By Olatunji Ololade
Winter in Chicago had always been unforgiving. The temperatures plummet, and the wind chill becomes a silent, deadly adversary. For Marcus Faleti, the cold proved fatal. On January 1, 2017, at exactly 12:09 a.m., the 58-year-old succumbed to hypothermia and alcoholism, the temperature biting through the meagre layers of his existence.
The wind-chill that night registered at 18 degrees. It was a lethal cold that Faleti could no longer fight. Homeless and impoverished, he was found lifeless at the Presence St. Mary and Elizabeth Medical Centre, a tragic end to a life marked by relentless suffering.
Born in Nigeria, Faleti left for the United States 25 years ago, with dreams of prosperity and a better life in Chicago. The bustling metropolis, with its towering skyscrapers and promises of opportunity, seemed worlds away from his homeland. But as the years passed, the glittering facade of the American dream began to fade off, revealing a stark and unforgiving reality. Faleti watched helplessly as his dreams morphed into a nightmare of destitution and despair.
For over fifteen years, he lived from hand to mouth, sleeping rough on the streets of Chicago. His days were marked by a relentless struggle for survival, scavenging for food and seeking refuge from the elements. His clothing, tattered and inadequate, offered little protection against the city’s harsh winters. Each gust of wind pierced through his bedraggled attire, chilling him to the bones.
Faleti was a familiar figure in Wicker Park, often seen pushing his shopping cart overflowing with scavenged items or sitting on a bench reading the Sun-Times or Wall Street Journal. Despite his dire circumstances, he remained a voracious reader, a testament to the intellectual spark that never left him. “He was a good influence on everyone. Everyone liked him. He was a big newspaper reader and a very smart man,” recalled Nick Nixon, a friend who had known him since 1992, from their days as day labourers.
Faleti had a profound impact on those around him, with his intelligence and kindness leaving a lasting impression. Yet for 15 years, the streets of Chicago became his home, a stark contrast to the sheltered life he once knew in Nigeria. Despite the brutally cold winters, Faleti often refused to go to a homeless shelter, fearing for the safety of his cherished shopping cart filled with his few possessions.
He had an adult daughter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but their connection had long been lost to the miles and years that separated them.
Clare Rodriguez, a Chicago Park District supervisor, reflected, “Marcus was a part of the fabric of this park. He was a kind man and an icon of Wicker’s grounds.”
While the 58-year-old’s death is a sombre reminder of the fragile lives led by the homeless, his story isn’t just about a man who Japa (Japa stitches together the Yoruba expression já pa, meaning “to run” or “flee” as ascribed to migration) and died in the cold; it is about a dream that got frozen and shattered.
Faleti’s struggle with addiction and homelessness further highlights the harsh realities faced by migrants who seek a better life but find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair.
Seven years after Faleti’s death, another tragedy unfurled, this time in the United Kingdom. Chidimma Susan Ezenyili, affectionately known as Suzy, was a Nigerian lawyer who relocated to the UK to work as a caregiver. The 37-year-old nursed hopes of a better future. But on February 22, 2024, while attending to an elderly client, Ian Hale, on Scott Road, Ezenyili slumped while on duty in the street of Bishop’s Stortford. She died two days later. The cause of her death was a severe brain hemorrhage, a tragic end to a promising life.
Ezenyili’s journey was one of dedication and sacrifice. Despite feeling unwell, she continued to care for her client, driven by a sense of duty. Catherine Segal, the daughter of the elderly man Chidimma was caring for, recounted, “She was driven there by her husband with their three-year-old daughter as she wasn’t feeling well but didn’t want to let my dad down.” Her commitment was a testament to her character, but it also highlighted the immense pressures faced by immigrants in their quest to survive and support their families.
Ezenyili relocated to the UK as a caregiver, but her aspirations went beyond that. She was a qualified lawyer in Nigeria and planned to attain her qualifications to practice law in the UK.
Her dream was for her daughter, Mandy, to attend school in the UK and to make a new life here where she would have the opportunities that Suzy and Friday never had growing up in Nigeria. However, her dreams were cut short by her untimely death.
Faleti and Ezenyili’s fates are part of a broader narrative of struggle experienced by Nigerian migrants. Many leave their homeland with hopes of a brighter future, only to find themselves grappling with unanticipated hardships in a foreign land. The plight of Nigerian migrants has become a front-burner issue in global circuit, with many facing exploitation, discrimination, and a lack of support in their host countries. The journey to greener pastures, many eventually find, is fraught with obstacles, and for some, it ends in tragedy. Accordingly, better-heeled Nigerian communities in diaspora have begun to advocate for better conditions and support systems for their fellow compatriots, but the road to change is long and arduous.
Nigerian families, once comfortable, often find themselves living in slums in the UK, US, and Canada. This drastic change leads to mental health issues and marital strife. Financial strain and cultural dislocation cause marriages to crumble, with some husbands turning violent.
There exists no greater illusion than the belief that distant shores offer a promised land where milk and honey flow without end. Yet, reality has unfurled its cold decree: there is no sanctuary more absolute than home. The recent waves of deportations across the Western Hemisphere depict a truth no one can ignore. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), over 72,000 foreign nationals were deported from the United States in 2023 alone. As of March 31, 2025, America has deported over 100,000 migrants and made approximately 113,000 arrests since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Among them were thousands who had built lives, paid taxes, raised children—yet found themselves flung across borders the moment their presence was deemed discordant with national interests.
The administration has also emphasized policies encouraging “self-deportation,” urging undocumented immigrants to leave the U.S. voluntarily to avoid forced removal. Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security reported a notable rise in “reverse migration” as a result. In addition to domestic enforcement, the U.S. is negotiating with multiple countries in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe to accept migrants deported from the U.S., aiming to overcome resistance from nations hesitant to take back their citizens.
As Nigeria prepares to accept some of its affected citizens from the United States -5,144 Nigerians face arrest and deportation- the country must develop a more pragmatic and multi-faceted approach to resolving the issues driving emigration. Promoting local opportunities, encouraging entrepreneurship, and implementing government initiatives to improve living conditions in Nigeria are crucial, experts have argued.
Nigeria must create a system where people do not feel the need to leave, while investing in education, infrastructure, and job creation. If Nigeria becomes more habitable, many youths will stay back and develop their homeland.
*This article by Dr Ololatunji Ololade was first published by The Nation