Issue 1 - - September 2002

www.africamigration.com

Edited by Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome

CONTENTS

Editorial Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come — Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome and Bertrade Ngo Ngijol-Banoum ...... 1

Articles Crossroads — Jàre Àjàyí ...... 23

Welcome Back Homeless — Débò Kòtún ...... 25

The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America. — Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome ...... 29

Going to America: Excerpt from a Novel titled: So That the Path Does Not Die. — A. Onipede Hollist...... 63

Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?) — Oritsegbemi O. Omatete ...... 70

Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland — Julius Kómoláfé ...... 86

Nigerian Physical Therapists' Job Satisfaction: A Nigeria U.S.A. Comparison — Adetoyeje Y. Oyeyemi ...... 103

TUTÙOLÁ 'RESURFACES' IN ITALY: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá — Jàre Àjàyí ...... 122

Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel — Débò Kòtún ...... 127

(In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s-1990s — Faola Ifagboyede ...... 142 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome and Bertrade Ngo Ngijol- Banoum

Human population movements are as old as humanity itself and African migrations are no exception to this trend. In prehistoric times when Africans largely depended on hunting, fishing and gathering food for their livelihood, groups of people migrated or moved continually from location to location to search for food. Even when Africans domesticated crops and livestock through farming and settled into communities, they continued this pattern of moving whenever their sustenance was at stake. Crop failures, overpopulation, pressure from neighbors, diseases and other disasters have often forced communities to move in search of new cultivable lands. The great Bantu Diaspora exemplifies the process of human migrations that emerged from a growing recognition of the inadequacy of the local food supply and the need for the dispossessed members of the community to split off and establish new communities elsewhere. Population movements are stimulated, as much by a pioneering drive as by desperation, the need to avert starvation or to escape danger, oppression and persecution.

In more modern times, movements of Africans from one country to another with the aim of permanent settlement have been on the increase. The major causes of African immigration have included social upheavals, economic calamities, civil warfare, natural catastrophes, political and religious persecutions. The single most compelling motivation leading African people to uproot themselves from their native lands and to emigrate towards foreign shores has been the desire to find greater opportunity and security somewhere else. In the last two decades, the nature and scope of African immigration has changed dramatically due to the processes of globalization and democratization, as underscored by Okome in her two papers.

The quest for security has taken on more urgency, and the popular response in host countries such as the United States reveals much of the limits of globalization as a win-win situation where we all co-mingle in an infinitely permeable and all- embracing global village. In order to emphasize the crucial nature of migration

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today, we draw upon the analysis of three notable American scholars, Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, and Samuel P. Huntington. All three rightly contend that matters of population movement are considered to all intents and purposes, matters of national security. The old fears of contagion being transported into national boundaries are re-awakened in the fears of new diseases, most of which allegedly originate from Africa. The Ebola virus, Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), and West Nile Virus, are cases in point. In none of these cases have Africans been able to mobilize the effort to research into alternative causal explanations of such dread epidemics.

According to Keohane and Nye, globalization became the new "buzzword" of the 1990s, replacing the ubiquitous "interdependence" of the 1970s, like us, they agree that neither of these phenomena is totally new. Rather, they consider the constant state of flux that is endemic in the world today as under girding contemporary understandings of globalization. Accompanying the state of flux is a growing sense of vulnerability to phenomena, events, and processes that lie outside the borders of the state. Such vulnerability also breeds fears of the unknown, as witnessed by fears of the spread of contagious diseases in the form of newfangled diseases like West Nile Virus. In the summer of 1999, the New York City "press announced that the pathogen might have arrived in the bloodstream of a traveler, in a bird smuggled through customs, or in a mosquito that had flown into a jet. Fears of "bioinvasion" led some environmental groups to call for a reduction in global trade and travel. [1]

For Samuel P. Huntington, immigration is a phenomenon that threatens to dilute American national identity because it engenders constant assault on the national culture. Whereas the values and institutions of the White Anglo Saxon Protestant settlers shaped American consciousness in the foundational stage of the new nation, endorsing the dominance of the English language, the separation of church and state, and idealizing individualism, while only grudgingly and partially assimilating black people, and fully assimilating white European immigrants, today, the ideology of multiculturalism challenges the established cultural order. [2] By threatening American culture, immigration also threatens the American Creed, those "universal ideas and principles articulated in the founding documents by American leaders: liberty, equality, democracy, constitutionalism, liberalism, limited government, private enterprise." [3] This has given the upper hand to "subnational commercial interests and transnational and nonnational ethnic interests in the formulation of foreign policy" and made it impossible for

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Americans to clearly define their national interests.

For Huntington, the drive for "heterogeneity, diversity, multiculturalism, and ethnic and racial division" is also very dangerous to the ability to achieve national unity, making it inevitable for America to find "an opposing other" against whom its citizens could unite. [4] Huntington considers immigration a serious problem too, because it reinforces "the disintegrative effects of the end of the Cold War" because it is growing in scope and immigrants are coming from diverse sources. Many of today's immigrants, unlike those of the past are unabashed disciples of multiculturalism. [5] Majority of them are also from Asia and Latin America. Other sources of danger identified by Huntington include the growing numbers of undocumented immigrants, "the high birth rate of some immigrant groups," and the consequent changes in

the racial, religious, and ethnic makeup of the United States. By the middle of the next century, according to the Census Bureau, non-Hispanic whites will have dropped from more than three-quarters of the population to only slightly more than half, and one-quarter of Americans will be Hispanic, 14 percent black, and 8 percent of Asian and Pacific heritage. The religious balance is also shifting, with Muslims already reportedly outnumbering Episcopalians [6]

One senses a note of regret in Huntington's reminiscences of the past when the contract between immigrants and native born Americans is that the immigrants' welcome was conditional upon their assimilation. To the contrary, he laments the obdurate willfulness of today's immigrants' celebration of their difference. The hallmarks of past acceptance of the teeming immigrants on America's shores are that immigrants had to visibly demonstrate their commitment to the idea of English as the national language, as well as their wholehearted embrace of other aspects of American culture and creed.

In return, immigrants could be as ethnic as they wished in their homes and local communities. At times, particularly during the great waves of Irish immigration in the 1840s and 1850s and of the southern and eastern European immigration at the turn of the century, immigrants were discriminated against and simultaneously subjected to major programs of "Americanization" to incorporate them into the national culture and society. Overall, however, assimilation American style worked well. Immigration renewed American society; assimilation preserved American

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culture. [7]

Huntington laments that whereas the old immigrants came to America because they wanted to become American, and they were resentful if they were kept out of the mainstream of American life, today's immigrants seem to want to come to America in order to remain themselves, and they resent being encouraged to join the mainstream. [8] With the ideologies of multiculturalism and diversity, divisiveness is strengthened and legitimated. The rejection of assimilation also is a rejection of an America that is unified by a common culture and creed, and an America where the primacy of the rights of the individual is recognized. Rather, particularly in the post-civil rights era, there is a new focus on the rights of "groups, defined largely in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual preference." [9] Huntington sees the immediacy of the danger that the if immigration is allowed to go unchecked, and immigrants are permitted to remain aloof from America's melting pot, the nation may well disintegrate into "a tangle of squabbling nationalities" as Theodore Roosevelt, echoing the founding fathers, feared. Contrary to these stellar examples, for Huntington, Bill Clinton encouraged and promoted diversity by not compelling new immigrants to assimilate as was done in the past. [10] Another problem with immigration is that the diversity that it produces also creates Diasporas that maintain an active and enduring interest in their original countries, which inform their preferred foreign policy priorities. This could work in conjunction with the foreign policy priorities of the United States that are determined by its genuine national interests, as with Cuban Americans' opposition against the Castro regime. It may also work contra-US national interest, as with the lobbying of Chinese Americans who call for the extension of most favored nation status to China.

According to Huntington, not only do Diasporas benefit their home countries economically, they also "supply expertise, military recruits, and on occasion political leadership to the homeland. They often pressure their home governments to adopt more nationalist and assertive policies towards neighboring countries. Recent cases in the United States show that they can be a source of spies used to gather information for their homeland governments. Most important, Diasporas can influence the actions and policies of their host country and co-opt its resources and influence to serve the interests of their homeland." [11] Huntington agrees with James R. Schlesinger who sees a great deal of incoherence in American foreign policy. He lays the blame squarely at the foot of activist lobbies of various ethnic

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Diasporas. [12] The most significant of the dangers to America from ethnic interests are the domesticization of foreign policy such that in the first place, there is no separation between domestic and foreign policy, and secondly, there is the elimination of the primacy of promoting national interest as the object of foreign policy, third, there is the danger of particularism in US foreign policy. Ultimately for Huntington, this weakens the United States in the comity of nations. [13] In order to correct these problems, Huntington suggests the curbing of the cults of multiculturalism and diversity, putting limits on immigration, while emphasizing Americanization programs to promote immigrant assimilation and challenge the devotion to the politics of ethnic particularism and the consequent "diversion of American resources to the service of particularistic subnational, transnational, and nonnational interests." [14]

It seems then that for Huntington, the immigrant is a transgressive, particularly when she/he subscribes to the philosophy of multiculturalism and diversity, or in Huntington's words, belongs to "the cult of multiculturalism and diversity." What makes the immigrant even more suspect in Huntington's book is the continued concern for the country of origin, and the mobilization of lobbying efforts to ensure that US policymakers pay more attention to their issues. Huntington considers such efforts to be ultimately divisive and destructive to the unity of purpose that should underlay American national interest, and therefore, inform the determination of the nation's foreign policy objectives. We disagree. Immigrants are taxpayers who are quite within their rights in a pluralistic society such as America when they articulate their interests and communicate these to the policy making establishment. That these interests differ from those of other Americans is also to be expected. It is at best, doubtful that there was such a time that all Americans shared a common definition of, and devotion to one overarching set of national interests. We expect that once Africans reach a critical mass in their countries of settlement, they will become more politically active, and that they will make their interests known to policymakers, and lobby for those interests to be recognized as legitimate and worthy of support.

Two immigrant African women, we began writing this editorial in Woodbourne, New York, continued it in Brooklyn, and the Bronx, while in London en route to Nigeria, and in Lagos, Nigeria. The final part was written in Brooklyn and the Bronx in New York City. Clearly, this editorial in and of itself, was put through a substantial amount of Ìrìnkèrindò. Okome was in London by happenstance. She was supposed to be in Lagos, Nigeria, surrounded by natal family, with mother,

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sisters, nephews and nieces and brothers in law welcoming her home. Karma dictated otherwise. She missed her flight because she had a rather lengthy stopover in London, and decided to visit a friend. She visited, ate food brought from Nigeria, and met the parents of a newborn who were en route to Lagos, Nigeria, where they are citizens, from Dublin, Ireland, where the woman had just delivered her baby. Incidentally, she had gone to Dublin with the express intention of delivering the baby there. They were full of stories about Nigerians in Ireland. Julius Kómoláfé's paper was brought to mind by their reminiscences.

In the paper, "In Search of Fortune" Julius Kómoláfé conceptualizes Nigerian immigration to Ireland as a quest, an endless search for better socio-economic circumstances. He contends that Nigerians are like the Israelites of yore because they range far and wide, sometimes initially settling in other European countries where some are undocumented. Others have struggling African goods and food stores in these countries. Yet others graduate from Nigerian Universities, are unable to find employment, and see in Ireland, a land of opportunities. Some are medical doctors and nurses. These are recruited directly from Nigeria. They have no problems securing residency. For all these Nigerians, moving in this manner would be unnecessary if the country were not in the throes of a long-term economic downturn that is being combated with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank designed Structural Adjustment Programs.

Indeed, Nigerians went to Ireland before the 1981 date from which Kómoláfé's study began. The difference between those Nigerian immigrants and the contemporary ones is that today's immigrants are not overwhelmingly students who are in the country for a short-term stay, but numerous permanent residents and naturalized Irish citizens for whom the country is a new home. Is Ireland indeed the land flowing with milk and honey, the Promised Land, the land of opportunities? Ireland became a thriving center for the reduction of high technology and information technology goods from the end of the 1980s. While the Nigerian economy continued its downward spiral, Ireland, a country that had been a net exporter of its citizens to the UK and US for economic reasons now has returning Irish immigrants. While the UK and US were traditional recruiters of Irish labor, Ireland now is a net importer of workers from both countries as well as other European countries. The country has also attracted its share of refugees from Eastern Europe and Africa, particularly Nigeria. The Nigerian refugee inflow began during the period of the Babangida regime and intensified during General Abacha's dictatorial rule.

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From the perspective of those for whom the possibility of upward mobility is foreclosed, being able to get into Ireland may be considered an opportunity of a lifetime. Such individuals may have left the UK, Germany, Spain, Holland, and Switzerland because life in those countries proved to be more of a struggle than recognized, prior to emigrating from Nigeria. For these, Ireland offers another opportunity to secure gainful employment, revive struggling or moribund businesses, even to employ technicalities that ensure Irish citizenship for offspring who then sponsor their parents for citizenship. At the very least, bearing Nigerian Irish citizens ensures that the parents of such children cannot be deported from Ireland once they have out-stayed the period authorized in their visas.

But there are Nigerian women who also go to Dublin, have their babies, secure an Irish passport, and leave. The family that Okome encountered in London is an example. It is a consequence of the antinomies of globalization that they, being affluent, can afford to pay cash for six months of residence in Dublin, hospitalization, and doctors' fees. In addition, they left Ireland loaded down with huge suitcases of "necessities" for the baby that majority of Nigerians resident in Ireland could probably not afford. Another set of antinomies is presented by counter-posing the experience of the Nigerian doctors and nurses in Dublin against that of those who fled Nigeria for Germany, Spain, Holland, the UK, and Switzerland for example, and now leave those countries for more fertile pastures in Ireland. Some of these economic refugees present themselves as political refugees. The medical professionals are desired. The "refugees" are not. Kómoláfé also noted that the economic and political integration of Europe influenced the calculus of Nigerian immigrants who calculated that through securing Irish citizenship, they become European citizens by default. By doing this, they are able to travel freely throughout Europe, and also to the United States. They can also travel back home when necessary.

"The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America," and "The Antinomies of Globalization: Consequences of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America," by Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome are two inter-related papers. The first posits that globalization is the primary motive force that controls population movements. The second that population movements in turn shape nature of globalization in a manner that touches the communities of settlement of the immigrants, their home countries, and the nature of the world's political economy

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as well as the social relations in the global system. These two papers provide a framework that is relevant to Kómoláfé's paper, although Kómoláfé wrote about the only experiences of Nigerians in another country, Ireland.

Okome begins the first paper, the one on the causes of African immigration with a discussion of some of the changes in the nature of African immigration. In this paper, and the related one on the Consequences of African Immigration to the United States, she adroitly presents the manner in which globalization tends to produce diametrically opposing consequences, such as bounty and want, economic crisis and buoyancy, immigration and out-migration, cutting edge technology and the lack thereof, in a manner that divides one region of a country or the world from another, privileging the gainers, while penalizing the losers. Drawing upon scholarly literature, which she criticizes as inadequate in the study of African immigration, and of phenomena that relate to the study of Africa and Africans are grossly inadequate she argues that globalization is not a new development, and identifies several phases of the phenomenon. She also advocates the utilization of methodologies derived from interdisciplinary approaches to the study of African immigration to the US.

Okome's second paper examines some of the consequences of African immigration to the United States. Frederick Douglass' and Booker T. Washington's responses to deluge of 19th Century European immigration into the US and their analyses of the effects of these population movements on African Americans shows us that many of today's debates and analysis of immigration and its impact on American political economy have their origins from past discourse on the phenomenon. It is clear from both Douglass' and Washington's statements that there are antinomies that arise from globalization-spurred immigration. The investment in the development of skills among African American workers was short-circuited by the lack of employment that enabled the deployment of skills. Instead, competition from skilled European laborers drove African American laborers into desperate exploitation in the cotton fields.

For Douglass, it is clear that white skin privilege and discrimination against blacks as being less entitled to employment contributed to dispossessing African Americans while investing white immigrant workmen with the right to employment and the right to become full citizens and to enjoy the consequent benefits. Douglass goes further to advocate not the retaliatory discrimination against European laborers, but the establishment of standards and rules about their

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absorption into the body politics. One of his recommendations is that those who learn the language, and commit themselves to the observance of the duties of citizenship should be welcomed with open arms and given refuge.

Okome also draws upon contemporary analysis and data to show that Douglass' and Washington's analysis are still very relevant today. The whole world must grapple with the solution to the population problem. The problem as Okome indicates is more complex than just a matter of numbers. In "Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States," she shows that the linkage of economic, political, social, and demographic factors is deployed in such a manner as to produce population movements from struggling to buoyant economies. Although host countries choose to combat undocumented immigration as law and order problems, their tools are considerably blunted by the immigrants' determination and the devastating economic, political, and social processes that have become the norm under the regime of contemporary globalization. These countries also gain substantially from the presence of immigrants in their societies. The United States definitely benefits from the knowledge and know-how that is infused into its society from those classified as PTK (Professional, Technical, and Kindred) immigrants. These immigrants are not trained with US resources, having become skilled in their home countries.

The gain of the US is the loss of the immigrants' home countries. Immigrants who come to take jobs in the informal economy also provide much needed labor at affordable prices in the service economies. Those who establish niche businesses that sell African goods introduce innovative business practices as well as new goods and social practices that are not derived from the White Anglo Saxon Protestant mainstream culture of the United States, but are equally devoted to hard work, thrift, and other hallmarks of classic Protestant ethics. Okome also sees as consequences of immigration to the US, growing evidence of virulent nativism and the related anti-immigrant philosophies, and particularly in times of economic downturn, heightened fears that the presence of immigrants in significant numbers will have a negative effect on the chances of native-born Americans to find and keep jobs. In addition, there is rampant mistrust of given groups of immigrants. First generation immigrants also produce second and subsequent generation Africans, and African immigration has profound effects on the production of knowledge in the academy, and within the professions. These final effects may not necessarily be clearly observable, since the African immigrants producing the effects are not as clearly identifiable as those in the informal economy, and those

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who service the niche markets.

The countries of origin of immigrants see out-migration as a boon, a source of remittances of substantial financial investments and monetary gifts into their economies. Some countries also see out-migration as a means of ridding their societies of harsh critics of government policies, of unemployed and underemployed, and therefore, restive youth, and of all manner of "troublemakers." However, the immigrants' countries of origin are affected negatively by the out- migration of the young, strong, and skilled. The effects of out-migration identified by Okome include the 'brain drain,' deleterious consequences of immigration on the economic growth, and democratization of African countries, and the development of increased interest in issues that formerly lay within the domestic purview of African countries, but have now become politicized as international.

Okome's papers also identify some of the specificities of the current experience of globalization and how the world we live in is being constantly transformed. Free trade is an intrinsic element of the ideology of globalization. If there is popular support for the free trade in goods, and the free acquisition of needed skills across vast geographical boundaries, such freedom is not a part of population movement, particularly by the poor, dispossessed, and unskilled. It is likely that the debate will continue between the orthodox free traders who enthusiastically embrace the globalization of finances and goods and the anti globalization activists who argue that the same standards ought to be applied to the movement of individuals across international borders as are applied to goods and services by the free-traders. These debates will be resolved in a manner that favors the interests of whatever historical bloc emerges to control the world's political economy. It is unlikely that the anti- globalization activists will dominate this bloc in the near future. Thus, immigration will continue to be regulated to give unrestricted entry to desired sectors of labor, driven by the political intervention of economic actors who benefit from the recruitment, deployment and use of such labor. Unlike other groups of immigrants in the US, Africans have not mobilized politically to influence government policy on African immigration.

"Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)" by Oritsegbemi O. Omatete decries the enslavement and humiliation of the people of Ugborodo (the forest in the midst of the waters) who not only had the name of one of their principle towns changed to Escravos (The Slaves) by the Portuguese in the 15th Century but suffer the continued embarrassment of having an independent Nigeria maintain the name,

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while raping the land of its abundant petroleum resources, and wreaking chaos, mayhem and devastation with the technological assistance of multinational oil corporations that derive immense profits from the enterprise. Dr. Omatete is a Nigerian immigrant in the US. He visited his hometown, Ugborodo in November 2000 and writes a poignant account of the physical and material devastation that has been inflicted upon the people and their land. Not only did the ruin and desolation that he encountered assault his sensibilities, the enduring nature of the negative environmental consequences of oil production, and of the collusion between the oil producing companies and the Nigerian government to produce oil at all costs is a disheartening reminder of the renaming of Ugborodo as Escravos. The people are enslaved. Although prodigious rent payments accrue to the Nigerian government from the oil producing companies which make tremendous profits from Nigeria's 'sweet crude,' Ugborodo and its people, like most of the surrounding communities in the Niger Delta languish in want. These communities are neglected by the Nigerian government, and treated as just places from which multinational petroleum corporations callously extract wealth.

Two Nigerian communities, the Itsekiri and the Urhobo, published Dr. Omatete's diary of his visit on their websites. This in itself is remarkable, since the Itsekiri and Urhobo are at loggerheads over the distribution of political power and economic resources, and have clashed one with the other in Warri, Sapele, Effurun, and other Niger Delta towns and villages, with tremendous losses of lives and property. Perhaps if more people from both communities focus on their common enemies and or problems as Dr. Omatete has done, they can devote their collective energies to solving the multitudinous problems that have been set in motion as a result of the reckless exploitation of the natural resources in the Niger Delta. As Omatete indicates, the Niger Delta is "home to some of the smaller ethnic groups in Nigeria. Since crude oil production began, their lands and rivers have been polluted and they have lost their means of meager livelihood such as fishing and farming. Yet they have acquired very little benefit from the oil wealth that is derived from their territory.

"(In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s- 1990s" by Faola Ifagboyede approaches African immigration from another vantage point, that of African Americans, whose experience of enslavement is often described as a forced migration. While this idea has gained significant currency, one wonders if using the concept of forced migration does not de-fang the venomous nature of slavery. Migration implies some degree of volition on the part

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of the migrant or immigrant, an element that is totally absent from the chattel slavery of the United States of America.

Ifagboyede's paper focuses upon the efforts of Oba Oseijeman Adéfúnmi I and those of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. Adéfúnmi is the first African American born in the U.S. to be initiated into the Yoruba priesthood. He also founded the Yorùbá movement in the U.S. Ifagboyede juxtaposes the rise of the Yoruba movement in the U.S. with the rise of Dr. Martin Luther King's civil rights movement. Both began in the 1950s. Ifagboyede conceptualizes Adéfúnmi and King's efforts as directed at addressing the malady of African American racial and cultural identity identified by sociologist W.E. B. DuBois as double consciousness. This was done in two ways. In the first place, through a civil rights agenda based on King's vision of an inalienable entitlement to the full rights of citizenship. Second, through the re-creation of cultural habits based on Adéfúnmi's vision of a traditional African perspective. For Ifagboyede, the latter is the superior perspective because it is based on an African-centered philosophy that if embraced by the overwhelming numbers of African Americans, will solve the problems caused by double consciousness.

Adétóyèje Y. Oye(yemí's "Nigerian Physical Therapists' Job Satisfaction: A Cross- Continental Comparison" too picks up on themes and issues raised in the Okome paper. It also relates to the Kómoláfé paper. Oye(yemí's paper addresses the contemporary emigration of highly trained health personnel from Nigeria and other developing countries to more fertile pastures abroad. Again, one sees evidence of antinomies. The desertion of skilled manpower causes grave shortages in many developing countries, but it produces a ready pool of skilled, well-qualified job seekers for developed and affluent countries. Given these tendencies, Oye(yemí's study was directed at determining whether there is a linkage between the lack of job satisfaction, and the drive for employment in foreign countries.

Oye(yemí also explores whether the possibility of more rewarding employment opportunities as well as upward mobility for Nigerian Physical Therapists (PTs) is fulfilled when these PTs leave Nigeria to settle and practice in the United States. He concludes that while there are some aspects of job satisfaction in the professional lives of Physical Therapists in Nigeria. These PTs tend to have a great deal of autonomy in decision-making and in the determination of the protocol for patient care. Nigerian PTs in the US are also dissatisfied with aspects of their professional lives in a manner that reflects the displeasure with the amount of time

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spent on generating paperwork as compared with patient care and clinical practice. Given this conclusion, it is clear that if it were possible to correct the deficit in job satisfaction experienced by Nigerian PTs in Nigeria, fewer PTs may be attracted to foreign travel and residence to gratify their professional desires.

Oye(yemí does not provide the social, political, and economic context that produce job dissatisfaction among Nigerian Physical Therapists. This is outside the purview of his paper. Were he to do so, he would also show that the operation of negative socio-political and economic antinomies of globalization that militate against the material well-being of most salary-earning Nigerians in such a manner as to make them desirous of seeking employment in other countries. This is the focus of Okome's first paper. There are also links between Oye(yemí's paper, Kómoláfé's, and Okome's because all three consider the out-migration of Nigerians (the first two) and Africans (the third) for economic and other reasons. Oye(yemí's Physical Therapists are economic refugees who flock out of Nigeria in search of better pastures. Were Kómoláfé to expand his study, he might well find evidence of Nigerian Physical Therapists in Dublin, some of them students who sought and found employment after completing their education in Ireland, others recruited directly from Nigeria. What are the long term consequences of the movement of skilled professionals from African countries to the US and Europe? Kómoláfé addresses some consequences with reference to Dublin, while Okome considers some as they relate to the US.

"Tutùolá 'Resurfaces' In Italy: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá" by Jàre Àjàyí is a book review of Alessandra di Maio's Tutùolá at the University: The Italian Voice of a Yorùbá Ancestor. Àjàyí laments the official and institutional indifference to Tutùolá's work and family by the state and the Nigerian academy during his lifetime, and particularly after his death in June 1997, but for the few Nigerian scholars who acknowledge his contributions in books and through some commemorative activities. Added to these modest gestures of appreciation is the book reviewed by Àjàyí, who agrees with of Claudio Gorlier that it is a remarkable tribute by the University of Turin to the memory of the great storyteller, scholar, and Yorùbá literary ancestor, Tutùolá. For Àjàyí, scholars, students and researchers who read the book will be exposed to the beauty and complexity of Tutùolá's world.

Jàre Àjàyí's second contribution is a poem titled: "Crossroads" speaks of a sojourner who must return home to seek guidance, to re-learn what was once

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familiar and taken for granted. This is not a carefree return with the promise of unqualified success, but a groping for answers, a tentative seeking after old truths, a re-education a quest for a mentor that could provide the roadmap into the healing and recovery of a near-lost heritage. Juxtaposed with the possibility of spiritual healing through the integration of past with present, travel, linguistic prowess, and powerful oratory all pale in significance. At the crossroads, a wanderer could well become forever lost without guidance, mentorship, and leadership. However, guidance, mentorship, and leadership are neither easily accessible, nor always visible to those that seek them.

Débò Kòtún's "Welcome Back Homeless" speaks of the angst and pain of the immigrant experience. It presents immigration as a life-changing experience that so deeply marks the immigrant that it is impossible to feel at home anywhere. The poem also speaks of the alienation and anomie that attends the immigrant experience by pointing out that even in the land of plenty and amidst the celebration of liberty, discrimination persists, making it impossible for the immigrant to relax and enjoy the bounties of "God's own country. The discrimination is felt in the form of xenophobia; something that divides even the American born Africans from the American African recently emigrated. The immigrant departs from this land; a possibility that is only open to some in fact, for the undocumented dare not leave. However, all immigrants are able to leave, if only in their imagination. Even among Africans, there are tensions that divide. These tensions stem from what Davidson describes as the curse of European style nationalism, from the long-term, enduring effects of Africa's partition at the Berlin West Africa conference in 1884. An African immigrant thus, is not necessarily welcome outside of her/his home country in the continent, as the experience of Nigerians in Ghana and Ghanaians in Nigeria showed in the past, and many Africans' experiences show in today's South Africa. It is inevitable then, that the immigrant again, departs.

Does an African feel at home, even in her/his country of origin? Kòtún raises this question in his third stanza, where he refers to Nigeria's inability thus far, to realize its potential due to the leaders' betrayal of the people. Even here, ethnicity divides, and the resultant rancor, conflict, and discrimination may spur a perpetual wanderlust for the frustrated. It is the not only ethnicity that divides, even in cosmopolitan Lagos, some are discriminated against, and their claim of belonging challenged, their efforts to integrate rebuffed, again, producing the urge to depart. The family does not offer relief for the immigrant who in a polygynous family may

14 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

become uneasy, feeling unwelcome amidst jubilation and celebration of her/his homecoming. Again, there is no other option but to depart yet again.

Can indigenous African religion unite Africans in the Diaspora? Unlikely says Kòtún, because differences in nationality again interfere, and discrimination again rears its ugly head, stimulating the departure of the rejected. The immigrant's mother acknowledges the intertwined nature of belonging and yet being separate. She it is who understands that someone may be a part of a group, but eventually, separation is inevitable. If the world is our home, we ought to enjoy rather than fear or resent our wanderlust. Indeed, we can wander and range far and wide. Regardless, when we meet again, we can re-connect and enjoy our reunion, even if we must leave to wander yet again.

Débò Kòtún's "Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel" combines elements derived from Nigerian social, political, and economic life in the post independence era, particularly under military rule with elements from the philosophical and spiritual traditions of the Yoruba and elements from late twentieth century American life to tell a story of immigration, healing. Olá Adémólá, a medical doctor who fled from a rapacious military dictatorship in Nigeria is an àbíkú, a child that is literally born to die again and again. His coming to America is not accidental, it is fortuitous because only through him will the àbíkú child of the McFlatheys be saved. The excerpt demonstrates in part, how Kòtún's novel attempts to weave a seamless connection between the àbíkú and children who suffer from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, (SIDS), by showing that each has elements of recurrence, being manifested in a cycle of willful birth, death, and rebirth. The focus on the suddenness of SIDS is a deflection from what ought to be understood as the crux of the phenomenon - the ability of the child to choose the time, and nature of both birth and death, and to seek either relentlessly, aggressively, and wantonly, regardless of the intervention or intention of parents. The rare àbíkú who survives beyond childhood does so either as a result of strong, concerted spiritual intervention that can only be provided by the most skilled babaláwo. Western medicine has no philosophical basis for understanding such a phenomenon, and thus, has no effective treatment.

Paradoxically, the wealthy, influential McFlartheys must depend on Adémólá, new émigré from a developing country and the philosophical and spiritual knowledge of the Yorùbá to save their child from certain death and possible reincarnation as an àbíkú. They must not only do this, they must travel to Nigeria, accompanied by

15 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

Adémólá who is still sought in Nigeria by his childhood friend turned arch enemy, Major Sakará of the Department of Military Intelligence. Adémólá is in danger of meeting a violent death if Sakará were to know that he came to Nigeria. In essence, Adémólá must ignore all his fears, forsake the natural human feeling of self- preservation, throw all caution to the wind and go like a veritable sacrificial lamb to meet an almost certain death. The McFlartheys must suspend all skepticism and disbelief, forget everything about Western philosophies and medical scientific analysis by all manner of highly qualified doctors, propelled only by the desire to save their child, they must travel to a corruption-ridden, politically unstable, military ruled Nigeria to consult with a babaláwo who holds the only key to their child's survival.

Àbíkú explores many other themes but this excerpt focuses upon optimistically seeking out the best that Nigeria has to offer, both in the knowledge derived from contemporary times, and in the knowledge from ancient times to save a dying child, to foster person-to person cooperation, to educate, convince and enlighten the ignorant, the skeptic, and the uninformed. This excerpt ultimately presents connections that bind people of all kinds together, despite quite radical differences. It also presents the brain drain that afflicts Nigeria and other African countries in dramatic relief. Would Adémólá, having a knowledge base that straddles Yorùbá and Western cosmogony not have been more useful to a developing Nigeria than to the United States? Would he have fled his country without the imminent threat of losing his life? Were there to be a perpetuation of military rule, would there not be thousands of Adémólás, desperately fleeing for their lives, flocking into the more stable, more economically buoyant countries of the world, their potential contribution permanently lost to their countries of birth? Does exile have to be a hopeless, futile experience? To the last question, his excerpt says an emphatic No!

Onípe(dé Hollist's "Going To America" is an excerpt from his novel titled, So That the Path Does Not Die. Through his imaginative depiction of Keziah/Kizzy's daydreamed emigration from Sierra Leone, we gain an insight into the palpability of the hankering of African youth after what they believe will be a beautiful, magical experience of immigration. Escape from their home country as seen in this daydream can only be to bigger and better things. We also gain an insight into the cleavages that divide African countries - language, original place of origin, gender, class. Keziah Bacchus considers himself no ordinary Sierra Leonean. He is one of the privileged, one of the select, a descendant of Maroons from Jamaica, which makes him one of the Krio. Being Krio, Bacchus is of course, educated, he

16 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

considers himself better than your run of the mill Sierra-Leonean, and he dreams of getting on top of his game as well as the social and economic pecking order by becoming, through further studies in America, Dr. Bacchus. Of course, such a lucky and brilliant fellow would be celebrated by all and sundry who enthusiastically celebrate his good fortune by seeing him off at the airport, amidst dance, song, accompanied by loud protestations and lamentation of his departure.

We gain an insight into the consequence of the generation gap between Keziah's grandmother's cohorts and Keziah and his contemporaries. While for the latter, emigration opens up a vista of endless possibilities and opportunities, for the grandmother's generation, it opens up a can of worms. There is the ever present danger of being morally corrupted through exposure to a sybaritic lifestyle, the specter of becoming a permanent immigrant, lost forever to friends and family. Of course, in his dreams, an important guy like Keziah would have numerous women throwing themselves at him, especially now that his prospects were significantly improved. For these, loud and visible wailing and gnashing of the teeth are indicators of their irreparable loss. These young women differ radically from Kizzy's matronly grandmother who has no use for unrestrained, copulation that is practiced with reckless abandon.

