Watching the recent European Championship made me realize how much the concept of national identity has changed. The tournament was made up of 16 of Europe's best national soccer teams pitted against each other in a three-week knock-out competition. To represent a national team, players have to be citizens, by birth or naturalization. Players can also represent the nations of their parents or grandparents.
As a result there were several Brazilian-born players appearing for European nations. Marco Senna, of the winning Spanish team, Deco of Portugal and Roger Gurereirro of Poland were all born in Brazil. Gurereirro is not the only person with an exotic name who has starred for Poland. A few years ago the Polish forward line was lead by Nigerian native Emmanuel Olisadebe. Germany.
It made me realize that the term Nigerian needs to be redefined. When I was growing up being a Nigerian meant that you were a citizen of that country. But half a decade of emigration has changed that concept. The political and economic turmoil in Nigeria has lead to a widespread diaspora of Nigeria's best and brightest. Many of these émigrés have settled for several decades in foreign lands, and as result their children identify with the countries of their birth.
In 1970s Britain it was rare to see a Nigerian name, but now Nigerian names are a dime a dozen in Britain. They are in the arts, politics, music and sports.
Nigerians are a talented people and often excel in any career field they choose, be it science, literature, sports or music. Mass emigration has a created a second wave of talented Nigerians, who are often citizens of other countries. The term Nigerian doesn't only mean a citizen of Nigeria, it now means a person who is a product of Nigerian culture.
The concept of home has also changed. People of my father's generation believed home was the soil you were born on, and no matter how long you lived abroad you had to return to be a “son of the soil.” Children of my generation, second-generation Nigerians, raised on a mix of Western pop culture and African tradition, tend to view home as where you feel most comfortable. We tend to believe that Africans carry their culture with them, wherever they go.
Some of these “ethnic Nigerians” include rapper Chamillionaire, singers Seal and Sade, actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Adewale Akinouye Agbaje, and soccer stars Emmanuel Adebayor, Shola Ameobi and Gabriel Agbonlohor.
First- and second-generation Nigerians are well known in the United States for their academic success. A large segment of the medical profession is made up of Nigerian doctors. A study by the United States Census bureau indicated that Africans have the highest degree attainment among all immigrant groups, even higher than Asians, who have been labeled the “ideal minority.”
One positive aspect of the Nigerian Diaspora is that it has refuted the false idea that Africans are intellectually inferior. The fact that Nigerian communities in the West have produced great scholars, musicians and athletes shows that given the right environment and encouragement Africans can succeed. The million-dollar question is if they can make it work abroad, why can't Nigerians succeed at home?
Thirty years ago, when I was just knee high, sons and daughters of Nigeria were expected to go forth, gain a decent education and return to build the country. Economic chaos, crime and corruption soon killed those dreams and many foreign-educated Nigerians decided to head back to the West and sell their skills to the highest bidder. Many Nigerian intellectuals worried about this brain drain and they fretted there would be a loss of Nigerian identity.
It turns out that Nigerian culture proved to be very resistant. It thrived and prospered in foreign lands, even though now the offspring of Nigerian émigrés represent other countries.
