US Immigration discriminates against Africans –John Eluwa, Nigerian born U.S Immigration Law Attorney

John Eluwa, Nigerianborn U

His office sits at the ninth floor of an upscale high rise building located in the middle of an emerging mega metropolis of Carolina. Here, Attorney John Eluwa, a once Biafra child soldier, heads one of the most successful law firms in the States. His story is an inspirational story of an immigrant coming to America with a suitcase and a desire for education. Thirty-three years later, he has become a successful US criminal attorney becoming one of the United States immigration law experts.

“Jebose, coming to America saved my life. I don’t know what my life would have been had my elder brother not encouraged, supported and sponsored me to seek further education in the United States after my secondary school in Nigeria. My parents never went to school. My mother was a local market woman while my dad was a security guard at the then Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria. I was three years old when I lost my elder sister in 1959. Her death devastated our family. We were three siblings, but her death left my parents with my brother and me. We were born and raised in Enugu and grew up in the old Umuahia, an autonomous community consisting of seven villages in the old East Central state of Nigeria.”

As a youngster during the break out of the Nigerian Civil War in 1966, he was one of the early child soldiers forced into militia by the Biafra army. By 1970, the child soldier left Biafra army when the federal troops were gaining the upper hand. Eluwa seized the opportunity, empowered by his elder brother, to finish elementary school.

“I left at 12 when the war ended, returned to Enugu and continued commercial education. Later, I went to Aba where I completed secondary education in 1976.”

In the new Eastern Nigeria, the young chap, through his father’s connections, found a job at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in Enugu as a store clerk. Few months later, Eluwa would become an on-air personality, hosting one of the hottest radio programmes on Eastern Nigeria airwaves.

“In 1977, my dad found me a job there as a store clerk. Sooner, I was transferred to become an on air-personality, hosting variety programmes that included a weekday talk show, Let’s Groove, broadcast in English and Igbo. Few years after I joined, I was selected to help with the training and logistics of new staff and operations. I helped structure the programming of an emerging community radio station but my elder brother insisted I should study in US and offered to sponsor me if I got an admission. I was initially admitted at A&T in Greensboro, North Carolina but found my way to Shaw University.”

His brother’s persistence paid off when he was offered admission to study Law at Shaw University in 1981. The admission would become a life changer for a community radio celebrity to study law in America. America wasn’t what he had been told, imagined or read in books, seen in movies or behold.

“If I had not come to United States with a one way ticket, I would not have stayed because of my initial experience. I had not been outside of Nigeria before; I had no immediate family member that had travelled outside of our country then that could have educated me on what to expect in a foreign land on arrival. I arrived at the La Guardia Airport in New York on September 21, 1981. The weather was cold; I had never experienced freezing cold weather in my life. It was overwhelming. I didn’t know anyone. I found my way here, alone. My brother’s friend who was in London briefed me on how to conduct myself at the airport and how to get taxi cab and limousines.

“In those days, when you visited a foreign land, you were required to report to your embassy which was a waste of money and time because the embassy did nothing and could care less about your stay or welfare in America then. One of the loneliest nights of my life was spent in Kings Motel in Queens, New York.

“My first culture shock was seeing a female cab driver smoking a cigarette and driving me to a motel.”

Eluwa navigated through the challenges of a first time student abroad, finding help from pockets of few Nigerian friends he met at the corridors of life on campus which translated into warmth reception and syrup to cure his nostalgia. One month after enrolling at Shaw University to begin a first degree programme that would become a gate pass to his dream of becoming a lawyer, he got a menial job, first as a restaurant salad boy, busboy, then a dish washer.

“My first job was a salad boy in a restaurant. I hated this job because I worked on the food lines and thus was exposed to other students and Nigerians. I was Nigerian celebrity broadcaster before coming to America to be a salad boy and busboy, table cleaner, a vomit cleaner. I was worried of what would become of my ego if those that knew me then as a celebrity radio disc jockey in Eastern Nigeria found me fixing salad or cleaning tables in a restaurant. Later I transferred to a dish washer and I loved that because I was socialising with other co-workers who were from Africa. I enjoyed that because it was easy. I also worked at a gas station then before joining a cookies company. I met my wife at a gas station where we both worked.

“You must know what you want from America once you enter here. It’s not an easy land of green pastures. You could derail like a train on high speed if you don’t plan and execute. Most of the people I came to US with either got killed, or are on the streets; they didn’t graduate from college or had been   deported…that’s American life for you. I was very studious, serious with my education and work discipline because this was the only opportunity I had. Those who say negative things about United States are wrong. If you don’t like the smoke, get the hell out of the kitchen. I will never forget what United States did for me. If I had not come to US, I don’t know what I would have been today. After my marriage in May 1986, I enrolled into law school.

“Jebose, I almost flunked it. Law is a jealous mistress; you barely had time for your family and anything else if you were in law school… it’s a professional school equivalent to post graduate school. It’s a lot of drilling. You are loaded with a lot of assignments and projects.

“In summer of 1990, I quit my job to focus on the law school at NC Central University. I did bar exam five times before I passed and was called to the North Carolina Bar.

“In America, life teaches you to be industrious; America is a leveler. America is a classless society: hence you could do whatever it takes to feed your family and take care of yourself. While still in Law school, I worked for an energy company. I was doing these to put food on the table as a young lawyer awaiting my bar exam results. I didn’t mind doing odd jobs to put food on the table and take care of my young wife then. America teaches you to go out and make a living. No matter who you are, when you come here, if you rolled your sleeves and worked hard, you will make it. That’s applicable to anybody. Unfortunately, most of the people that were born here don’t see that. They expect the best things   because of opportunities around them such as entitlements that make people dependent on government. I believe in self responsibility, with regards to surviving or succeeding in life. If you starve in this country, then it’s your fault. You can find any work in America to feed yourself.

“There are opportunities if you are willing to work hard in Nigeria, but there are also opportunities in US. If you want to come to US, you can come legally. The United States immigration discriminates against Africans. There are documented facts to prove this assertion. It makes it difficult for Africans to come to US. Nigeria particularly became notorious because of its known history of counterfeit documents to obtain visa and travel documents to visit US.

“The number of people that migrate from African countries is very low compared to other European countries. The reason is that most European countries have visa waivers. They are not required to apply for visa, so long as they have their countries’ passport, whereas we do not have that privilege. Africans have to apply for visa. People from European countries go to the airport, show their passport and fly to USA without a visa, They are not required to have a visa. The restriction though is that they must leave within three months but most don’t leave and you would not know because of their colour as they blend with the society. US citizens can go wherever they wish without any visa unless where they don’t have a visa waiver with the country.”