I was born and spent my childhood in a small village called XXXX in Nigeria. My late father was a quack doctor but nonetheless saved many lives free of charge in our community up until his death in 1986. His selfless caring for his community is the greatest role model that I have, and something which I fully intend to carry forward until my own death. Next year I will be an American citizen, but my heart is still back in Africa. I ask for admission to XXXX University to study towards the MPA Degree because of my profound respect for your distinguished program and my confidence that studying at XXXX will prepare me for making the maximum contribution possible to my people back in Nigeria.
After completing your program, I hope to be most useful to one or more NGOs who are struggling to navigate the challenging times that my country is going through and the numerous special challenges that it currently faces. I hope to be blessed by a broad engagement in the struggle for community development, for decades to come.
I graduated first in my class as an undergraduate student in 1986 and then went on to finish a National Diploma with distinction in Business Administration. From 1991 through 2004 I worked first as a Purchasing Manager and then a Sales Executive until I moved to England. After two years serving as a Parking Officer in England, I was promoted to the position of Supervisor of Parking Officers from 2005 until I left for the USA in 2007. Next year, I will become an American citizen.
I am pleased that the United States government favors the immigration of a certain number of men from Africa; we are needed, primarily to fill jobs that are so dangerous that few Americans want them. Many if not most taxi drivers in America’s largest cities, for example, especially at night, are from Africa.
I too now have a dangerous job as a half-way house manager. I have been employed since 2010 with the XXXX Group in New Jersey. First, I was a resident supervisor. Since 2011, however, I have been serving as the manager of our half-way house for men who are approaching eligibility for release from the criminal justice system. Some of them have become angry with me, which is inevitable in this kind of situation; and on more than one occasion I have ran into them in the street after they are no longer part of our program.
I hope to advance professionally in public administration by completing your program. Now fifty, I have wanted to go to graduate school for some time, but I was too busy adapting to new cultures and earning a living, first in England (2004-2007) and then the USA.
I am convinced that my undergraduate studies back in Nigeria will help me to do well in your program. My work as a supervisor both in England and here in America has helped me to grow professionally in terms of confidence along with constantly improving communication and organizational skills which will help me to connect with the host of workplace and human resource issues that I will be dealing with in your program. I hope to be able to focus a significant amount of my research as a student in your program on challenges and issues in public administration in the context of my native Africa, and in this way be able to make intelligent contributions to class discussions, offering an interpretation from an African perspective.
The strongest part of my application to your program is my long-term goals. I hope to have the honor of contributing to the diversity and inclusiveness of your program as someone who is very much devoted to helping his native Africa, devoting the balance of my professional and personal life to contributing all that I can to the war on poverty, raising awareness; I also hope to help streamline organizational structures in order to achieve greater efficiency and to guard against corruption.
Each year, Africa produces ten times the amount of food that Africans consume. Nevertheless, around 18,000 children die each day from malnutrition and related diseases. Much of this is a result of our acute lack of adequate mass transportation as well as storage systems. Much of our food simply rots before it ever gets to market because we remain inept in this area, perishable goods. I hope to work in this area to address our food shortage issues. I also hope to promote government-assisted, mechanized farming, which according to some estimates could triple our harvests.
Managing our half-way house has also made me increasingly interested in human psychology and organization, especially in the private sector. I hope to learn as much as possible about NGOs and how they operate. My ideal job, however, would be with the United Nations.
Thank you for considering my application.
MPA Public Purpose Statement for Non-traditional Immigrant
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