Kizzy's daydream may seem to be absurd to those more comfortable and secure in their material existence than he. His daydream may be funny to those ensconced in comfort and affluence like Africa's wealthy few. However, this daydream is real for many young Africans who see no way out but to emigrate and seek their fortune in other greener pastures. They may not always have the means to actualize these dreams, they may even escape from unemployment and underemployment, from the lack of decent conditions of service in their places of employ, only to become trapped as members of the struggling masses in the ghettos of the West, neither able to go back home, nor make any appreciable progress toward upward mobility. What hopes lie on the horizon for Africa's youth? The prognosis in this era of globalization is grim for the majority. However, these young people can still dream, even if the dreams are unrealistic, even if they are escapist. The ability to dream under conditions of desperation implies the capacity to hope for a better future. It puts the dreamer beyond the control of her/his oppressors. It lays open the possibility of positive change.

Hollist's excerpt relates to Oye(yemí's in the sense that both examine the environment in which medical care personnel, scientists and technicians work.

17 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

There are many reasons why a person laboring under the burdens and tedium of life would desire immediate exit from her/his home country. However, there are as many, or even more reasons to stay home if the opportunity exists because as Oye(yemí argues, there may be more job satisfaction in an African workplace than in an American one. Hollist goes one step further by showing us some of the intangible elements that make for a rich life - friends, family, the familiar routines and activities of daily life, even the predictability of a recognized bully's oppressiveness. To depart is to leave these things behind, a process that could generate a feeling of rootlessness and disconnectedness. In a sense then, to leave is to become homeless as Kòtún indicates, to be condemned to wandering hither and thither, condemned to a perpetual cycle of arrival and departure, all the while not feeling comfortable anywhere.

One more issue that Hollist raises concerns education. Many young Africans hanker after a foreign education, believing it to be of better quality than the home- grown variety. Together with the dreams of accessing such education are grand dreams of "making it." Many firmly believe that such progress can never be found in their own countries. We can see then, future trends toward increased out- migration from the African continent by those more able to do so.

When we started out with the idea of collaborating in producing this journal, the first order of business was the brainstorming that resulted in the following draft thematic outline. We decided to focus upon several themes, including:

· Migration and immigration in Africa: A Background

· Effects of history, culture, economy, resource endowment, environmental factors, and social structure on migration and immigration

· Multidimensionality of African Immigration

· Need to demonstrate the open-endedness of the debate on migration and immigration, and to framework it within the continent over time.

· Defining Concepts and Terms (African Identity/ies, Immigration, Migration, Diaspora, etc. . .)

18 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

· Need for conceptual exploration, self-definition, problematization of self definition (who is entitled?)

· Exploration of how identity is lived and the impact thereof on life.

· Dispelling Myths and Stereotypes on Africa, Immigrants, Immigration

· Rationales behind African Immigration (into the USA, into Europe, into Asia)

· Consequences of African Immigration to the communities of settlement (Europe, America, Asia)

· Consequences of immigration to the home countries of immigrants

· Immigration and Family

· Immigration and Political Economy- Labor

· Immigration and Politics

· Immigration and Education

· Immigration and Religion

· Immigration and Culture

· Immigration and Language

· Immigration and Literature

· Immigration and Ethnicity

· Immigration and Nationality

· Immigration and Race

19 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

· Immigration and Class

· Immigration and the Arts

· Immigration and Legislation

· Immigration and Health

· Immigration and Housing

· Immigration and Sports

· Immigration and Media

· Immigration and Information Technology

· Immigration and Globalization

· Gender Dimension of African Immigration

· Generational Dimension of African Immigration

Our Editorial and advisory board added to our original list, and one member of the Editorial board, Prof. Jonathan Peters, suggested that expunging immigration from our title, and replacing it with migration would better reflect our agenda. Thus, the name of the Journal was changed to Ìrìnkèrindò: Journal of African Migration. At least one member of our editorial board advised that the first part of the title, being a Yoruba word, might give the impression that this is a Nigerian Journal, and that further, this might dissuade Africans from other countries from contributing. We demurred, believing Africans and Africanists are more sophisticated than all that. If Africans and Africanists contribute to Journals with European names that are written in European languages, it is about time that Africans and Africanists embrace the use of African titles in publications as not signifying boundedness to one geographical location.

We welcome you, one and all to the world of Ìrìnkèrindò, the world of incessant and perpetual wanderings of African peoples. The time is ripe for a journal that

20 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

performs our self-appointed task, which is to document, analyze, critique and explicate these migrations both in their contemporary and historical manifestations.

Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College, CUNY and Bertrade Ngo Ngijol-Banoum is an Assistant Professor of French, African Studies and Women's Studies at Lehman College, CUNY.

[1] Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye "Globalization: What's New? What's Not? (And So What?)." Foreign Policy, Spring, 2000, p.1.

[2] Samuel P. Huntington "The Erosion of American National Interests" Foreign Affairs, 76(5), Sep/Oct 1997, pp. 28-29.

[3] Ibid, p. 29.

[4] Ibid, pp. 29-32.

[5] Ibid, p. 32.

[6] Ibid p. 33.

[7] Ibid.

[8] ibid.

[9] ibid, pp. 33-34.

[10] Ibid p. 34.

[11] Ibid p. 39.

[12] Ibid p. 40.

21 Ìrìnkèrindò: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

[13] ibid, pp. 40-41.

[14] Ibid, pp. 48-49.

22 Crossroads

Crossroads

Jàre Àjàyí

I have a date to keep

At the ancestral grove

Housing the secret of the vessel

I must be back home

To re-learn from the wordsmith

Each of the thousand yarns in the loom

I have traversed the world

And now know all the roads of the Universe

I have opened pages of many books

And read them cover to cover

I have spoken tongues upon tongues

And competed with the songbird

But the native slang I once knew

Now limps in my throat

The family road I used to tread

Is what I now grope for

23 Crossroads

Who will guide my step?

A literary award winner, Jàre Àjàyí is a poet, critic, novelist and journalist. Former arts, reviews and culture editor of Nigerian Tribune, Àjàyí is the former Assistant Secretary General of the Association of Nigerian Authors.

24 Welcome Back Homeless

Welcome Back Homeless

Débò Kòtún.

It is the smell of Abundance.

And the sound of Felicity.

It is the 4th of July.

Welcome to Liberty

And Freedom

And Equality for All.

But you are Black.

And I left.

It is the smell of Tear Gas

And the sound of Marching Feet.

Welcome to the Struggle, Brother.

Free at last.

But you are African.

And I left.

It is the homogeneity of Blackness

And the dissonance of Vernacular

25 Welcome Back Homeless

Lamenting lost Majesty.

Welcome to the Motherland.

But you are Nigerian.

And I left.

It is the expectation of Greatness

And the frustration of Betrayal.

It is the 1st of October.

Welcome to the Armpit of the Giant.

But you are Yorùbá.

And I left.

It is the sound of Ritual Drum

And the incantation of Babaláwo*

Apotheosizing Òrúnmìlà*

Welcome to Yorùbá Nation.

But you are of Somewhere Else.

And I left.

It is the smell of the LAH-gus*

And the sound of the Ocean

26 Welcome Back Homeless

Èkó Akéte; ìlú ogbón *

The land of the Few

And claimed by All.

But you are Kòtún.

And I left.

It is a joyful a cappella

Sweet voices of the Wives

My Father's, Serenading a Homecoming.

And the air is Fecund with Unease.

Welcome Home

But you are your Mother's Child

And I left.

It is the pain of Labor

And the joy of Birth.

It is the agony of Separation.

Welcome Back Homeless

My Sweetness

But I was merely a Vessel

27 Welcome Back Homeless

The World is your Home

Ìpàdé wa bí Oyin o!*

Key to Yoruba phrases

Babaláwo - Yorùbá Diviner. The word literally translates into father of the sacred secrets

Òrúnmìlà - Yorùbá god of divination

LAH-gus - phonetic pronounciation of Lagos, the old capital of Nigeria, and now the country's commercial capital. The city's original name is Eko. The name Lagos is Portuguese.

Èkó Akéte; ìlú ogbón - Lagos, Akete; town/home of wisdom. According to Yorùbá conventional wisdom, Lagos is a place where people learn all, or at least some of life's major lessons.

Ìpàdé wa bí Oyin o! -- May our meeting be sweet as honey!

Débò Kòtún is the author of Abiku CA: Nepotist Press, 1998. He is working on his second novel, DaRos,a.

28 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome

Some people think the world population problem is over, ... No. This is a long-term issue and it's a very complex symphony - you have some countries declining, you have other countries growing rapidly, and you have some staying the same. When you add those up, you have a very complex world. [1]

The U.S. lures black immigrants by telling them they'll be welcomed, that they are different from African Americans, who refuse to 'pull themselves up by their bootstraps.' &But no one immigrates to the U.S. to become part of a racially oppressed group, so it takes long personal experience with racism for even black immigrants to see that they are viewed as 'niggers' [2]

Introduction

Over time, the nature, form and process of African immigration to the US have changed remarkably. Beginning with early African migration, which intensified in the period after the second world war, and during the period of the nationalist anti- colonial struggle for independence, until today, when many US consulates in African countries are swamped with Africans seeking rapid and immediate exit from their respective countries, there are identifiable economic, political, and social push and pull factors that move people to the US from the African continent. These push and pull factors are manifested on the African continent in terms of the emergence of the Structural Adjustment Programs and Democratization projects, which in combination, have generated both negative and positive forces that drive the unending desire for Africans to migrate, immigrate, and seek political asylum in the US. The most significant among these forces is the phenomenon of globalization, encapsulated in the concept of the New World Order. The United States and the other Group of 8 countries are implicated in the process of constructing, and perpetuating this new world order, as the primary architects and the main beneficiaries.

29 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

A consideration of scholarly literature in two different fields reveals a veritable chasm which can only be bridged through the utilization of methodologies derived from interdisciplinary approaches to the study of African immigration to the US. International Relations scholars who work on immigration issues understand and often stress the importance of globalization as a causal factor, but they do not consider that other areas of the world could possibly influence Western countries in terms of creating conditions that generate changes in immigration policies. [3] Other fields similarly assume an automatic position that Africa has very little to contribute to the constitution of the world, or that its contributions are negative. [4]

This work responds not only to the field of immigration studies, but also to international relations, international political economy, history, sociology, and subfields such as slavery studies, women's studies, and to African studies in general. In essence, it is interdisciplinary. It emerges out of the observation that explanations of phenomena that relate to the study of Africa and Africans are grossly inadequate in these fields. Africa in scholarly thought still remains essentially the "other", an exotic antithesis of the West, its history, its trajectory of development, progress, and culture. Compared with the glowing records of the history of Western achievement within the world, Africa is presented as either absent or anomalous, and the African as either the object of scholarly inquiry, or the poor, wretched being in need of massive doses of assistance in order to be either pulled into the mainstream of world consciousness, or otherwise, force- marched into recognizing her own potential. [5] Once this goal is achieved in the judgement of the West, such reborn Africans are put on display for all to see - behold thus, another Western success at improving on the work of the creator or nature - a new, progressive, "sharp as nails" African who would spearhead the liberation of her own people to the eternal glorification of her new maker, the West.

The study of African immigration enables the study of some of the antinomies of globalization within the contemporary world system. To describe African immigration as part of the antinomies of globalization is to acknowledge that there are fundamental contradictions integral to the process of globalization. On the one hand, it is clear that many scholars assume that the process has positive consequences, paradoxically, there is clear evidence of its having negative consequences on the lives of many people who live marginal lives in the impoverished countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, the

30 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

Caribbean, and even in Western Europe and North America. Further, the negative and positive consequences of globalization often relate, one to the other in a dialectical manner. As it were, there is a crisis of being, that presents existentially and materially, affluence in the intended country of immigration, and widespread poverty in the home country. Attending the poverty are serious political and socio- economic crises that make departure and immigration all the more attractive.

Antinomies are an integral part of the process of globalization because of the peculiar circumstances of having the same process cause radically opposite effects, with each effect occurring as a logical consequence. It is as normal, for instance, for globalization to produce wealth in some parts of the world, as it is to produce poverty in other world regions. Access and exposure to technological innovation is as much a consequence of globalization, as is the lack of access to technology. It is as much a consequence of globalization that whole areas of the third world are no more than labor reserves for the advanced industrial, more affluent countries, as it is for other areas of the world to be magnets that draw migrants and immigrants that seek an end to the problems of unemployment and underemployment.

How does an analyst of contemporary global political economy explain the phenomenon of African immigration to the United States of America given the remarkably changed terrain of global relations, and of the nature of African immigration itself over time? After the Second World War and during the period of the nationalist anti-colonial struggle for independence, Africans who came to the U.S. can be better described as migrants who sought education, or traveled for business or leisure. These migrants returned to their home countries once their objectives had been accomplished. Today, US consulates in African countries are swamped with Africans that seek rapid and immediate exit from their respective countries. Many do not have any plans to return home, except for brief visits, if at all. Some cannot even return anytime in the near future because they lack the visas that would enable them to travel back home once they had left. There is indeed a qualitative difference between the African migration that intensified in the period after the Second World War, and today's immigration from the African continent.

Properly designed, a good study of African migration and immigration to the United States will interrogate old norms and theories, develop new theories, and to make concrete, useful policy recommendations on African migration and immigration to the United States of America and the home countries of the African immigrants and migrants. This paper cannot do justice to all these objectives, but

31 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

will show the causal linkage between globalization and population movements from the African continent.

The phenomenon of African immigration to the US is conceptualized as being composed of near-equal amounts of action and reaction from Africa and the Africans and the US and its peoples. The phenomenon of globalization, when used as the independent variable, enables the profound understanding of immigration and migration as specific historical phenomena which have changed over time in response to new push and pull factors that are thrown up by the manner in which the world system is constantly being re-constituted. Although only the late 20th and early 21st Centuries will be explored in this paper, the following phases are identifiable:

* Africa before the 15th Century * 15th Century Africa: the period of trade and missionary activity. * 18th to 19th Century: The slave trade * 19th Century: "Legitimate"/Unequal trade. * Late 19th Century to mid 20th Century: Formal colonization of the continent; Nationalism, Pan-Africanism, Decolonization * Late 20th and early 21st Centuries: "Fooling with Development", Neocolonization, Recolonization - The era of "The New World Order" * The future.

One methodology that is particularly useful draws from the theoretical analysis developed by Fernand Braudel, [6] the annales method that endeavors in a recording of history, to capture the complex, and elementary facts of material life that had hitherto been excluded from accounts of European history. It differs from Braudel's methodology to the extent that it takes seriously the contention that Africans have corpus of knowledge from which the world can learn. African immigrants thus have much that is both worthwhile, and valuable to contribute to the knowledge pool of the various disciplines within the academy, their home countries, and most importantly, their communities of settlement in the US. Unfortunately, the African experience in material life remains excluded, and/or omitted from scholarly discourse. This study attempts to make sense of contradictory accounts of the reality of the immigrant experience in scholarly literature, and particularly, media accounts, which have traditionally excluded the experiences of the Africans, preferring to present them as helpless, hapless, souls who have nothing to offer to the US, and are so powerless in the scheme of things,

32 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

as to be a liability to the socio-economic systems.

To cope with the exclusion of whole classes of people from recorded scholarly accounts of history, Braudel developed a methodology that emphasizes the existence of constantly evolving multiple realities, including the shadowy aspects of life, which together, made up material civilization. This study draws extensively on Braudel's methodology by probing underneath orthodox presentations of reality to get at the essential elements of how African presence in the US has changed over time, what the consequences are on the continent and the US, and what the implications are of these changes. However, unlike Braudel, it draws upon African knowledge systems to build a unique, but concrete presentation of reality that takes as its premise that the African immigrants in the US, whether humble or learned, are experts at negotiating the social, economic, and political realities of the immigrant experience, and that the knowledge they bring with them from the continent enhances their expertise.

The more the interest in studying and documenting the experience of African immigrants, the more the information that is often available informally become widely disseminated. As a case in point, in 1997, the Smithsonian Institution, from June 25-29, to July 2-6 organized a "Festival of American Folklife" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in which African immigrants featured prominently. The resulting publication records diverse cultural expressions among African immigrants in the Washington, D.C. area. [7] Sylvianne Diouf wrote an informative paper that makes a significant contribution to the documentation of the presence and impact of Francophone African immigrants in New York City, [8] and Joel Millman includes a chapter on Francophone African immigrants in a book on the impact of immigrants on the US social system. [9] These studies and the few others that have been done on African immigration contribute to the development of our understanding of why Africans emigrate to the US, and the consequences.

In this paper, I define immigrants as people whose move from their home countries to the U.S is permanent. Migrants move and settlement is temporary. Exiles are those pushed out of their country of origin by official decree or for political reasons. Refugees are defined using the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees parameters. Thus, they are those who flee from their country of origin because of "a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling

33 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

to avail himself of the protection of that country." In essence, refugees are those seeking refuge from war, political, religious and other persecution. [10] The above identified categories will be considered at greater depth, along with those classified as Professional, Technical, and Kindred (PTK) in the section on the demographics of African immigrants.

Causes of African Immigration

Africans migrate from their countries of birth for much the same reasons that other immigrants do. Broadly categorized, these reasons include the economic, social or political motivations that either pushes immigrants into leaving their countries of origin and settling in a new country, or those that pull them into seeking immigration to a given country. Push factors that stimulate migration from Africa include low pay, the lack of employment, underemployment, the absence of family members due to prior migration, and exposure to endemic violence, persecution and oppression. Pull factors of course include the possibility of earning a higher income, finding employment, joining family members and hope for freedom from violence, persecution and oppression.

The argument on whether push or pull factors generate immigration can also be framed in other ways. The contentious debate on whether domestic or international factors spur the desire to emigrate is one such example. According to Myron Weiner, global trends determine the pattern of migration. In this view, there are identifiable changes in the patterns of international migration which are linked to other international flows, including the movement of trade, capital, investment and information. The crux of this argument is that international immigration is only a part of "a larger network of interstate relations." [11] Thus, when international flows of exchange increase, as has happened over time, immigration flows also increase. For Weiner and others who share his perspective, the predominant cause of international migration is the change in the immigration policies of countries in response to global changes. This argument, in essence posits that pull factors generate immigration. One such example is the change in the racial composition of migration when colonialism ended, and worldwide trade and investment increased after the Second World War. Scholars, who argue, on the other hand, that domestic factors generate the urge to migrate, make a push factor argument.

There are identifiable economic, political, and social push and pull factors that move people to come to the US from the African continent with the intent to settle

34 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

for the long-term, or permanently. The small but growing literature on African immigration to the United States allude to these. However, most scholars and analysts continue to downplay the most significant among the causes of immigration: globalization. The government of the United States first articulated its notion of globalization in the concept of the New World Order. Being the primary architect and main beneficiary, of this new world order, the United States is central to the process of constructing, and perpetuating it. However, while it has more relative ability to control its political economy than most other countries in the world, not even the U.S. is able to completely control the phenomenon of globalization. On the African side, the push and pull factors that are generated from globalization are manifested through the imposition of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) and "third wave" democratization. They are also manifested in the spread and embrace of the technological innovations, the exchange of ideas that they facilitate through the media and the information superhighway, and the transformation of telecommunications. In combination, SAP and democratization have generated some of the antinomies of globalization by causing both negative and positive forces that drive the unending desire for Africans to migrate, immigrate, and to seek political asylum in the US. The rapid technological advances have also generated both positive and negative outcomes that intensify the desire for exchange, as well as the desire to emigrate.

Innovations and advancements in international communication for instance, increase the awareness of national economic differences and opportunities, and give potential immigrants information on how to achieve their goal. Through movies, television, radio, print media, facsimile machines, and currently, the information super-highway, potential migrants gather information on what to do, what opportunities exist, and where to move. One of the most recent examples is the last two US lotteries that were conducted in 1997. The information spread rapidly and thoroughly through African countries, and people responded in droves. In some cases, the government in the African country was so disgusted with the overwhelming desire of so many people to jump ship that it was alleged to have sabotaged their application process by intercepting such mail as they sent to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (USINS), and dumping them. Many intended immigrants claim that the Abacha regime in Nigeria did this to their chagrin, and detriment. Those who won in this process were those who could avail themselves of the services of the "US address for sale" centers that sprang up, or those who had friends, and family abroad, to whom they could mail their applications, for eventual forwarding to the USINS. [12]

35 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

While the pull - or - push factor debate is often presented as an either-or causal factor, it is clear from preliminary data on African immigration to the US that things are not so clear-cut. Push factors usually create the desire to emigrate, pull factors provide the opportunity to act on that desire. Thus, it seems to be more productive to consider push and pull factors as often acting in tandem.

To turn briefly to push factors, civil wars, human rights violations and repression also cause international migration. During the Nigerian civil war, many from Biafra migrated to Western countries, including the US. The Liberian civil war, the Somalian conflict, and the Eritrean-Ethiopian war [13] are other instances where increased immigration was generated as a result of war. Wars tend to create more immigration, as well as a huge refugee population, within the continent of Africa than could ever be experienced outside the continent. These population movements have tended to be the subject of most studies that address the question of African immigration. The immigration to the West, particularly to the US, remains woefully understudied. This work is directed at bridging the considerable gap that exists, as well as at generating increased scholarly interest in the study of African immigration to the West.

Human rights violations and repression also generate the desire to migrate, which is met sometimes by the receptivity of Western nations to certain categories of dissidents. In the heydays of apartheid, many anti-apartheid activists fled to the West. Similarly, dissidents have fled each and everyone of the neocolonial, one- party, or dictatorial states of Africa. Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, and more recently, Nigeria, are sources of this kind of immigration. From 1986 to 1999, Nigeria had regimes in power that dealt with opposition by sponsoring such high levels of repression that their most uncompromising opponents were forced to take to their heels. This group of immigrants keeps in close touch with political and economic developments back home, and is usually called upon to comment on current developments as they occur, particularly in the alternative media. It also draws attention to its cause by giving testimonies of escalating oppression from which they managed to barely escape with their lives before congressional committees in the US.

Labor shortages create a demand for migrant workers, to which people respond, spurring later chains of migration among friends and family, which are enabled by family unification laws and fed by the need for additional labor in migrant-owned

36 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

businesses. The immigration from Africa to France, Germany, other European countries and lately, to the US is an example of this phenomenon. To the extent that labor was in short supply in the target country that immigrants choose to settle in, particularly after the Second World War, migrant labor was welcome. Welcome, not in the sense of having any special entitlements, but in terms of immigrants' ability to get those menial jobs that the indigenes did not want. There is a similarity between this Africa to Europe flow of migrant labor and the flow from Mexico and other countries in Latin America to the United States, and more recently, African immigration to the US. The migrant laborer is usually denied the rights of citizenship, overexploited, and subjected to bigotry. The desire to rise above the deprivations experienced generate the inculcation of ethics of hard work, and sometimes, integrationist sentiments in immigrant families which in turn make the second generation more successful in the formal economy. It may also drive immigrants into the informal, or even the underground economy, generating even more discrimination and xenophobia when the self-fulfilling prophecies of nativists are confirmed. This experience could also have the effect of creating despair, and the inculcation of ethics of separationism in succeeding generations.

According to Yanki Djamba, the old European colonizers of African countries were originally the more favored destinations of immigrants. [14] Thus, France, the United Kingdom, and other Western European countries were the most significant receiving countries. The United States became the first preference of African immigrants when immigration policies became more restrictive and punitive in these countries. Since US immigration policies also became more liberal in the post- 1965 era (1965 Family Reunification and Refugee Law), more English speaking Africans chose to come to the United States. By the end of the 1980s, with France deporting illegal immigrants and denying automatic citizenship to the offspring of immigrants that were born in within its borders, and the French decision to cease shoring up the currencies of its West African allies, the effects of the economic malaise that beset the African continent were now intensified in the CFA zone as well. [15] In January 1994, France devalued the CFA franc, a currency that is used in 14 West and Central African countries. Nigeria immediately became overwhelmingly attractive to immigrants from West and Central African currencies for whom its currency was now worth 50 percent more because it was pegged to the U.S. dollar. Curiously, in the same years, Nigerians were hell-bent on leaving their country if they could because the devaluation of the Naira (the Nigerian currency) had also down-graded their standard of living and quality of life.

37 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

There is scholarly agreement that the political economy of Africa as well as the globalization of the world economy generate the urge for Africans to leave their home countries for other lands. One should expect an increase in the number of African immigrants to the United States due to the stringency in immigration laws in old colonizing countries like Great Britain and France. [16] When examined more critically, these hypotheses indicate the persistence of insufficient understanding of the linkage between the processes of democratization and structural adjustment and globalization, therefore, many scholars still fail to see that the population movements are part and parcel of the experience of globalization and not external to the phenomenon. Since by most assessments, globalization will intensify rather than decrease in effect, one should expect population movements to increase as a consequence of globalization.

Additional causes of immigration include war in immigrants' countries of origin - a factor that generates refugee flows both within and without the African continent. Currently, the heaviest refugee flows come from countries like Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Angola. Some of these countries have been involved in long- term political upheaval, which in the case of Mozambique was compounded by a natural disaster in 2000 just when the country seemed to be headed for recovery. For many countries in Southern Africa, a lengthy drought in the summer of 2002 creates similar problems.

Political persecution within an immigrant's country of origin also generates the flow of refugees, and/or exiles. Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, and Liberia are recent examples. Religious persecution contributes to its share of refugees. The Copts of Egypt are a case in point, as are Jews from Ethiopia and Eritrea. The end of apartheid and white minority rule in Southern Africa led to a flow of exiles from among the ranks of those who felt that they could not possibly live under majority rule, when the expression of the will of the majority brings living, breathing, black people into government.

Globalization and Immigration

Currently, the concern for, and discourse on globalization and its attendant effects on all parts of the world preoccupies many scholars of the international system. Those at one extreme of this debate consider the current manifestation of globalization no different from previous experiences. Others identify distinctive

38 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

qualities and elements of the current wave of globalization that set it apart from previous other experiences. [17] In this view, while the world had in the past, interdependent states, currently, globalization has created a virtual village where actions taken in one part of the world system has almost instantaneous effects on other parts. Immigration in this perspective, is generated as a consequence of push or pull factors that have world systemic origins. The effects are likewise, system- wide. This is a near-accurate depiction of the process of globalization, and its consequent effects on Africa and the Africans. However, these accounts either tend to consider Africa and Africans as the adjuncts in this process, or as totally irrelevant, hence, the arguments about the marginalization of Africa. [18]

The actions and reactions of Africa and Africans lie squarely within the globalization process. They influence, and are influenced by the process, and are as much as any other actors, a significant part of the world system that has developed since the 15th century, until the present. They will also feature prominently in the future. I agree with Ake then that reports on the marginalization of Africa therefore, obfuscate much more than they explain. Extensive bibliographic search reveals that very little is written thus far on population movements that do not involve mass movement of refugees from one African country to other neighboring ones, or otherwise, the movements of migrant workers, particularly from Francophone African countries, to France. This is spite of the existence of a huge immigration studies literature.

Globalization shapes many of the changes that are observable in the patterns of African immigration to the US. According to Alassane D. Ouattara, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund , "In most basic terms, the globalization of the world economy is the integration of economies throughout the world through trade, financial flows, the exchange of technology and information, and the movement of people." [19]

The movement of people from the African continent to the United States is an instance of some of the specificities of globalization. The phenomenon of globalization involves an agglomeration of individual, state, corporate and other collective intentions within the United States, the deployment of these intentions on the African continent, mostly through the use of technology. The effect of the phenomenon of globalization is to generate similar responses in the African continent where people use information that is at their disposal to determine the time and destination of emigration from any country that is experiencing political

39 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

or economic turmoil to one that is thriving in both respects. African immigration is thus conceptualized as both pushed and pulled by globalization. A causal analysis that is based on American action and African reaction is limited in both explanatory power, and theoretical relevance. Action and reaction emerge from both the sending and receiving countries. Moreover, there are both intended and unintended consequences of these dialectical deployments of intentions and consequent actions and reactions that will be presented in a manner that explains the nature, form and types of African migration and immigration to the US and the consequences therefrom for the African continent and the US.

While as mentioned earlier, scholars have in the past, identified push and pull factors that stimulate or generate migration and immigration, and have identified these factors as the economic, political and social [20] leading one to believe that African migration and immigration differs very little if at all, from other varieties and waves to the US over the years. This apparently accurate conclusion is grossly inadequate because it tells us nothing about African immigrants, or what both separates and encompasses African immigration to the US from other peoples' immigration - the phenomenon of globalization. If globalization is taken as the independent variable, it becomes clear that African migration and immigration to the US can be constituted in one sense as the human response to globalization over time. These responses in turn set in motion, the processes that define the nature of the world at given times and places, the thoughts and machinations of the powers that be both on the African continent and in the West, and the responses of the governed, which again, reconstitutes the world as we know it, setting in motion, other changes, and counter pressures. Conceptualized in this manner, it is possible to take a historical long view on matters of African immigration to the US, to consider this phenomenon as part of a world systemic progression from the first contact between Africa and the West to the present moment.

The relatively lower cost of international migration is another contributory factor to increases in immigration. Discounted airline tickets can be obtained with a loan from a family member who migrated earlier. It is possible to repay such a loan after working for a few months. In addition, a service industry has developed to enable immigrants to surmount bureaucratic barriers.

The most compelling reasons for African immigration to the United States at the present moment are those related to the dislocations caused by the economic and political changes being undertaken throughout the continent. This gives credence to

40 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

the Weiner argument that global trends drive population movements. The economic and political changes going on in Africa today are themselves caused by global factors such as the worldwide economic depression, negative terms of trade for African countries, consequent upon their involvement in international trade, huge international indebtedness, and the involvement of multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, IMF and external creditors in proposing solutions to African economic and political problems.

In this complex world, Chamie sees a "new order" developing where immigration becomes an essential part of the policy calculus for the poor countries that cannot feed their people and rich countries that are undergoing population declines but need a labor force. One would think that the world that Ben Wattenberg, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute commented on was not the same one that Chamie described. Challenging "potentially misleading" estimates of population growth that indicate that the world faces a veritable population explosion, he claims that there is a decline in the fertility rate that makes current projections on increases untenable. In essence, Wattenberg questions the extent to which the richer countries will become dependent on a labor force that is supplied by the poorer countries, and warns of dire consequences therefrom.

The relevance of globalization is not only demonstrated by the presence of African immigrants in the United States, or by their preference for this country as one of their preferred destinations. In very radical opposition to the laudatory accounts that tout its ultimate superiority to other historical processes, the problem for many that experience it in the third world is that globalization presents a predatory face that is congenitally asymmetrical, devastating and abusive. Both political and economic relations of power are negatively impacted. There is an implied positivity and goodness assumed to be part of the concept of globalization that is not necessarily borne out by the realities of most people's day-to-day existence. The decision to immigrate therefore is for most, a desperate move from the familiar into the terrain of the unfamiliar. Most immigrants console themselves and shore up their confidence by thinking only of the positive outcomes. As a result of some of the communications breakthroughs that have drastically reduced the cost of obtaining up-to-date information, knowledge of what to expect in the intended country of origin is apprehended almost instantaneously by those with access to internet and worldwide web technology, and/or access to the international media's increasingly global information dissemination network.

41 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

Second, once a host country changes its immigration policies, other countries notice, and formulate and implement policies in response. Probably to combat the ascendancy of the influence of the United States in Africa, and to stem the erosion of French influence, in a 1977 speech, newly elected French president Chirac announced plans to ease the restrictions on African student visas in France. He also promised better educational opportunities. Although Chirac denied that new French initiatives were due to "globalization" or the ascendancy of US influence. Paradoxically, by so doing, he successfully acknowledged both that no country can be totally immune from the influences of globalization, and also that the US was becoming increasingly influential, and even supplanting the French in some of their old stomping grounds in Africa. For African immigrants in France, there is yet another spin to this posturing. Immigrants from North, Central and West Africa populate the banlieue, which is the French name for the, overcrowded, crime- infested locales with substandard housing and ill-equipped schools that are reserved for immigrants, who also are plagued with high unemployment, crime, and segregation from mainstream French society. [21] Potential immigrants also consider host countries' immigration policies before making the final decision on moving from their country of origin or settlement. The relative availability of opportunities for economic advancement in the United States as compared with France, as well as the more relaxed immigration laws prior to September 11, 2001 acted as a pull for some Francophone immigrants from Paris to New York City. [22] Such changes as were undertaken by France have become virtually impossible due to the successful integration of the Western European region.

Immigration policies are also changed as a result of events that have a global reach, and while individual countries within a regional body such as the European Union have less flexibility to change policies, they do so as a bloc. After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the United States introduced tougher immigration laws, spurring the consideration of similar measures by European Union countries. [23] The European Union also considers immigration to be one of the top priority issues. Della Plana, in an analysis of Race and Immigration in Europe traces the evolution of a joint EU immigration policy to the 1985 Schengen Agreement, which established common European policies on "immigration, amnesty, and the policing of borders. It eliminates many barriers between countries of the European Union while making it much harder to immigrate to an EU country from outside. &Schengen also establishes the elaborate Schengen Information Service that tracks criminals, migrant laborers, and "undesirables" throughout the member countries."

