Why I may relocate to Nigeria — American salesman married to Cross River woman
An American citizen, Aaron Price, speaks with BIODUN BUSARI about his love for his Nigerian wife, Blessing, and his desire to live in Nigeria for 15 years in exchange for citizenship by naturalisation, among other issues
Where are you from?
I was born in California, United States, but my family and I now live in Utah. I’m 33 years old. I came to the state of Utah to study, and I’ve stayed here for 12 years. That’s where I met my wife, Blessing. In terms of what I do, my background was as a professional musician, but I’ve since transitioned my career into software sales.
Are you a content creator going by many posts on your TikTok account?
My wife is the content creator, but I’ve participated and been involved. She dragged me into content creation as we say in America ‘kicking and screaming.’ So, I’m a content creator by force.
How did you both meet?
I always tell people it was a COVID love story. We met in June 2020. A lot of things were locked down and there were no social gatherings of more than 10 people. So, it was very hard to meet people. I got on a dating app and there was one used by members of my faith.
So, we met on a dating app; we met for a date after a while. Though I almost screwed it up and she was ready to block me after the first date. I persuaded her and honestly, even within a few weeks, I knew I wanted to marry her. She has tremendous character. She loves God; she’s a very strong, kind, and intelligent person.
She’s the kind of person that I knew I wanted to build a life with when I learnt about some of the struggles she went through. She was going to school and working full-time in the United States while maintaining a high-grade point average. She did this to pay for her father’s medical treatment at home because he was dying of cancer. That impressed me about her.
Did you face challenges from either of the families when both of you planned to get married?
Some people would face that, but it wasn’t my experience. I’m fortunate that I was raised by a family that taught us to treat people the same regardless of their nationalities. I share the same faith with my wife and that is the most important to my parents and my family as a whole.
They knew we would raise our children with the same values. So, we didn’t experience any opposition or objection. Her family has been incredibly welcoming and treated me beautifully. I couldn’t have asked for better treatment from my in-laws.
Why did you go online about the requirement that male foreigners have to live in Nigeria for 15 years before getting Nigerian citizenship despite marrying Nigerian women?
I had just learnt about it. I was trying to read as much as I could about it on the Ministry of Interior’s website. I saw different types of statuses for applying for citizenship. I was just very surprised to learn that men who marry Nigerian women are treated differently than foreign women who marry Nigerian men.
Can you live in Nigeria for 15 years to get a Nigerian passport?
It’s hard but possible at the same time. Though it’s a great commitment to live in Nigeria for 15 years, I would certainly be willing to try. My wife and I have talked in great depth about the possibility of living in Nigeria. Personally, some other considerations are making us need to wait before we do that.
It might be a few years before we move to Nigeria. However, I’m very interested in the idea, especially if I could continue to work for an American company remotely. I would like to consider it because it’s attractive and the quality of life in Nigeria.
What did you mean by the quality of life in Nigeria?
Well, I’m not a special person; so, I wouldn’t ask for a request to be made on my behalf. But, the only reason I think this issue is important is based on equality and fairness in the treatment of Nigerian people. Nevertheless, I would say making such a request is not only about me but also about providing equal access for people to take part in Nigerian traditions and culture.
My wife and I thought about this because we want our kids to grow up learning about their mother’s culture and traditions. We, male foreigners, should be treated the same as a female foreigner is treated when she marries a Nigerian man. There shouldn’t be discrimination against Nigerian women simply because they were born women and for marrying male foreigners.
In the video, you made some remarks in Nigerian Pidgin, how long have you been learning?
It’s funny that some Nigerians like to speak like Americans when they move to the US but my wife is not like that. She is a very proud Nigerian. She loves her culture and traditions and is proud of them. She loves Nigeria and its people. She loves the way she speaks, so she doesn’t feel the need to adjust just because she doesn’t sound the same as I do,
So, it wasn’t so much that she taught me Pidgin so much as speaking in Pidgin to her friends and I wanted to know what she was saying. I just paid attention; I paid very close attention and I picked it up over time but I’m still learning Pidgin. I would say I understand much better than I speak but I just think it’s very impressive that my wife speaks many languages.
When we visited Calabar where my wife is from, I heard her speak Akwa Ibom, I heard her speak Efik. I heard her speak her native language. And she speaks amazing English. So, I just think it’s very impressive I look up to her ability to speak many languages because that’s something that Americans don’t do so much.
It’s something I think we should try to do more. We Americans are so great and I think I should speak our language and any other language other than what I studied in school. I’ve forgotten everything but I want to learn how to speak Pidgin well so that I can say a lot of things without people around me knowing what we’re saying with my wife in America or abroad.
What other languages can you speak apart from Pidgin?
I just learned a couple of phrases of Assiga language where she comes from when we visited the village. I could say a couple of small things. Apart from that, I don’t speak any other language, and I wouldn’t even say I speak Pidgin well. But I want to learn it.
If we were to live in Nigeria, I would definitely try to learn one of the local languages. If we lived in Calabar, it would probably be Efik because that’s the most spoken language. But learning a new language is hard, and I feel like it’s very hard to do when you’re not immersed in it.
When was the last time you visited Nigeria?
We visited the Calabar Carnival in December of 2023. We were there for over a month.
What were the things you liked about Nigeria when you visited?
Well, the first thing that surprised me was just how welcoming the people were. I couldn’t believe how much attention they paid to me, because I’m a nobody. It was fun. They were very curious to learn about us and to learn about Americans. I loved the food. I chop rice, soups, and akara (bean cake). Every night we go out for suya (pepper-sprayed grilled beef). I think it was my favourite.
Do you know what they call japa in Nigeria?
I’ve heard the term, but if you can remind me of what it is.
It’s a brain drain where there is a mass exodus of Nigerians to developed countries in search of greener pastures. So, what’s your perspective of Nigerians coming to America for better opportunities?
Yes, there is opportunity in countries like America because of the strength of the economy. There are so many jobs. But I don’t think that the quality of life is necessarily better here (US). There are maybe a few areas where that’s true. But the problem, whether it’s America or the UK or countries in Europe, it’s very expensive to live in these countries. So many people come here and they struggle.
They hustle and sweat their life out only to find out that they haven’t got ahead. They don’t have savings. They don’t have a retirement. They can’t take a break from working without financial ruin.
So, I think that is very true that sometimes people think life will magically be easier in America or the UK, but it’s not really true. I think the only real reason that this happens is because of the strength of currencies. It’s because the dollar is strong.
