Africans in America come from different regions of the continent; they speak different languages and are from different faith traditions. Nigerian Immigrants in the United States: Race, Identity, and Acculturation attempts to generate an interest in the study of African immigrants by looking at issues of settlement and adjustment of Nigerians in the United States. The literature is scanty about this group of immigrants and little is known about their motivations for moving to the United States and the issues that they face. The book therefore seeks to contribute to the immigration literature and knowledge base as well as document the African narrative showing the flight of Nigerians to the United States. The book further seeks to shine a light on the lives of these transplants as they settle into a new society. It describes those Nigerians who decided on their own to live permanently in the United States, reviewing the social circumstances and behaviors of immigrants from Nigeria, and noting the stressors that affect successful integration and adjustment. The book explores the factors that contribute to the adaptation and integration of Nigerian immigrants living in some metropolitan areas of the United States and asks: how do the immigrants themselves interpret their experiences in a new society? In an attempt to answer this question, others are generated such as: Who are these Nigerians that have left their homeland? What has been their experience and how has this experience shaped them and their understanding of the immigration process? Lastly, it asks what we can learn from this experience. Employing the study of this population through the method of phenomenology, Nigerian Immigrants in the United States leads the reader to understand the experience of being different in America from the immigrants' perspectives and to see the experience through their eyes. Those who work with Nigerian immigrants will find this book insightful and revealing.

As immigration becomes an increasingly important issue in the United States, this timely book empowers readers to learn about the lives of Nigerian immigrants who have made new homes in America. Readers will learn about critical moments in modern Nigerian history that provide context for current events in the United States and around the world. They'll explore the complex issues affecting Nigerian Americans today and see the vivid, valuable ways Nigerian and American culture meld and interact. Powerful photographs bring this important issue into sharp focus, while fact boxes highlight key points. Accessible and highly relevant, this thoughtful book handles complex topics with sensitivity and helps readers develop greater cultural awareness.

In Beyond Expectations, Onoso Imoagene delves into the multifaceted identities of second-generation Nigerian adults in the United States and Britain. She argues that they conceive of an alternative notion of "black" identity that differs radically from African American and Black Caribbean notions of "black" in the United States and Britain. Instead of considering themselves in terms of their country of destination alone, second-generation Nigerians define themselves in complicated ways that balance racial status, a diasporic Nigerian ethnicity, a pan-African identity, and identification with fellow immigrants. Based on over 150 interviews, Beyond Expectations seeks to understand how race, ethnicity, and class shape identity and how globalization, transnationalism, and national context inform sense of self.

Like other African-born immigrants, I came to the shores of America from Nigeria, West Africa, some twenty-plus years ago as a young adult, freshly married to my Nigerian immigrant spouse. All we knew was what we learnt from our parents and community, growing up. Except for what we read in books about the outside world, we had no idea what lay ahead surviving in another environment outside our Third World. Our parents had sent us forth to study some more in an environment different from what we were used to, in so many ways. We had to make success of this opportunity that was costing them so much. Immigrant Nigerians coming to America are then faced with questions of how to raise their children. Should their offsprings be raised as Nigerians, Americans or to help them benefit from both worlds, as Nigerian-Americans? Who decides, the parents, the children or the society? What will be the fate of the next generation to come?

In Beyond Expectations, Onoso Imoagene delves into the multifaceted identities of second-generation Nigerian adults in the United States and Britain. She argues that they conceive of an alternative notion of "black" identity that differs radically from African American and Black Caribbean notions of "black" in the United States and Britain. Instead of considering themselves in terms of their country of destination alone, second-generation Nigerians define themselves in complicated ways that balance racial status, a diasporic Nigerian ethnicity, a pan-African identity, and identification with fellow immigrants. Based on over 150 interviews, Beyond Expectations seeks to understand how race, ethnicity, and class shape identity and how globalization, transnationalism, and national context inform sense of self.