42 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

[24] For many immigrants, the category of "undesirables" could apply for doing nothing other than being undocumented. It is one of the hallmarks of the neo- liberal New World Order that while there is a free trade in finances, goods, and services, the door slams shut in the face of many desperate economic refugees who flee from the devastating consequences of globalization such as unemployment, political upheaval, and endemic economic crisis. At the same time, a welcome mat is rolled out to the most educated, most skilled workers from the same countries, many of whom are aggressively recruited, well-paid, and given the very best fringe benefits. [25]

Globalization, Trade, and Immigration

It cannot be over-emphasized that globalization is a process ridden with antinomies. Thus, involvement in the global political economy has differential consequences for each region, and each nation. It is as much a consequence of globalization that the weakness of African states vis a vis the Group of 8 countries who tend to be the major beneficiaries of globalization's bounties causes the relative inattention that is paid to African states' analysis and recommendations as compared with the extensive coverage and attentiveness to the thought of G8 leaders. It is also a reflection of the weakness of developing countries that they are unable to convince their more developed counterparts to give concessions that guarantee market access for their goods. As well, while many G8 countries continue to grant agricultural subsidies, Third World countries that are indebted are expressly forbidden to do so by the IMF, World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, (WTO.) The discontinuation of subsidies drives struggling farmers out of circulation, generating poverty, misery, and the abandonment of farming as an occupation. Immigration often becomes the only viable option for many of the dispossessed. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika clearly articulated these problems when he maintained during a press conference at the 10th United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Bangkok on February 2, 2000 that the time is ripe for genuine fairness and more interdependence in the global system. President Bouteflika spoke in his capacity as head of state. He also spoke as President of the Organization of African Unity OAU) For Bouteflika, globalization is meaningless if it does not serve the cause of humanity.

According to Bouteflika, thus far, the global system is fundamentally unfair because the world continues to fall short of the ideals of interdependence. A cynic would even go so far as to say that the world will forever be unable to achieve

43 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

these ideals. Africa's experience in the global system has been a conglomeration of inequalities, caused by the assumed inevitability of unmediated globalization in human society. In contradistinction, the richest countries live affluent and comfortable lives while blaming the poverty, and precariousness of the existence of most of the world's poor on their own ignorance and on the ineptitude of their leaders. Emerging from such an ideology, it is no wonder that most of the world's rich support the idea of the universal efficacy of the market system without any consideration of the needs of each country. For Bouteflika, "the mechanisms of international relations should be directed towards the reduction of inequalities, the elimination of misery and backwardness, hearths of frustration and as such of potential violence," The management of the global system according to principles of social justice and equitable distribution of wealth is the only long-term safeguard against enduring threats to the world's collective security because the depth of inequality between an affluent, technologically and militarily dominant North and an impoverished raw material producing South maintained that is ever subjected to the vagaries of the international market forces would at best, drive those able to escape from the misery to do so by emigrating. At worst, political upheaval and increases in preventable tragedies will proliferate, again stimulating the push to leave impoverished parts of the world and seek better opportunities or refuge where these can be found.

What globalization has meant for Africa and Africans is also that there have been drastic restrictions on the right to self-determination and to meaningful participation in making decisions on how to properly manage the world's economy. A strict application of the logic of the market may facilitate the efficient exchange of goods, services, and investments. The world may even generate more wealth in consequence, but Bouteflika's observation that "a new card of the world has been drawn, where a whole continent as Africa is purely and simply erased", ought to be given very serious consideration because of the danger of excluding those who are least able to compete within the unfettered market system from the global bounty from which citizens of Northern countries at least stand to benefit. Unfortunately for these workers, globalization does not necessarily have even effects within national boundaries. Hoogvelt points out that there are significant antinomies of globalization in operation in the North's labor markets, where the skilled, highly educated "cream of the crop" is pampered while those in the bottommost rungs become part of the informal economy, subjected to part-time piece work, lacking benefits and security, and often under-paid. [26] It is within these ranks that most immigrant workers, including those from Africa get integrated. The nativist

44 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

backlash that they suffer often arises out of the frustration of this downtrodden stratum of workers about their uncertain fate, and the fierce competition for the opportunities that exist from workers who would accept lower pay and low to no benefits.

The perception among African leaders is that while they have made significant effort at great cost to their citizenry, to follow the imperatives of the logic of the market, the promise of economic recovery will remain "illusory as long as the continent shall continue to undergo the effects of a world environment contributing more than in the past to worsen its backward movement and its difficulties, and to perpetuate the major causes of perversions resulting from it." From the initial stages of the attempt to create a new world order and develop the principles that undergird globalization, scholars, government officials and analysts in Africa tended to attribute the economic crisis that descended on, and took hold of the continent to exogenous factors . In this view, the downward swing of the terms of trade against the interest of African countries came about because of the vagaries of the international market as it affected raw materials producers. While Africa as a whole lost approximately 2.5% of its expected GDP from commodities sales in 1998, the expectation that foreign investment would flow into countries that implemented the structural adjustment packages recommended by the World Bank and IMF remains elusive. The 54 African countries only captured 1% of the world's foreign investments and approximately 5% of investments in developing countries. This is while the external indebtedness of most African countries imposes crushing debt burdens on their already overtaxed citizens, creating a situation where African countries have become net exporters of capital, thus "by a cruel paradox, to financing the rich by the poor." [27]

Participating in the global economy extracts costs from majority of the citizenry of African countries. This majority suffers losses in income, employment, upward mobility, health, hope, their options are significantly reduced. However, a minority gains most of the benefits of globalization by virtue of having the desired profile for success. The potential immigrants are drawn from both groups. The latter, as mentioned above is desired, while the former is resented and deterred from entering the labor markets of the developed nations. However, the desperation of living a life where most options are foreclosed means that such immigrants will persist in seeking better economic opportunities elsewhere.

Globalization, Debt, and Immigration

45 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

One of the demands of African countries is that the debt cancellation initiatives that are currently available only to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) should be extended to medium income African countries as well. The rationale for this is that whether HIPC or otherwise, all African countries labor valiantly under the burden of debt, and experience the negative backwash effects to their citizenry and economies. The use of political conditionalities as the stick that enforces the imposition of the untrammeled market system is also criticized. As Bouteflika appropriately noted, it is questionable at best, if African countries ought to "continue posing good governing as a preliminary to the best dealing with the problems of development, while sapping, by policies of structural adjustment, the minimum of social harmony which supposes good governing."

While the focus here is not to assess the viability of the HIPC initiative, it is prudent to be wary of initiatives that do not critically consider the long term relevance of policy options. According to an internal memo from the World Bank that was circulated by Jubilee 2000, [28] Senegal would end up with a larger debt by 2018 than today because like other highly indebted countries, the new debt that Senegal incurred to repay its old debts was $332.4 million and rising. The most curious part of the problem is that the HIPC initiative is presented as having a positive impact on Senegal, whose total debt fell from from $2.5b to $2.1b, and the IMF and World Bank expect that HIPC would facilitate the restoration of Senegal's "debt sustainability." The complexity of the problem is not immediately obvious. One would have to know that the assessment of Senegal's debt as "sustainable" is dependent on the assumption that it will successfully attract foreign capital, and further, that the World Bank itself reported that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Senegal has declined from $56 million from 1993-1997 to $40 million in 1998. Curiously, the Bank and Fund make the prediction that FDI into Senegal will increase to $88million over the period 1998 - 2008, and as such, the country can afford to sustain its debt ad infinitum. To the contrary, according to the international rating agency, Standard and Poor's, Senegal, is at "a low level of development, with per capita GDP of less than $500, and deficiencies in the social and physical infrastructure. Low educational standards, high poverty, and other weak human development indicators reflect the subsistence nature of Senegalese agriculture, which employs more than one half of the labour force". [29] Senegal paid $173.6 million in debt service in 2001. 25% of the monies went to the IMF and World Bank - $21.9 million to the African Development Bank and $35.9 million to other multilateral organizations. The country's debt service is three times

46 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

as much as the $47 million spending on health care, and almost as much as the $175 million spent on education. According to the Jubilee report, "In order to get Senegal to a level of "sustainability" the World Bank will provide $149 million over the next eight years - enough to cover 50% of Senegal's debt service - to the Bank. This year (2001) Senegal will pay $29.87 million to the World Bank - and receive $14.39 million in "relief" from the Bank. [30] The IMF too will "assist" Senegal by providing $51m of relief over eight years. In return for this "favor," Senegal will pay the IMF $183.3 million over that time. In 2001, the IMF gave Senegal $4.7 million in "relief" while also collecting $26 million from the country in debt repayments. The end result is that Senegal, one of the world's poorest countries, made a net transfer of $21.3 million to the IMF. [31]

Senegal is not alone in being so poor, having to make net transfers to the IMF and other creditors. All indebted African and developing countries have to do the same. With economies in the doldrums for over two decades, and no change in sight, with the heavy burden of debt and no appreciable relief, is it any surprise that Senegalese, African, and Third World immigrants are so plentiful in France, the U.S., and other Group of 8 countries? To the extent that the antinomies of globalization continue as in the recent past and present, the flow of the world's economic refugees will continue from embattled economies to relatively flourishing economies. Neither Fortress Europe, erected after the establishment of the European Union to keep undocumented immigrants out, nor harsher anti- immigrant regimes in the US will succeed in keeping out those who respond to the imperatives of globalization, whether they are the desired (skilled) or the despised (undocumented) immigrants. Nothing short of a restructuring of the world economy would turn the tide. Such restructuring however, is impossible without the restructuring of the world's politics. Despite the concerted efforts of the anti- globalist activists, the likelihood that this would occur in the near future is remote.

Globalization, Labor, and Immigration

African governments, organized labor groups, and leftist political parties differ in their assessment of the impact of the globalization on African political economy. While for the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Nigeria and Ghana's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) would result in more unemployment, collapse of industries, and social unrest, the governments of African countries expressed the belief that the WTO was beneficial to their countries and the continent, and called for the

47 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

implementation of the already agreed upon terms. The South African Communist Party agrees with Oshiomhole's perspective. At its meeting of September 13-16, 2001, the party declared its support for the Congress of South African Trades Union's (COSATU) anti-privatization strike action, characterized globalization as imperialism, and as damaging to the political economy of Third World nations. [32] However, according to African governments, what is needed is for developed countries to live by the rules of the World Trade Organization. Thus for them "the most important issue remaining from the Uruguay Round is the failure of the developing countries to open their markets to products from the south." Majority of African countries still face discrimination against their products in the very areas that they are advised to concentrate upon by the World Bank and IMF, those areas in which they have comparative advantage such as agriculture, labour, textiles and apparel. [33]

The negative economic ramifications of the protectionist discrimination against African countries' products include unemployment and underemployment. Migration and immigration are options that are pursued, sometimes as a last resort by workers who lose their jobs, or are unable to provide for their families. As Oshiomhole explained, "Our two movements therefore, in our enlightened self interest, need to strategise on the challenges posed by this new phenomenon called globalisation under which Africa is a net exporter of jobs and even capital through unrestrained imports and divestment. &In another word, unemployment, collapse of industries and the attendant social unrest are our main gains from our membership of WTO" [34] Poverty, diseases, conflicts, HIV/AIDS and wars have beset African countries, saddling its labor unions "with the enormous task of ensuring fairness, social justice in our respective countries often under hostile political and economic environment." Although richly endowed with human and natural resources, Ghana and Nigeria, like many other African countries, "are struggling under the weight of mass poverty caused by inequitable distribution and reckless squandering of the nation's huge resources." [35] Foreign Affairs Minister, Sule Lamido identified as the "boldest initiative so far in addressing the under- development and poverty in Africa," the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) - a joint initiative of President Obasanjo of Nigeria, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Abdulaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Abdulaye Wade of Senegal and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. According to Lamido, NEPAD is a "home-grown response to the challenges of poverty, human deprivation and marginalisation of the continent in a rapidly globalising world that seeks to promote and maintain peace and stability." Oshiomhole instead canvasses a "critical look at the root

48 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

causes of prevalence of wars and conflict situations occasioned by ethnic and religious crises and its resultant effect of poverty and diseases that have continued to trail the sub-region in the last decade. [36]

Indicative of the divergence on problem identification and solutions offered is the fact that while both African and European countries supported the notion that there was need for a dialogue on the future direction of Euro-African relations, particularly on the question of globalization, according to President Bouteflika, "The more Africans emphasised their interest for economic issues, i.e. partnership, commercial co-operation, the transfer of technologies and other capital flows, the more the European Union emphasised its interest for political issues, namely good governing, democracy, pluralism and human rights", Thus, the military and economic weakness of African countries vis-a-vis the more powerful actors within the world system makes them so vulnerable that their expressions of opinions that contradict those of the "powers that be" is regarded as questionable, at best. When African countries maintain that they would much rather prioritize economic and social development, European countries maintain the overwhelming importance of good governance and the further integration of African countries into the world economy. The consequence is that those who are negatively affected often seek extra-national solutions by taking advantage of the opportunities that globalization offers for those with needed skills in the more affluent parts of the world to emigrate. Most of those who are unable to emigrate eke out a living however possible. Some also look to the underside of the global economy, becoming drug couriers, sex workers, domestic servants and undocumented aliens in the larger cities of the West.

Nativism, Xenophobia, and Immigration

Confronted with a never-ending flow of immigrants that is ever ready to go to work for wages that are patently unacceptable, Indigenes that find the immigrants a threat respond by mounting nativist, xenophobic attacks that discredit and vilify the immigrant as a drain on the economy, the cause of unemployment and the driving down of wages. Immigrants are also blamed for rising crime rates, over-crowding in the urban centers, and virtually any undesirable aspects of social life. Vicious attacks against immigrants are encouraged and driven by such hate-mongering.

The negative ramifications of nativism could shape the immigrant's decision to avoid some countries and favor others. For example, the knowledge that

49 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

immigrants are fair game for racist attacks in certain countries would make such countries unattractive destinations for immigrants and refugees, which probably falls in line with the racists' desires. There is evidence of nativism in many European countries. In Germany, Portugal, France, and other European countries for example, there have been reports of vicious attacks on African Immigrants. [37] Those who argue against the nativist position contend that there is nothing intrinsically negative about immigration. Some go to the extent of advocating that the same standards be applied to the movement of individuals across international borders as are applied to goods and services by the free-traders. [38]

Conclusion

Studying the causes of African immigration, if done properly, enables the conduct of research that draws a picture of the complexity of life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This is because the population has both highly educated people as well as struggling vendors in the informal economy, entrepreneurs and overexploited, underpaid delivery persons, large numbers of women as well as men, refugees and exiles as well as those for whom immigration is less attached to the immediacy of survival, whites as well as blacks, Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone populations who also speak their own indigenous African languages. Such a picture can then be compared with the same phenomenon as manifested in the past to enrich our understanding of the world as we live it. Finally, there is an insight into the manner in which African immigration to the United States and other economically buoyant states both shapes the experience of globalization in the African continent, and is shaped by it.

Globalization is a phenomenon that is rife with antinomies. In the complex relationship of trade, production, exchange, labor movement, economic, social and political integration, there are losers as well as gainers. Some countries gain population while others lose. Some of the population movement is highly desired and actively courted. Others are resented, repelled, criminalized and quarantined. The population gain and loss again arise from the way in which trade under the regime of globalization produces deleterious returns for some countries, and bountiful gains for others. The losers are also laboring under massive debt burdens while the gainers have more buoyant economies. People who are able to move from the struggling economies do so, moving to the economic powerhouses like the United States. It is also part of globalization that production relations are in a state of flux, with industrial jobs moving to the less developed countries and the post

50 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

industrial high technology jobs located in the developed countries. For these jobs, and for the provision of necessary social services like health care, and elder care, developed countries continue to pull the most skilled and able from developing countries including those in Africa as immigrants.

The consequences of these population movements are profound. They will be addressed in a second paper titled: "The Antinomies of Globalization: Consequences of African Immigration to the United States of America."

Endnotes

[1] .Joseph Chamie, Director of the U.N. Population Division. See "Africa, Asia will Lead Population Boom, U.N. Study Says," http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500458156-500696935- 503770750-0,00.htm

l, February 27, 2001 9:20 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com)

[2] .Statement by Esmeralda Simmons, Director of the Center for Law and Social Justice in Brooklyn. See Julie Quiroz-Martinez, "Missing Link," ColorLines: Race Culture Action Summer 2001, p.1.

[3] . Michael S. Teitelbaum and Myron Weiner, Threatened Peoples, Threatened Borders, World Migration, and US Policy, NY: W.W. Norton, 1995; Myron Weiner, Peoples and States in a New Ethnic Order, Cambridge, Mass.: Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992; Zolberg, Aristide, "Contemporary Transnational Migrations in Historical Perspective: Patterns and Dilemma," in M. Kritz, ed. United States Migration and Refugee Policy, Lexington, Mass,: Lexington Books, 1983.

[4] .Samuel P.Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, NY: Touchstone, 1998.

[5] . Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1961; Basil Davidson, The Black Man's Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation

51 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

State, New York: Times Books, 1993; Mahmood Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996; V.Y. Mudimbe, The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988; Rodney, Walter, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1982.

[6] .Braudel, Fernand, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th - 18th Century, New York: Harper and Row, 1979, Volumes 1-3.

[7] .Festival of American Folklife: African Immigrant Folklife, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1997, pp. 36-70.

[8] . Sylviane Diouf-Kamara with translation by Richard Philcox, "The Senegalese in New York: A Model Minority? "Senegalais De New York: Minorite Modele?," Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noir, 1.2.

[9] .Joel Millman, "Boubous Over Broadway: The New African-Americans," in The Other Americans: How Immigrants Renew Our Country, Our Economy, and Our Values. NY: Viking, 1997.

[10] .This definition of refugees is taken from http://www.churchworldservice.org/Immigration/FAQ.html

[11] .Weiner, 1992, p. 440.

[12] .Personal communication with several intended immigrants who entered the lottery. Most of the communication took the form of frantic telephone calls, or verbal messages, with letters to be hand-delivered by people who traveled to the United States from Nigeria at the time.

[13] . Steven Mufson "Eritrea Won't Block Food Aid For Ethiopia," Washington Post, Saturday, April 8 2000, p. A14.

[14] .Yanki K. Djamba, "African Immigrants in The United States: A Socio-

52 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

Demographic Profile in Comparison to Native Blacks." Journal of Asian and African Studies, 34(2), May 1999, pp. 210-215.

[15] .ibid.

[16] . Joseph Takougang, "Recent African Immigrants to The United States: A Historical Perspective," The Western Journal of Black Studies, 19 (1), Spring 1995, p.50.

April Gordon, "The New Diaspora - African Immigration to the United States." Journal of Third World Studies, 15 (1), Spring 1998, pp.79-103.

[17] .For a presentation of the debate between the views of both pro-and anti globalist scholars, see Jonathan Perraton, David Goldblatt, David Held, and Anthony McGrew, "The Globalisation of Economic Activity," New Political Economy 2 (5,) 1997.

[18] .For a review, see Claude Ake "The Marginalization of Africa: Notes on a Productive Confusion," (n.d.)

[19] .Allassane Ouattara, "The Challenges of Globalization for Africa" Address at the Southern Africa Economic Summit, sponsored by the World Economic Forum Harare, May 21 1997.

[20] .Weiner, 1992; Lawrence H. Fuchs, "Migration Research and Immigration Policy." International Migration Review, 26 (4), Winter 1992; Watkins-Owens, Irma Blood Relations Caribbean Immigrants and the Harlem Community, 1900-1930, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.

[21] . Toni L. Kamins, "Immigrant Prejudice, French Style," Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2002 http://www.francetourism.com/LATimesKamin.pdf

[22] .Interviews in Harlem, New York City, Summer 2001.

[23] .The September 11, 2001 event was uppermost on the minds of all

53 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

speakers on the Panel on International Strategies to Combat Global Terrorism. Each of the speakers indicated the that while there were measures taken to combat terrorism in the past, September 11 has made it imperative for more coordination, as well as tighter security measures to be taken. Mandie Campbell, Deputy Director General, National Criminal Intelligence Service, U.K.; Patrick Byrne, Commissioner, Garda Siochana, Ireland "The Challenge of Migration/Asylum;" James Caruso, Assistant Director, Counter Terrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, USA; David Clark, Deputy Director General, National Criminal Intelligence Service, U.K., Panel on "International Strategies to Combat Global Terrorism," The Sixth Biennial Conference: International Perspectives on Crime, Justice and Public Order, Royal Lancaster Hotel, London, June16-20, 2002.

[24] . Libero Della Plana, op cit.

[25] .The Dollars and Sense Collective, "The ABCs of the Global Economy," dollars and sense: The Magazine of Economic Justice, http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2000/0300collect.htm. p. 4.; Sarah Stephen, "Free Movement Around a Free Globe," http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2001/456/456p16.htm; Ankie Hoogvelt, "Globalisation, Exclusion and the Politics of Resistance," Paper Presented at the Convergence and Diversity Conference, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, March 1-2, 1997. in AntePodium: An Antipodian Electronic Journal of World Affairs, Published by the Department of Politics at Victoria University of Wellington 2: 1997 http://www.vuw.ac.nz/atp/articles/hoogvelt_9704.html pp. 3-16.

[26] . ibid

[27] .Bouteflika, op cit.

[28] ."Senegal's "perpetual debt"; despite "relief"- by 2018 she will be back to square one." This analysis was been prepared by the research team at Jubilee Plus, a project of the New Economics Foundation". It was received as an email message j2000 Wed, 28 Feb 2001.

54 The Antinomies of Globalization: Causes of Contemporary African Immigration to the United States of America.

[29] .ibid.

[30] .ibid.

[31] .ibid.

[32] ."A Political Assessment of the Current Conjuncture: Challenges Facing the Working Class in the National Democratic Revolution," Edited Version of Paper Presented by the SACP to the SACP - COSATU bilateral held on 26 July 2001, African Communist 157: Second Quarter, 2001, pp. 7-14.

[33] ."African Countries Advocate Full Implementation of WTO," Guardian (Nigeria) Wednesday February 13, 2002.

[34] .Duru Nnamdi, "NLC Counts Losses of WTO Membership," ThisDay Wednesday, February 13, 2002.

[35] . Ibid

[36] .Prisca Egede, "Labour, Ghana Trade Union Meet Over Africa's Woes," Guardian (Nigeria) Wednesday, February 13, 2002.

[37] .For Germany, see "Skinhead Attackers Deny Intent to Kill Immigrant: Mozambique Immigrant Alberto Adriano Died After Attack," August 23, 2000 Web posted at: 1151 GMT Copyright 2000, The Associated Press. (http://europe.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/08/23/germany.racism.ap/;) for Portugal, Libero Della Piana "Choose Your World:" Race in Portugal and the New Europe" Color Lines: Race Culture Action, Winter 1999-2000.

[38] . For an example, see "Trade and Immigration Controls Assault the Right to Life," by Sheldon Richman in The Case for Free Trade and Open Immigration, http://www.amatecon.com/etext/cftoi/cftoi-ch13.html

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62 African Immigration and Naturalization in the United States from 1960 to 2002: A Quantitative

Going to America: Excerpt from a Novel titled: So That the Path Does Not Die

A. Onipede Hollist

There were several anxious moments in the plane as Kizzy fumbled with the overhead bin. Then, as the plane accelerated for takeoff, he had shouted in alarm: "Misis, please, my buckle will not buckle. Ai tink it is broken!" The air hostess smiled knowingly. She picked up both ends and in one deft movement had Kizzy snugly belted. The incident left Kizzy perplexed. How could he not figure out something which seemed so simple?

The airport's control tower, terminal, hangar and fire station blitzed by his flattened nose against the cabin window. The jet roared into the air, sharply banked left and then right, noisily retracted its landing gear as Kizzy stole furtive glances through the window, dug his fingernails deep into the armrest, and recited Psalm 121. Later, when the jet had settled into its flight, Kizzy marveled at the carefree way a couple of white kids pranced around the cabin: Ah weyt man, dem pass wi, he heard himself say. He looked around guiltily to see if anyone had heard him. It seemed no one had.

Kizzy's anxiety dissipated somewhat when he is served a lunch of baked chicken and vegetables. Ravenous, he wanted to eat the meal the African way: mix the chicken and vegetables together like rice and soup, scoop large spoonfuls and throw them down his throat; but he didn't. He was going to America now; he had to leave behind his African ways. The plates had been divided into compartments obviously because the food was not to be mixed. So, Kizzy decided he would eat like Americans: one item at a time: first, a small piece of chicken. "Tasteless!" Then, the round, red, bloody-looking things & "Ugh!" Next, the mash potatoes. "Not bad"; and, finally, the long, green beans. Instead of gulping water from his porridge basin like he was used to doing back home, he would now sip from the small transparent plastic cups. Kizzy was apprehensive that he would be condemned to perpetual thirst with such tiny cups, but he reasoned that because America was mostly cold, people there did not need large quantities of water like in Africa.

63 African Immigration and Naturalization in the United States from 1960 to 2002: A Quantitative

Pleased at the rational way his mind had already started working, Kizzy adjusted his pillow and settled down to sleep. But a turbulent shake of the plane banished such thoughts and sent him into a recitation of more Psalms. Afraid to sleep, he planned the hours and days ahead.

For the six-hour layover at England's Gatwick airport, he would take the tube, not the train, to London to live out some life-long fantasies. In his borrowed winter coat, woolen socks, and hobnailed boots, he would visit 10 Downing Street, talk to one of those British bobbies in his bell-shaped helmet and take a picture just as he had seen on postcards. Next, he would go to a store, pay for some candy and wait for the female attendant to say "thank you luv!" Oh, English people; they are soooo polite! Then he would go to a restaurant and order all at once whimpy, fish and chips with plenty of vinegar, and steak and kidney pie--served on those plates divided into compartments for a real English meal, with, of course, tea and crumpets for dessert.

Finally, he would arrive in America: Oh! how he would eat hamburgers and drink orange juice. He would completely, totally, stop drinking water. He had heard the water in America tasted badly. Not as badly as the water in England tasted, but badly enough that he would not drink it regularly like the sweet water of his beloved Sierra Leone. Instead, he would drink orange juice, Florida orange juice! Yes, orange juice would be his drink, and he would drink it at every hamburger meal and snack, and every time he is thirsty. At parties and socials, he will say "ohrange jus pliz," when asked what he would like to drink.

He had been mightily impressed when he first learned of England's three television stations but was skeptical for a long time when been-tos spoke of America's television stations numbering into the hundreds. Why would you want so many stations in one country? When will there be time to watch them all, he often wondered? But as he had learned more of America's size and the technology used to work the medium, he became less skeptical. But none of that mattered now that he was going to be living in the land of televisions, in the country where people put television sets in their latrines.

He never owned a television set in Freetown, so he was determined to make up for thirty-eight years of lost viewing. He saw himself watching television till late at night, all night if necessary, orange juice in hand. He would watch all the stations. After all, what was the point of having so many stations if you weren't going to

64 African Immigration and Naturalization in the United States from 1960 to 2002: A Quantitative

watch them? Yes, he would watch "The Dakotas" and "The Lucy Show," two programs he loved watching on the twelve-inch black and white TV with the wobbly signal that his neighbor owned in Freetown. However, in America, he would watch a color television with a strong signal and live in a skyscraper with an address like Waterside Plaza. Yeah, that's an American address! He would make sure he lived on crescents, courts, circles, boulevards and plazas and, maybe, avenues, but definitely not streets and roads. And, oh! the day when he would post his first letter to his grandmother with his plaza address, his very own zip code, and the abbreviation of his state. "La-i-la!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. He looked around to see if anyone had heard him.

He would not be going to America to drive taxies and work in restaurants as he understood many Sierra Leoneans were doing. No way! He would be going to study at an American university, a good one like the university of the Virgin Island, (or was it the Channel Island?) where he will study Molecular Biology and do research on spermatogenesis in rats.

Kizzy pictured himself in a white lab coat, notepad in hand, entering a big, immaculate laboratory. Oh god! he intoned as he looked through the glass doors of the upper level cabinets. He saw tens and tens of flasks arranged neatly from biggest to smallest, tens and tens of Corning beakers and volumetric cylinders all lined up like ceremonial guards, waiting to serve their turn in the march of science on behalf of human progress. Kizzy walked toward the drawers and pulled one out. He saw ten or fifteen of every size and shape of test tubes. In another drawer there were batches of glass pipettes capable of measuring ten to the minus three. Then, he saw it! An automatic pipette, one that could accurately measure small volumes up to ten to the minus sixty-one. He picked it up tenderly, caressed it, looked it over and imagined what he could have done if he had had one of them at the University of Sierra Leone.

He turned around and saw shelves of chemicals all neatly arranged in alphabetical order and color-coded. He ran his finger lightly against each label. What he would have given to have this bounty at the University of Sierra Leone. Though no one seemed to appreciate it, his job had a lot of pressure. He had to deal with the secondary school science teachers who came to him because the one place they could be sure to find chemicals and other supplies for their classrooms was, naturally, at West Africa's oldest, most renowned, university. Pssh! How wrong they were. And he remembered the frustration of putting in purchase orders that

65 African Immigration and Naturalization in the United States from 1960 to 2002: A Quantitative

would sit in the office of those incompetent Accounts Payable people for months; he recalled the anxious wait for supplies he had ordered; then, the relief when they finally came. How good it felt to know that for a month or more he could supply all the labs with what they needed. On some occasions, the chemicals arrived late or had been compromised. These were the supplies he kept in storage for the secondary schools. Only god knows what results the pupils got from their experiments. But at least they got to perform some, even if they yielded wrong results. No wonder Sierra Leone has not been able to produce any sober scientists.

Kizzy continued his virtual tour of the lab. In the next five drawers, he saw what was, for him, the most important development in scientific research. It was the invention that defined American ingenuity, the invention that would have made his life so much easier and would have saved him countless hours of washing beakers and test tubes. There it was: The disposable product! He saw them. Rows upon rows. Tens, hundreds, even thousands of them, some individually wrapped, others in bunches; bunch after bunch, drawer after drawer, lying there, a sterile armory, each item waiting for its brief tour of duty and a certain death.

For Kizzy, more than any other invention, the disposable product defined America's greatness, her ingenuity, innovation, bounty, prosperity, civility. What other human mind, except the American, had the ability to invent something that can and should be used only once and then thrown away. And then he wondered at the African mind, the Sierra Leone mentality in particular, with its disposition to keep doing things the same old way, day-after-day, year-in, year-out and then defend outdated practices with rubbish talk of tradition and culture. Shooooo! We Africans don't want life to be easy for ourselves. We like things to be hard. Only then do we think they are good. While white people make elixirs so medicines are easy to swallow, we force bitter herbs down our children's throat and then tell them it is good for them. White people make machines to wash their clothes, cook their food, and clean their houses. We still cook with wood and charcoal, pound foo-foo in mortars. Shit!

Sure, some would say it is wasteful to use something only once and then throw it away, especially when others don't have enough for themselves. But those who want to criticize should try dipping their ungloved hands into industrial strength soap solutions and acetone everyday to wash stained cups, cylinders, funnels, flasks, Petri dishes, spatulas, test tubes, troughs and other equipment. Their hands will quickly rebuke them.

66 African Immigration and Naturalization in the United States from 1960 to 2002: A Quantitative

Instinctively, Kizzy Bacchus rubbed his hands, and the coarse, dry, callused surfaces reaffirmed his appreciation for disposable products. He picked up a disposable Healthline latex glove. He was going to determine if the sperm of rats carrying the X chromosome can swim faster than the ones carrying the Y chromosome by putting a radioactive tracer on a portion of the Y chromosome. He dipped the latter into the bluish Benedict solution and performed a test for protein on an egg yolk. After, he wiped the drops of Benedict solution from the countertop with a swab, he tossed the used swab and glove over his head toward the trash can. He continued repeating this process, his pace increasing with each change until a pile of latex gloves and cotton swabs gathered around the trash can. Soon the pile grew to surround his feet. Kizzy frenziedly continued to use, change and discard the gloves and swab. With each change, he felt years of chemical encrustation peeling off his hand.

Yes! in Amerika he would work in a well-equipped lab, and, using high performance liquid chromatography, he would extract the sperm cells of rats to determine the chemicals in them. The discovery would enable him to develop a hormone which would be injected into the rats to stop them from developing sperm. In effect, rats would be wiped out as pests and this in turn will promote food production and storage. He would graduate top of his class: Dr. Kizzy Bacchus, summa cum laude!

He would be sought out by the UN and a host of other international and national agricultural and scientific organizations to head multi-million dollar projects. But he would turn down these high paying offers with excellent benefits to return home to serve his country, to help in national development. He would restore dignity to the trampled African personality and bring pride to the motherland. Yes, he would sacrifice personal glory for the national good, though, just as a little something for himself, he will take back to Sierra Leone a big American car, like a Lincoln Continental, one that would show that he had arrived! Then, he too would be known as a "been-to." People will talk about his great research, spermatogenesis in rats; invite him to give lectures about his patented hormone therapy Bacchanalization which has eliminated rats as pests; invite him to their homes where, with his American twang, he will talk about plazas and shopping malls, television stations, drive-thrus, eight-lane freeways as long as the whole of Sierra Leone, and, of course, orange juice; still many others would just see him in the street, talk about him or call his name: "That's him, Dr Bacchus, Sierra Leone's

67 African Immigration and Naturalization in the United States from 1960 to 2002: A Quantitative

most famous son," they will say. "Dr. Bacchus," "Dr. Bacchus," they will call him. "Professor Bacchus," "Please Sir," they would plead.

"Mr. Bacchus,"

"Kizzy Bacchus,"

"Bacchus"

"Hey, Bacchus, you bloody fool, stop daydreaming and get your ass over here man." It was his boss. "How do you expect students to complete their experiment when you don't give them the right chemicals. You're incompetent man. When are you going to do your job without being reminded every step of the way? If you're not careful, I'll fire you. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Sir," Kizzy Bacchus replied respectfully, landing back on the tarmac of the parking lot with a trepidation equal to the exhilaration of his imaginary take off.

Ordinarily, Kizzy Bacchus would ignore Prof. Williams' insult or file it away in his mind in the remote hope that someday he would have an opportunity to get back at this man who so consistently belittled him. He realized a long time ago that he had very few options to deal with his boss' blatant bullying and arrogant exercise of authority. He knew that the Dean would not take any meaningful action against a fellow freemason, and he also knew that he would only be opening himself up to recriminations. So he often held his peace.

