obadiah777: lol brah ? £50 grand a year is roasting. when i said my brother was roasting in england, he was making £60,000 a year. however his job was in london and he lived in kent. when you take tax out of that and all his travel and living expenses. nothing left. no be roasting be that ? now he is in naija and he can cash down for his house. he is travelling first class every week to different conferences all over the world, all expenses paid. and those other guys i mentioned are now millionaires in pounds. you still think your £40 k before tax is not roasting ?

okay I see, then i am roasting. Only thing is my 4 siblings and 2 siblings of my wife in Naija would love to be roasting like me.

norrisman:

okay I see, then i am roasting. Only thing is my 4 siblings and 2 siblings of my wife in Naija would love to be roasting like me.

brah, its a state of mind. if you are content with your life and you are happy with it. then you are not roasting

however if you are an extremely ambitious person earning a fixed salary ? you are roasting. the reason i said those guys were roasting is because they wanted more from life than working a 9 to 5 in england and then having all their wages finish without being able to save any. so roasting is a state of mind

this guy roasted in england. returned to naija. now he is a mogul in oil and gas http://www.youtube.com

another guy i know. left england. now a business mogul and economic analyst http://www.youtube.com

obadiah777: LOL SERIALLINK WETIN DEY SHELE

ANYWAY, BILLYONAIRE NOT EVERYONE IS OBSESSED WITH MONEY. SOME PEOPLE DONT USE MONEY TO MEASURE THEIR SUCCESS AND HUMANITY. MONEY IS JUST A MEANS TO GET WHAT YOU WANT. LETS NOT MAKE IT THE BE ALL AND END ALL OF LIFE CUZ IT AINT. ITS THAT MENTALITY THAT HAS NIGERIA THE WAY IT IS TODAY. IF I HAD YOUR MENTALITY THAT I AM A FAILURE BECAUSE I AM CONTENT WITH WHAT I HAVE, THEN IF I ASSUME GOVT POSITIONS WOULDNT I BE A FAILURE IF I DONT STEAL BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ? AFTER-ALL MONEY IS THE MEASURE OF A MANS HUMANITY ?

ANYWAY I DIGRESS

ENGLAND IS A DREAM-KILLER AND A LEVELLER. DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSONALITY. IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO JUST VALUES THE BASIC IN LIFE WHICH YOU NEVER HAD IN NIGERIA THEN IT IS A LEVELLER. MEANING IT PULLS YOU UP TO THE SAME LEVEL EVERYONE IS ON.

HOWEVER IF YOU ARE AN AMBITIOUS PERSON, ENGLAND IS A DREAM KILLER. THERE IS THIS GUY CALLED DEJI AKINYANJU. LIVED IN LONDON FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS. DUDE WAS ROASTING JUST LIKE MOST PEOPLE IN ENGLAND. ONE DAY HE WAS LIKE, I CANT KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS. HE PACKED HIS BAGS AND RETURNED TO NIGERIA WITH ABSOLUTELY ALMOST NOTHING. TODAY HE IS A MULTIMILLIONAIRE IN POUNDS AFTER ONLY 5 YEARS IN NIGERIA. HE OWNS ALL THE CHICKEN REPUBLIC STORES IN NIGERIA AMONGST MANY OTHER BUSINESSES. YOU CAN SEE HIM BEING INTERVIEWED ON CNBC AND CNN ABOUT MARKET TRENDS. THE POINT HERE IS IF YOU ARE AN AMBITIOUS PERSON, LONDON IS NOT FOR YOU. IT IS A DREAM KILLER. HOWEVER IF THE ONLY THING IN LIFE THAT MATTERS TO YOU IS CONSTANT ELECTRICITY AND STABILITY, THEN IT IS FOR YOU.

How can you mention someone who got seed funding worth 2 million pounds from friends and family to start a business? How many returnee can raise a tenth of that amount? They will rather give those back home money on their arrival in Naija.

pato405:

this is the part that really grates on my nerves. it was the junkie misconception we were fed with before straining all nerves to come over to the UK. @OP, I'm more or less in the same shoes with your friend except for being single. Currently I'm also rounding up a PhD program after my Msc. So. I could say I've been around 4 yrs and old enough to know what obtains.


Firstly, I'll start by saying things are not the way people at home see and judge it from popular stereotype. Sometyms, I sit back and reflect and I must confess that often I feel as if it's way better back home. dont get me wrong, the quality and standard of living (generally speaking) at home may not really be so pleasant (worst still is the current security state of affairs, but lets shove that aside for now since it's unrelated to the topic). In 9ja, you can tailor your means (earnings) flexibly to get what you want which is not often the case in the UK. I used to share this bogus misconception like the author of the quote above until I came over and saw things for myself. it's entirely a charade o! it just doesnt work that way.

Everyone is more or less fixed in the UK. the system is so organised such that you churn whatever you earn back into the system leaving you with little or nothing as savings. who wants to live without savings? it's the reason many believe its better back home. for-instance I feel the plight of your friend: Chidi because I more or less fall within the range of his earning by virtue of some little entitlements to my studentship (£13k). Now, that is untaxed. just imagine if Chidi's wife was'nt working! that would have been worse for him if we are true to ourselves. there are many like Chidi out here in Uk also contemplating the same thing. if I say I haven't looked at things through his lenses, I'll be telling a big lie. have you stopped to consider a country where 30% of what you earn goes to tax, leaving you with 70% as take home pay. Now, just when you think that is for you, rent and bills gulp half of your 70%, leaving you with 30-35%. though food is cheap, but you'll spend nothing less than another half of remainder (30%), that means 15% only is left on you after all these unavoidable expenses. so you'll be lucky if other miscellaneous/unbudgeted expenses doesn't engulf up the remaining 10/15%. I'm not exaggerating here. do a survey and you'll find out that this is what goes for many in UK. the more reason why for many of them, it can be very difficult sending money back home either for projects to be completed or to support siblings.

