Nigeria-American Immigration: Why Nigerians are the most populated Africans in United States of America

When it comes to Nigerians travelling out, locally known as Japa, no country in the world comes close to the United States of America. It isn’t news that the Nigerian diaspora in the United States of America constitutes the largest source of African immigrants to the United States. In fact, compared to other countries, the United States is the topmost destination for Nigerians who move abroad – either for work, permanent residency or schooling.

In fact, many genetic studies focusing on people of African descent across the Americas found that most African Americans in the United States have more African ancestry from populations that lived near present-day Nigeria than from populations that lived elsewhere in Atlantic Africa.

Some Nigerians are also born in the US with at least one of the parents being a Nigerian even if they aren’t American citizens . What some Nigerians do is to make sure their wives give birth in the US, thereby making the child an American citizen by birth. Nigerian Americans are Americans with Nigerian heritage.

Popular Nigerian-American

Nigerian American are found in large numbers in different industries in the US. In Music, Academic, Movies, Politics, Activism, Journalism, etc Nigerian American are really making waves, which has helped that community become strong and a force to reckon with.

Sensational Nigerian singer, David Adedeji Adeleke popularly called Davido, was born in the US, precisely Atlanta, Georgia. He is among many Nigerians Americans that form a strong diaspora of Nigeria in the world’s most powerful country. Other popular Nigerian-Americans are Opal Tometi, social activist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Wally Adeyemo (United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chamillionaire, Jidenna, Wale, Yvonne Anuli Orji, David Oyelowo, Temie Giwa-Tubosun, Tayo Oviosu, etc.

As of 2017, there were about 348,000 Nigerian immigrants living in the U.S., making Nigeria the top birthplace among African immigrants in the country. The number of U.S. residents of Nigerian ancestry is rapidly growing, expanding from a small 1980 population of 25,000 to 461,695, according to a 2019 American Community Survey (ACS).

Nigerian-American ethnic groups

Just like in the country here, Nigeria’s three largest ethnic groups – the Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa-Fulani, make up the largest Nigerian-American ethnic groups. The Yorubas are the most populated Nigerian tribe in the US, followed by the Igbos and then the Hausa-Fulani.

It is important to note that the Igbos alongside the Yorubas account for 1/3 of all slaves exported from Africa. The first Yoruba people who arrived to the United States were imported as slaves from Nigeria and Benin during the Atlantic slave trade.

The Biafran War (1967–1970), was the major factor that propelled the large emigration of the Igbos from their homeland to the US. Previously, some were sold as slaves from their Igbo homelands in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea to labor on farm plantations in the United States.

Fulani and Hausa Americans in the United States maintain a cultural identity of various levels from the Fulani and Hausa clans.Most speak Hausa as well as English fluently and Arabic on various levels. They make a large percentage of the Muslim communities across America.

American States with the highest population of Nigerians

Nigerians are claimed to be found in nearly every state in the United States. However, there are more Nigerians in some states than other states. These top states with the highest numbers in Nigeria are Texas, Maryland, New York, California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

Why are Nigerians more populated than other Africans in the State?

1. The transatlantic slave trade which occurred in the 15th century, influenced migration of Nigerians to the US, then called THE NEW AGE. The first enslaved Africans to reach what would become the United States arrived in July of 1526. Calabar and Badagry (Gberefu Island), Nigeria, became major points of export of enslaved people from Africa to America during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Over a 400-year period, an estimated 12 million to 12.8 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic. According to slave paperwork from the time, two of the ten most significant ethnic groups in West Africa that were taken as slaves were Yorubas and Igbos from Nigeria. This clearly defines while both tribes have become settlers in the US. Other ethnic groups, like as the Fulani and Edo, were also abducted and transferred to the New World colonies.

Although some enslaved Africans were illegally smuggled into the country and slavery persisted until the American Civil War, President Thomas Jefferson of the United States formally abolished the Atlantic slave trade in 1808.

1. 1. The civil war that broke out between the Federal Government and Republic of Biafra contributed to the mass exodus of Nigerians, notably the Igbos from Biafra to the US. Most were imported as slaves and settled mainly in Maryland and Virginia.
   2. Influence of the US Immigration Acts : The 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 . This eliminated U.S. restrictions on immigration from regions outside of Northwestern Europe, allowing for a greater number of Nigerians in the United States. This 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act made it easier for Africans to enter the U.S., resulting in a spike in Nigerian immigration.
   3. The VISA Lottery scheme in the 1990s and early 2000s was also a major factor. The Department of State manages the Variety Immigrant Visa program, which aims to promote the diversity of immigrants coming to reside in the United States. Many families who participated in the visa lottery won and invariably were qualified to go to the States. These immigration process really fuelled a high number of Nigerian immigrants to the US.
   4. Unstable economy, ethnic/tribal conflicts and political upheaval in the country also contributed to an exodus of Nigerians to the US. Many fled due to religious tensions in some parts of the nation, especially the Kaduna Crisis. 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 United States.
   5. The weather condition in America is favourable to Nigerians compared to many other countries Nigerians migrate to. It didn’t start now – during the slave trade, the mortality rate of slaves in countries outside the US was high. It was in the US and some parts of South America that these African slaves survived. This contributed to many North and South Americans tracing their ancestry to Africa, notably Nigeria.

Immigration Process

Most Nigerian immigrants get their Green Card and become Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) as immediate relatives of US citizens, through family sponsorship, through employment, or by claiming refugee status. Note that the US Consulate General in Lagos processes all immigrant visa applications in Nigeria. As many Nigerian immigrants begin as students in the US, it may also be useful to understand the student visa process as a stepping stone to later achieving legal permanent residency.