Prof. Williams' statements this day were no more venomous than the

68 African Immigration and Naturalization in the United States from 1960 to 2002: A Quantitative

thousands he had previously heaped on the lab assistant. But this particular morning his words were like salt in the fresh wound of Kizzy Bacchus's self- esteem because the professor demeaned him in front of two stately female students who were walking toward the Zoology Department.

A. Onipede Hollist is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Tampa, Florida.

69 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

Oritsegbemi O. Omatete

The title is not new nor is the sentiment. But the humiliation is excruciating and continuous. Ugborodo and its communities are being reduced to Escravos, the SLAVES.

Introduction

Nigeria is on the west coast of Africa stretching from the 4th to the 15th latitude north of the equator. With a population of nearly 120 million people and an area of one-third million square miles, it has by far the largest population of any countries in Africa. Its population density is twice that of mainland United States. It is said that one of every six Africans is a Nigerian. A former British colony, Nigeria became independent on October 1, 1960. For the past four decades, it has been primarily under military dictatorships interposed with a few civilian governments. The current civilian government is a presidential system similar to that in the United States of America.

The Niger River, from which Nigeria derives its name, runs through the country. It is joined by the Benue River, in a Y-shape at the middle of the country. It then flows into the Atlantic Ocean in small tributaries, which form the Niger delta. The Niger delta is said to contain the largest mangrove swamp in the world. Crude oil was discovered in the Niger delta in the 1950's. Nigeria is an active member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). With a daily production of over 2 million barrels, Nigeria now derives about 90% of its foreign earnings from crude oil exports.

The Niger Delta also is home to some of the smaller ethnic groups in Nigeria. Since crude oil production began, their lands and rivers have been polluted and they have lost their means of meager livelihood such as fishing and farming. Yet they have acquired very little benefit from the oil wealth that is derived from their territory. This is a diary of a visit to my home, Ugborodo, in the Niger Delta in November of 2000.

70 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

Visit Home - Day One

The taxi driver sped through Effurun junction to the new Warri Airport. My ride had been told that I had left already while I was actually in my hotel room waiting for him. In desperation, I chartered this rickety taxi. The driver dropped me at the airport at about 9:30 AM just in time to join the confusion of people struggling to get boarding passes. Dragging my luggage and briefcase along and perspiring profusely, I found the Escravos check-in counter. I stretched my neck through an opening in the queue and shouted, "Do you have a boarding pass for Omatete, Omatete, Dr. Omatete?" The man standing behind the person on the counter looked down the sheet in front of them and announced that all those whose names appeared on the manifest will get boarding passes and that they should wait patiently. He did not quite answer my question so I looked straight at him and as our eyes met, he nodded. That was good enough for me so I waited amid the crowd.

"Welcome, Sir," I heard as someone gently tapped me on the shoulder. I turned round and saw a former student of mine. "Do you remember me, Kayode, your student at UNILAG?"* I certainly remembered the face and the name too and I shook his hand warmly. Kayode was with an oil servicing company and was waiting for a flight to Port Harcourt. Just then, a voice came from over the counter, "Oga, here is your boarding pass. Bring your luggage and let us weigh it." Kayode carried the luggage around the people waiting, to the scale. It was weighed and thrown down along side the others. Kayode and I then went into the temporary terminal building that was air-conditioned but already overcrowded. We squeezed ourselves into one corner and cooled off as Kayode filled me in with news about himself and other former students. He apologized that he did not come to the just- concluded Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers' (NSChE) meeting because of personal matters.

The door in front of the terminal building opened and a man announced, "Those for the Escravos flight follow me, please." I took my briefcase from Kayode, bade him farewell and joined the rush out of the building. The line swiftly moved past two planes and ended at the third. I boarded the twin-engine propeller plane, probably a 34-seater and sat on the 5th row. During the pre-take-off briefing, I heard that the flight was only about 13 minutes - 13 minutes! That startled me. The plane taxied down the runway and took-off.

71 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

I flashed back to my first trip from Ugborodo to Warri when I was about 6 years old. It was by canoe and it took at least 3 days and 2 nights. Finding safety in numbers, we traveled in convoys and rowed and paddled our canoes through rivers and creeks, following the tide and spending the nights in our canoes anchored at villages along the way. By the 1950's when I was in secondary school, transport to the big cities of Warri and Sapele was in huge, built-up canoes with outboard engines called onomatopoetically "kpe-kpe-kpe." Usually the journey took about 8 hours if the kpe-kpe-kpe did not break down. Five years ago when we visited, we went by powerboat locally known as flyboat and the journey from Warri was about 2 hours. Now, only 13 minutes - whoa, how times have changed! But how has Ugborodo changed?

As I strained through the window in search of recognizable landmarks, the attendant announced that we should buckle up in preparation for landing in Escravos - Escravos, the SLAVES, in Portuguese. A few minutes later, we were welcomed to Escravos! Here we were in Ugborodo land and we are being welcomed to the SLAVES. It just did not sound right. But this was not the time to contemplate. With only two days to spend, arrangements had to be made for a place to sleep for the night and how to be ferried to various parts of my home, Ugborodo, made up of islands. The first trip was to the main island of Ugborodo. My kind hosts arranged for a small-flat bottomed boat to drop me.

I asked to be let out at the Arunton primary school jetty. In any case, the tide was too low to go further into the creek towards Ogunuwan or the Ugborodo market waterside or what was left of it. The boat left the Chevron jetty and headed into the wide estuary, then swung right into the creek to Ugborodo and, five minutes later, arrived at the school jetty. I scrambled overboard, with my camera and camcorder over my shoulders, onto the jetty. It was about midday and I told the boat operator to come back for me at 5:00 PM. I turned around to walk onto the school premises. The sight was stunning. A total and absolute state of ruin. The roof of the primary school that was blown away during the unfortunate Ijaw attack was still not replaced. I walked through the school field to the vicinity where my older sister's small house had been. All I saw of what used to be people's dwelling places, their homes, were just the cement floors. As I stood there in total bewilderment, a male voice challenged me.

"What do you want?" he asked in perfect English. I turned around and saw the young man probably in the late teens or early twenties sitting on a bench in the

72 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

shade provided by the roof of an uncompleted house. He wore a sleeveless singlet over his trousers, his sandals unbuckled and a shirt thrown over his left shoulder. He did not wait for a reply and in a more aggressive mood, continued. "You newsmen come and take pictures and write all the articles in the paper, but nothing has changed. We still have no houses, no jobs and we are hungry." I added in my mind "and probably very angry too." In a low voice and very slowly, I spoke in Itsekiri and told him that I was definitely not a newsman and was visiting my home. His countenance changed. I asked whether he knew which of the cement ruins around was my sister's house.

He did not. But a lady sitting by a tiny kiosk in front of a house a few yards away shouted out. "You are standing right by it." I looked down at the little bare cement floor. I remember visiting with my wife five years ago and my sister apologizing for the cramped, small house but very excited to see us as she scrambled to prepare us food. I took off my camcorder to videotape the scene but it was jammed. I checked everything in the camcorder but it was still jammed. Completely disappointed, for by now, several young men and children had come out to watch me and I had wanted to video them too. But my old reliable camcorder failed today. After a few snapshots with my camera, I walked to the shade where my young challenger was sitting. Despite the commotion around him, he had not moved from his spot in the shade. He looked up; saw my eyes red and teary, and slowly moved to make room for me on the bench. I sat down by him and dropped my camcorder on the ground and shook my head. Being slightly superstitious, I thought that the gods did not want me to have a permanent image of this painful sight hence the camcorder failed. This horrible image I have now would fade with time and there will be nothing to play back and recall it. When I raised my head, the people had moved towards me. They had accepted me as one of theirs and we conversed freely in Itsekiri.

"Why are you not in school?" I asked the children. Before anybody answered, I realized my folly. "I know, I know, there is no school." But one of the children said, "You can go to school, if your parents can pay." I was told that a lady had started a private school complete with school uniform, but to attend that school, you had to pay. Given the circumstances, I was fascinated by my people's indomitable spirit and sense of enterprise. But, nearly two years after the unfortunate attack, should government not have rehabilitated the school for the education of our children? I asked the young adults about their education and what they were doing. Many had secondary school education and said they would have

73 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

gone further if they had sponsorship. Some were jobless, a few worked at the oil terminal and others were in transit. I told them that I had come from the USA to visit home. And that, after a brief rest, would try to walk slowly towards the main village of Ugborodo. They said it would be a very arduous walk in the heat and humidity, and that I would not make it back until late at night. Then, I realized that I had forgotten how far Ugborodo was from Arunton.

To my surprise the young man sitting next to me, who had said nothing until now, volunteered to take me on his motorcycle. I shall call him Temi. Temi got up went around two houses and rolled up his rather small motorcycle. He said he would go fetch some fuel from an Ilaje man at one of the jetties. He hurried off and came back in a few minutes with fuel for the bike. After a few hard kicks, the bike started very roughly at first, but smoothened out. He motioned me to climb on behind him. I did and after arranging my now useless camcorder and camera around to my back, I grabbed onto Temi as the bike jerked forward. I asked him to take me to the house of my cousin, John, who was shot in the head during the attack. He knew his place. We stopped at the remains of John's house. Like the other houses, it was still in shambles. I would have liked to visit John's remains too at his grave. But I knew that was impossible on this trip. Next, I asked Temi to take me to the Eghare-Aja, one of the titular personalities in Ugborodo community. I knew the current holder of the title quite well. He was my contemporary. We grew up in the village together, although he is a few years older.

Temi knew the Eghare-Aja's house and maneuvered through the paths toward it. We rode through the beach and then into the bushes. Sometimes, I thought we would fall into the streamlets as the motorcycle wobbled through the tiny planks that bridged them. Finally he pulled up amongst a group of houses, rather isolated. I knew that we were no longer in Arunton but had not arrived at Ugunwan, the beginning of Ugborodo proper. After I dismounted from his bike, he directed me to a relatively large house. Children were around already attracted by the noise of the bike. I walked to an adult standing on the verandah and asked to see the Eghare- Aja. He made me wait outside and went into the main door of the house. After a rather long wait, a man came out and introduced himself as the secretary to the Eghare-Aja and asked who I was and why I wanted to see him. I was taken aback by the caution and suspicion. But given the recent events, it was understandable. Satisfied with my answers, he went back and soon came out and ushered me into the house. He offered me a chair and I sat. I looked around the room and saw some very elderly people around whom I did not recognize. I greeted them politely and

74 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

waited. A few minutes later the Eghare-Aja came from the inner room to the living room where I sat. He seemed to have changed his clothes hurriedly. Once he looked up and recognized me, he hurried towards me and I to him. As we met, we hugged.

"Doctor, Doctor," he shouted as he greeted me. "Doh, Do-oh.* It has been a while since I saw you. Where are you coming from?" I explained that I had come from America (USA) to visit home. "Don't you see now? This is somebody who comes all the way from America to visit us here at home. Yet, those of them in Lagos or even Warri seldom come home." He said as he walked round the room introducing me to everybody. Some remembered my dad who passed on nearly five decades ago. All know my sister at Arunton whose house was bombed. After that he asked what I would drink. But immediately added, "Eh, Doctor does not take hot drink,"* and sent a boy to buy some soft drinks. Then he went to his room and brought the pictures we took when he visited Lagos when I taught at UNILAG. We reminisced over those days and the Ugborodo of our youth as we sipped the warm soft drinks.

There was a gentle tap on the door. We looked up and there was Temi at the door. In all the excitement I had forgotten he was out there. I felt really bad, invited him in and requested a drink for him. He took the drink, whispered to me that it was getting late and politely left the room. Temi amazed me again, not only was he my guide but he had become my timekeeper too. I sought the Eghare-Aja's opinion about continuing onto Ugborodo itself. He looked despondent as he wondered aloud, "What is there to see or visit? All of Ugborodo is gone, both the land and the people". We did not talk much about the immediate past for it was too depressing neither about the present, nor the future of Ugborodo which both look gloomy.

Heeding Temi's advice, I knew it was time to head back to Arunton. I got up, walked around the room, paid obeisance to the elderly and headed for the door. The Eghare-Aja wanted a book on Itsekiri history that was long out of print. I promised to search for it. He then walked me out. Temi started the bike and I mounted behind. After waving to those around, we took off.

Temi dropped me at the field of the Arunton primary school. I thanked the young man profusely and gave him some money as a token of my appreciation. Instead of going straight to the jetty to wait since it was just 4:45 PM, I walked past the school premises to other side of Arunton almost opposite the Chevron compound.

75 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

It was a ghost town. Only few people were to be seen around the bombed-out houses. Five years ago when we visited, this was a beehive of activities. There were all types of people: traders with goods displayed in front of their stores, hawkers with an assortment of wares and food, goldsmiths fashioning gold wares for men and women, all vying for our attention as we meandered along the paths between the houses. The selling and buying continued across the estuary to just outside the Chevron fence for this was where many workers inside the oil terminal lived. Now all the people and the economic power they provided for the village are gone. The oil boom has doomed the village. I walked back to the jetty just as the boat to pick me was pulling up.

Day Two

The second day started early. After a quick breakfast, I was ferried across the estuary and dropped at the Shell jetty in Madangho. They would come for me at noon. I scampered up the jetty and walked towards what used to be a small hospital built for the community by Chevron Oil Company. It still had its roof caved in from the bombing. Since I had abandoned my camcorder, I took my camera out to take a few snapshots.

No sooner had I clicked one or two shots than a young man ran out shouting, "Give me that camera!" repeatedly. He was bare-footed, wearing a singlet over khaki shorts. He asked in pidgin, "Who gee you permission to take pictures? You no see say dis nah govment building?" I replied in Itsekiri that I was just visiting home and did not know that the hospital had become a government building. He walked briskly towards me demanding my camera. I stood my ground unwilling to surrender my camera to him. In any case, there was nothing to indicate it was a government building and I know of no law that says government buildings cannot be photographed. Meanwhile, three young men walking by saw us, and intervened. One asked the officious man, "OC, wetin be the problem?" Another told me in Itsekiri that the man was one of the soldiers guarding the destroyed hospital. The young men apparently knew the soldier well and soon he let me go with a warning not to repeat such action.

I accompanied them as we walked off. They told me that the soldiers were there to protect what was left of the hospital and that troops were stationed there during the initial Ijaw attack. But those soldiers, they said, ran into the bushes and did nothing to defend the village and the hospital. They were probably surprised, and

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outnumbered, I suggested. We walked round to what was left of Madangho compared to what I knew, over half a century ago, as a boy. I could not believe how much of it was eroded, lost to the sea. I asked to be shown the proposed site of the New Ugborodo, which I knew was just behind Madangho. They pointed ahead to the open area overgrown with bushes. There was no sign of activity on it. Five years ago when we visited, it was white with sand pouring onto it from dredgers anchored in the Madangho creek. Since that time, apparently nothing has happened. I told them that I wanted to visit the villages around, and wondered if transportation was available.

We walked back to the Shell jetty. A little distance from the beach were sheds where women sold food and I noticed there were uniformed soldiers around carrying automatic weapons. There were a couple of medium sized motorcycles parked around. These were Okadas, the Nigerian motorcycle taxis that have become a fixture since the late 1980s and early 1990s. I engaged one of them after I ensured the owner was a local and knew the place and the people, because he was going to be my guide. From the jetty, Shell has built an asphalt road to one of its flow stations about 12 miles away. Close by, bulldozers were moving huge rocks, probably left there over 3 decades ago by Costain,* in preparation for further construction. We took off on the tarred road, went past Oboghoro, Ajaudaibo, and several small encampments on the way. The asphalt road veered off to the flow station and we went on a path into Ogidigben. I asked my guide to take me to the village elder in Ogidigben. Although, it was November and the rainy season was over, most of the roads and paths were still water laden. We splashed and weaved through the paths until we arrived at the elder's house.

He was an old man and I did not get too much information from him. I gave him some money and he prayed for me and I left. The next stop was at the Ogidigben secondary school. I did not want to meet the people on this visit, as the time was short and there was so much to tell the teachers and, especially, the students. I would reserve that for another visit. I just wanted to see the building and the premises. My guide drove me there and I took a few shots. There were basically two long buildings and a couple of small ones with an overgrown field, a typical village secondary school. As I looked at the buildings, I realized that the future of the Ugborodo people lies in those classrooms - in the education of its people. For I believe it is only good education that will rescue us from the quagmire of self- destructive counterclaims. But this was not the time to explore that.

77 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

Next we drove towards the nearby, old Costain buildings, which, according to my guide, were supposed to serve as temporary offices of the new local government headquarters at Ogidigben. These desolate and decrepit buildings are to be renovated as Local Government Authority headquarters! In any case, the placement of the headquarters here has been controversial. It seems nothing comes easy to our people here, the minority amongst minorities in Nigeria.

I looked forward to the next stop with some anxiety. It is one thing that remained with me no matter where I have been. The image of the bright light sweeping, rotating, and flashing across from Ogidigben over the wide estuary to Ugborodo all night, filled my adolescent mind with awe. At last, we arrived at the lighthouse. A structure like a television tower with a large conical lamp at the top, it looked smaller than I had envisioned. I had never actually visited it. I stopped and took pictures. I had thought it was right on the beach. It is now actually some distance from the beach. The area around it was water-logged and the large NPA* sign on it was fading. It reminded me of everything about Ugborodo. Yet, this lighthouse must have a future in Ugborodo's survival and revival. There was a small encampment around it and I tried to talk to the people living there. They were too young to remember its glory days when the lighthouse beaconed hope to the ships that dared to cross the Ugborodo bar and ventured to the inland ports of Sapele, Warri and the others.

It was near noon and my ride would soon come for me at the jetty. We took off onto the tarred road. After a few miles, as we passed a group of houses, a soldier stopped us and asked to ride with us into Madangho. We could not refuse. With his automatic rifle on his back pointing to the sky, he squeezed on, pushing me tightly against the motorcycle operator. In less than ten minutes, we were at what looked like a military checkpoint just before the road entered into the open area around the Shell jetty. The soldier disembarked, insisted on and actually paid the operator for the ride. As we continued towards the jetty area, I asked my guide if the soldiers always paid. He said these new ones under the civilian government did; but previous groups just ordered people to take them wherever they were going. And they had no choice but to obey.

I paid him generously for his time and bike and walked to the jetty. There were several young men and women waiting, all sitting at various rungs of a Shell-built water tower, which provided some shelter. I joined and spoke with many of them. Some were waiting for the boat to travel to Warri; a few were shift workers with

78 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

the various oil and oil-servicing companies waiting for the boat to take them to their work. A majority of them, like those in Ugborodo, had completed secondary school education and were looking for jobs while hoping to further their education. You could sense that they felt their future was bleak and were angry. I took pictures of the people and the surroundings.

I sat back on a comfortable rung so that I was looking directly across at the Chevron terminal and enjoyed the sea breeze blowing from the Atlantic. It was a clear day. I looked over the estuary to the left into the Atlantic Ocean and saw several platforms around various oilfields flaring gas. Gone for several decades now, are those endless rows of hardwood poles that lined the estuary, which were used for crayfishing. Across the estuary was the Chevron terminal with storage tanks from which thousands of barrels of crude oil are exported daily. Across the creek to the right of the Chevron terminal, there was a new source flaring some gas too, the Escravos Gas Plant Phase one. A phase two is to follow. I know that the land and swamp around is full of wells and pipelines carrying crude oil to other terminals for export. Yet the people are poor and miserable.

I thought about small countries with similar natural resources like Kuwait or Bahrain, enjoying a very high standard of living. I do not blame the system we have. I only wish that the rulers in Nigeria will find a way to develop these areas that have provided the country's wealth, before the wealth is used up, the areas discarded, and the people thrown into the dustbin of Nigerian history. One only prays and hopes that rulers that consider this a priority will emerge sooner rather than later. Right now, the future of my people is bleak.

It is noon. Lost in my thoughts, I had not seen the boat for me coming until it was quite close to the jetty. I lowered myself from the rung and walked to the jetty. It was ebb tide and I had to be careful in descending into the boat. I successfully made it to the boat and we pushed off. Back at the terminal but before I went for lunch, I insisted that my host ensure that I was confirmed to leave on the flight to Lagos that afternoon. I did not want to spend the night there because my vacation time in Nigeria was nearly over. He checked with the terminal manager and was assured that I would be on that fight. We went for a late lunch. I talked to some Ugborodo workers at the terminal and then went for my luggage.

The small terminal at the airstrip was already crowded when we got there. It was the day when the people changed shifts, some coming in to resume work and

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others leaving for home. Furthermore, there were special auditors from Lagos on that day, who came in a small seaplane. Everybody, it seems was at the terminal trying to get the all-important boarding pass. I waited anxiously as boarding passes were given to people in some order. Finally, I got mine and my luggage was weighed in.

After a short wait, we boarded and I took a window seat. The plane took off and headed first over the Atlantic and soon turned to follow the coastline. The water line along the beach was clearly visible all the way for this short, less than an hour's flight to Lagos. I had flown this route several times and always wondered how convenient it would be to have a coastal highway from Lagos to Warri and Ugborodo. It could be part of the East-West coastal highway across Nigeria. Does Ogun State extend to the Atlantic Ocean, I wondered?

We landed in Lagos and the plane taxied a long way to the local terminal. A ride was waiting for me. I picked up my luggage and we drove off into the nightmarish traffic that is unique to Lagos. I tried to catch up on what happened since I left but finding this impossible, decided to settle down in back seat of the car, and let myself ride through the hustle and bustle of Lagos.

What a Week!

That evening, after dinner, as I sat idly at the table, my mind went over all the events of the past week. As an economic migrant to the US, whenever I accumulate enough vacation time to visit home, there are two activities I attend to, besides visiting families and friends. The first is the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) and the other is the visit to my birth village, Ugborodo. I have been associated with the Society for well over a quarter of century, almost at its inception. This year was the 30th AGM. Not only was the meeting's venue at Warri, my peoples' home, but also the current president was my schoolmate and brother, Engr.* Chief J. J.Akpieyi, for Itsekiris are so few that they are almost all invariably related. I knew I had to be in Warri.

I had hoped that this meeting would not be as troubling as the last one I attended five years ago, the 25th AGM in Owerri. At the end of that meeting, we heard that Ken Saro Wiwa had just been hanged in nearby Port Harcourt prison despite international pleas to spare his life. That set off a scramble to get out of Owerri.

80 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

Airfares, which had been negotiated already, were increased. You had to bribe to get a boarding pass. Even then, to be assured of a seat, you had to run onto the tarmac dragging your luggage along. I remembered running with my luggage, tripping over it, and deciding to carry it on my head as I ran onto the plane. Times have changed and Warri would certainly be easier to get to and from, you would think. Not that easy.

I decided to travel by road from Lagos since I was taking a few things home. We had successfully navigated the treacherous, dilapidated so-called dual carriage way from Lagos especially the dangerous Ogun State section through Edo State into Delta. We were a few miles from Warri on the Sapele-Warri road when we ran into a traffic jam. Some vehicles were turning back, others going through the bushes. The new menace in the Delta had struck again. One of the bridges in the road had caught fire. The fire was allegedly caused when fuel from a burst oil pipeline ran into the creek under the bridge and was ignited. Fortunately, in the nearby bush, there was a portion of an abandoned four-lane highway that was to link Benin and Warri. We followed the long line to get to it and finally made it to Warri.

I recall how successful the meeting on "The Management of Environment, Health and Safety in Nigeria" had been. Both the federal and state governments sent representatives; the papers were interesting and the discussions stimulating. On the last day, as the meeting came to a close, just before the election of the new board of executives, the President asked for permission to make a brief statement. Engr. Akpieyi said he wanted to thank a member who had come all the way from the USA to attend the meeting, who was a year his senior at Government College Ughelli and who, because he studied chemical engineering, he, Akpieyi, gravitated to the same field. Embarrassed and unprepared, I stood to acknowledge the cheers.

Engr. Professor Ayo Ogunye, my colleague at the Chemical Engineering Dept, UNILAG, at its inception and for nearly one and half decades, past President of and a very active Fellow of NSChE, and now a successful business man, stood to explain the election procedure. He mentioned how, during the early days of the Society, he and I, then National Secretary, sensing a possible divisive fight over elections, worked tirelessly through the night urging some nominees to withdraw or run for other offices. Those negotiations led to the current harmonious election procedure embodied in our constitution. I felt relatively old but gratified to have my little role mentioned. The meeting ended with a dinner hosted by the Warri Refinery whose current manager, Dr. Ayangbile, was my student at the UNIFE.*

81 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

Meeting and talking to him and to many others of my students who now occupy prominent positions in chemical and petrochemical departments in universities, industry and government, I felt fulfilled as a teacher.

Still sitting at the dinner table in Lagos, my thoughts flashed to Ugborodo, my home. First, I recalled the wonderful lunch I had in Warri with Mr. J. O. S. Ayomike, a commissioner in the former Bendel State and an eminent and well- published Itsekiri historian as well as active and committed son of Ugborodo. We had a long discussion especially about the divisions in the Ugborodo community and how they can be bridged. I recalled the flight into Ugborodo, the abject poverty amidst the wealth of oil and gas. My heart sank. I got up, walked upstairs and lay in bed. In bed, my mind churned and mulled over the events that I witnessed over these couple of days. The misery, the poverty, the bombed-out houses, school and hospital, the erosion of the land, finally the lost identity - Ugborodo is now Escravos, the Slaves. Even sons and daughters of Ugborodo now refer to it as Escravos! Tears formed in my eyes. I cried for Ugborodo. In another generation Ugborodo will be forgotten, replaced by Escravos.

Brief History of Ugborodo

But Ugborodo has a rich history. It was alleged to have been founded by Ijebu fishermen who came to settle in the area. Two brothers and their five sons fanned out to form the various communities of Ugborodo. Hence we refer to ourselves as "Ikpere ale meje - Ikpere (Ugborodo) of seven sections". Ugborodo was a thriving community with its own ruler, Olaja-ori, before the famed movement of the Iwere (Itsekiri) royal family from the Benin royal family over 500 years ago. The Portuguese had a settlement both in Warri and in the island of Ugborodo in 1588. In late 19th century, the French built a salt factory in Ugborodo. When the British arrived and learnt about this, they threw a party for all the people and during that party the factory was mysteriously blown off and so was the French presence in what became Nigeria.

Ugborodo literarily means "Dry land in the Sea" and it was a huge island. I recall my grandmother describing how dangerous it was to move from the village to the beach after dark because large cats (probably leopards) and dangerous animals prowled at night. If they had to, people moved in a large group. I remember the Ugborodo I grew up in, with a large silk cotton tree (egungun) in its center, towering over all other trees and its huge buttress roots serving as gathering place

82 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

for village elders especially during the secret masquerading season. We had to walk a long distance to get to the beach where canoes were loaded with conical nets used to catch crayfish. The village had mango trees that fruited abundantly annually to the joy of the youth. Edible fruits were everywhere in the bushes and palm fruits were harvested from there to prepare our delicious fresh crayfish banga* soups. These are all gone now along with my childhood house and neighborhood, which are at least half a kilometer in the Atlantic Ocean.

The estuary by Ugborodo was the entrance to the Delta ports. Ships had to change pilots here before they crossed the bar. The Nigerian pilots, usually Ijaws, were ferried from Ogidigben to the ships anchored at sea. These skilful pilots took the ships across the bar. Even then one or two ran aground especially if they tried to maneuver in the deep fog. Thus, in the 1950's and 60's, the lighthouse and the breakwater were built on the Ogidigben side of the estuary to facilitate navigation. That was the beginning of the end of Ugborodo mainland. The breakwater turned the fury of the sea into the erosion of Ugborodo, which continues to date unabated. Ugborodo is less than a quarter of the land I remember.

The 1950s brought another set of people, seismic exploration teams of the Shell- BP Company. They set off explosives; houses in the village shook and vibrated. The people did not know what was going on. In their superstition, they believed these foreigners were after huge reptiles that were said to protect diamonds and other precious metals. Little did they realize how correct they were. It was, indeed, something precious they found, it was liquid and black, oil. The whole area sits on oil and gas whether on land or on sea. Billions of barrels of oil have been exported yielding trillions of naira to the Nigerian coffer.

Ugborodo and the Oil Boom

What about the Ugborodo people, what have they received from the oil boom? First was the pollution always associated with oil exploration. The crayfish beds that provided livelihood and economic sustenance for the people disappeared. I wonder if dolphins (ubeje) that frolicked at full tide in the estuary in my youth still appear. What about the occasional manatee (ese), do they still exist? Second was the expropriation of the land with meager compensation that has sent the people into warring camps. Third, extreme poverty amidst the affluence in the rest of Nigeria brought on by the huge oil revenue. Fourth, all the oil jobs, from the highest to the lowest positions somehow, never seemed to come their way. The list

83 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

continues. But worst and most damning is the surreptitious loss of their identity from Ugborodo to Escravos, the slaves!

So what do the Ugborodo people want from the oil companies and the governments of Nigeria? Nearly two years after the attack, should houses not have been rebuilt or, in particular, the school building renovated so that the children can get back to school? The hospital took over a decade of negotiations before it was constructed, should it not have been restored two years after it was bombed instead of keeping soldiers to protect its carcass? The people need jobs and education. The building of a new Ugborodo has been discussed for at least a decade. The site was sand-filled five years ago. When will the new Ugborodo be built? Let those planning it not forget that a town has to be economically sustainable and its peoples' history need to be preserved. But whatever else is done, please, give the Ugborodo people back their name. Ugborodo is not Escravos, the Slaves

Is it not shocking that while the late Nigerian president-elect, Chief Abiola led the campaign for reparation for slavery and the United Nations is to hold a conference on racism, slavery and reparations in South Africa, where Nigeria, the former Slave Coast, will be represented, that we still call a river in Nigeria, Escravos, the Slaves? There is no doubt that thousands, if not millions, of Nigerians went down that river to fuel the European slave trade that built America. But should we still keep its disgraceful Portuguese name? I know as a child when we plied the river, we never called it Escravos, but called the river by its various local names.

This much all sons and daughters of the greater Ugborodo must request immediately. Give us back our name and our identity. Why is an oil terminal or a gas plant or an airstrip or any other installation on our land being called Escravos, the Slaves? Please stop this humiliation and degradation. Whatever it takes, change the name to Ugborodo now.

Glossary

UNILAG - University of Lagos

Doh, Do-oh - Greeting among the Itsekiri, Bini, and other people of the Niger Delta.

84 Cry My Beloved Ugborodo (Escravos?)

hot drink - Hard liquor.

Costain - A construction company.

NPA - Nigerian Ports Authority.

Engr. - Abbreviation for Engineer.

UNIFE - University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

Banga soup -- Soup made from palm fruits.

Dr. Oritsegbemi O. Omatete Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering,) is recognized as an elder statesman among the Itsekiri and Nigerian immigrant community in the United States. He hails from Ugborodo, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He helped to develop the Chemical Engineering Programs at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and University of Lagos, both in Nigeria. He is also the former Chairman of the Ugborodo Community Land Trust. Dr. Omatete is currently employed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

85 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

Julius Kómoláfé

Introduction

The migration of Nigerians to different parts of the world is not new. From Greenland to Kabul, there are resident Nigerians. [1] However, Nigerian migrants move predominantly to the countries where they are more likely to adjust rapidly in terms of being able to understand the host country's language, to secure gainful employment, and to reunite with members of their family, friends or associate with other people from their country of origin. For these reasons, the United Kingdom, United States and Canada are some of the most popular destinations for Nigerian migrants. This paper conceptualizes the contemporary migration of Nigerians as an incessant quest, as it were, the departure of mostly well educated and young people from their home country to more fertile pastures abroad, in search of their individual fortunes. The process of migration creates Diaspora in host countries like Ireland that create significant changes in the lives of the migrants as well as the social and economic geography of the host country. In some ways, the migration can also be conceptualized as an Israelites' journey, a journey that takes Nigerian migrants from one promising foreign country to the next until they find the proverbial "promised land."

Nigerian migration to Ireland, like that of many other migrants, is characteristic of the current era of globalization, where the political upheaval, economic crisis, and the decline in opportunities for advancement and upward mobility in one area of the world cause the movement of populations to other parts of the world. The ebb and flow of Nigerian economic forces have significantly affected Nigerian migration to Ireland. Throughout the last decade, the Nigerian government has confronted the economic shambles the crisis that made it imperative for the government to contact the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the World Bank. Consequently, the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) was introduced by the Babangida military government. During the 1980s, Nigeria experienced negative economic growth (United Nations, 1998b). This affected the Nigerian government, as it could no longer afford to provide jobs for most of her citizen. By 1986, most of those who had jobs had abandoned their jobs to migrate.

Furthermore, the resolution of disagreement over resource allocation in Nigeria caused economic and political unrest and forced thousands of Nigerians into migration. This includes those who moved to Ireland. Some Nigerian migrants in Ireland were admitted for education. Most of them are sons and daughters of wealthy Nigerians. They moved because of the unstable Nigerian educational system. To the contrary, labour migrants moved to Ireland because many international companies closed down in Nigeria due to workers strikes, protests, and political unrest. For these, Ireland presented better opportunities for upward mobility because the country had become a "Celtic Tiger," a high growth country whose economy benefited immensely from the establishment and growth of a high tech industry.

