Requested Research - International Students from Nigeria
- Darci Ramirez
- May 19, 2023
- 3 min read
Information on travel to the US, student VISA patterns, and possible character choice's for Asagai's background.
There is VERY little institutional data in African immigration or student residency prior to 1960, and on Nigerians as a specific group until he 1980’s
A few clues about Asagai –
It is unlikely that he’s emigrated to the US.
Gaining US citizenship from any country that wasn’t from Western Europe was difficult until the 60’s, and quotas/caps for most nations/continents were still in place
There is little in the text that suggests he has any interest or desire to stay in the United States or North America, but instead has stayed here to study and take his experience back to Nigeria and Africa.
Asagai would have likely entered with an F-Type Visa, a distinction of non-immigrant international residence in the US. This was less regulated and less difficult to achieve than one may expect, because the kind of xenophobia and international fear-mongering that we experience now is very different than the kind during the action of this play.
The Institute of International Education was formed in 1919 to protect and promote the interests of international students and exchange visitors. Their lobbying efforts exempted students from the Emergency Quota act of 1921 and tine Immigration Act of 1924.
MOST NON-CITIZENS COMING TO THE US DID SO AS STUDENTS AND ON STUDENT VISAS
The actual distinction of a “student visa” as an F-type was in 1952
Annual renewal was necessary until 1978, meaning that long-term residency attempts were infrequent and not a primary concern in the mind of administrators and citizens.
From 1948-1960, the passport a Nigerian could have processed was a British West African Passport. Upon Independence, Nigeria began issuing its own passports, but the US had relatively friendly relations with Nigeria upon independence, so the passport was more powerful than it is today.
Effectively, it wasn't too difficult for a Nigerian student to get permission to come to the US and stay here as a student.
He was, likely, one of only international students from West Africa (let alone Nigeria) in the Chicago area
In the 1949-1950 school year, there were only 26,000 international students in the US, accounting for about 1% of the total student population. Though Nigerians have since become the single-most represented African group in universities (and have been since the 80’s), there were few enough in the the early 1950's to not be recognized as a nation-specific student community in the US by most institutions.
The next question is how exactly Asagai got to the US. A couple possible options include:
Scholarship or Sponsorship through the Nigerian government or US institutions, which is unlikely since Nigeria wasn’t really recognized as a sovereign state since 1960 (even though there was some level of autonomy before then). Nigeria did provide pathways to international education at this time, but opportunities were rare and mostly connected to the UK.
Established wealth or community prominence in Nigeria, which allowed for the flexibility and resources to travel to the US, study, and return. This is more likely in my mind because that’s the case for my friend. Even though he’s not from a particularly wealthy family, his father is in a place of tribal and political prominence, which both provides and encourages educational mobility.
Community sponsorship - American education was becoming more valued in the era right before Nigerian independence (see article). I don't think this is super likely given the way that Asagai speaks about his peers in Nigeria and the lack of pressure he feels in his educational journey, but it's not outside the realm of possibility
Missionary efforts – less likely, but connection through missionary efforts and using those connections could have been utilized for housing, work, etc.
(It’s also worth noting that you may want to consider Asagai’s religious background. Nigeria has been notably (almost equally) split between Muslims and Christians (with traditional faith practices present, but outlawed during colonial rule, so there’s more low-level integration) – but Nigerian students in the US have been closer to 70% Christian, 28% Muslim, and about 2% other faith traditions. Yoruba individuals are also fairly split, being the ethnic group that contains the second-highest number of Christians (split about 50/50 with Muslims, second to Igbo, which is almost entirely Christian)
Connections with other Nigerian scholars that have established a presence in the US. This is most likely, since the Nigerian academic pioneers consistently returned and established networks to bring more students to the US. See the attached article and links for more info.
Attached!
Early Nigerian Scholars in the US
I've highlighted some passages that I think are the most helpful, but the whole article is pretty enlightening.
Brief Biography of one of the most prominent Nigerian politicians and academics that attended an American university in this general era.
Nigerian Student Community History at University of Illinois
Some insight on Black scholarship at the University of Chicago (geographically more likely for Asagai's attendance)
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