If you really care about Nigeria and you want to know the truth about Nigerians in Nigeria and in the Diaspora beyond making noise about the challenges and problems of Nigeria, then you should read Letters to Nigeria: Journal of an African Woman in America by Dr. Patience Idaraesit Akpan-Obong, an associate professor of science, technology and society in the School of Letters and Sciences at Arizona State University Polytechnic. She holds a PhD in Political Science (University of Alberta, 2003) and a Master’s degree in Journalism (Carleton University, 1996). She is also the author of Information and Communication Technologies in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges for Development (New York: Peter D. Lang, 2009). Dr. Akpan-Obong was a journalist for several years in Nigeria and Canada. She currently contributes to Saturday Punch, a nationally circulated weekly newspaper based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Letters to Nigeria: Journal of an African Woman in America is a light-hearted and hilarious commentary on the immigrant experience from the perspective of an African woman living in North America. Each chapter educes a riotous LOL but the reader recovers soon enough to reflect on the serious issues that the author addresses. And each chapter does indeed address a serious issue even if the hook is the banal (such as the heady smell of “genuine leather” Brazilian shoes) or the profound (such as race and racism). Many entries begin with personal stories that illuminate the author’s own experiences as an African woman raising young children in the United States while pursuing an academic career. There is, however, a universal resonance in these personal stories. Readers, especially immigrants and working mothers everywhere, will therefore relate to these stories and perhaps see themselves and their own experiences on the pages of Letters to Nigeria.
You can get copies of "Letters To Nigeria" on Amazon.
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