Although the spatial displacement of Nigerian migrants to other countries has not operated according to a straightforward push-pull mechanism Floyd, (1965); Goddard, (1974), poverty and its attendant socio-economic constraints are major causes of population movements. Udo (1975 and Mabogunje, (1970) concluded that the effect of selective and unequal urban development and the growing disparity between urban and rural areas caused people to migrate from the latter to the former in Nigeria. Furthermore, to explain regional migration within West Africa, Stapleton (1959) reported that the availability of diamonds in Ghana led emigrants from Inisha and Oyan to migrate to Ghana. Afolayan (1994) studied both national and regional migration. He showed that the first wave of Yorùbá out-migration was to Northern Nigeria to trade in woven cloth. The second was in the 1920s to the Gold Coast (Ghana) to explore multiple economic opportunities. Cultural similarities and the successive emigration of relatives increased the number of migrants. Galletti et al., (1956) explains that lack of sufficient cash-earning opportunities to purchase desired goods is a factor, which contributed to Nigerian emigration. They believe that many were attracted

86 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

to emigrate by the apparent success displayed by emigrants, the predominant belief being that wealth was easier to acquire while away from home, and that such wealth lasts longer there was no immediate compulsion to spend it.

While Nigeria enjoyed a significant economic boom in the 1970s, by the mid-1980s, the boom was a distant dream. Unemployment and underemployment became rife. Many Nigerians actively sought alternatives that would ensure their economic survival. Because of the vigour and relentlessness of the pursuit of more fortuitous circumstances, Nigerian migration can be likened to the search by Israelites in the Bible for the "land flowing with milk and honey." [2] Nigerian migration to Ireland is similar to the land flowing with milk and honey as indicated from the analysis of the regional movement, be it related to temporary or permanent stay. Nigerian migration reveals regional changeable dimensions. For example, Nigerian movement from other European countries to Ireland is greatly differentiated socially and geographically, as migrants usually construct their lives in other host countries before finally migrating to Ireland. Another aspect of this regionalization concerns those who moved directly from Nigeria to Ireland. Here, the perception of migrants' self definition and identities are primarily influenced by the social context of their experience of migration. After their arrival in Ireland, they engage in transnational activities, such as sending money, buying land and being involved in other significant socio-economic transactions in Nigeria. Some of them even become involved in Nigerian politics. For most, what they lacked where they were relocating from was found in abundance in their new place of abode, thus, by analyzing the regional dimensions of Nigerian movement to Ireland and other European countries, one can see the relationship between Nigerian migration and the searching for a land that flows with milk and honey.

This movement is not limited to just one Nigerian ethnic group. It is a movement that involves various Nigerian ethnic groups. While the Yorùbá, Ibo, Efik, Ishan, Urhobo, Ijaw, Idoma Benin crossed geographical and territorial boundaries of Africa looking for the Promised Land, whose form might differ from group to group or class to class, most Hausa, Tiv, Egede, Nupe and Fulani limit their movement to within Nigeria and the North African mainland in searching for their dreams. Nigerian migrants have recently turned their attention to Ireland, particularly an ever- unceasing inward flow to Dublin. Consequently, Ireland may well be considered a new haven for Nigerian migrants.

Table I: Total number of Nigerian Migrants to Ireland

Year 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Male 3 461 506 426 1006 Female 7 168 898 998 1748 Total 10 629 1404 1424 2754 Population

Source: Komolafe, J (2001)

During one of the interviews I conducted in Abeokuta, Nigeria on September 18th 2001, I met a teenage boy in a restaurant who interrupted the interview with one of my interviewees in Yorùbá:

"Kíni bòòdá yí nso? Bòòdá Délé tí wón ngbé ní ègbé ilé wa, wón ní Ireland ni wón lo. Wón ti ra mótò fún bàbá wón lénu ìgbà díè tí wón dé ìlú náà. Kí ló dé tí èmi náà kò lè lo sí ìlú náà látìi se oríire?"

Translation

"What is this brother saying? Brother Dele that lived beside our house, people said he went to Ireland. He bought a car for his father shortly after he got to the country. Why shouldn't I too go to that country and succeed?"

From the above statement, one can say that Ireland's reputation as the "Promised Land" is a consequence of

87 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

statements about Ireland that expresses the values and attachments of each prospective migrant. The question to be answered is: Why Ireland? Ireland itself has historically been a nation of emigrants that has a large Diaspora all over the world particularly in the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia. In the course of this research I met many people that asked me, Why Ireland? In one of my interviews with Mr. P., a government official in Dublin, the first question he asked was:

"Why are Nigerians coming to Ireland? Why did they not come to Ireland before? This is what I would like to know&"

There were so many questions as to why the number of Nigerians emigrating to Ireland increased so rapidly that quite often I thought: Why the sudden increase in Nigerian migration? This thought shaped the aim and objective of this research.

Aim and Objective

New historical developments have led to renewed interest in the nature of migrant decision-making and a re- conceptualization of the basic motivations that underlie geographical mobility. Principle among these is the dynamic phenomenon of globalization and the consequent impact on migration patterns. The objective of this research is to search for transformative moments in Nigerian migration to Ireland by dividing the phenomenon into an analytic "before and "after". It seeks to do this by laying emphasis on the migrants themselves and contrasting the experiences of first migrants with those of succeeding migrant populations. The aim of the paper is to examine a number of interlocking questions: Where do Nigerians migrate from? Why do they migrate? How do they migrate? Who migrates? What are their settlement patterns?

Research Domains

This work is based within the broad area of migration studies. For the past several decades, migration research has produced an impressive collection of studies that approach migration from different perspectives, focusing on different methods of analysis and developing theoretical models. These include the first generation of migration research which was based on macro empirical scale studies. Such studies searched for the laws of migration. E. G. Ravenstein, (1885) and Herberle, (1938) later formulated a "pull- push" hypothesis to explain why people move and Lee, (1966) later focused on the characteristics of the potential migrants'origins and destinations. Short (1978) prompted the development of a more contextualised and micro influenced traditional research. However, White (1980) recognised a philosophical dichotomy in migration research between micro and macro approaches. These approaches produced the theory of multilevel modelling Cadwallader (1989), and Massey (1990). Halfacree and Boyle (1992) developed the theory of assimilation to explain what happens to the migrants in their new environments. Presently, humanistic methodologies are used in studies that consider migrants as decision makers Thomas-Hope (1999), Riccio, B (2002) and Nadje, A (2002). However, this literature does not locate migration within individual biographies. The comprehensive analysis and comparison of the migrants are mostly tied to censuses, aggregate data and official statistics. To the contrary this research on Nigerian migrants to Ireland moved away from these mechanical models toward more dynamic processes that allow the extensive use of life histories and in-depth community studies. The emphasis of this research is on the migrants themselves. An effort is made to look for the explanation of migration as an action in time.

Methods

The results presented in this paper are part of a wider study that analyse the geography of Nigerian migration to Ireland. The study employed various methods in obtaining its data. These methods include partly structured interviews, structured interviews, conversational interviews, and the collection of documentary data.

Partly Structured interviews

88 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

The goal was to obtain information on fifty-four individuals. These interviews began with the people regarded as Nigerian community leaders in Dublin. The important task in the first phase of the interview was to identify those regarded as community leaders, and through them, to generate introductions to other Nigerian migrants for the interview. From canvassed opinions of Nigerian migrants in Dublin, pastors, medical doctors, and some shop owners were identified as respected community leaders. It was difficult to convince these community leaders that the interviews for this research were not frivolous, and that they served a legitimate research purpose. There was more success after I was admitted to the Mater Hospital in Dublin, where a Nigerian medical doctor attended to me. After I was discharged, the doctor introduced me to his pastor and his friend, a shop owner. From them, other interviews were obtained through snowballing. Thereafter, Nigerian migrants were divided into sampling fractions based on five categories. These are:

1. Ethnic group 2. Gender 3. Age 4. Marital Status 5. Household Status

Using systematic sampling, the interviews were conducted between December 18, 2000 and the July 21, 2001 in different areas of Dublin. The theme explored include: An exploration of the migration decision-making process, which involves identifying the factors that were important or unimportant in causing migration to Dublin, Ireland; the degree of choice at the time of migrating to Dublin; the level of satisfaction in Dublin; the migrant's profile; last country of residence before migration to Dublin; and the mode of entry to Dublin. Open ended questions were asked. Most of the subjects did not allow the interview to be taped, but permission was given to record the interviews in writing.

Profile of Dublin interviewees

Number of Interviews Conducted: 54 Region of origin in Nigeria West East North 38 12 4 Gender % Male 21 33 0 Female 79 67 100 Age Category % 15 - 24 16 16 0 25 - 44 74 67 100 45 - 64 10 17 - 65+ - - 0 Marital Status % Unmarried 42 33 0 Widowed 11 8 0 Separated / Divorced / Abandoned 21 42 50 Married 26 17 50 Household Status % Household Head 21 50 50 Spouse 63 17 50

89 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

Minor 16 33 0

Note: Figures may not add to 100% due to rounding. A dash (-) signifies a value less than 0.5% but greater than (0) zero. Source: Komolafe, J (2002)

Structured Interviews

The interviews were conducted in Nigeria, in a three-city survey of Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta. The reasons for choosing these three cities are two-fold. First, these are by far the largest source regions according to the demographic profile of Nigerians living in Dublin. Second, historically, Lagos is a gateway for out-migration from Nigeria. The other two cities are close enough to Lagos to be affected by the same motive forces. The surveys consisted of a questionnaire with approximately thirty questions including migration propensity to Ireland, migration orientation toward Ireland and attitudes toward migrating to Ireland. The wide range of questions that were asked helped to offset the limitations of this quantitative method and in the end produced an extraordinarily rich set of data. Twenty interviews were completed, ten in Lagos, five in Abeokuta, and five in Ibadan over a period of one month beginning in September 2001. Subjects for the interview were selected at the University of Lagos, the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and the University of Ibadan. Only those that were potential migrants to Ireland were selected for the interview. This gives a somewhat biased sample insofar as the survey is limited to only residents of the universities that were potential migrants to Ireland. However, the research is unique as a pilot study upon which future studies can draw.

Profile of Potential Migrants in Three City Survey - Nigeria

Number of Interviews conducted: 20 Cities Lagos Abeokuta Ibadan Academic Institutions University of Lagos University of Agriculture University of Ibadan Number of Interviews 10 5 5 Gender% Male 60 40 60 Female 40 60 40 Age % 15 - 24 Years 70 20 60 25 - 34 Years 30 80 40 Course of Study % Engineering 30 20 0 Science 30 80 20 Arts 20 0 80 Environmental Science 20 0 0

Note: Figures may not add to 100% due to rounding. Source: Komolafe, J., (2002)

Conversational Interviews

These interviews were conducted within non-governmental organizations like Ireland Refugee Center, Refugee Network in Ireland, African Networks in Ireland and Amnesty International. Other interviews were conducted at the Department of Justice and Equality Reforms (governmental). The interviews were unstructured. The questions asked emerged from the immediate context of the conversation. Interviewees were encouraged to relate their

90 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

experiences with Nigerian migrants in Ireland and to share their insight and opinions on the subject.

Documentary Data

This data was collected from the Association of Nigerians in Ireland, formerly Association of Nigerian Asylum Seekers in Ireland. The data gathered was on the demography, settlement and profile of Nigerians in Dublin.

A Brief History of Nigerian Migration to Ireland

Nigerian emigration to Ireland is still in an embryonic stage. This movement began after the Second World War, increasing modestly after Nigeria's independence from Britain in 1960. Unfortunately, it was impossible to be entirely accurate. Since there was no hard data of past Nigerian migration to Ireland since neither Nigeria nor Ireland registered past Nigerian migration departures and arrivals. For this study, information on past Nigerian movement to Ireland came from various individuals. However, this data in spite of its imperfections is the best to date, for assessing past Nigerian movement to Ireland. Most of the past Nigerian migration to Ireland was by businessmen, mostly in the fishing business. It is from Ireland that most of the mackerel fish (òkú èkó) that is consumed in Nigeria is exported. The most recognized Nigerian trading partner was Killybergs in Donegal, the northern part of Ireland (Kómoláfé, 1993.) Others who migrated in any noticeable number prior to 1981 were Nigerian medical students. They reportedly did not desire to establish establishing permanent residence in Ireland. Past Nigerian migration to Ireland did not have any significant effect on the recent trends in movement because most Nigerians presently in Dublin do not even realize that past Nigerian migration existed.

In more recent times, Nigerian migration became noticeable in 1981. At the time, the number of migrants was relatively small. By 1996 there were significant changes in the inflow of Nigerian migrants. The Nigerians who came to Ireland prior to 1981 tended to study, to undergo various kinds of training and to visit. For the purposes of this paper, 1981 is regarded as the first phase of contemporary Nigerian migration to Ireland.

In considering the historical panorama of Nigerian migration to Dublin, there is need for some chronology and categorization. The population includes those who migrate to Ireland to extend their visa, those who migrate to seek legal residence, "Celtic Tiger" migrants, who were attracted by the Irish economic boom, refuge-seeking migrants, employment -seeking migrants and providence-seeking migrants. According to the historian Nancy Green, (1997:59) "only through comparison can we understand what is specific and what is general in migration." Thus, categorization is done to facilitate the historical comparative analysis of the different categories of migrants.

Visa Extension-Seekers

The emergence of this population arose from the inability of some Nigerians in to extend their visa in the United Kingdom. This was the first significant movement of Nigerian migrants to Ireland. They knew that their visa would be extended once they got to Ireland because people who had British visas did not need Irish visas to enter Ireland. The extensions granted in Ireland could also be used to enter the United Kingdom without having to obtain a British visa. Most migrants who came to Ireland at this time saw their movement as temporary rather than permanent. Those who got their visa extended returned in a day or two to the United Kingdom. Those who got only a few days extension on their visas considered themselves unlucky, and decided to stay in Ireland. Once their visas expired, they became illegal immigrants in Ireland. For many, this was a more desirable situation than going back home, where there were limited or non-existent economic opportunities. Instead, they chose to become illegal immigrants because they were able to manipulate the technicalities of the immigration law in Ireland at the time. The Nigerian migrant, Fajujonu who was permitted to enter Ireland in 1981 is one such example. He became an illegal resident immediately his visa expired and maintained this status until 1987, when he found employment and his employer obtained a work permit for him. Another very good example is the case of Mr. B., a Nigerian migrant from Abeokuta, who migrated to Ireland in 1984. He said:

91 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

I have been in Ireland for a while now. Those were the good old days; nobody worried you when coming to Ireland. You were always welcome. In 1984 when I came to Ireland, I had a problem with extending the British visa I used to enter London. In my desperation to legalize my status, I contacted a lawyer. He explained to me how I could get my visa extended in Ireland. I came to Ireland on his advice and since then I have been in Ireland with no regrets.

Legal Resident Status-Seekers

The Fajujonu case with the Irish Minister of Justice in 1987 explains why many more Nigerian migrants choose Ireland. Fajujonu was illegally resident in Ireland, but he had two children who were born in the country. In the High Court Barrington J. recognized that the rights of the child under Articles 40, 41 and 42 include the right to have parents within the state Costello (1990). There was a brief time lag between the resolution of the Fajujonu case and the emigration of an increased number of Nigerians to Ireland, most of whom did not begin coming to Ireland in large numbers until 1995. Before then, those who came did not stay. They came to seek verification about the possibility of acquiring residency as the parent of an Irish-born child. The following interview further illustrates this tendency. Mrs. C. is from Ibadan. She lived in London for seven years. She said:

Before I came to Ireland in September 1996, I asked my cousin, who is British to go and verify the information I heard in the Church concerning ìwé ìgbêlú (residency permit.) He came and gave me the good news. Four months later I decided to move with my whole family.

In 1996, the second stage of Nigerian migration to Ireland began. This movement is restricted only to Nigerian migrants that were already within other European countries. These migrants were illegal immigrants at their points of origin. Most had lived for approximately five years in the respective European countries. In essence, they had left Nigeria for a while. Their desire to migrate to Ireland was to be able to arrange for their physical movement. This arrangement of physical movement was believed to be possible by acquiring residency status within other countries in the European Union. This group accounts for the largest number of migrants in Ireland until 1999. The following interview gives an example of one such migrant. Mrs. C. is Yorùbá from Lagos. She left Nigeria six years earlier and lived in Germany illegally. She said:

I came to Ireland to have my baby and to obtain Irish residency status. I had lived in Germany for six years as an illegal immigrant. My mother died two years ago, but I was unable to go for her burial in Nigeria. I knew if I went I would not be able to come back to Europe. Where would I have begun again? It was a terrible experience. All I want is to be able to move from one area to another. This I am now enjoying.

There are other Nigerian migrants who are similar to Mrs. C. because they move to Ireland to have their babies in the country. These women are also interested in exercising the option of using Irish residency as a means of facilitating free travel to other EU countries. Irish citizenship also makes it possible to acquire European citizenship. This has added an additional rationale to the traditional reasons why Nigerians migrate to Ireland. Having one member of a family become a European citizen is the reason why most wealthy husbands in Nigeria send their pregnant wives to Ireland, have a baby who is an Irish citizen. Once the baby is born in Ireland she/he becomes a European Union citizen. Such women do not depend on the Irish government for support throughout their stay in Ireland. They often reside in a hotel till they deliver their baby. After the baby is born, they obtain the birth certificate and leave Ireland for Nigeria.

"Celtic Tiger" Migrants

This movement was a response to Ireland's economic boom. It was also due to the presence of a Black community in Ireland. Many companies in Ireland were looking for workers. At times, to meet their demands, these companies went abroad to recruit employees. Consequently, information spread around the world, and many people agitated to

92 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

come to Ireland. Most Nigerian migrants that moved to Ireland during this period had legal residence in their prior country of abode. The following interview further illustrates this tendency. Mrs. C who owns an African shop on Dorset Street in Dublin, migrated from Britain. She told me:

I came to Ireland as a result of the article I read about the booming Irish economy. It was inside the London Financial Times. The article described the details of how companies needed people and how people were benefiting from the economy.

The reason for this group's movement was to extend their business frontier, particularly for those whose businesses were not very profitable where they resided. Such individuals perceived the Irish market as an excellent prospect for their investments where they could "make it" in no time. They were right in the sense that the Irish market could not meet the demands of African customers for African food, restaurants, hairdressing, and other necessary goods and services. The next interview shows the kind of assessment made by many such small entrepreneurs. Mr. D. has owned a shop on Parnell Street in Dublin since 1997.

I have been in Dublin since March 1997. I was in Greece before then. I came to Ireland as a result of the hint I got from my friend living in Dublin at the time. He told me about their inability to buy African foodstuffs. At the time, I owned a shop in Greece that sold African goods. Unfortunately the business was not doing well. I decided to give Dublin a try. Luckily for us the business thrived very well. This you can see for yourself.

Refugee Status-Seekers

Ireland is a signatory to a United Nations Convention (1951), which recognizes and guarantees the right of asylum. However, Nigerian refugees never migrated to Ireland in massive flows. While some Nigerian migrants have sought refuge in the country from persecution and political upheaval, other undocumented Nigerian migrants who are not refugees by definition also apply for refugee status as the only expeditious way to regularize their stay. All applicants for refugee status are required to present supporting documentation to Irish authorities. Many of those fleeing from persecution and political upheaval had characteristically achieved a certain degree of success and prominence in Nigeria. They usually fled alone or sometimes, with family members. This interview will illustrate further:

I am a former Captain in the Nigerian Army. I came to Ireland with the help of a Scottish friend who was also a combatant. I was involved in a foiled coup and was lucky to escape the death penalty.

Employment-Seeking Migrants

This population is comprised of Nigerian skilled workers who are predominantly medical professionals. Unlike most other migrants, they moved directly from Nigeria to Ireland. From 1996 to 2001 there was an open policy that allowed Nigerian medical doctors and nurses to apply for employment permits in Lagos, and later, in Abuja, to come to Ireland. These working permits were usually for a period of two years, renewable thirty days before expiration. The system has changed. Hospitals now go to Nigeria to directly recruit medical doctors and nurses. Once the doctors and nurses arrive in Ireland, they only need to undergo a six-week induction course and then begin work. The following interview illustrates one such experience:

I am a Nigerian trained medical doctor. I work in Mater Hospital. I learnt about Ireland, from a friend who was in Dublin, working in a hospital. On his advice, I applied for an Irish working visa in Abuja. I was given a two-year employment visa. When I came to Ireland, I registered for a certification exam, which I passed.

Family/Friend Network

93 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

Many studies have shown that "each new immigrant creates a large pool of potential immigrants" (Massey et al. 1994: 732.) The principle of the immigrant bringing their family to join them in their country of settlement has prevailed in a process of chain migration. In this case, the earlier Nigerian migrants assist their friends or relatives to migrate to Ireland. Such beneficiaries of assistance in turn assist their own friends or relatives. Chain migration has increased in the Nigerian immigrant population. It has also caused some important changes. Unlike other movements, this category of migration is not generated by external influences. Those who move are mostly young fresh graduates. They migrate because they have relatives or friends in Ireland. Their primary aim is to seek their fortune in Ireland. These migrants also have the obligation of helping at least one other family member to migrate to Ireland. In this way, the chain is continuous. One interviewee said:

I helped my sister to come to Ireland from Nigeria, to reduce the amount I had to send home. I used to send one hundred and fifty pounds home every month. Now we both share the responsibility equally.

Institution Building

Many social institutions have evolved as a result of Nigerian migration to Ireland. Nigerian migration patterns have helped to produce, and continue to strengthen the formation of Nigerian social institutions in Irish society.

1. There has been spatial restructuring of economic activity in Ireland: The presence of Nigerian- owned shops and Nigerian restaurants in Dublin city is a new phenomenon. This is part of an emergent economic structure in the host society since it has led to the development of new accommodations in the social geographical structure of Dublin. For example, some departmental stores in Dublin now sell different Nigerian immigrant-demanded products. In all likelihood, many more Nigerian migrants will be attracted to Ireland as a place where some of the needs for day to day living are more readily available. This could in turn generate increased interest and profitability for the import and export business between Ireland and Nigeria.

2. The image of private and public space is changing: The evolution of a Nigerian community in Ireland, drawn from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, (see table 2) has created a change in public and private space. One of the notable features of Irish social experience of Nigerian ethnic concentration is their district location in Dublin. Nigerian migrants are mostly concentrated in the inner city areas of Dublin. Although they invariably live close to other African migrants, their presence is more noticeable to the host society because of the liveliness of social interaction that is often generated. Numerous parties and other social events are common-place. There are also important implications for the use of space for religious worship. A number of Nigerian owned churches have been founded in an around Ireland which underline these migrants' presence.

3. The imposition of new regimes of spatial organisation: There are visible signs of social polarization as a result of the presence of Nigerian migrants in Ireland. However the reactions in the host country are becoming more favourable toward them. This has set in motion new regimes of spatial organization in the host society. Presently, on the Dublin radio station, Jazz FM, an hour is dedicated to playing Nigerian music with such artistes as Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Kollington Ayinla, and Sunny Ade featuring prominently, from 10pm every Friday. Also, the weekly paper, the Metro, highlights the activities of Nigerians and other Africans in Ireland. As a result of this new regime, the social landscape of Ireland is changing and the everyday experiences of Irish social life have been transformed.

Ethnicity

There is Yorùbá ethnic dominance in Ireland, when compared with other Nigeria ethnic groups in Ireland. This

94 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

might have occurred as a result of threats or perceived threats from the past military regimes in Nigeria. There was mass emigration of Yorùbá out of the country immediately after the failed June 12, 1993 Presidential election that was won by late Chief M. K. O. Abiola, who is Yorùbá. Elizabeth-Hope, 1999 argues that perceived racial discrimination could cause alienation and stimulate the urge to migrate. In this instance, the Yorùbá could be said to have responded to social and political alienation to a greater degree than other ethnic groups because they perceived themselves as being subjected to political discrimination. This was the case of Nigerian migration to Ireland.

Table 2 Ethnic Composition of Nigerian Migrants in Ireland

Ethnic Group 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Yorùbá 8 602 1160 1105 1934 Ibo/Igbo Nil 5 154 154 523 Edo/Benin 2 9 33 45 68 Urhobo Nil 4 11 40 52 Ijaw Nil 4 15 20 38 Ishan Nil 2 8 17 41 Igala Nil 1 5 11 19 Aboh Nil 1 6 4 16 Itsekiri Nil 1 8 22 58 Idoma Nil Nil 2 3 5 Tiv Nil Nil 1 1 2 Kanuri Nil Nil 1 2 Nil

Source: Komolafe, J (2001)

Race

This research suggests that the racial attitude that many Irish have towards Nigerian immigrants cannot be characterized as racism. Since it reflects fears and contests, it is better classified as xenophobia. The reason for this attitude is that many uneducated, and a few educated Irish who have never travelled out of Ireland, believe that there would be a contest between Nigerian immigrants and themselves in terms of jobs. Since most Nigerians in Ireland were able to communicate easily in English, unlike some African immigrants who did not come from English - speaking countries. These Irish people often say, 'they are too smart!' at times they respond, 'they have taken our women, taken our jobs and are eating our food& they should send them back'. Their behavior is always infused with hatred and fear. Many times they direct their statements toward all refugees, as many believe that all Blacks in Ireland are refugees. An example is one of the Irish parliament members, the Fianna Fáil TD Noel O'Flynn, who when speaking in the Dáil (House) on November 24th 1999, called the asylum seekers 'the spongers, the freeloaders and the people screwing up the system.' This is characteristic of the kind of hatred that is exhibited toward refugees. The important thing, however, is that the Irish government supports all the minority communities in Ireland.

Gender Imbalance

The relative proportion of men and women in any phase of migration can be explained partly by the selectivity of available work at the destination (Gordon, 1981). In Nigerian migration to Ireland, female migrants are more numerous than male migrants. (See table 1) This is because the Irish legislation that allows the parents of Irish born babies to avail themselves of Irish residency gives increased opportunities to individual female migrants. The

95 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

welfare and economic support that the Irish state provides to parents also gives female migrants a sense of social and economic independence from men. Nigerian women therefore migrate in their own right and not simply as dependents of Nigerian male migrants. Indeed, some male married migrants allow their spouse to migrate to Ireland first before they follow.

Nigeria-Ireland Migration and Social Class

The data collected shows that Nigerian migration to Ireland is heterogeneous. For each social class different patterns, different purposes and different meaning have characterized the movement. Unskilled labour movement characterized the first cohort of Nigerian migrants to Ireland. These same migrants are perceived by potential migrants and their families at home to be upper class, due to their level of success and achievement, when compared with the lack of opportunities at home. Reality has shown that most of these migrants left Nigeria because of their inability to fit into the Nigeria working class. For this reason, their movement has been characterized by permanent departure. However, the recent Nigerian migrants are characteristically skilled labour. Most are fresh graduates. Their movement is geared at improving their socio-economic position in order to return to Nigeria. This explains why their orientation is to return home and they tend to remit both goods and capital back home. The following quotation from one of my interviews may illustrate further. Mr. F is a medical doctor, when asked if he intended to return to Nigeria. He said:

Yes! My intention is to build an ultra modern hospital in Lagos. Already I have acquired the land. Once the planning permission is granted work will begin. When this project is completed I intend to go back.

These patterns, differentiated by class, are reflected in other institutional behaviour of different Nigerian migrants in Ireland.

The Settlement Pattern of Nigerian Migrants in Ireland: Cohesive or Disparate?

Most of the information that I present in this section relates to the Dublin county area. This comprises of Fingal, City, South Dublin and Rathdown/ Dun Laoghaire. The Dublin county area is recognized as the first stopping point for migrants, not only from Nigeria, but also from other countries. From 1996 to date, Nigerian communities have clustered around the city area. There was a significant change in their movements from 1998 as a result of the dispersal system undertaken by the government and the fact that most skilled Nigerian labour chose to live outside the city area. The city area retained an image of having African shopping resources, ease of transportation, closeness to other Nigerian and African migrants and a few other options that hold Africans together. Moreover, Nigerian single migrants see the city area as the starting point for success and personal advancement.

96 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

97 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

98 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

Dublin County areas.

Cartographer: Julius Komolafe

Note: The Dublin map used were supplied by Ordinance Survey Ireland (O S I)

Note: The map is a general positioning not the actual point. For safety of the migrants.

Conclusion

According to John Salt (1989:431) "the world map of international migration has changed considerably. Old links have faded and new ones have evolved". In Nigerian migration to Ireland, a new migration history has emerged that is distinct from the migration history of surrounding areas. As this research shows, migration is not a discrete contemplative act but rather is an action in time Halfacree and Boyle, (1993). Over time Nigerian migration to Ireland has produced a distinct migration process. The belief that Ireland is a promised land has been created, and Nigerian migrants in Ireland are widely admired by the Nigerian potential migrants because of their success. What does this mean for migration Geography? We need to change the strategy of using mechanical models to study the lives of migrants and to put our efforts in studying the biographies of individual migrants. In other words, research should become increasingly feasible and not constitute a data feast as expressed by Champion (1992).

Bibliography

Afolayan, A., "Emigration Dynamics in Nigeria: Landlessness, Poverty, Ethnicity and Differential Responses," in

99 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

Appleyard, R., (ed), Emigration Dynamics in Developing Countries, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999, Vol. I: Sub- Saharan Africa.

Cadwallader, M., "A Conceptual Framework for Analysing Migration Behaviour in the Developed World," Progress in Human Geography, 13: 494-11, 1989.

Champion, A., "Migration in Britain: Research Challenges and Prospects," in Champion, A and Fielding, A., (eds), Migration Process and Patterns. Research Progress and Prospects, London: Belhaven Press, 215-26, 1992, Vol. I.

Costello, K., "The Irish Deportation Power (The Fajujonu Case.)" Dublin University Journal, 12: 1990, pp. 81-92. See http://webmail.tcd.ie/redirect?http://www.ucc.ie/.

Floyd, B. "Soil Erosion and Deterioration in Eastern Nigeria." Nigeria Geographical Journal, 8:1965, pp. 32-44.

Galletti, R et al., The Nigerian Cocoa Farmers: An Economic Survey of Yoruba Farming Families, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956.

Goddard, A., "Population Movements and Land Shortages in the Sokoto Close-Settled Zone, Nigeria," in Amin, Samir (ed), Modern Migrations in Western Africa, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974.

Gordon, M., "Caribbean Migration: A Perspective on Women," 1981, in Thomas-Hope, E., "Emigration Dynamics in the Anglophone Caribbean" in Appleyard, R. ed. Emigration Dynamics in Developing Countries, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999, Vol. III.

Green, N., "The Comparative Method and Poststructurallism: New Perspectives for Migration Studies," 1997, in Brettell, C and Hollifield, J. (eds), Migration Theory: Talking Across Disciplines, London: Routledge, 2000.

Halfacree, K., Edward Arnold and Boyle, P., "The Challenge Facing Migration Research: The Case for a Biographical Approach," Progress in Human Geography, 17:3, 1993, pp.333-348.

Herberle, R., "The Causes of Rural-Urban Migration: A Survey of German Theories," American Journal of Sociology. 43: 932-50, 1938, in Mabogunje, Akin L., (ed), Migration Policy and Regional Development in Nigeria." Journal of Economic and Social Sciences, 12: 1970, pp. 243-62.

Komolafe, J., The Importation and Consumption of Frozen Fish in Nigeria: Case Study Lagos State, Thesis Submitted for Bachelor's Degree in the Department of Geography and Planning, University of Lagos, Nigeria, June, 1993.

Lee, E., "A Theory of Migration," Demography, 3: 1966, 47-57, in Cohen, R (ed), Theories of Migration, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Reference Collection, 1996.

Lucassen, J. and Lucassen, L. (eds), Migration, Migration History, History: Old Paradigms and New Perspectives, Bern: Peter Lang Publishing Group, 1997, pp. 9-38.

Mabogunje, Akin L., "Migration Policy and Regional Development in Nigeria," Journal of Economic and Social Sciences, 12: 1970, pp. 243-62, in Cohen, R (ed), Theories of Migration, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Reference Collection, 1996.

Massey, D., "Social Structure, Household Strategies, and the Cumulative Causation of Migration," Population Index, 56:1990, pp. 3-36.

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Massey, D., Joaquin, A. Hugo, G. Kovaouci, A. Pellegrino, A and Taylor, E., "An Evaluation of International Migration Theory: The North American Case," Population and Development Review, 20:1994, pp. 699-751.

Nadje, A and Khalid, K., (eds), Transnationalism, International Migration and Home: New Approaches to Migration? Transnational Communities and Transformation of Home, London: Routledge, 2002, pp. 1-14.

Ravenstein, E., "The Laws of Migration." Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. 48: 167-27, 1885 in Grigg, D. B. "E. G. Ravenstein and the Laws of Migration," Journal of Historical Geography, 3: 1, 1977, pp. 41-54.

Riccio, B., "Senegal is our Home: the Anchored Nature of Senegalese Transnational Networks," In Nadje, A and Koser, K. (eds), New Approaches to Migration? Transnational Communities and the Transformation of Home, London: Routledge, 2002, pp. 68-84.

Salt, J., "A Comparative Overview of International Trends and Types, 1950-80" International Migration Review, 23:3, Fall 1989, pp. 431-56.

Short, J., "Residential Mobility." Progress in Human Geography, 2: 1978, pp. 419-47.

Stapleton, G., "Nigerians in Ghana" West Africa 2184, 21 February, p. 175, 1959, in Afolayan, A Emigration Dynamics in Nigeria: Landlessness, Poverty, Ethnicity and Differential Responses, London: Routledge, 1999, Vol. I: Sub-Saharan Africa.

Thomas-Hope, E., in Appleyard, R., (ed), Emigration Dynamics in the Anglophone Caribbean: Emigration Dynamics in Developing Countries, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999, Vol. III, pp. 232-84.

Udo, R., Migrant Tenant Farmers in Nigeria, Lagos: Africa University Press, 1975.

United Nations, World Population Monitoring Report: International Migration, New York: United Nations, in Siddique , M (ed), International Migration into the 21st Century, Essays in Honour of Reginald Appleyard, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2001.

United Nations, World Population Monitoring Report: International Migration, New York: United Nations, 1998b.

