An African Brain Drain: Igbo Decisions to Immigrate to the U.S

Reynolds, Rachel R.

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Title:	An African Brain Drain: Igbo Decisions to Immigrate to the U.S
Author:	Reynolds, Rachel R.
Year:	2002
Periodical:	Review of African Political Economy
Volume:	29
Issue:	92
Period:	July
Pages:	273-284
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria United States
Subjects:	Igbo associations immigrants Nigerians brain drain Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Urbanization and Migration Education and Oral Traditions Economics and Trade
External links:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056240208704613 http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4108AC06BB8C7510384D
Abstract:	This paper describes the history and functions of the ONI (Organization for Ndi Igbo, a pseudonym) group of Nigerian immigrants in Chicago, USA, and especially its members' reasons for choosing to emigrate/immigrate. This group consists of highly skilled professionals, 'brain drainers', whose migration order was predicated upon economic pressure. However, their decisions to immigrate were precipitated first and foremost by the desire for professional education abroad. The paper pays attention to middle-class Igbo family expectations of education and how the extended family system of support and inheritance law facilitates young men's decisions to emigrate. At the level of socioeconomics in Nigeria and abroad, the paper shows how the once high and now declining value of the Nigerian naira and the structure of US State Department visas work in tandem to entice students abroad into remaining in the US upon the completion of their degree. Finally, the paper demonstrates how the role of Igbo village or regionally- based immigrant organizations encourages specific chain migrations by providing support to young immigrants as they first arrive in the US. The paper is based on fieldwork carried out between 1997 and 2000 among Igbo people in the Chicago area. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]

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