When many Nigerians leave the shores of this country in search of greener pasture, their sole desire is to better their lot and improve on their standard of living. While some find the greener pasture, others are deported to the country empty-handed. Yet others are killed as was the case with Osamuyi Akpitanhi in Spain few weeks ago.
But for Rotimi Adebari, he did not only find greener pasture, he was recently elected the first black mayor of Portlaoise, Dublin, Ireland.
The new mayor, who has been an independent politician in Portlaoise, called it a great honour to become the No. 1 citizen of the town.
Adebari, 43, travelled to Ireland with his wife and two boys in 2000 and claimed asylum on the basis of religious persecution, citing bloody clashes between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. His application was rejected because of insufficient evidence that he had personally suffered persecution, but he gained residency because his third child, another boy, was born in Ireland.
Due to his application for asylum, he found it difficult finding work at first because of an Irish law that bars people from working while they are seeking asylum. So he helped found a lobby group for unemployed people in Portlaoise and later ran for office, winning a council seat on his first try in 2004. He was elected to the town council as an independent, polling 321 first-preference votes.
"I got involved in the community and I volunteered. It gave me the opportunity to meet people firsthand and they got to know me," Adebari said. "We all have to make an effort to reach out to one another.
"I want to encourage immigrants to be a force in their communities, to engage with their communities," he said. "People will get to know you. Their perception of you will change just like that. That's what happened to me."
Since then, he has finished a master's degree in intercultural studies at Dublin City University, founded a consultancy advising agency, Optimum Point, that trains companies and educational institutions in cross-cultural awareness, and immigrant groups on how to work together. He also hosts a weekly radio show on his local station, Midlands FM. He works for Laois County Council co-ordinating an integration project for local immigrants.
Adebari says he wants to use his year as Mayor to tell immigrants that Ireland is a "land of opportunities, and it is a country and a place of a thousand welcome".
Little more than a decade ago, a black person in Ireland risked being gawked at, so rare was the sight of visitors from different racial backgrounds. But Ireland has absorbed more than 30,000 asylum seekers - particularly from Africa's most populous nation, since the mid-1990s, a wave attracted by Ireland's booming economy and its relatively lax immigration rules.
These days, West African entrepreneurs run stretches of shops in urban Dublin and other Irish towns and cities, and social activists like Adebari are encouraging the newcomers to integrate into their communities.
According to a report, asylum-seekers have been flocking to Ireland to gain European Union citizenship on the basis of having a child born in the country. Ireland in 2004 stopped granting citizenship to foreign parents of an Irish-born child, a law that had been unique in Europe.
Charles Obiora Akabogu, a lawyer and activist said Adebaris election is a right step in the right direction as it shows that the world is fast becoming a global village unlike what was obtainable in the past in Ireland.
He said, "Remember that Ireland was the hotbed of religious bigotry and racism in the not too distant past, but they have now conceded to globalization. They are tearing down barriers and have begun to accept that we all belong to the same global village
While saying that the world is one continuum of mankind, the lawyer adds that the feat that Adebari has achieved shows the scorn that the western world places over mediocrity.
"Europe is different from Africa as there, merit is given proper pride of place unlike in Nigeria where mediocrity thrives," he said.
Akabogu believes there are lessons that Nigerians need to learn from Adebaris election, given the poor manner the last elections were conducted in the country.