White, S., "A Philosophical Dichotomy in Migration Research," Professional Geographer, 32:1980, pp. 6-13.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my colleague, Pat Haughey, for his time and efforts during the mapping. I also thank my supervisor Dr. Mark Hennessy for his insightful comments and understanding.

[1] .One of my lecturers at University of Lagos, Nigeria once reminisced about being in Greenland on a research project, and finding Nigerians living there. Also, as Kabul was being evacuated after the collapse of the Taliban regime, Nigerian newspapers reported that there were a number of Nigerians there.

[2] . The Holy Bible, King James Version, Numbers 14, verses 6-8.

101 Searching for Fortune: The Geographical Process of Nigerian Migration to Dublin, Ireland

Julius Kómoláfé is a Doctoral Student at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

102 Nigerian Physical Therapists

Nigerian Physical Therapists' Job Satisfaction: A Nigeria - U.S.A. Comparison

Adetoyeje Y. Oyeyemi

Background and Purpose

In recent years the emigration of highly trained health personnel has caused deeply troubling manpower shortages in many developing countries, while also providing a ready pool of skilled, well-qualified job-seekers for developed and affluent countries (Bergen and Lenoble, 1975; Joorabchi 1973; Eiler 1982.) This study was designed to fulfill a dual purpose: first, to determine the extent of job satisfaction among Physical Therapists (PTs) in Nigeria, and second, to assess whether Nigerian PTs practicing in the United States are more satisfied with their jobs than the PTs in Nigeria. The paper will demonstrate the linkage between the lack of job satisfaction, and the push to seek employment in foreign countries that offer the possibility of more rewarding employment opportunities as well as upward mobility.

Materials and Methods

A questionnaire was administered to PTs in Nigeria (n=110) and Nigerian PTs based in the US (n=31). The questionnaire consisted of 2 parts: Part 1 sought demographic information and part 2 consisted of 10 statements relating to paper work, job challenge, physical demand, job autonomy, fulfillment and stress.

Results

Overall, these cohorts of PTs were satisfied with the "clinical practice" aspects of their jobs. The two groups were comparable except in areas relating to stress, paperwork and physical demand.

Conclusion and Discussion

Nigerian PTs practicing in the US are not more satisfied than their counterparts in Nigeria. The study suggests that factors other than those related to the "clinical practice" aspects of physical therapy are responsible for the wave of emigration of PTs from Nigeria in the past decade.

103 Nigerian Physical Therapists

Introduction

Within the past decade there has been a wave of emigration by highly skilled professionals including Physical Therapists (PTs) from developing countries such as the Philippines, India, Brazil, Nigeria and Egypt. The most popular destination countries for such emigration are countries in Europe, the Middle East, and the North America. While highly skilled professionals are unemployed, underemployed, underpaid, and dissatisfied with their condition of service in their own countries, high- paying jobs were known to be available in some regions of the world. Paradoxically, highly skilled professionals are also in short supply in poor countries, but economic hardships and lack of job satisfaction may cause the very same professionals to seek "greener pastures" in countries with more favorable economic conditions.

Nigeria with a population estimated at 118,369,000 is served by only 300 PTs (Irikefe-Onoriode, 1997.) In the past two decades, the country was governed by several military regimes whose administration were characterized by economic hardship and numerous incidences of social unrest. Currently, there is a dearth of information on possible reasons for the emigration of Nigerian PTs. It is often speculated that job dissatisfaction and economic hardships are the primary reasons for the wave of emigration from Nigeria in the past decade (Irikefe-Onoriode.) However, there is no empirical data on the level of job satisfaction of Nigerian Physical Therapists and no firm data on the number of PTs that emigrated from Nigeria due to the country's deleterious economic condition. A conservative estimate put the number of Nigerian PTs that emigrated to the United States (US) at 150 (Irikefe-Onoriode.) Another 50 are estimated to currently practice in Britain, Canada, Middle East and South Africa. Considering the fact that Nigeria is a medically underserved country with low proportions of health personnel to the population, this number represents a great loss to its citizenry (Irikefe-Onoriode; Obasanjo, 2002.)

This is part of a larger study that investigated the job satisfaction and self esteem of Nigerian PTs. Only the job satisfaction data of the larger study is reported in this article. The results of a study of the possible reasons for the large-scale emigration of highly skilled health professionals could help employers and government in the source countries of emigration to formulate and implement policies that might facilitate staff retention and stem the tide of the "brain drain."

Literature Review

Very few studies have been published on Physical Therapists' job satisfaction.

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(Barnes and Crutchfield, 1977; Bronski and Cook, 1978; American Physical Therapy Association, 1989; Okerlund et al, 1994; Speakman et al, 1996; Rozier et al, 1998). The existing studies reported varying degrees of job satisfaction among PTs. In 1977, Barnes and Crutchfield compared the job satisfaction of 25 PTs engaged in private practice and 25 PTs employed in administrative positions. All subjects were randomly chosen from a list of physical therapists residing in metropolitan Pittsburgh, Washington and Baltimore in the United States. The study utilized a scale consisting of 16 factors, six of which were called "motivators" such as "opportunity for advancement", and "the possibility of growth". The remaining 10 factors were called "hygienes" and include "salary", and "job security". The result showed that both groups were significantly satisfied with "achievement", "salary", and "responsibility", but were dissatisfied with "policies and administration of the organization" aspect of their work.

In 1978, Bronski and Cook surveyed 334 graduates of Ohio State University physical therapy program. A Job Discriminative Index questionnaire consisting of five subscales ("the job", "coworkers", "supervisors", "present pay" and "promotional opportunities") was administered. The scale utilized showed a preponderance of statements not directly related to the practice aspects of physical therapy. The authors concluded that physical therapists had a relatively low degree of job satisfaction (Bronski and Cook, 1978).

In 1989, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) investigated the recruitment and retention patterns of PTs and PT Assistants (N=1074) using the Health Professional Work Satisfaction Survey. This study showed that PTs were satisfied with their jobs. The findings revealed "autonomy' as the most satisfying factor and "pay" as the least satisfying factor for retention (American Physical Therapy Association, 1989).

In 1994, Okerlund et al surveyed 509 PTs in Utah, United States using a scale developed by the authors in collaboration with a group of PTs. From this study, the authors concluded that PTs in Utah were satisfied with their jobs. "Freedom on the job", "support to develop skills", and "pay and fringe benefits' were cited by the respondents as the most important factors to their job satisfaction (Okerlund et al, 1994).

More recently, Rozier et al in 1998 developed a 78-item questionnaire consisting of four subscales: descriptive information, items important in characterizing career success, items perceived to enhance or inhibit career success, and items assessing self

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esteem. The internal factors included in the questionnaire are statements on ethical practice, improvement in patient health, personal satisfaction, personal goal achievement, challenge in the work environment, recognition by patients and public, and respect from other Physical Therapists. The external factors in the questionnaire included statements relating to the attainment of an executive position, high income, provision of free services or services at reduced rates, and access to substantial benefits. The respondents (N=1906) indicated that internal factors such as practicing ethically, improving patients' health, and feeling satisfied were more important in determining success than high income or status. These unique sets of indicators were however influenced by gender issues related to the ability to manage family responsibilities (Rozier et al, 1998).

Barnes in 1998 studied the job satisfaction of rehabilitation professionals including PTs, Occupational Therapists and Speech-Language Pathologists. He identified three factors that determine the job satisfaction of rehabilitation professionals as extrinsic and intrinsic context as well as intrinsic content. The extrinsic factors identified are competitive pay and employer provided benefits such as family leave, flexible schedules, and support for child care. The identified intrinsic- context factors are "factors less tangible but inherent to the job." These include factors that are controlled by outside forces and those that affect the internal satisfaction of professionals. Adequate staffing, a realistic workload, stable work environment, and support by the administration are regarded as intrinsic-context factors. Barnes identified intrinsic-content factors as those that are controlled primarily by the professional and are believed to affect his or her sense of effectiveness and competence. They include the rewards of helping people to overcome their disability, meaningful work, proper training and the provision of quality care. The author concluded that intrinsic factors are more important than extrinsic factors in determining the career satisfaction of Physical and Occupational Therapists. In the study by Carr and Kazanowski (1994), intrinsic factors such as sense of autonomy, peer recognition, challenge to develop skills and recognition as well as positive feedback about performance were identified as the most important determinants of job satisfaction among nurses.

In order to investigate the job satisfaction of PTs, Speakman et al (1996) developed a ten-item questionnaire consisting of the internal factors that are directly related to clinical practice aspect of physical therapy. In developing the questionnaire, factors such as salary, distance from work, and vacation time were excluded as these were considered not to be clinical practice issues. Physical Therapists (N=106) licensed to practice by the Texas State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, and residing in El Paso, Texas, participated in the study. Respondents revealed that their

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job was challenging in a positive sense, enabled them to use their abilities, and was interesting. They also indicated that they had sufficient independence in decision- making, were learning and improving in their work, and were given significant autonomy. However, they were not satisfied with the paperwork aspect of their work. Overall, the subjects agreed that all statements measured important aspects of job satisfaction of Physical Therapists.

The available published studies revealed two points of interest. All the investigations were conducted in the United States. Secondly, only in Speakman et al's (1996) study were statements relating to clinical practice aspect of Physical Therapy (internal factors) solely utilized. In the other studies, internal factors were mixed with statements unrelated to clinical issues in Physical Therapy (external factors like pay, commuting distance and benefits). Results from the studies that utilized scales with both internal and external factors could have been influenced by the divergent factors utilized in these studies. In investigating the job satisfaction of PTs in different countries, a scale that contains both internal and external factors may not accurately compare the level of satisfaction with the practice aspect of physical therapy. A ten- item scale by Speakman et al (1996) is therefore more appropriate for assessing the job satisfaction of PTs in Nigeria and Nigerian PTs based in the US.

Purpose of the Study

This study has two aims. The first is to provide evidence on the job satisfaction of PTs in Nigeria. The second is to assess whether Nigerian PTs practicing in the US are more satisfied with their jobs than their counterparts in Nigeria.

I hypothesized that (1) PTs in Nigeria will be more satisfied with the clinical practice aspects of their job and (2) Nigerian PTs practicing in the US will be more satisfied with the clinical practice aspects of their job than PTs in Nigeria.

Methods

Sample

The sample is comprised of one hundred and ten PTs practicing in Nigeria and thirty-one PTs of Nigerian origin practicing in the US participated in the study. The Nigerian PTs in the US practice in hospitals, home care and school (academic) settings, while PTs in Nigeria practice in hospitals and school settings. Of the one hundred and ten PTs in Nigeria, seventy-nine (72%) are male and thirty-one (28%) are

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female. Fifty-seven (51%) are single and fifty-three (49%) are married. Ninety-three (84%) of PTs in Nigeria have bachelors degrees, fifteen (14%) have masters degrees while two (2%) have doctoral degrees. Of the thirty-one PTs in the US, twenty-four (77%) are male and seven (23%) were female. Five (16%) of the US group are single, and twenty-six (84%) married. Twenty-three 74%) of the US group have bachelors degrees, four (13%) have masters degree and four (13%) doctoral degrees. Instrumentation

A questionnaire was selected as the most appropriate method to gather data to answer questions posed in the study. The questionnaire utilized consisted of two parts. Part one sought demographic data and part two consisted of job related questions. In part one, respondents were asked to answer questions about age, sex, marital status, highest degree and primary employment. Nigerian PTs practicing in the US were also asked questions on career goals and future relocation plans. Specifically, they were asked whether or not they would prefer to practice if pay and societal recognition (prestige) perceived to be enjoyed by PTs were comparable between US and Nigeria. They were also asked whether or not they intend to relocate to Nigeria in future and when they hope to relocate if they did.

The second part of the questionnaire was divided into two sections. In the first section, respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement or disagreement with statements on job satisfaction (Table 1) is based on a ten-item scale developed by Speakman et al (1996). Respondents indicated their level of agreement or disagreement on a seven-point Likert scale ranging on a continuum from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Five of the questions were worded positively and the remaining five worded negatively. In the second section, respondents were asked to rate the level of importance they attached to each of the 10-item statements (Speakman's scale) on a seven-point scale from extremely unimportant to extremely important.

On the positive questions, an agreement score of 7 indicates the highest degree of satisfaction and a score of 1 indicates highest dissatisfaction. On the negative questions, a score of 1 indicates the highest degree of satisfaction and 7 the highest dissatisfaction. An ideal (satisfied) PT will score 7 on all positive questions and 1 on all negative questions. Thus while the maximum possible agreement score is 70, the ideally satisfied physical therapist will score 40. For the importance rating, the maximum possible score is 70.

Only statements relating to paperwork, job challenge, physical demand, job autonomy, fulfillment and stress (direct practice issues as opposed to pay and

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commuting distance for example, which are unrelated to clinical practice) were considered relevant to assess and compare the job satisfaction of PTs practicing in different countries. A harsh living condition created by the economic policies in a country is an external factor unrelated to the clinical practice of Physical Therapy.

Table 1

Job Satisfaction Scale by Speakman et al

______

Statements Key word Wording

______

There is too much paperwork Paperwork -

My job is challenging in a positive sense Challenge +

I am not given enough autonomy Autonomy -

(freedom to do my work the way I want to)

My job is fulfilling Fulfilling +

( i.e. enables me to use my abilities)

My job is mentally stressful Stress -

I have sufficient independence Independence +

in decision making

My job is too physically demanding Physical Demand -

My work is interesting Interesting +

I am overworked Overworked -

109 Nigerian Physical Therapists

I am learning and improving on my work Learning +

______

+ denotes positively worded statement

- denotes negatively worded statement

Procedure

All prospective participants were sent a cover letter, a copy of the questionnaire, and a postage paid return envelope. The letter described the purpose of the project, assured anonymity and invited the subjects to participate. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were sent out to Nigeria. Of the one hundred and twenty, one hundred and ten completed questionnaires were returned within two months, making the response rate 95%. Fifty-five questionnaires were sent to Nigerian PTs resident in the US. Within two months, thirty-one of the questionnaires were returned completed. Here the response rate was only 56%. Follow-up letters to the PTs practicing in the US did not yield any further response. All returned questionnaires were usable.

A source (Irikefe-Onoriode, 1998) put the population of PTs in Nigeria at 300, responses from 110 PTs in Nigeria was therefore considered an adequate sample. There is no national register of PTs of Nigerian origin currently in the United States, therefore, questionnaires were sent to contact persons in selected locales (Michigan, Texas, Washington D.C. and Tennessee) to distribute within their regions. To avoid multiple entries by one person, respondents were asked to fill only one questionnaire. At the time of this study, it is estimated that the number of PTs of Nigerian origin in the US is not more than 150. Responses from 31 Nigerian PTs in the US is considered representative of this group.

Data Analysis

Subjects were divided into two groups: the PTs in Nigeria (N=110) and the Nigerian PTs practicing in the United States (N=31). Data analysis was accomplished using the Statview 513+ statistical package. Descriptive statistics were computed for all items. The score on each statement is for both the agreement rating and importance rating for each respondent. Group comparisons were developed with paired t-test. Multiple stepwise regression analysis was carried out to determine the relative

110 Nigerian Physical Therapists

contribution of each item on the questionnaire to the importance scores.

Results

The demographic data for the two groups are presented in Table 2. Seventy-three percent of the subjects are male and 38% are female. Fifty-six percent are married while 44% are single. Eighty-two percent of the participants have bachelors degrees, 14% have masters degrees and 4% doctoral degrees. The data was analyzed to ascertain differences in age, marital status, terminal degrees, employment settings and years of clinical experience between the two groups. Significant differences were found between the two groups. The Nigerian PTs practicing in the US are significantly older (p< 0.002), have more children (p<0.003) and more years of practice experience (p<0.009) than the PTs in Nigeria.

Table 2

Demographic Data for the Physical Therapists (PTs) in Nigeria and Nigerian PTs Based in the US

PTs in Nigeria US based PTs Combined t-value P level

Gender

Male 79 24 104(73%)

Female 31 7 37(27%)

Marital Status

Single 57 5 62(44%)

Married 53 26 79(56%)

Degree

Bachelor 93 23 116(82%)

111 Nigerian Physical Therapists

Master 15 4 19(14%)

Doctorate 2 4 6(4%)

Number of Children 1 2.1* 1.3 -3.75 0.003

Age 33.5(7.2) 37.0(6.2)* 33.5(7.2) -3.13 0.002

Years of clinical experience

7.6(6.5) 12.0(5.3*) 8.5(6.5) -3.42 0.009

*Significant at the indicated p-level

For age and years of clinical experience, the values indicated are means with standard deviation in parentheses.

Table 3 contains the mean agreement scores for each of the 10 statements for each group separately and both groups combined. As shown on the table, the agreement scores for the positive statements for both groups combined ranged from minimally agree (5.7, SD=1.3) to agree (6.1, SD=0.9), while those of the negative statements ranged from minimally disagree (3.4, SD=2.1) to minimally agree (4.8, SD=1.9). Significant differences were noted between the groups on statements relating to stress, paperwork and physical demand. The mean agreement score was significantly higher (p<0.05) for the Nigerian PTs practicing in the US on statements relating to paperwork and stress, but lower on the statement relating to physical demand.

Although the total agreement score for the subjects has no practical value, differences are observed by practice settings, by gender and by marital status. The PTs teaching in schools (academic) setting recorded significantly higher (p<0.05) total agreement scores than the hospitals and self employed PTs. Also, the males and married PTs recorded significantly higher (p<0.05) total agreement scores than the females and the single PTs respectively. Age and clinical experience has no effect on total agreement scores.

112 Nigerian Physical Therapists

Table 3

Mean Agreement Scores on Statements Measuring Job Satisfaction.

Key PTs in Nigeria US based PTs t-level Combined Data p-level Word X(SD) X(SD) X(SD) Paperwork(-) 2.6(1.6) 6.3(.9)* -12.60 3.4(2.1) .0001 Challenge(+) 6.1(1.2) 5.8(1.5) 1.30 6.0(1.2) .1911 Autonomy(-) 3.5(1.2) 4.1(2.4) -1.40 3.7(2.2) .1653 Fulfillment(+) 5.7(2.1) 5.6(.5) .21 5.7(1.3) .8344 Stress(-) 4.3(1.3) 5.3(1.7)* -2.4 4.5(1.9) .0159 Independence(+) 5.2(1.7) 5.1(1.7) .26 5.1(1.7) .7929 Physical demand(-) 6.0(1.2) 4.6(2.0)* 5.01 5.7(1.6) .0001 Interesting(+) 6.1(1.0) 5.8(1.4) 1.72 6.1(1.1) .088 Overworked(-) 4.8(2.0) 5.9(1.8) -.34 4.8(1.9) .731 Learning(+) 6.1(.8) 5.8(1.1) -2.41 6.1(.9) .508 Total 50.5(1.2) 53.7(8.0) 51.2(6.8)

* Indicates significant difference between groups

+ Indicates positively worded statements

- Indicates negatively worded statements

For positively worded statements, the higher the value the more satisfied the subjects.

For negatively worded statements, the higher the value the less satisfied the subjects.

Table 4 contains the mean importance scores for each of the 10 statements for the two groups. All statements had mean importance scores ranging from minimally important ( 4.5, SD=1.8) to important (6.4, SD=0.9) for the groups combined. A mean total importance score of 55.9 (SD=7.4) was obtained for the subjects in the study. Significant difference was found on importance scores for statements relating to paperwork, job challenge, interesting, fulfillment and physical demand between the groups. The PTs in Nigeria recorded a significantly (p<0.05) higher importance scores

113 Nigerian Physical Therapists

on statements relating to job challenge, physical demand, fulfillment and on the statement "my job is interesting". The Nigerian PTs practicing in the US had higher (P<0.05) scores on the statement relating to paperwork.

The PTs terminal degrees had a significant influence (p<0.05) on the importance scores. Physical therapists with masters degree had higher total importance scores (59.3, SD=7.3) than those with doctoral degree (50.2, SD=11.2). Although the average total importance scores reported by those with bachelors degree (56.1, SD=7.0) was

higher than those who were doctorally prepared, the difference was not significant. No significant importance score differences were found between those with bachelors degree and those with masters degree nor between PTs in Nigeria and the Nigerian PTs practicing in the United States.

For clarity, the data in this study was compared with the data published by Speakman et al (1996) for American PTs. The mean agreement score on positive and negative statements were compared. As shown in Figure 1, the American PTs in Speakman et al's study scored higher in all positive statements and lower in all negative statements, than the Nigerian PTs. The average importance score reported by Speakman et al in their study (5.7) was however comparable with those of PTs in Nigeria (5.8) and that of the Nigerian PTs practicing in the United States (5.4).

On further analysis, the statement "my work is interesting" was rated highest in importance by subjects (R squared =.361). It is followed by the statements "my job is mentally stressful" (R squared = .571) and "my job is too physically demanding" (R squared = .642). The statements on autonomy, independence, paperwork, overworked, fulfillment and learning followed in that order with R squared = .691, .725, .764, .792, .816, .831 and .846 respectively. The least important statement according to the respondents was "my job is challenging in a positive sense" (R squared =.846). The scale did not account for about 15% of the variance in importance scores. This finding suggests a high consistency and validity of the 10-item scale measuring job satisfaction.

Table 4

Mean Importance Rating on Statements Measuring Job Satisfaction.

Key PTs in Nigeria US based PTs t-level Combined Data p-level

114 Nigerian Physical Therapists

Word X(SD) X(SD) X(SD) Paperwork(-) 4.1(1.7) 6.0 (1'4)* -5.9 4.5 (1.8) .0001 Challenge(+) 631(.9) 5.7 (1.5)* 2.60 6.2 (1.1) .0106 Autonomy(-) 3.54(1.8) 4.8(2.1) 1.60 5.2(1.9) .1158 Fulfillment(+) 6.4(.7) 5.9(1.4)* 2.90 6.3(.9) .0045 Stress(-) 5.2(1.7) 4.9(1.5) 9.0 5.1(1.7) .3459 Independence(+) 6.0(1.3) 5.5(1.5) 1.50 5.8 (1.4) .0705 Physical demand(-) 6.0(1.5) 4.6(1.6)* 4.40 5.(1.6) .0001 Interesting(+) 6.4(.8) 5.9(1.4)* 2.60 6.3(1.0) .0095 Overworked(-) 5.2(1.8) 4.9(1.5) .80 5.2(1.8) .4070 Learning(+) 6.4 (1.0) 6.2(.8) 1.07 6.4 (.9) .2878 Total 56.8(7.4) 54.2(6.9) 55.9(7.3)

*Indicates significant difference, the higher the value, the higher the importance

of the statement in measuring job satisfaction. All statements are represented by their key words.

Discussion

Demographic data showed that PTs in Nigeria were significantly younger and had fewer years of practice experience than Nigerian PTs based in the US. The significant difference in the age and the clinical experience between the groups suggests that a greater proportion of the more experienced PTs of Nigerian origin have emigrated abroad. This indicates the operation of a "brain drain" phenomenon where the well educated and more experienced personnel are more likely to leave their countries for "greener pastures" when faced with harsh economic conditions. In consequence, Nigeria, a country that is grossly underserved by PTs loses even more, with negative ramifications for the health care system and the well-being of the population.

The primary objective of the study was to provide evidence as to whether PTs in Nigeria were satisfied with their job. Related to this is the consideration of whether there is a relationship between job satisfaction and the desire to emigrate. Overall, PTs in Nigeria reported being satisfied with the "clinical practice" aspects of their job. The above findings are consistent with the results of previous studies (APTA, 1989; Speakman et al, 1996; Barnes and Cruntchfield 1977; Okerlund et al, 1994; Rozier et

115 Nigerian Physical Therapists

al, 1998) of American PTs. This cohort of Nigerian PTs indicated their job was challenging, that they enjoyed some measure of independence in decision making, thought their job was interesting and believed they were learning and improving on their job. To a limited degree, PTs in Nigeria claimed that they enjoyed some autonomy, but were "minimally" overworked. They agreed that their work was too physically demanding.

A second objective of this study was to assess whether Nigerian PTs based in the US were more satisfied with their jobs than their counterparts in Nigeria. The PTs in Nigeria scored higher in all positive statements than the Nigerian PTs based in the US. Physical therapists in Nigeria also recorded lower scores in all negative statements except in the statements relating to physical demands. The above findings did not support the hypothesis that Nigerian PTs based in the US were more satisfied with the clinical practice aspect of their job than the PTs in Nigeria.

Responses to questions on future career goals posed to the Nigerian PTs based in the US further elucidated the job satisfaction status of this group. This group of PTs practiced in Nigeria before coming to the US. Fifty-two percent of the subjects responded "Yes" to the question "Do you think Physical Therapists enjoy adequate professional autonomy in Nigeria?" Sixty-two percent responded "No" to the question "Do you think Physical Therapists in the United States enjoy adequate professional autonomy?" Eighty-seven percent responded "Yes" to the question "Do you plan to return to Nigeria to live permanently?" Sixty percent of those who responded "Yes" to this question expressed the hope that they would be able to relocate within the next 10 years. More than 60% of the respondents also planned to engage in Physical Therapy practice or teach in a Physical Therapy programs when they return to Nigeria.

Nigerian PTs based in the US were also asked questions regarding pay and professional prestige. Eighty percent of the respondents expressed a preference for practice in Nigeria if financial remunerations were comparable between US and Nigeria. Eighty-Four percent of the respondents expressed preference for practice in Nigeria because of perceived better professional prestige accorded to PTs in Nigeria. A previous study had linked the job satisfaction of physical therapists and nurses directly with "Autonomy" (APTA, 1989; Okerlund, 1994; Carr and Kazanowski, 1994). The enjoyment of prestige through recognition by patients and public is also directly related to job satisfaction. (Carr and Kazanowski, 1994; Rozier et al, 1998). From the responses on future plans and preferences expressed by the US based PTs, it is conceivable that PTs in Nigeria were more satisfied with their jobs than the Nigerian PTs based in the US who have had the opportunity to practice in both countries.

116 Nigerian Physical Therapists

Nigerian PTs based in the US reported higher agreement scores on the statement relating to paperwork than PTs in Nigeria. A plausible explanation for this difference could be attributed to the disparities in the health care delivery system in Nigeria and in the US. After the United States Balanced Budget Amendments Act of 1997 and the budget cut that followed it, the Health Care Financing Administration and the third party payors have demanded more detailed records of treatment and evidence of positive functional outcome from providers. Managed care organizations gained prominence, as their employee gatekeepers were highly involved in important care decisions. Quality assurance, utilization review and legal implications were key considerations that drove the requirement for detailed documentation. On the other hand, there are neither health insurance companies nor managed care organizations in Nigeria's health care system. No government programs exist that are comparable to Medicare or Medicaid payer systems, which are parts of the system in the US, exist in Nigeria. Hospitals are mainly owned by Federal, State or local governments and are subsidized for the citizenry. Very few private hospitals or clinics exist in Nigeria and payment for health services are on a "fee for service" basis. Furthermore litigation on health or malpractice issues is rare. Therefore, the pressures from clinical documentation and paperwork requirements are much less in the Nigerian health care system.

Significant difference was also noted between the two groups on the statement: "my job is mentally stressful." Physical Therapists in Nigeria had lower agreement scores on the statements relating to stress than the Nigerian PTs practicing in the US. A possible explanation could again be found in the employment status of the respondents. While the Nigerian PTs in the US are mostly self-employed (N=20), PTs in Nigeria are predominantly salaried employees in hospitals (n=110) salaried employees are paid while on leave and while out sick. They also have health and pension benefits. On the contrary self-employed PTs pay for these benefits wholly out of their pockets. A previous study of physicians reported a strong direct relationship between paperwork and stress level (Krakowski, 1982). The findings in the present study similarly suggest that the amount of paperwork involved in the job of the US based PTs may have contributed to the feeling of stress expressed by this group.

Physical Therapists in Nigeria report higher agreement scores on the statements "my job is too physically demanding" than the Nigerian PTs practicing in the US. A possible explanation for the significant difference may be attributed to the equipment availability and the disparity in the sophistication of available equipment in the practice settings in the two countries. Mechanical lifting devices (e.g. Hoyer's lift), Isokinetic machines and mechanical traction instruments are frequently utilized by

117 Nigerian Physical Therapists

PTs. The use of the above mechanical devices puts less physical strain on the therapist. Mechanical devices and isokinetic equipments allow therapists to use less physical effort in clinical practice. These items are most readily available in many hospitals and private offices in the US, but are rarely available to PTs in Nigeria.

Another contributing factor to the significantly higher job physical demand perceived by the PTs in Nigeria can be found in the employment settings. Physical Therapists in Nigeria were almost solely (98%) employed in hospitals with acute orthopedic, neurological and cardiopulmonary caseloads mixed with outpatient care. The US based PTs were predominantly (66%, n=21) in independent practice (homecare, early intervention, private office) with post acute and ambulatory patient caseloads. Patients are normally discharged from the hospital with some functional capability and having achieved independence in some Activities-of-Daily-Living tasks. Managing acute in- hospital patients could be more demanding than managing ambulatory and post hospital discharge patients, as lifting and other physically demanding maneuvers are more frequently involved in treating in-patients.

Apriori, the data from this study was compared to that of Speakman et al. (Figure 1). While the Nigerian PTs did not claim that there was too much paperwork involved in their job, American PTs in Speakman et al's study and the Nigerian PTs practicing in the US felt so. The PTs in Nigeria "minimally" disagreed with the statement "I am not given enough autonomy". While the American PTs disagreed with the statement, the Nigerian PTs based in the US were however neutral on this statement. The PTs in Nigeria were closer to the American PTs on the statement "my job is mentally stressful" as they were neutral, while the Nigerian PTs based in the US "minimally agreed" with the statement. While the PTs in Nigeria expressed minimal agreement to the statement "my job is too physically demanding", the American PTs and the Nigerian PTs based in the US were mostly neutral. On the statement "my work is interesting", PTs in Nigeria were closer to the American PTs than the Nigerian PTs based in the US.

When the average agreement scores on the positive statements were compared to the average scores on the negative statements for the Nigerian PTs as well as the American PTs, a greater difference between the positive and negative statements reported by the American PTs suggests a higher level of satisfaction than the Nigerian PTs based in the US. Overall, the responses of the PTs in Nigeria were closer to those of the American PTs. A possible explanation for this similarity may also be found in the similar employment status of the American PTs and PTs in Nigeria. As with the PTs in Nigeria, the majority of the participants in Speakman et al's study were employed in

118 Nigerian Physical Therapists

the hospital setting.

The importance rating by the Nigerian PTs based in the US on the statement relating to paperwork was significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of PTs in Nigeria. This difference may be explained by the larger amount of paperwork involved in the job of the US based PTs. The PTs in Nigeria with less paperwork involved in their jobs did not perceive the statement relating to paperwork as having much importance in assessing their job satisfaction.

Conclusion

Nigerian PTs practicing in the US tend to be older with more clinical practice experience than those in Nigeria. The "brain drain" phenomenon was therefore inferred from the findings in this study. Overall this cohort of Nigerian PTs was satisfied with their jobs. Nigerian PTs practicing in the United States were not more satisfied than the PTs in Nigeria. Physical Therapists practicing in Nigeria felt their job was too physically demanding, whereas the Nigeria PTs based in the US did not feel so. Nigerian PTs based in the US reported too much paperwork and more stress.

The findings in this study suggest that factors outside the clinical practice aspect of Physical Therapy (e.g. pay, harsh economic conditions) were responsible for the recent emigration of one hundred and ten Physical Therapists and other highly trained personnel from Nigeria. While wars, famine and natural disasters have historically contributed to waves of emigration, the search for greater economic opportunities have probably been instrumental to the migration of highly skilled Nigerian trained health personnel in recent times.

Coming from a different training and sociocultural background, foreign trained health personnel may benefit from supports to make necessary adjustments in their new practice situation. An orientation to include in-service training on the health care delivery system, its philosophy and major features and players, may set the newly recruited on the path toward a successful career. Techniques of stress reduction and paper work management skills to include concise writing, and computer skills, as well as in-service training on equipment and instrumentations are recommended measures that could assist the foreign trained health personnel in achieving job satisfaction.

As long as the demand for highly skilled personnel remains high in the developed countries, developing countries may remain vulnerable to the disastrous effect of "brain drain". Developing countries that are set on the path to social stability and

119 Nigerian Physical Therapists

economic growth may be well on the way to curtailing the "brain drain" phenomenon. Therefore in their efforts to retain staff, Physical Therapist managers and health care administrators in the developing countries should seek to influence policies within and outside their places of employment, agencies or local authorities.

Bibliography

American Physical Therapy Association, Recruitment and Retention of Physical Therapists in Hospital Settings, (Order no, 76) 1111 Fairfax Street Alexandria, VA 2231-1488, 1989.

Barnes D.S., "Job Satisfaction and Rehabilitation Professionals," Administration and Management Quarterly American Occupational Therapy Association, 14 (4), 1998, pp. 1-2.

Barnes M.R., and C.A. Crutchfield, "Job Satisfaction-Dissatisfaction: A Comparison of Private Practitioners and Organizational Physical Therapists," Physical Therapy 5: 1997, pp. 35-41.

Bronski D.C., and S. Cook, "The Job Satisfaction of Allied Health Professionals," Journal of Allied Health 7: 1994, pp. 281-287.

Carr, K.K., and M.S. Kazanowski, Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Nurses Who Work in Long Term Care. Journal of Advanced Nursing 19: 1994, pp. 878-883.

Eiler MA. Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the United States (1982 ed). Chicago: American Medical Association, Survey and Data Resources, 1983

Irikefe-Onoriode, B., "RE: Clarion Call for Unity Within the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy," (Personal Communication), March 30, 1998.

