Nigerian Americans
In a study which was carried out by consumer genetics company 23andMe which involved the DNA of 50,281 people of African descent in the United States, Latin America, and Western Europe, it was revealed that Nigeria was the most common country of origin for testers from the United States, the French Caribbean, and the British Caribbean.
[11] These enslaved people were not called Nigerians but were known by their ethnic nations due to Nigeria not being a country until the early 1900s, after the slave trade was over.
Calabar and Badagry (Gberefu Island), Nigeria, became major points of export of enslaved people from Africa to the Americas during the 17th and 18th centuries.
After 400 years in the United States and the lack of documentation because of enslavement, African Americans have often been unable to track their ancestors to specific ethnic groups or regions of Africa.
[17] US President Thomas Jefferson officially outlawed the Atlantic slave trade in 1808, although some enslaved Africans continued to be illegally smuggled into the country and the institution of slavery persisted until the American Civil War.
[18] Various leaders of the Nigerian independence movement such as Eyo Ita, Mbonu Ojike, and Nnamdi Azikiwe were educated in the United States during the 1930s-1940s.
The modern generation of Nigerian migrants was initially motivated by the desire to pursue educational opportunities in undergraduate and postgraduate institutions in the United States.
The instability resulted in many Nigerian professionals emigrating, especially doctors, lawyers and academics, who found it difficult to return to Nigeria.
[20] This migration was driven by political and economic problems exacerbated by the military regimes of self-styled generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha.
Other émigrés comprised a large number of refugees, fleeing on account of religious persecutions, endless political unrests and ethnic/tribal conflicts, the presumption of Nigeria as a failing state, or just to enhance the quality of lives for themselves and their families (Ogbuagu, 2013).
The most noticeable exodus occurred among professional and middle class Nigerians who, along with their children, took advantage of education and employment opportunities in the US.
Obasanjo's efforts have met with mixed results, as some potential migrants consider Nigeria's socioeconomic situation still unstable (Ogbuagu, 2013b).
[24] Nigerian culture has long emphasized education, placing value on pursuing academic excellence as a means to financial security.
[28][29][30][31][32] Examples of Nigerian Americans in popular media include Dr. Bennet Omalu, portrayed in the 2015 film Concussion,[33] and Emmanuel Acho, former professional football player and host of the weekly activist webcast Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.
Harvard University, for example, has estimated that more than one-third of its black student body consists of recent immigrants or their children, or were of mixed-race parentage.
[35] Other top universities, including Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Rice, Duke, and Berkeley, report a similar pattern.
Due to the large number of Nigerians living in America and the cultural enrichment that these communities provide to non-Nigerians, the traditional attire has been adopted in many parts of the country as a symbol of African ethnicity, for example, clothes worn during Kwanzaa celebrations are known to be very influenced by Nigerian traditional attire.
In recent years, the traditional fabric has attracted many admirers especially among celebrities such as Solange Knowles[50] and most notably Erykah Badu.
The native tongue of the Yoruba people is spoken principally in Nigeria and Benin, with communities in other parts of Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
