, the women shout louder but to what end? How many people have been convicted for rape in Nigeria?
I'm sorry to hear about your nephew. People who hurt helpless children deserve a special place in hell. . .after they've been strung and quartered here on earth.

They actually do nowadays. the girl in question is on the run although it may be difficult for the boys mum to prove any form of rape besides the boys testimony. I remember two years ago, lagos had the highest number of rapists and funny enough, they female rapists were more than the male ones. It's either the men know how to run or they are getting smarter.

I have read it a thousand times.

Considering your strong feminist belief which sometimes looks sexist, i was expecting a total condemnation of what those men did to the young girls, but instead you went ahead to lecture us on history of Igbo killings in Nigeria.
But it's okay, since your feminist campaign is for Yoruba and mslim women alone.

You must be delusional. Where did you read me defending only a great one yoruba women?  If I remember well, I only complained about the way yoruba women in top govt jobs are descriminated against both at home and on the federal level. I don't know any ibo woman on top govt jobs that has been descriminated against. I remember one was even a governor in Anambra; Imo has female deputy, about 4 ibo women are senators and uncountable number in the congress and ministerial appointments. So why complain about them when they are having a field day in their jobs? How many elected female governors and deputy governors have we had in the west besides once 3000 yrs ago?
Check the west and see how all the women both mu$lim and christian  in similar positions are targeted and descriminated against. Grange, Bunmi etteh, Iyabo, Ogun speaker, should I continue?

What they did to the girls in the north was not right although the story still looks shady because I wonder how they ended up there. Funmi has no time for tribal wars. All i want is an equal share for women in our society especially the yoruba land.  I pray that very soon, we shall start having female ooni's and Obas.

i still dey wonder if na only yoruba men dey US,abeg make them change both home and abroad

Must everything on this site turn to a tribal war? What kind of people are you?.

You didnt make your stand known on the thread of how Igbo girls were forcefully converted to Is'lam in Emir's palace. But you are quick to let us know that Iyabo is being targeted because she is a woman.
Was it because the girls are not Yoruba or Mu'slims.
I'm begining to sense hypocricy here.

As for Tinubu, let us know if he is your uncle, so we will know how to go about it.

You better go back and read that thread very well so you can know my stance.

Never heard of someone using " Kick it" to ask for sex
Down in the Dirrty - it for fun things - hitting the club, hanging out, bar-b-q etc, usually events that involve other people.

It's usually used to ask for casual sex.

I'm now begining to accept this whole news with missed feelings. Yaradua is now repeating what OBJ was accused of: witch hunting.
The likes of IBB, Egwu, Odili, Yerima, Fayose, Tinubu, Attah, Turaki eta al can double Iyabo's alleged N10 million into billions of naira.
These guys are still free today. WAKE UP NIGERIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because they are men and Iyabo is a woman. Again, Tinubu is innocent.