“Who no like better thing?”: A Tale of Nigerian Migrants

Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Robert Prather

Today’s must read comes from BBC News: Why visa rejections do not halt Nigerian migrants.

Penned by Nigerian “novelist, essayist, journalist, and humorist” Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, the article provides a compelling account of the legal process to obtain a visa. She writes of lines that queued at 4 a.m., skirmishes over line-jumpers, the rush when doors opened at noon with “The strong… pushing the weak aside” as “the scrawnier security men lashed out with their short whips without caring which of us might be pregnant or too frail for that kind of physical abuse.”

Yelps, wails, screams erupted from the crowd.

And yet, we continued to push our way in for a chance to get interviewed for a visa.

She writes of successful visa beneficiaries who praise God and their success at Church. She talks about the financial security shared by families who receive remittances from others abroad.

She explains why those who cannot obtain a visa lawfully might be drawn to a dangerous route through Libya and across the Mediterranean sea.

After all,

For every applicant who fails to hoodwink embassy staff with tall tales and fake documents, there are others who succeed.

For every boat that sinks in the Mediterranean, there are those that make it across.

These success stories continue to motivate aspiring immigrants.

-KitJ