Are you thinking of coming to the United States? ([
B]My interest is on the comments in red) [/B]
http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jun/28/800.html
I believe that whoever wins the lottery has reasons to thank God.
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Are you thinking of coming to the United States?
Sabella Ogbobode
Migration is as old as human history. Not minding the salient accounts of religious texts and popular mythologies, archaeological and anthropological findings suggest that our forbearers - the Hominids and the Homo sapiens - migrated from Africa to other regions of the world. But, of course, this was millions of years ago and with all kinds of evolutionary and genetic transformation taking place. In modern times, there are several reasons why humans engage in cross-border or international migration.
Are you thinking of coming to the United States?
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Generally speaking, these factors are referred to as the pull-push factors of migration, which include religious and political persecution; famine and war; the need to join loved ones overseas; political instability; extreme poverty; and the pursuit of the proverbial greener pastures. Specifically with Nigerians, and more so in the last two decades, most migrate in order to escape the searing effects of poverty, endemic hopelessness and the limiting and inhibiting political and economic space.
Although there are no available data to show which regions or countries Nigerians prefer as their destination of choice, a casual observation indicates that in the 1960s, through the middle part of the 1980s, it was Western Europe in general, and the United Kingdom in particular. In the intervening year, North America - especially the United States - seems to have become the favored choice since most deem it to be the "ultimate destination." If not America, then, Canada; otherwise, they would settle for European countries.
The United States of America is many things to many people. Here, dreams are dreamt up and made. It is a land of many possibilities and countless headaches. It is a land of dream merchants, fabulists, heart-breakers and tale-tellers. This is the land of loving gods and fire-spitting deities. Everything is possible here. From Alaska to Florida and from Hawaii to Maine to Puerto Rico to Texas - this is the land of the possible. Histories are made, barriers are removed and frontiers are crossed. This is the USA, but beware!
Think twice before you cross the ocean. There are very many Nigerians who, from time to time, wonder why they came in the first place. And frankly, no one told many of us the truth about how difficult, complex and discouraging life in this country can be. No one told of how America can mess with one's mind. No one told us how this country tests one's faith; of how this country can transform one's essence, for good or for bad. All we were concerned with were the rewards, not the possible pain and agony.
We are willing to sell our souls to come to America. We are willing to falsify documents just to come to this country. We are willing to commit indiscretions, to leave our familiar lives for the unknown in America. Those of us who were "somebody" in our departing countries were willing to come to America to start afresh as "nobody." The pull of this country is so great that the vast majority of us who made the journey cannot think of a life without America.
A medical doctor in Lesotho would rather come to America to be a Certified Nursing Assistant; a Ghanaian trained bank manager would rather come to America to be a grocery store clerk or security officer. A Namibian trained geologist would rather come to America to be a gas station attendant. A Nigerian lady would rather come to America to wed a dish washer rather than marry a promising civil servant in Nigeria. Such is the lure and allure of America that twenty-five per cent or more of the continent's population would migrate to the US, if allowed. But, unfortunately, most of us left home without knowing what we were getting ourselves into; all we knew was that there must be a "better life yonder."
Whether one fails or succeeds depends on several factors, and some of these factors are, for the most part, completely beyond one's control. There are those who have tried many times over without success or success came at a painfully slow pace - while some seem to have the golden touch, especially in the acquisition of the Alien Registration Card, aka Greencard. There is a lot of preparatory work to be done, but the requirements are easy to meet. It is therefore in your best interest to follow the law. But if you must bend or break the law, be prepared for application denial, arrest, prosecution or arrest and deportation.
It is difficult to imagine life in America without a Greencard. It is the gateway to many opportunities and possibilities. I have witnessed grown men weep over Greencard. I have witnessed grown men and women lose their minds after being turned down by the then Immigration and Naturalization Services. I have witnessed men and women who are otherwise intelligent and rational, do the questionable over Greencard.
And yet, there are those who stroll into the US with Greencard, i.e. the Greencard lottery winners. How fortunate they must be! While a great many suffer years of immigration palaver, these lottery winners just waltz into the country. How lucky they must be not to have to go through some of the indignities and iniquities that are sometimes associated with the process.
You weep when the immigration officer rejects your application. You weep when the officer tells you "you will be investigated." You shiver when the officer tells you your papers are not in order. You weep when, within a few days or weeks before the interview, your significant other tells you that he or she has had a change of mind or that he or she suspects you are "no good and of no use." You weep when things that ought not to go wrong go abysmally wrong. And you die a dozen times when you get a deportation order.
In such moments, you pray for seven days and seven nights. You remember all the sins you've committed and then go to confession. You fast for forty days and forty nights. You give offerings and pray for INS-mercy. Most people will suddenly become born-again Christians, and at the same time send messages to their folks back home to consult with the Imam, the Babalawo (diviner) or the head of their alternate religious faith for fortune to smile on them.
If you ever make it to the United States, please obey the laws. To start with, no tax frauds, no trying to outmaneuver the immigration folks, and no drugs; no credit card or insurance fraud or other prosecutable offenses. Also, do whatever it takes to stay away from child support mess; otherwise, your life will be on hold for 18 years as year after year 20-35 per cent of your net income may be withheld for the upkeep of your child.
Finally, before the end of your sojourn in this country - be it five, 10, 15 or 30 years, be sure to acquire graduate or some form of technical education. And please stay away from driving cabs unless, of course, you absolutely have to (in times of financial crisis). Why? Because driving a cab is one of the most addictive and dead-end jobs there is in this country. And please remember not to die in America.
But of course, not everybody cares about how and where they die; not everybody cares whether they die amongst strangers or among loving faces; not everybody cares whether they die in a stormy weather or atop a mountain. Death is death. But to the extent that you care, it is better to die among friends and family. If you lived all your productive life in this country, you are likely to end up in a nursing home amongst strangers; you are likely to die alone and lonely and be buried in a cemetery with unknown ghostly faces.
Abidde, an academic in the US, writes from
sabidde@yahoo.com