A Spot to Perch: a Tortuous Journey to Citizenship

Publisher Marketing: They had initially made yearly vacation visits to the United States. Those were fun and relaxation times. But the monumental insecurity in their homeland coupled with disgust with the incessant mounting corruption and harassment from men in flowing robes and in uniform who were supposed to protect the citizens became so unbearable that the couple started surveying avenues for relocation to God's Own Country. When the opportunity finally came by, and the couple landed in Los Angeles airport they came to discover new challenges which they were to grapple with. The belief that a perfect spot to perch had been found was soon to be soured by the saga of two apparently innocuous tubers of yams whose combined value was less than one dollar. Even after the yams were confiscated and destroyed at the airport the aftermath of the violation was to replay nearly five years later when naturalization for citizenship of the United States was sought. The enormous powers of two tubers of yams were greatly displayed as the applicants grappled with unforeseen situations which had sought to thwart the life-long desires of a couple to be participants of the promises of God's own country. Would the promise of realization of the American Dream succumb to the evil machinations of two inanimate tubers of yams? Or would the justice and fair play in a country that prides itself with its trust in God; one that holds certain truths as self evident, once again proclaim its superiority over apparent trivialities in the Land of the free and the Home of the brave. Contributor Bio:  Akamnonu, Oliver Oliver Akamnonu, an author and poet, is a medical doctor who specialized in anesthesiology. He attended St Brigit's Catholic School Enugu, and later Government Secondary School Afikpo Nigeria where he was a college scholar and rose to be Captain of School. He studied medicine in the University of Ibadan medical school and specialized in anesthesiology. He was a two term elected state chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association and a member of Board of the Federal Medical Center Owerri Nigeria as well as a member of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria the apex regulatory body for the practice of medicine and dentistry in Nigeria. He was conferred with the Distinguished Medical Practitioner (DMP) award in October 2005. A Nigeria-born citizen of the United States of America, Dr Akamnonu is the author of more than sixteen published books in the USA, among which is the award-winning poetry book "Rap to Mars." Dr Akamnonu is married to Dr Chika Agnes Akamnonu and they have four children. He lives in Massachusetts USA. Assistance with illustrations by Obasi Akamnonu and Adanna Akamnonu in New York and Michelle Onyekaba and Pamela Onyekaba in Minneapolis Minnesota, USA