Bergen and Lenoble, 1975; Joorabchi 1973; Eiler 1983 Bergen SS, Lenoble B. The Foreign Medical Graduates as a Medical Source. Archives of Internal Medicine, 135: 1975, pp. 1613-1616.

Joorabchi B. Physician Migration: Brain Drain or Overflow? With Special Reference to the Situation in Iran. British Journal of Medical Education 7: 1973, pp. 44-47.

Irikefe-Onoriode B. RE: Clarion Call for the Unity of NSP. Correspondence to the

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Association of Nigerian Physical Therapists in the United States, 1998.

Krakowski A.J., "Stress and the Practice of Medicine II Stressors, Stresses and Strains," Psychother Psychosom 38: 1982, pp.11-23.

Obasanjo O. "Dialogue in the Diaspora," Address by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the First Diaspora Dialogue, Atlanta GA, September 9, 2002 p. 3.

Okerlund V.W., P.B. Jackson, and R.J. Parsons, "Factors Affecting Recruitment of Physical Therapy Personnel in Utah," Physical Therapy 74 (2), 1994, pp.177-184.

Rozier, C.K., M.J. Raymond, M.S. Goldstein, and B.L. Hamilton, "Gender and Physical Therapy Career Success Factors," Physical Therapy 78: 1998, pp. 690-704.

Speakman, C.B., J.M. Pleasant, and G.B. Sutton, "The Job Satisfaction of Physical Therapists," Physiotherapy Research International 1 (4), 1996, pp. 247-254.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Dr. Joseph A Balogun, Dean of the College of Health Sciences, Chicago IL, United States, for his guidance and support in statistical analysis and in editing the paper. Thanks also to Sean Ledoux of the Physical Therapy Division at the University Hospital of Brooklyn, Brooklyn NY for support in word processing.

Adetoyeje Oyeyemi, PT, DHScT, GCS is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Clinical Education, Dominican College of Blauvelt Physical Therapy Program, Orangeburg, New York.

121 TUTÙOLÁ 'RESURFACES' IN ITALY: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá

TUTÙOLÁ 'RESURFACES' IN ITALY: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá

Jàre Àjàyí

Nigeria, Amos Tutùolá's country has behaved true to type in its indifference to the man's work - and family - after the writer's death in June 1997. When he was alive, the state hardly acknowledged his existence as a writer, let alone appreciate his contributions to African literary canon and the glory he earned for Nigeria. The silence, nay indifference, that has been the hallmark of the state's and Nigerian academic institutions' response to the man acclaimed as a pioneer African novelist, is therefore not surprising; sad as it is. But for the private efforts of Bíódún Ayòdélé, Ségun Olúsolá, late Esi Kinnin Olusanyin and Bruce Onobrakpeya who in 1999 variously organized some celebrations in his honor, Amos Tutùolá since his death, has rested in peace even in the hearts of those who should keep his spirit aglow on this side of the existential plane. This makes the efforts of the people outside Nigerian shores to keep the man's memory alive even more remarkable. One such effort was by Oye(kàn Owómóyelá as reflected in the book he published in 1999. Titled Amos Tutùolá Revisited, Owómóyelá's 174-page book is edited by that renowned African literary scholar, Berth Lindfors.

Alessandra di Maio, through Bulzoni Editore, an Italian publishing company came out with a publication which, from 2001, has been used by scholars, students and researchers to gain further insight into Tutùolá's world. In the words of Claudio Gorlier, the release of the book was intended as University of Turin's tribute to the Yorùbá literary ancestor - Amos Tutùolá. Aptly titled Tutùolá at the University: The Italian Voice of a Yorùbá Ancestor, the book contains the transcript of the eight lectures given by Amos Tutùolá when he visited Italy in 1990, the text of an interview he had with the book's author (di Maio) and an Afterword by Claudio Gorlier, a professor of English at the University of Turin. The book is divided into four inter-connecting parts: a detailed Introduction by the author, the Tutùolá lectures, the interview by Gorlier and the Bibliography. The bibliography is given some space here, because of its comprehensiveness and the attention it calls to the prodigy, Tutùolá. Within it are 'Works by Amos Tutùolá',

122 TUTÙOLÁ 'RESURFACES' IN ITALY: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá

'Italian Translations';' Selected Works on Amos Tutùolá' as well as 'Obituaries' and 'Commemorations'. Two other inclusions worth mentioning are the short Afterword by Gorlier and the Notes that accompany each of the eight lectures. Besides the lectures and their notes, each of the other four sections can stand nearly on their own with their message still as auspicious. By being made to accompany the main text of the book which is the transcript of Tutùolá's eight lectures, the four accompaniments make Alessandra di Maio's book instrinsically bigger and certainly richer than its small size purports.

Although many Nigerian readers might already be familiar with most of di Maio's disclosures in the Introduction; the perspective it gives on Tutùolá's worldview, Italians' perception of this worldview, as well as the emphasis on the need to (sharing Tutùolá's idea) appreciate each other's similarities and respect each other's differences are an elucidation on a subject that elicits controversy right from the inception of his literary career in the early 1950s. The Introduction is not limited to the foregoing. It also serves as an overview of the eight lectures that are to span the next 123 pages of the 188 page book. The eight lectures that form the fulcrum of the book are basically readings and commentaries by Tutùolá from two of his books, not lectures in the real sense of the term. The author presupposes this when he writes that from his opening remarks during his very first lecture, "everybody was already aware that Tutùolá's lectures were not going to be exactly what one would expect from a Visiting Professor of English - which was, in an approximate translation, the academic title of Tutùolá's appointment at the University of Palermo" (pp16 & 17).

In the first seven lectures, Tutùolá read excerpts from 'The Palm-wine Drinkard and His Dead Palm-wine Tapster in the Deads Town' modifying some words, phrases or paragraph(s) in the process. In the typical audience-participation style, Tutùolá encourages his listeners to be part of his delivery - in the manner of the storyteller that he is. This is achieved by way of encouraging questions during the reading and certainly by the entertainment of questions and observations at the end of each lecture. The same style characterised the eighth lecture at which he read excerpts from his last published novel, Pauper, Brawler and Slanderer. Pages 157 - 166 contain an edited transcription of the interview Prof Claudio Gorlier had with Tutùolá after his eighth lecture in Italy.

Based in part on this interview and his interaction with Tutùolá generally, Gorlier is to assert in his 'Afterword By Way of an Envoy' that: "Tutùolá the

123 TUTÙOLÁ 'RESURFACES' IN ITALY: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá

Nigerian farmer, was for all his candour and even naivette, a craftsman always consciously present to himself, &his way of talking, of looking at things and at individuals, carried a sense of discovery, becoming an uninterrupted, amazing work in progress, the irrepressible first stage of a discourse" (p167).

In his Introduction, Alessandra di Maio observes that Tutùolá "put himself at the very center of the experience that it intended to communicate& . In accordance with his people's cyclic cosmology, Tutùolá at the University, was at one and the same time the boy fascinated by the elders' stories, the writer who recreated the folktales of his people, the hero of his artistic imagination and the teacher" (p25). This reinforces Tutùolá's already established image as a storyteller. For, as anyone who has listened to ('engaged with' is the proper phrase) an effective (African) storyteller can recall, the emotions experienced by a hero in a storyteller's tale can almost be discerned in the in the person and gestures of the storyteller.

Furthermore, traditional storytellers are not just entertainers, they are also teachers, which is why didactism is not an uncommon element in their narrations. This is not totally peculiar to Africa. Early philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogene and Epicurus conveyed the inspirations gained from their introspections to their pupils using a method that was not too dissimilar. Modern communicators too have perfected this method of imparting knowledge as found in certain workshop procedures, feedback mechanisms etc.

The book under review is a testimony to the universality of the shared characteristics of mankind. Up till the last century, Africa was considered a dark jungle where bizzares reign supreme. Racist archeologists and anthropologists use equally racist travelers' accounts to derogate and denigrate the African. At the appearance of Tutùolá's book in 1952, some mischievous anthropologists again tried to refer to it as a pointer to the ludicrousness in Africa. Quite a number of Africans actually felt that Tutùolá's early books got an instant acclaim in Europe and America because of some ludicrous pictures they paint. Tutùolá authoritatively addressed these issues while answering a question after one of the lectures in Turin, Italy. He stated that his reference to a creature with eyes on his knees is meant to indicate that "then people were still in darkness or were not wise. It does not mean that his eyes really grow on his knees. No! It's just like a proverb" (p119).

For Emmanuel Obiechina, scholar of African Literature, "the potential

124 TUTÙOLÁ 'RESURFACES' IN ITALY: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá

tensions and stresses in traditional society & are sometimes played up in folktales with the purpose of heightening the emotional effect of the narrative & exaggeration and sensationalism are the keynotes & This sensationalism elicits feelings of horror, wonderment and fascination from the audience" (Obiechina, 1965). If he is to be effective as a storyteller therefore, Tutùolá could not but adopt this folkloric tradition. Actually, he hardly had any choice since folktales would be his subject matter, for, as Obiechina emphasizes, exaggeration and horror creation are the hallmarks of folktales the same way the latter is one of the characteristics of thriller and science fiction!

On page 104 of the book under review, an attempt is made, quoting Gerald Moore, to explain the equivalent of 'Child-Wiser-Than-Father' in Yorùbá. This phrase was wrongly interpreted. The correct expression (in Yorùbá) is 'Omo (tó) Gbón Ju Baba (è) lo' and not 'Mog bon juba'. On many of the pages of the book, Tutùolá is correctly painted as an opponent of disobedience or non-conformism. His position is in line with that of a typical moral-teaching storyteller. The irony here, however, is that Tutùolá the man was, while alive, a non-conformist - at least in his literary voyage (as would be found in the forthcoming biography by the present writer). For one thing, being a writer in itself is a choice to be different, ab initio. To have chosen to conduct his writing in English - a language in which he is barely literate - makes his daring more emblematic.

Equally remarkable of Tutùolá's non-conformity is his penchant, like the old philosophers that were alluded to earlier, to experiment even while remaining humble. An aspect of this can be gleaned from the way he treats popular folktales. His major works are based on identifiable folktales in West Africa. But these tales wear different toga, assume different aura and characteristics that are sometimes enhanced or sometimes different from what they are in their original form.

It can be stated that Tutùolá's admonition on 'obedience' is limited to moral issues, as it is practically impossible in the African world of his works not to go beyond 'the limit'. For one, there is no serious line of demarcation between the world of animal and human, or even between that of the living and the dead. The Africans of Tutùolá's world believed and engaged, and many still believe and engage in an intermingling of what Plato refers to as the world of ideas and the world of the physical, or what religionists would call the spiritual and physical worlds.

125 TUTÙOLÁ 'RESURFACES' IN ITALY: An Exegesis of Alessandra di Maio's recent book on Amos Tutùolá

Finally, it is the ability, or at least a manifested attempt, to leap beyond the frontier either imaginatively or physically that makes an individual unique. This is certainly what distinguishes a creative genius who may be writer, scientist, philosopher, or discoverer from the rest of us. Herein lies the significance of the Amos Tutùolá phenomenon. This is what Alessandro's work reminds us. The author's simple, free-flowing, arresting style make the work quite engaging, just as its author comes across as a writer of great potential.

Bibliography

Obiechina, Emmanuel N. "Amos Tutuola and the Oral Tradition." Presence Africain, 65:1965.

Owómóyelá, Oye(kàn Amos Tutuola Revisited, New York: Tawyne Publishers, 1999.

Title: TUTÙOLÁ AT THE UNIVERSITY: The Italian Voice of a Yorùbá Ancestor

Author: Alessandra di Maio

Publisher: Bulzoni Editore, Rome.

Reviewer: Jàre Àjàyí

126 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

Débò Kòtún

Dr. Fall had just completed the first round of the retinal image test when Ademola entered the room. With the retinal scanner, Fall had sent a beam of low- intensity near-infrared light through Jason's pupils, illuminating the retina. The blood vessels did not respond to light as expected; they should have absorbed more light than the surrounding tissue. Fall couldn't understand why. The scanner must be defective, he concluded. "Dr. Ademola, I'm going to be here longer than I thought. I'd appreciate it if I could be left alone. This machine has never failed before. So, I've decided to try another one. Give me another forty minutes or so."

"Is it okay for the patient's parents to come and spend just a couple of minutes with him?"

"As long as they do it while I set up the machine."

"I'll get a nurse to bring them right away."

Johnson was at his desk when Ademola entered. "Sit down," he said in Yoruba.

Ademola stood transfixed. In the seven years since he had known the old physician he had never seen him look older and more distant. Johnson seemed cloaked in the vestment of a sojourner who had just received a missive from the gods. He seemed troubled. "One changes the course of destiny with one's hands. I'm about to make the most important decision yet. My life is no longer in the hands of the gods," he said cryptically.

Ademola stared at his mentor.

Johnson's essence radiated a waning hope. He got up, and with subdued humility asked Ademola, "Have you ever pondered about life?"

"Yes." Ademola wondered why the man seemed troubled.

127 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

"I wish to share my deep thoughts with you, son." Johnson cleared his throat and his expression became solemn. "From the beginning of time we have always known God exists. But we worship other deities. In our desire to be like God, who created all living things, we create our own gods to ease our simple, imperfect minds whenever the chores of living prove difficult. Our inordinate yearning to be like the Creator underscores our imperfection. It is this dichotomy that fuels human schizophrenia that in turn fuels our inner torments. Do I sound like a plebeian village philosopher?" He studied Ademola.

"No, but I fail to see how this connects to Jason."

"Not directly, but ultimately it does. Fifty years ago, after I graduated at the top of my class from Johns Hopkins Medical School, all sort of hell broke loose. It was bad enough being the only Negro there, but being better than all my classmates was another thing. It was even worse during the three years I spent in the army. Being the best was not good enough on account of the color of my skin. At the end of my third year I became so disillusioned and frustrated that I knew I had to get away for a while. That's how I ended up in Africa, in search of a higher meaning to my existence. Like you, I am an Abiku. My mother had three children that died before the age of two. I was the last, and I believe she sacrificed her life for mine." He sighed, eye shut, as though he needed to rid himself of an inner torment.

Ademola felt a deeper connection to his mentor.

"My mother died right after I was born, and my father believed that I was the cause of her death. He never forgave me. He never loved me. Smart as I was, I didn't know who I was until I arrived at Abeokuta."

"Why there of all places?"

"Good question, son. I've asked myself the same thing over the years, but the answer has eluded me. However, I believe there's a mysterious power within the rocks of Olumo, which loom over the township, where people worship anything that presents itself in a cryptic, non-empirical form. As a young man with Western sensibilities, I castigated the people and their beliefs as simple-minded, atheistic, and superstitious. I quickly discovered how wrong I was after meeting the blind

128 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

diviner who allowed me to experience the Yoruba belief in spiritualism. As an acolyte, I was allowed to enter the forbidden cave atop the hills, and son, that was one thing I would not exchange for all the riches in the world. I paid the price with my left eye but it was worth it." He sat down to face Ademola. "Seven of us, including your father, spent twenty-one years under the tutelage of the old master. I learned not only to appreciate the fact that my presence in this world is not an accident but that I was sent here for a specific purpose. I felt connected to a people, a culture and belief that existed on a spiritual level. I became challenged, and ultimately, filled with a sense of direction. Knowing who I was filled me with self- pride. And over the years, I have come to believe that therein lies the difference between Africans and black folks here in America, or shall I say African- Americans. This latest nomenclature is but another stage in the ongoing social metamorphosis that our people are going through. We have gone from slaves, to niggers, Negroes, blacks, Afro-Americans, Akatas, and now, African-Americans. The rest of the world must be weary of us by now. But when the butterfly finally emerges, it will bring forth a mind-numbing surprise."

"What do you mean?" Ademola asked.

"Of all the people in the world, the black folks in the Americas are quite different from the rest of mankind." He became silent for a while. His countenance grew somber. When he spoke, his voice reverberated with divine strength. "No other people have been so challenged and re-created as us. After all, it was the strongest among the African slaves who survived the terrifying journey across the ocean. And the strongest among those that arrived here survived the brutal near- genocidal attacks by their owners, who were also the strongest and smartest among their people. And when the two became one through crossbreeding, the inevitable result was a progeny stronger and smarter than the seeds. Yes, man re-created what God must've intended when He made the Africans in the Americas. The rest of the world needs to hurry up and see what happens when the butterfly emerges. And this is where Jason connects. That little boy's presence here, your being chased out of Nigeria, getting shot in Brooklyn, meeting and marrying Simone, who was the instrument of our association all these things are not mere happenstance or coincidence, my son. And that's why we must be careful where we go from here. They are all parts of a mosaic."

An inexplicable uneasiness enveloped Ademola. He searched his mentor's eye for meaning but none came.

129 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

Johnson's face was expressionless.

Just then, Dr. Fall hurried through the door and glared at Ademola. "I have the results of the test." His chest heaved as though he was having difficulty breathing. "What the hell is going on?"

"Sit down, Dr. Fall," Johnson said calmly.

"Not before I show you what I found. Come down to the lab and see." He turned around and exited the room.

As soon as Fall got to the ophthalmology laboratory he set up his apparatus. Ademola and Johnson came in and took their seats. Without wasting any time Fall turned off the lights. His neck showed thick and tense. "I want you to pay attention to the screen." He stepped backwards to press the switch on the lower side of the white screen. A computer-generated image appeared. "This is a normal human fovea centralis, the center of the retina. It gives the sharpest vision. The eye is like a camera and the retina acts as a living photographic film. When "

"Dr. Fall, this is all pretty basic. What's your point?" Ademola demanded.

"You dragged me out of bed, Dr. Ademola. The least I expect from you is to let me explain my findings my way."

"We don't have the time to be re-educated on the mechanics of the human eye. Tell us what you found out."

"I don't appreciate your interruptions, Dr. Ademola. As I was saying "

The door swung open and hurried footsteps echoed in the dark. "You can't go in there, sir," a female voice said.

"The hell I can't "

"What's going on here?" Fall switched on the light.

130 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

Johnson remained seated, resembling a king expecting a visitation from his subjects. He pointed to a couple of chairs nearby. "Have a seat, Mr. McFlarthey. You too, Mrs. McFlarthey." He waved the beleaguered nurse away.

Sixty-one-year-old William McFlarthey remained on his feet, towering over Johnson. At six feet five inches tall, his broad shoulders and muscular arms made him look like a football player. His face was angular, his neck thick. McFlarthey's graying blond hair was brushed back. He had a recently acquired tan that made him look even more handsome in old age than during his younger years. His raw energy seemed tempered by good living. William McFlarthey was one of the most powerful men in the world, a man not used to being told what to do.

"Dr. Fall, here are Jason's father and mother. Please, have a seat, Mr. McFlarthey," said Johnson simply.

"The McFlarthey media empire?" Fall asked in awe.

Kathleen nodded. She sat down and gently tugged at her husband's sleeve. He did likewise, letting her ease him down though with pronounced reluctance.

Fall turned off the light and approached the screen. "Compare the human eye to a camera wherein the retina is the film; everything it sees, it should be able to record. The eye should perform just like that, but it doesn't." He pressed a button at the bottom of the screen. A multitude of dots and striations appeared. "This picture was the first image observed on Jason's retina an hour ago." He pressed the button again. The picture disappeared and was replaced by another that looked like the one before. Again, he pressed the button and the picture disappeared and then reappeared. All the previous pictures of dots and striations appeared on the screen in squared boxes side by side. Fall started to perspire as he crossed over to the left side of the screen and pointed to the top layer of the first box. "This was Jason's ganglion cell layer at twelve-fifty this morning when the first picture of his retinal image was taken. Don't bother to count the number of dots here. Believe me, there's a difference. The last box, the picture of the same spot on his retina, taken an hour after the first shot, has eighteen more dots than the first. The same difference is evidenced in the densely packed bipolar which is the layer directly below the ganglion cells. Now, it's on the vertically arranged photoreceptor that the most significant aberration is observed. Pay close attention to this one." He touched a single line among the cluster. "With the help of magnified optography, I

131 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

decoded the hidden meaning of this line. I never believed the notion that the eyes could contain the portrait

"I believe we've heard enough, Dr. Fall." Johnson's voice thundered as he snapped the light switch. Everybody's attention turned to his empty chair. They all looked surprised by the swiftness of his movement and stared at him standing by the door. "Thank you, Dr. Fall. Dr. Ademola, make sure the McFlartheys visit Jason. Then, bring them to my office. We have lots of work to do before sunrise."

Ademola was the only one in the room who as much as blinked. The others stared at where Johnson stood seconds before he exited the room.

"Mr. and Mrs. McFlarthey, if you would follow me I'll escort you to the PICU." Ademola's voice snatched them back to consciousness and they followed him, leaving Fall glued to the spot in a zombie-like state.

Jason lay still. Alone in the room, his breathing was forced. The ceiling lights above his bed dimmed. Three luminous forms hovered around the fluorescent lamps. They stopped moving and peered down. Enveloped in a gray halo were newborn babies ranging from a few hours old to two days old. The oldest weighed eleven pounds and she was sucking her right thumb. Her almond-shaped eyes were old. Her supple skin was wrinkled, just like all newborn babies.

Farthest from the girl was a black child. He was restless. At two hours old, his curly jet-black hair made him look older and solemn. His eyes were big, black, and piercing.

Floating between the two was the third baby, a six-hundred-gram day-old brown neonate. His body was a network of wrinkles. He looked prunish, deathly. He twisted involuntarily, eyes shut as the lips parted to expose a dark crimson tongue. "Is he still alive?"

"Of course he is," snapped the black baby.

"We wait!" the Asian baby said with finality.

I love you, pumpkin," Kathleen whispered into her son's ear. "So do dad and

132 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

your baby brother inside me." She felt a kick from within. "Maybe I should've said sister." She smiled nervously, staring at the death mask that was Jason's face. "Mother of Jesus! Why? It's the same thing all over." Her voice sounded hollow as tears snaked down her cheeks. "William, I think Jason is "

McFlarthey dashed to the side of the bed. His strong legs began to shake. "Is he still alive?" He wiped tears off his face.

Kathleen nodded yes.

"I can't bear another death in the family. What on earth is going on?" His voice was barely audible. "Please, God, don't take my Jason away," he prayed.

McFlarthey had every reason to be worried and sad. Two years after graduating from Harvard he had inherited the richest and most powerful media conglomerate in the world. Soon after, he married the beautiful daughter of an Irish industrialist and they had a son that was the spitting image of his father. McFlarthey was not only rich and powerful, he was happy. Then one day, disaster struck. His wife and son were killed in a plane crash while on a visit to Ireland. He naturally mourned the death, but being a realist, he knew he had to get married again. There was just too much family history and heritage to be left to strangers. He needed to have a son to be groomed to follow in his footsteps. A year after the death of his wife and son, he met Kathleen, a twenty-eight-year-old with blue eyes and blond hair of Irish descent, who had just earned her doctorate degree in Anthropology from Columbia University. The courtship was brief. They married three months later, and nine months after their wedding their daughter, Elizabeth, was born. Fifteen-month-old Elizabeth was brought to Children's Hospital where she died a few hours later. The cause of death was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Now it looked as though tragedy was about to strike again.

McFlarthey watched Jason's chest and started to pray. Suddenly there was a change in the sound of the EKG monitor. Everything slipped into fast-forward. The dot on the monitor sped up leaving in its trail a luminous line as it disappeared on the right side of the screen only to reappear with the same flattened line on the left side.

"Dear God, he's fibrillating!" Kathleen screamed.

133 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

A nurse rushed in and pressed a button on the wall. The p.a. system came alive: Code Blue, PICU 2; Code&

Kathleen stood frozen beside the bed, her right hand covering her mouth, the left tight against the lower part of her bulging stomach.

McFlarthey watched Ademola and several nurses hover over Jason as they took turns performing all types of life-saving activities on his son.

Johnson and Ademola looked like father and son in the middle of a family discussion. There was love and wisdom in the voice of the older man. "I wish I could let you go to Nigeria in my place," Johnson said.

"I wouldn't know where to go."

"I've already made the arrangements. Dr. Awoyinka, who was also one of the seven acolytes that our master trained will meet me at Lagos airport and " He was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Please come in," he said.

McFlarthey and his wife strode in and took their seats facing Johnson. "I need answers fast. What on earth is going on?" McFlarthey demanded.

"Everything in due course."

"But, Doctor"

"Please!" Johnson's hypnotic stare chilled McFlarthey. "You have valid passports, I assume. We'll leave for Nigeria tomorrow evening yes, Mrs. McFlarthey?"

"Don't you think you're assuming a little too much? You're making arrangements for us to go to Africa while our son is dying, not to mention my pregnancy." Kathleen ruffled up like a bantam hen.

Johnson's eye narrowed but his voice remained soft. "Mrs. McFlarthey, I assure you, I'm not assuming anything. However, there is no technology in this

134 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

hospital capable of saving your son. Correct me if I'm wrong; you had a daughter who died under similar circumstance, didn't you?"

"Yes, from SIDS."

"SIDS, Crib Death. Elizabeth, Jason, and the baby inside you are one and the same."

"What do you mean?"

"They're Abikus."

"Oh, my God! Not theYoruba Abiku?" Kathleen's face looked painted with chalk.

"What the hell is Arbeecoo?" McFlarthey snapped.

Kathleen clutched her husband's arm. "It makes sense, William. I know about the they are children born to die and born again only to die again. But I thought it happens only among the Yorubas?"

Johnson shrugged, eye locked onto McFlarthey's. "It does. But then, maybe it doesn't. The issue here is that Jason is an Abiku. And a special one at that."

McFlarthey stirred like a chained Great Dane.

"What makes you think Jason is an Abiku?" Kathleen asked, struggling, disbelief in her voice.

"In due course, Mrs. McFlarthey. Meanwhile, you and your husband need to fully appreciate the importance and urgency of the matter. If you don't get to Nigeria and carry out the necessary rituals, Jason's chances of survival are nil and you'll face a childless future."

"I beg your pardon? But how can we take Jason to Africa in his present condition?" McFlarthey asked.

135 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

"You can, with me."

"You? We need an entire staff. Didn't you see how my son is connected to all those machines?"

"I am not only one of the best doctors here, I am also a diviner, having spent twenty-one years in Nigeria to become one."

McFlarthey swung himself around as if to attack. "That's it. I've heard enough of this poppycock. I can't believe we're sitting here listening to "

"William, please, the mythology of Abiku exists among the Yorubas of Nigeria. I should know. I spent years with the people while I was working on my doctoral dissertation," Kathleen pleaded.

"I need to use your phone," McFlarthey snapped.

Johnson nodded and McFlarthey grabbed the receiver, dialed and waited. "Give me Richard Stormier in the Research department." His thick eyebrows rose. "Yes, Richard, this is McFlarthey. I need you to do a full background check on a Dr. William Doss Johnson and Dr. O-l-a-w-o-le A-d-e-m-o-l-a& Children's Hospital& Yes, do that& Also find out what the heck is the mythology of " He turned to his wife and whispered, "How do you spell that word again?"

Johnson wrote A-B-I-K-U and Y-O-R-U-B-A on a piece of paper and handed it to McFlarthey, who relayed the information to his employee. "Yes, Richard, everything. Bring it to the hospital& Good idea." He hung up and his blank expression changed, eyes narrowed and lips pressed against each other. He stared past Ademola at Johnson, his countenance dark. "I need to know what this is all about."

"From what I know about the mythology of Abiku, the phenomenon occurs only among the Yorubas of West Africa, doesn't it?" Kathleen asked.

"Generally speaking, yes," Johnson said, not looking away from McFlarthey.

"Then why do you think Jason's case is what you claim it to be?" McFlarthey

136 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

demanded gruffly.

"Here we are, William and I, we're both Caucasian. There's not a drop of African blood in us," Kathleen added.

Johnson sat back and smiled. "How far back in your genealogy did you check to make such a statement?"

Her face was bewildered. "Both my father and grandfather have blue eyes and blond hair. So do William's."

"Perhaps we should look at it from a different perspective." Johnson got on his feet and went to lock the door. "This country is presently the center of gravity. Millions of people from all over the world are flocking here. They all gravitate here to partake of the promise of a better life. What in the world makes you believe that only human beings of this world are attracted here? Is it just a coincidence that there have been more UFO sightings in America than anywhere else?"

Kathleen seemed about to break into hysterical laughter.

"UFOs landing in America in search of a better life? Are you out of your mind?"

Johnson walked back and forth. All three in the room watched him. "I didn't say that. Listen. Every couple of thousand years, the center of gravity shifts. It was Europe. Before that, it was Africa. Now it's North America. Soon it's going to shift to another continent. That's an absolute certainty. Where next, nobody knows. What you call UFOs are not just the abstract Unidentified Flying Objects beaming down in their flying machines. The real UFOs are the Jasons and Ademolas of this world. The Yorubas believe that there's another world out there inhabited by intelligent and beautiful children. These children are called Abikus."

Ademola cleared his throat.

Johnson smiled. "Here in the West we call the phenomenon Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, in total ignorance. The Yorubas know about these children. They know the symptomatology and the treatment. They can identify them. And they

137 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

know how to stop them from going back home. But most importantly, they respect them enough to worship them. The Abikus, like twins, are revered by the Yorubas. Do you think it's only coincidental that one out of every four twin births in the world are among the Yorubas?"

"Is that a fact?" McFlarthey looked astonished.

"Absolutely. The fact that the Yorubas worship the Abikus and twins does not make the phenomena exclusively theirs. The Yorubas only have a better handle on them. Their worship of the shrines of twins is not unlike the Cancer Centers in the United States. The reason cancer patients are brought here from all over the world is because the phenomenon is better understood and better treated here than elsewhere."

Kathleen leaned forward and frowned. "Dr. Johnson, that's comparing modern technology with native mythology. Isn't that like comparing apples and oranges?"

With majestic severity, Johnson said, "Is it? Mrs. McFlarthey, modern technology and native mythology have one thing in common. Belief! Without it, there is neither mythology nor technology."

The telephone shrilled. Ademola answered it and handed the receiver to McFlarthey.

"Yes, Richard?" His voice became more authoritative. "Bring it here right away& No, do it yourself& In the office of the Chief of Staff." He hung up and smiled. "Your achievements are impressive, Dr. Johnson. Impressive indeed. But I'm not sold yet."

"I'm not trying to sell you anything, Mr. McFlarthey. The decision to take Jason to Nigeria is not yours to make." Johnson leaned forward in his chair. His eye bored into McFlarthey's. "That decision was made before Jason came into this world. Call it his life script, if you will."

"What the devil is that supposed to mean?" McFlarthey asked. "Who is this one-eyed black man?" he pondered as his discomfort soared. He felt the intensity of Johnson's numinous gaze, whose soul seemed to regard McFlarthey with

138 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

serenity.

Johnson cleared his throat. "We need to proceed right away. Time is speeding off from us." He got up and took a cylindrical abstract terracotta object out of a concealed safe in the wall behind his desk. He closed the door of the safe and covered it with a framed oil painting. He gently placed the six-and-a-half-inch tall figure on the desk, stroking the sacred Aroye Pot: an elaborately decorated spiritual vessel that displayed a medium-relief image of a horned human head with its tongue protruding from a gaping mouth. Sixteen rosette centers with mica mirrors encircled the vessel.

"What is that?" McFlarthey asked.

Johnson turned the vessel so its human head faced the McFlartheys. The bulging left eye was the darkest shade of brown that made it look black and the right was deep yellow. Kathleen gasped and looked away, twisting the diamonds on her finger. She whispered, "Please put that thing away," not meeting the black- and-yellow stare of the terracotta head.

"You need not be afraid of it," Johnson said reassuringly.

"Is this some kind of a game?" Kathleen asked.

"This is not a game! The enormity of it is incomprehensible outside the Abiku world. The death of Elizabeth, the possibility of Jason's death, and that of the baby you carry, these are not accidents. There are opposing forces at work. Now listen. What I'm about to tell you is of enormous importance!"

McFlarthey looked into Johnson's hypnotic face.

"Mrs. McFlarthey, I want you to touch the eyes, one at a time. Go on, touch them."

Kathleen looked paralyzed by fear. Her chest heaved, betraying the speed at which her heart was racing. She hesitated, looking confused as though unable to identify the source of her fear. With a trembling right hand she touched the brown eye, then the yellow. She jerked her hand back and stared at Johnson.

139 Abiku: An Excerpt from the Novel

He returned her gaze. "You won't need anything on your trip but these. They are not eyes. The brown one is kola nut, and the yellow is kaolin. Over a thousand years ago they were used as sacrificial offerings to ward off evil spirits. They have acquired great power over the millennium." Then he grew silent, floating off into a private reverie, staring at the fetish on his desk. He nodded abruptly to Ademola. "Take the kola nut and the kaolin with your left hand and place them together on your right palm."

Ademola did.

Kathleen opened her mouth to say something, but before any sound emerged from her trembling lips, the room darkened. The darkness turned licorice-colored, accompanied by a gentle wind that blew in through the window. The sound of a funeral procession filled the room, supplanting the noise of New York traffic and pedestrians.

McFlarthey shivered in the dark.

Ademola's right hand became luminous and the kaolin and kola nut in the middle of his palm began to throb evenly as if breathing. The luminosity concentrated on the kaolin, glowing and pulsating. Then the wind stopped and the light came back. Ademola closed his hand into a fist, covering the fetishes, his whole presence becoming even more powerful and protective.

"Dr. Ademola will accompany you and your wife to Jason's room," Johnson said as though oblivious of what had just taken place. "The power at your disposal must be used with the highest degree of prudence. You must realize and appreciate the first rule. You're a temporary custodian of the power that joins the two distinct yet inseparable realms of the Yoruba Cosmos, Orun and Aiye. Humans, not of the Abiku world, should not I repeat SHOULD NOT be allowed to come into contact with the kola nut and kaolin either separately or together. The consequence is death. The power increases with time."

