Florida Senate - 2017                            (NP)    SR 1838
       
       
        
       By Senator Campbell
       
       
       
       
       
       38-03468-17                                           20171838__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing April 12, 2017, as “Nigerian
    3         American Day” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria) is the
    6  most populous country in Africa with more than 177 million
    7  residents and is the seventh most populated nation in the world,
    8  and
    9         WHEREAS, Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy and economy,
   10  is the world’s twelfth largest producer of crude oil and has the
   11  world’s tenth largest proven oil reserves, and
   12         WHEREAS, Nigeria has more than 510 living languages, the
   13  world’s third largest collection of living languages, including
   14  Hausa, Yoruba, Ijaw, Ibibio, Edo, Itsekiri, and Igbo, and
   15         WHEREAS, brave Nigerians volunteered in the “forgotten
   16  army” to fight with the 81st and 82nd West African Divisions of
   17  the Allied Forces in World War II, served with distinction in
   18  various peacekeeping forces, and have been widely recognized in
   19  the international community as unrelenting advocates of global
   20  peace, and
   21         WHEREAS, there are more than 266,000 Nigerians in the
   22  United States, approximately 9,000 of whom reside in Florida,
   23  and, according to the United States Census Bureau’s 2014
   24  American Community Survey, Nigerian immigrants in the United
   25  States are well-educated, with approximately 96 percent of
   26  Nigerian Americans surveyed between 2008 and 2012 having a
   27  minimum of a high school education and approximately 61 percent
   28  having obtained at least a bachelor’s degree, and
   29         WHEREAS, some notable Nigerians include Akinwande Oluwole
   30  “Wole” Babatunde Soyinka, Africa’s first winner of the Nobel
   31  Prize in Literature; Hakeem Olajuwon, National Basketball
   32  Association (NBA) Finals Most Valuable Player and a 12-time NBA
   33  All-Star; Chinua Achebe, author of “Things Fall Apart,” one of
   34  the most widely read novels in modern African literature which
   35  has been translated into more than 50 languages and has sold
   36  more than 8 million copies worldwide; and Aliko Dangote, a
   37  Nigerian billionaire who was ranked by Forbes magazine as the
   38  richest person of African descent, and
   39         WHEREAS, the Nigerian-American community and the nonprofit
   40  Nigerian American Foundation strive to increase awareness and
   41  understanding of the Nigerian culture through education and
   42  collaborative endeavors, such as the annual Nigerian Festival in
   43  Miami Gardens which brings people together to enjoy traditional
   44  Nigerian culture, music, and performances, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That April 12, 2017, is recognized as “Nigerian-American
   49  Day” in Florida and the Nigerian American Foundation is
   50  commended for its contributions to Nigerian Americans in this
   51  state.