"What do I have to do?" Ademola eyed the objects in his palm with trepidation.

"First, go downstairs to Jason's room and do the following: send everybody

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except the McFlartheys out of the room " He stopped to look at the door as though expecting someone to barge in. He smiled faintly. "When it's safe, place the kola nut on the center of Jason's forehead. Keep it there for not more than thirty seconds. Replace it with the kaolin for sixty seconds. Then put them together for safekeeping. Afterwards you can all go home, catch some sleep and the McFlartheys can prepare to depart with me in the evening. Dr. Ademola will procure the required Nigerian visas. Give him your passports. Good luck."

With that Johnson bid them goodbye.

Before McFlarthey exited the office, he looked over his shoulder as Johnson's numinous voice echoed: "Our destinies are at stake. We must be careful, my friend. Goodbye."

Débò Kòtún is the author of Abiku CA: Nepotist Press, 1998. He is currently working on his second novel, DaRos,a.

141 (In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s-1990s

(In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s-1990s

Faola Ifagboyede

California State University, Northridge

This paper will illuminate the Yoruba movement in the U.S. founded by Oba Oseijeman Adefunmi I who is the first African American born in the U.S. to be initiated into the Yoruba priesthood. An examination of the Yorubas in the U.S. in relation to the rise of Dr. Martin Luther King's civil rights movement that also began in the 1950s will explore the dauntless task of addressing the African American racial and cultural identity malady identified by sociologist W.E. B. DuBois as double consciousness: (1) A civil rights agenda based on King's vision of an inalienable right to pursue educational, employment, housing opportunities, and other civil liberties on an equal basis with white Americans or (2) the re- creation of cultural habits based on an approach from a traditional African perspective? DuBois' double consciousness theory as it relates to black-face minstrels in the U.S. will be utilized to illustrate the extent that the bifurcation process of Americanization damaged the racial psyche of African Americans

When slavery ended at the close of the Civil War in 1865, the captives emerged culturally blind and viewed their indigenous African heritage as an extinct relic of "primitive savagery" resulting in what sociologist W. E. B. DuBois defined as double consciousness. Not only were the freed bondsmen alienated from their mother countries, but they were also estranged from captives taken to other parts of the New World.1 The host country serves as the filter by which those in the diaspora measure the authenticity of their racial heritage. The greater the contact those in the diaspora have with the homeland the more intact their ethnic and cultural identities are likely to be. Conversely, the more the disassociation with the home country experienced by the diaspora population, the greater the erosion of customs, ethnicity, and culture. Assimilation into the host country is the desired norm. Although factors such as environment and political considerations can disrupt the interchange with the home country, the diaspora will only cease to have

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meaning if the idea of an ancestral home is totally lost.2 In the case of the U. S. population, not only was the idea of an ancestral home lost to the former slaves and their descendants, but the nature of the U. S. slave system itself was not conducive to maintaining ties with the homeland. This was in great part due to the drastically changed diet that strict and ancient religious customs were dependent upon, and the unfamiliar climate of the North American continent.3 Whereas, other major slave distribution countries; namely, Cuba, Brazil, Surinam, Haiti, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico maintained a rich cultural exchange with West Africa during the era of slavery, and after it ended, contact between the homeland and slaves in the U. S. was almost entirely severed.4 After the Civil war ended in 1865 and lasting until the rise of the civil rights and Yoruba movements in the 1950s, African Americans in the U. S. were left to view the indigenous homeland through a prism of extrinsic, distorted images that were about them, but not innately from them.

Prior to the outset of the era of slavery beginning in the sixteenth century, European imagery depicting African people was not based on prejudicial racial stereotypes but on their lifestyles ranging from depictions of everyday normal activities, warrior images, images of servants and entertainers, to images of black or 'mixed' Pharaohs.5 In antiquity, the color black did not carry the ominous and racist aura that it later came to have during and after the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Washington observed that "Robert Gainish, John Lok, William Towerson and the entire company which first regularized trade with Africa, good Christians all, returned from Guinea bearing more than slaves and gold. As surely as they deposited gold on English shores they impressed upon English minds their very definite judgments about black people." 6 The first of many racist images that questioned the humanity of African people and depicted them as beasts without any redeeming qualities surfaced along with the rise of the slave trade. Armpit hair, genitalia, fleshiness of the buttocks, width of the nostrils, hair texture, skin coloring, and the intelligence of African people were put under a racial magnifying glass and tediously scrutinized for any similarities to animals. The overwhelming consensus was that African people shared similar traits, physiognomies, and anatomies with animals ranging from domesticated goats to wild apes. Edward Long freely acknowledged the alleged link between African people and the animal species in his pseudoscientific writings. He wrote, "[African people's] & faculties of smell are truly bestial, nor less their commerce with the other sexes; in these acts they are libidinous and shameless as monkeys, or baboons. The equally hot temperament of their women has given probability to the charge of their admitting these animals frequently to their embrace."7

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Although the image of the beast was the most potent and dangerous representation associated with the freed slaves, several others merit comment. Centuries old representations of the former slaves as ungodly and savage left them open to the whims of a frontier America whose independence and freedom coincided with irrational racism. Images of Africans against a backdrop of jungle plants and animals were often depicted in popular and commercial art. "The iconography of Africans as savages was determined by the association with nature and flora---often the kind of wild and overwhelming landscape which makes humans appear small."8 The image of Africans as ungodly pagans destined through a biblical curse to remain in a position of perpetual servitude was widely circulated and embedded in the ethno-centrist outlook of white America.9 Not ready to recognize their chattel slaves as human beings and equal citizens, America incorporated these primary images--beastliness, savagery, and ungodliness--into the very framework and infrastructure of America's legal system, popular culture, and religious institutions. "Books such as Charles Carrol, The Negro a Beast (1900) and R. W. Shufeldt, MD, America's Greatest Problem: The Negro (1915), expressed the racist backlash."10 At the close of the Civil War, America did not only reformulate the humanity of the freed slaves but also sought to define itself in relation to millions of ex-slaves that they must now accept as equals or relegate to a caste system that was inherently racist in ideology. The latter was chosen and subsequently a bombardment of theories circulated throughout American popular culture supporting images that purported ex-slaves to be an inferior race of people and deserving of the ensuing laws and attitudes revolving around lynching, share cropping, racial segregation, Jim Crowism, and the gamut of all that it means to be a second-class citizen in the land of one's birth.

Because theatre was the popular entertainment of the day, it served as an ideal conduit to popularize and disperse distorted racist images pertaining to the African race. Although rubbing burnt cork on the face to darken the skin when portraying African characters is a European theatrical tradition, this did not become popular in the United States until the 1860s when blackface minstrels became a mainstay of national popular culture that lasted well into the 20th century.11 White entertainers blacked up their faces with soot or burnt cork and donned a distorted stage persona of what they alleged were true enactments of the plantation slave community. Traveling throughout the U.S. and internationally, "white" blackface minstrel performers portrayed ex-slaves as a people of profound stupidity and uncontained emotion. Toll described the event as a ludicrous imitation of what white America

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perceived to be the dominant traits of African people. "They burst on stage in makeup which gave the impression of huge eyes and gaping mouths. They dressed in ill-fitting patchwork clothes, and spoke in heavy "nigger" dialects. Once on stage, they could not stay still for an instant. Even while sitting, they contorted their bodies, cocked their heads, rolled their eyes, and twisted their outstretched legs."12 Needless to say, these stage impressions of a people whose humanity was simultaneously deemed subhuman, savage, and ungodly were extremely damaging to any concept of a cohesive ethnic identity. The former slaves and their racial identity were placed in an even more precarious position than legalized slavery. The minstrel messages penetrated deeply into every strata of American society probing and questioning whether African people were of the human race.

For their part, African American performers attempted to address the putrid images of the minstrel show through a focused and unwavering resistance. Krasner explained, "Black representation in the performing arts is rooted in a tradition of resistance to generations of white image makers."13 The images that "white" blackface minstrel performers inundated into the psyche of America through constant performances of distorted "black" representations twisted and hammered out an American rationale that justified the murderous lynching of thousands of freedmen during the early part of the 20th century. The images further consigned the entire African population to a marginalized existence of shame and humiliation about their ethnic identity. The following attitudes formatted as questions help to define the impact of white America's unbridled racism on African Americans: Did the demands of the white audiences who relied on the minstrel performers perceptions of African people actually filter down to the former slaves themselves? Were these false perceptions the foundation on which the freedmen themselves resisted as racist yet ultimately embraced and identified with? The answer to both of the above questions is a resounding yes and serves to shed some light on why a cancerous blanket of self-hatred engulfed the African American mind from Reconstruction to the mid-1950s.

When the slaves entered the post-slavery workforce, there were only two occupations open to them: servitude and entertainment. Those who became entertainers were required by the status quo to cast themselves into an imitation of what "white" blackface minstrel performers called plantation "niggerisms." Beginning in the 1860s, ex-slaves entering the entertainment industry applied burnt cork to their own dark skins and took to the stage in a strange admixture of confrontation, resistance, and parody. In an ironic flux of unwitting racial betrayal,

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the "black" blackface minstrels readily and willingly participated in the dangerous "game" of denigrating their own racial identity. Although African American minstrel histrionics were invented to entertain, rationalize, justify, and bring to life white America's illogical racist laws and ethnocentric attitudes, the "black" blackface performer had a covertly veiled hidden agenda which was to restore a measure of dignity to the stolen and trampled image of African people. Their mission was to resist, challenge, and de-script the "white" false images and perceptions on the humanism of African people against an ingrained American kaleidoscope of comic "nigger" humor.

Thus, African American performers were forced to negotiate between representations of the "authentic" self and representations of blackness fixed in the minds of audiences accustomed to "white"-created racial smears.14 The paradox of the "black" blackface minstrel performer is easily applicable to the pre-1950s African American quest for a respected racial identity albeit by blending the derogatory images of beastliness, savagery, and ungodliness into a (re)creation of the race based on a bifurcated Americanized ideal. Noting the resulting severed and fragmented identity, DuBois wrote his famous words, "It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness---an American, a Negro; two souls in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." 15

The Rise of the Yoruba and Civil Rights Movements

The New World racial dilemma that DuBois so passionately and poignantly wrote about in his monumental work, The Souls of Black Folk, still burns deeply in the consciousness of African Americans whose racial identity remains fragmented and even more compounded with troublesome implications and ramifications associated with the distant relationship and loss of indigenous customs. Hence, Shakespeare's quixotic question "to be or not to be" is the constant irresolvable that African Americans decisively and consistently pondered.

The fifties ushered in a sedate American popular culture firmly entrenched in its racist ideology along with total control over the segregated and second class masses of African people subsisting within the dynamics of American-style apartheid. Racial attitudes of white superiority dominated in all areas of black and

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white contact as America ruthlessly enforced an oppressive mantle of racial inferiority on the African population. However, the dawning of the decade also saw African Americans stirring and uniting with a renewed resolve to resist attempts to undermine their humanity and racial origins. Keenly aware that African people were caught between the two opposing forces of double consciousness---the demand to conform to the distorted images created by minstrels and the desire to reclaim their humanity, two race leaders emerged that felt compelled to address the chronic malady related to the fragmented racial psyche of African Americans.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became an immediate race leader on December 1, 1955 after a woman named Rosa Parks refused to compromise her humanity and sit in the back of a public bus with designated segregated seating for African Americans. Under King's leadership, the Montgomery bus boycott culminated with the successful overturning of Jim Crow laws that relegated African people to segregated seating arrangements on public transportation. When the boycott ended one year later, King had become the celebrated and recognized national spokesman of African Americans and the undisputed leader of the burgeoning civil rights movement.16 The emergence of Oba Oseijeman Adefunmi I, the spearhead of Yoruba culture on U. S. soil, was far less spectacular. In 1956, the same year King was crowned by the mass media as a national spokesperson, Adefunmi took two trips out of the country. The first trip was to North-east Africa where he became enthralled with Egyptian antiquities that served to heighten his desire to know more about his African ancestry. In the later part of 1956, he took another trip to the Caribbean islands of Haiti and Cuba where he was introduced to West African indigenous culture and religion within the New World African diaspora.17 These two journeys marked the beginning of Adefunmi's affinity with indigenous African culture. Fifteen years later he established the only community in the U. S. based on traditional West African culture.

When William Bascom, Professor of Anthropology and former director of the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley traveled to Oyotunji Village in the late 1970s, he expressed surprise at the level of accurateness the residents displayed in (re)creating and (re)inventing the indigenous West African culture of their ancestors. "What is truly remarkable is the success of the community in recreating, with amazing accuracy the culture of the Yoruba of Nigeria."18 Today, Oyotunji Village, located in South Carolina's Low Country stands as a testament to the resilience of Adefunmi, who is the first African American born in the U. S. to be initiated into the Yoruba priesthood

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approximately 600 years after the inception of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.19 Along with the rebirth of traditional religious in the U.S., Adefunmi, who is a professional artist, also revived traditional religious art. Oyotunji Village enjoys an international reputation for its plethora of New World art forms. "As a result of their fervor to proclaim their African identities and their determining that [the deity] Olokun represented the profoundness of the spirituality, genius, and character of African peoples, some of the Olokun sculptural art they created exaggerated older Yoruba/Bini aesthetics and created monuments that were larger than life size."20

Adefunmi and King who were born in 1928 and 1929 respectively matured under the choke hold of American apartheid, yet these astute and intelligent men thoroughly understood the critical identity crisis plaguing African people at the outset of the 1950s. Although they addressed the inter-racial quagmire from entirely different perspectives and methodologies, both of these race leaders were equally challenged to resolve the unsettling questions revolving around the alleged inferiority and sub-humanity of African people. King tackled the angst by pursuing a civil rights agenda based on jure divino and devoutly advocated that God gave his people the right to pursue education, employment, housing, and all other civil and legal liberties on an equal basis with white America. He optimistically believed that an American society built upon the ideals of equality for all its citizenry would allow African Americans the opportunity to strive for their highest potential and would also arouse a sense of fair play from white America to implement justice on behalf of all its citizens.21 As a result of the envisioned success off this two-pronged strategy, King adamantly believed that the problem of double consciousness could alleviate itself and that African people would naturally assimilate into American society. His famous words from the "I Have a Dream" speech in which he states that someday African people "&would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin" validates this over-all thesis.22 Adefunmi, polarized at the opposite end, believed that African people could only remove the obtrusive taint of their collective inferiority complex if they "&embraced a cultural background from which they could draw."23 He made this observation after attending a Shakespearean drama that was staged with a cast of African Americans. He recalled that his disappointment with an African cast playing white characters led him to Harlem's Schomburg library where he checked out a number of books on Africa. He became interested in African history, but his immediate goal was to write plays about Africa and the diasporic experiences of African Americans so that they would not have to depend on Shakespeare

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anymore.24

An investigation of the Yoruba and civil rights movements, one virtually invisible and functioning as an outsider and the other under constant public attention and scrutiny, and striving to become an insider can help to extrapolate and examine the continuing problem of Africa America's double consciousness syndrome. Could King's vision couched in such terms as universal suffrage and integration in all areas of America's political, civil, and social liberties resolve the testy crisis surrounding the cultural and racial identity crisis of African Americans? This question exposes the crux of essential aspects of the civil rights movement that were problematic to King and which he seemingly sidestepped or avoided. Furthermore, did he consider the African homeland at all as a primary source of healing when he formulated his objectives for the civil rights movement? Lastly, did he theorize as white America did that African Americans were creolized to the degree that all connections with the homeland were severed as a result of the four hundred year separation?

Adefunmi was undaunted by the magnitude and length of the separation and set out to challenge and change the prevailing creolist view of American citizens---black and white. He advocated that African Americans were not creolized to the extent that a claim to a West African ethnic and cultural identity was forever lost in the tragedy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the subsequent four hundred years of chattel slavery. His unwavering belief that a return to traditional West African culture and de-hegemonization would best address the identity crisis motivated him to boldly embrace African customs during the late 1950s while at the same time, King was formulating his integrationist objectives for the civil rights movement. "On May 6, 1957, Adefunmi planned and carried out an African Freedom Day which consisted of a parade on horseback through Central Park and the heart of Harlem. The participants wore African garments made by Adefunmi himself. The parade launched him as a cultural leader, and from that point on, he was a recognized leader and was called upon to speak and plan various activities."25

After his 1959 initiation into Santo as a member of the Yoruba priesthood of Obatala at Mantazas, Cuba, Adefunmi returned to New York consumed with the task of (de)assimilating the African American psyche from its gravitational pull toward the values, mores, and culture of western civilization. He believed there was an acute need for African Americans to (de)assimilate the mind and (re)invent

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their West African culture if there was to be any rehabilitation of their fragmented identity. "After he was initiated into Santo, he opened the Shango Temple, later named the Yoruba Temple, and began to wear Yoruba clothing. He made a rule that no one could enter the Temple unless they wore African clothes. The simplest form was the dashiki which he introduced in 1960."26

The external debate of whether African Americans were creolized to the degree that their West African roots were no longer important, discernible, or identifiable is well documented in the polemic between Melville Herskovits and E. Franklin Frazier. Herskovits and Frazier who are two leading proponents of the creolist school advanced opposing theses on the question of whether any West African customs survived in the

U. S. According to the creolists, the U.S. slave population and their descendants did not share a common culture and their customs, religious beliefs, dialects, and social structures varied too greatly to influence ethnic and cultural cohesiveness.27 While Herskovits agreed that traditional African culture had been severely eroded, he nevertheless analyzed that some degree of traditional African culture had survived.28 Conversely, Frazier who is of an extremely conservative creolist persuasion expounded that all cultural remnants of the indigenous culture had been destroyed in the melee of slavery and in effect the West African heritage had little or nothing to do with the present African American population in the U.S.29 It is to the revisionists with their emphasis on the continuities in African history and the layered metamorphosis of that history as it relates to diaspora populations in the New World that Adefunmi's Yoruba movement is most closely aligned, while King's ideology is more compatible with Frazier's conservative creolization analysis.

Rather than reach back to Africa for confirmation and healing of their battered and fragmented social identity, King swayed his followers to believe that they should pursue an idealized American dream based on their collaborative efforts to enter American society via the objectives of self-respect, high moral standards, leadership, nonviolence, and a wholehearted work ethic.30 "Martin defined the black freedom struggle as an American movement, or, as he said at the March on Washington, 'a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.'"31 In his early career, King also recognized, expressed, and exhibited solidarity with Nigeria, Ghana, and other oppressed and colonized countries in Africa in the mutual struggle for human rights, but his Protestant background and upbringing were too thoroughly

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embedded in Southern Baptist Christian doctrines to allow him to embrace authentic African beliefs and customs. King was born into a line of civil rights leaders and inherited the powerful legacies of his grandfather and father who were also prominent Baptist ministers in the Atlanta African American community. "Home and church were the most important influences upon the early life of Martin King, Jr. In both contexts, he was introduced to the integrationist values of protest, accommodation, self-help, and optimism as they were related to the religious themes of justice, love, obedience, and hope." 32

Like African scholars who create artificial historical boundaries because they fail to study African Americans from their collective diasporic experience as a transition, and yet a continuum of African history, did King create further fragmentation among the masses by further alienating them from the fountain of their traditional African origins? Today, we look around and can see African Americans holding prominent positions throughout American government and in all areas of the professional and business sectors. In fact, the National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell are African Americans serving in the administration of President George W. Bush. This reality can be presented in two observations: (1) King's dream is an undisputed fact for African Americans, and (2) it is a vehicle for white America to use as a tool of convenience to promote its international post-fifties political, legal, and social platforms of integration, ethnic tolerance, and equality. Although both of these observations are true as America and its African American citizenry are witnessing tremendous reforms in all areas of social liberties, equality, and civil integration, there is something horribly amiss with the outcome equation. A Los Angeles Times article reported that internecine urban warfare has taken the lives of thousands of African American men and women in this country. 33 This mayhem began during the 1970s when young African American gangs such as the infamous Crips and Bloods gangs were beginning their rise to street power in poor inner city urban areas just as King's civil rights movement was gaining momentum in terms of a noticeable increase in African American social, political, and professional involvement in American society. Crouch's disturbing commentary questions the validity of the civil rights movement. He theorizes that African Americans are slaughtering each other in their own communities due to a "&crisis of ethnic identity that infects not only the black lower class but too many of the black middle class young as well."34

The disparity existing between those that have actually assimilated into

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American society as a direct result of King's vision and the masses of African Americans that continue to exist in a pseudo-integrated but marginalized and unequal society cannot justify the taking of even one life due to the unresolved identity crisis that continues to ask the haunting question: Who am I? The mere fact that the Bloods and Crips gangs base their internecine hatred on the colors red and blue causes one to speculate: If the Bloods (red) and the Crips (blue) were aware that from an indigenous cultural perspective red and blue represent profound cosmological concepts in terms of West African traditions and are the colors used to venerate powerful Yoruba divinities, would U.S. African American youth still wantonly murder each other in respect to these colors? Hence, did King's civil rights philosophy unknowingly feed into the double consciousness syndrome and further divide the African American psyche with yet another layer of self-imposed (de)Africanizations and consequently add to a more intense bifurcation problem of multiple identities and thereby manufacture an even greater schismatic alienation?

Although the importance and relevance of an African background is recognized in the U.S. and slave descendants use the racially envogue nomenclature African American, it was not until the advent of Adefunmi's Yoruba movement that a historical correlation between the indigenous homeland and the diaspora population in the U.S. was identified and the (re)invention and (re)creation of the "authentic" culture began to take a recognizable form. The primary contention of the creolist school articulates that the process of enslavement itself coupled with the passing on of earlier generations born in Africa and their non replacement with a continual supply of fresh slaves coming directly from the homeland helped to destroy West African customs in the U.S. However, the revisionist school believes that the above approach is negligible because it is founded on assumptions that do not include the African component.

The revisionists explain that historians must view New World slavery as a continuum in the over-all evolution of West African people, their culture, and history. Lovejoy explains, "&from the perspective of Africa, therefore, it is fruitful to examine the condition of slaves in the Americas on the basis that they were still Africans, despite their chattel status, the deracination that accompanied their forced migration, and the sometimes haphazard and sometimes deliberate attempts of Europeans to destroy or otherwise undermine this African identity." 35 Inquiries into the nature of post-slavery African customs in line with the revisionist approach require a cultural reconstruction of the African past in order to uncover historical links between West African traditions and a critical examination of how

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the authentic culture was impacted in the U.S.

Adefunmi's revisionist approach to the identity crisis was soon dominated by the ancient religion and culture of the Yoruba people whose geographical home is southwest Nigeria. Bascom concluded that Adefunmi's choice of the Yoruba was not surprising. "Not only are the Yoruba one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, but they also have had a greater influence in the New World than any of the other African peoples brought here during the slave trade." 36 Like King, Adefunmi was also heavily influenced by his father. However, his father unlike King's was an ardent supporter of Marcus Garvey's Black Nationalist movement and the Moorish Science Temple movement of Noble Drew Ali. Young Adefunmi learned early in his childhood that his responsibility was to concern himself with the condition of his own people before anything else. He recalled asking one of his father's associates if he was going to join the army and fight in the Second World War. The man said, "No, why should I go to war?" Adefunmi replied, "To fight for the country." The man told him not to be a fool because "&this country is not yours or mine."37 Differing distinctly from King's southern Baptist background, a Christian ideal based on a western value system was nonexistent in young Adefunmi's childhood, for his father adamantly espoused that freedom for the African American would become a reality only if the people had the foresight and ingenuity to culturally identify with their West African origins. In fact, Adefunmi's father planned to repatriate to Africa, but the war hampered his plans, and he died before it ended.38

Meanwhile, by 1957, King had become the first president of the newly formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The purpose of the SCLC was to eliminate segregation from all segments of American society and nonviolent direct action was chosen as the best method to achieve civil rights. As the 1960s came into view, King's goal was no longer human rights and racial dignity for the slave descendants but a newly directed objective based on an integrationist policy. "Integration is the great issue of our age, the great issue of our nation and the great issue of our community."39 In sharp contrast, Adefunmi was in the process of (re)creating and (re)inventing Yoruba traditions and customs in the "inner sanctum" of Africa America's most populous community---Harlem, New York City. Working far from the spotlight and the roar of the crowd, Adefunmi and a Haitian singer that he met while designing the costumes for a folk play co- founded a society called the Order of Damballa Hwedo in 1960.40 This event is significant because it marks the resurgence of organized traditional West African

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religion and its practice in the U.S. by the descendants of the slave population. Damballa Hwedo is a Fon/Yoruban deity that traveled to the New World in the consciousness of captive slaves bound for plantations on the island of Hispanola, present day Haiti.

The veneration of Damballa Hwedo required Adefunmi's early followers to disavow all of the basic tenets of their Judeo-Christian background and embrace the large pantheon of West African Yoruba deities. The order of Damballa Hwedo dissolved after several years because its members began to argue that African Americans could not understand the complexities of venerating a pantheon of deities.41 Adefunmi disagreed because he believed that African Americans could re-inscript their culture even after such a long separation if they were strict and based the foundation of their teachings and religious rituals on traditional West African religious doctrines. Although Adefunmi's early goals were to arrest the images of the minstrel show and bring some measure of respect to the African American image on the stage, he began to advocate that the (re)creation and (re)invention of traditional African religion was a required element in the restoration and reconstruction of the battered African American image and identity. "History has shown that religion can be, and has been, used as a tool to oppress, exploit and alienate or discriminate. It has also been used to liberate and restore people's life and dignity. Either way, it offers to those who view it as the basis for struggle a realization of their full humanity, faith, hope, and courage to continue struggling, in spite of all obstacles and costs."42

The religion of the Yoruba people is an extraordinary complex of ancient ontological, cosmological, mythological, and mystical esoteric doctrines and rituals that Adefunmi assiduously investigated, researched, and internalized. He attracted a sizable following of Harlemites to his Yoruba Temple and throughout the 1960s devoted himself to learning, teaching, and training others in the mystical traditions of the Yoruba. In 1968, he made a much anticipated move. Like the Yoruba deity and prototype Ogun who represents the force of and symbolizes the characteristics of the primal outsider, Adefunmi moved his spiritual base from the urban glare of New York to the reclusive swamps of South Carolina. Although Ogun is often characterized as the eternal outsider who chose to live alone in the forests with only his faithful black dog, Yoruba mythology and folklore also have many legends that characterize Ogun as the machete-weilding deity responsible for and the builder of human civilization.43 Following the directives of Ogun and other powerful Yoruba deities, Adefunmi not only moved his spiritual base, but he also

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sought to establish an independent Yoruba state within America. He wanted to depict through a living entity the continuity and hegemony of West African ethnic identity and indigenous African culture even in the U. S. among the culturally deprived and disadvantaged African American diaspora. Bascom who lived for many years with the Yoruba people in Nigeria said that what he witnessed in Oyotunji Village was indeed an authentic (re)invention and (re)creation of Yoruba customs in America. "As one who has studied the Yoruba of Nigeria for more than thirty years, and who has spent some time studying Yoruba religion as it is practiced in Cuba, I am fascinated by the degree of success that has been achieved."44

Although Oyotunji Village is off the beaten path, many devotees throughout the New World African diaspora and from the homeland itself come to Oyotunji Village to venerate sacred Yoruba deities enshrined there and to fulfill obligatory rituals and initiations. Adefunmi envisioned Oyotunji Village as a monastery where worshippers could come to be initiated into the various priesthoods and be trained to serve the Yoruba pantheon of deities through chants, dance, and ritual sacrifice. From its founding in 1970 to the present, many hundreds of African Americans have come to Oyotunji Village to perform initiation rites and complete the necessary training required to become a novice. Some of these devotees went back to their urban communities located in inner cities throughout America and established temples and shrines for the feting of the divinities.

Currently, it is impossible to qualify with accuracy the degree of success that Adefunmi's movement has enjoyed in terms of throwing off the chains of mental slavery and healing the African American psychosis of its double consciousness. However, the impact of the Yoruba movement has osmotically expanded to every large city across America that has a sizable African American population. "&if one considers the large number of groups that have evolved since Oseijeman Adefunmi began promoting cultural nationalism in the late 1950s, it would appear that they have already had a noticeable effect. In many cities across America groups whose main purpose is the worship of African religion in particular and the resurrection of African culture in general are evolving."45 The tidal wave of African-based religions sweeping across the U. S. caused Dorothy Ferebee, a radio-station administrator and journalist in Philadelphia to remark, "This is not an alternative religion. If you're black, this is something that's in your cultural DNA."46 Professor of Religion Dr. Tracey Hucks added, "While churches have spawned great civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., some young people

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still think of them as the institutions that taught slaves in Haiti to rise up against their French masters and fend off Napoleon's army."47

When King's great voice was silenced in 1968 by an assassin's bullet, he was a recognizable icon on the international stage where he lobbied for unconditional love and nonviolence as universal values for all of humanity. King's evolved efforts and advocacy for nonviolence as a method of protest and civil disobedience won him world-wide praise and in 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. However, even with integration and the visible progress of African Americans assimilating into all areas of American society as well as King's much deserved praise, the ramifications of the following underlying issue have yet to be explored in terms of double-consciousness and the ongoing identity crisis: Because religion in America is based totally on Christian doctrines, no one, especially an African American, could become an influential spokesperson representing American ideals without identifying with and appealing to the spirit and teachings of Christianity which are the antithesis of indigenous West African religious and cultural beliefs. Therein lies the enigmatic duality of King's civil rights movement. Indigenous Yoruba religion with its blood sacrifices, trance possessions, divination, polygamous marriage, ancestor worship and nonwestern forms of medicine and healing was unacceptable to status quo American philosophy of religion. Its vilification and demonization by the status quo diminished its acceptability as a source of moral and ethical philosophies that could provide a guide for the good life. This made it impossible for King to embrace the culture and the origins of his forebears if he was to lead his people into an equality of civil rights. The only acceptable code was based on the dominant Protestant ethics of Christianity. Thus, King was constrained to be totally unaware of his traditional origins. In essence, he was forced to repudiate and align the civil rights movement with Christian ideals that validated old, entrenched notions advocating European values and Christian ideals as superior to the "savage" paganism of traditional African religion and culture.

In line with the revisionist school, Malcolm X said, "Our forced importation into this country was not the beginning of our heritage, but a rude interruption. The worst crime white people have committed was to teach us to hate ourselves, destroying our past, and making us think that our foreparents did nothing but pick cotton." 48 Since his assassination, King has been immortalized as an American hero whose birthday is celebrated as a national holiday every January 3. Although he remains an obscure footnote in African American history, Adefunmi is a sought

156 (In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s-1990s

after mystic, priest, teacher, healer, and respected elder in the international New World diaspora as well as in the homeland of the indigenous Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria. In 1981, the Ooni, who is the supreme religious leader of the Yoruba ordered the Chiefs of Ife to perform the rites of coronation on him. "He was crowned, Oba Efuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I and given the ceremonial sword of office inscribed with the name of his Liege Lord, the Ooni, which grants him the rights to speak in the name of the Ooni. He is the first African American to receive such an honor."49

NOTES

1. Lovejoy, Paul. "The African Diaspora: Revisionist Interpretations of Ethnicity, Culture and Religion Under Slavery." Studies in the World History of Slavery, Abolition and Emancipation, II, 1 (1997), 3.

2. Lovejoy, 3.

3. op cit..

4. Mason, John. Idana Fun Orisa. (New York: Yoruba Theological Archninistry, 1999), 45-46.

5. Pieterse, Jan. White On Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1992,) 23.

6. Washington, Joseph. Anti-Blackness in English Religion: 1500 - 1800. (New York: E. Mellen Press, 1984) 109.

7. Pieterse, 41.

8. Ibid., 35.

9. Washington, 59.

10. Pieterse, 136.

11. Washington, 59.

157 (In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s-1990s

12. Toll, Robert. Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-Century America. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974), 36.

13. Krasner, David. African American Theatre, 1895 -1910. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), 6.

14. Ibid., 36.

15. DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. (New York: Modern Library, 1996) 12.

16. Thernstrom, Stephan. America in Black and White. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997), 6.

17. Hunt, Carl. Oyotunji Village: The Yoruba Movement in America. (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1970), 24.

18. Ibid. Introduction.

19. "When Was Aborisha, Orisha Worship First Practiced by African Americans in the United States"? Google. 1999 Dec.

20. Mason, 69.

21. Cone, James. Martin & Malcolm & America. (New York: Orbis Books, 1991), 69.

22. Ibid., 75.

23. Hunt. 24.

24. op cit.

25. Ibid., 25.

26. Ibid., 26.

158 (In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s-1990s

27. Lovejoy, 4.

28. Robeauteau, 48.

29. Ibid., 281.

30. Cone, 71.

31. Ibid., 281.

32. Ibid., 22.

33. Crouch, Stanley. "Unfinished Business." Los Angeles Times 3 Feb. 2002: M1+.

34. Ibid, M6.

35. Lovejoy, 5.

36. Hunt, Introduction.

37. Ibid., 22.

38. op cit.

39. Cone, 64.

40. Hunt, 25.

41. op cit.

42. Wamue, Grace. "Revisiting Our Indigenous Shrines Through Mjungiki." African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African society. Vol. 100 (No. 400) London: Oxford University Press, 454.

43. Barnes, Sandra. Africa's Ogun. (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1997), 17.

159 (In)Visibility and Duality of the Civil Rights and Yoruba Movements: 1950s-1990s

44. Hunt, Introduction.

45. Ibid., 117.

46. Glatzer, Randi. "Mojo Rising." Vibe. Vol. 7: (No. 10) New York: Miller Publishing Group LLC, Dec. 1999/Jan.2000, 192.

47. op cit.

48. Cone, 118.

49. Ibid. "When Was Aborisha&." Google 1999 Dec.

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