On the other hand, 9ja may hve its issues, but when it comes to saving, dont be surprised that you may be saving more. you don't have to live in lekki or Ikoyi or VI, neither do you have to live in Marokor because you wanna maximise saving. but you can come in-between and get a descent accommodation in places like Surulere, Maryland, Gbagada etch which are also really nice places with descent accommodation. 'I tell ya', accommodation and bills KILL earnings in the UK.

earning £1000 and earning 250k in naija are NOT the same. the guy with £1000 saves practically nothing at the end of the day in Uk. as a matter of fact, he can only share a flat with some-one in UK. if he decides to hire a 2 bedroom alone and pay the bills, he may spend more than £550 + £150 = £700! feed on £200 n save only £100 (25k) but the guy with 250k in naija, can get at least a not too bad 2bed for 250k/annum..that translates to 21k montly, get a gen and fuel it with less than 10k montly for power. if he is not extravagant, tell me how he'll find it difficult saving between 50-100k from his 250k?

lets consider this issues critically, becos when pips in Uk complain of coming back home, others at home do not seem to take analytic view to their complains.

overall, make eno be like say I dey talk too much. it may not be a bad idea relocating if your friend cannot find a better job (which apparently is becoming more difficult by the day in the Uk and even in the US advocated by some others). however, it's a VERY WISE IDEA NOT to relocate unless he gets a job first. education in UK is far better and worthwhile, so, I'll advice his children stays behind with his wife. he may even save more in 9ja with a lecturing job... and the job may allow him 'free/extra-time' to do other things (personal business) be more productive and maximise earnings. I've thought of this severally and that's my take. if I find a gud lecturing position in 9ja after my program, I wont hesistate o! it's better than loafing around jobless in UK or earning and not saving at all.

One thing that I should mention is that for a lot of people who live abroad, Naija's very laxness sometimes becomes a virtue in their eyes, when they lament about the wahala of life abroad. Payment of tax being the most lamented feature . Of course we dont need to point out the fact that high taxes are used to pay for the relatively better living standards enjoyed over there (the NHS may be a nightmare to the Brits, but is nirvana as compared to any general hospital in Lagos, for example). However, I agree that there are pros and cons to living in a strucutred as opposed to a disorganized society. One poster mentioned that in the UK you never see "deals" for example, and that your salary is your salary and you've got to live on it. Hilarious.

But lets take a broad view. How many people can afford to live in Lekki phase 1 or 2? Not up to 4 percent of our population can afford to pay equivalent rents of 1.2 million p.a for a 3bd flat, I reckon. How many can afford Surulere or Gbagada? Approx 10% of the population can afford it, maybe, give or take. Now, in actual fact, I shouldnt be living in Surulere or Ikeja, I should be living in Mowe or Ikorodu and commuting into Lagos everyday. Or even Abeokuta. People come into central London from Erith, Dagenham, etc everyday and retrun. Lack of pdecent public transport in Lagos, for example, makes it nigh impossible to live on the outskirts of Lagos, if I want to live beyond the age of 50, so I am forced to come into town to pay ridiculous rents, and then I am now categorized as someone who can AFFORD it. Do you see the distinction?

Secondly, most of us are all comparing London and Lagos, not the other parts of both countries. Of course accomodation and cost of living as markedly higher in both locations. We should not use their prices and circumstances to compare the other areas of both countries. After all, people live in Pwerri, Enugu, Calabar, Ibadan, Kaduna, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Eastbourne. etc, etc, no be so? So we can;t say that it it difficult to save in the UK as opposed to Naija; I earn about 200k per month, and my house rent is 500k, with one child, and my wife and I combine our incomes to be able to live well. I may be better off if I live outside Lagos, because I definitely would spend less on housing, transport, etc, but postulating monthly savings of 50 to 100k is not really feasible. If I were earning about a 1000 quid in London, I wouldnt expect to save much, if anything, but if I were living in Cardiff, yes, I might.

Basically, the cost of living in developed countries is usually generally predictable, as compared to here. There were floods last month: price of food has gone up. Price of electricity was jacked up overnight, in addition to NEPA mad billing. Jonathan had a vision in January, and petrol orices more than double, together with everything else. I was paying 350k for my flat when I got married; I paid 500k this year, and am afraid to move, because at least I have got "sitting tenant" rights, and know that if I move else where I shall have to pay at least 600,700k for a 3bd. Unstability, imposibility of planning - I really wouldnt mind living in a 3 bd semi detached in Sussex by the time I'm 70, like one of the old, lonely Londoners a previous poster scorned, really. At least I can afford that. In Naija, I cant even get a mortgage to buy a house in the first place.

yemmy_ma:

How can you mention someone who got seed funding worth 2 million pounds from friends and family to start a business? How many returnee can raise a tenth of that amount? They will rather give those back home money on their arrival in Naija.

if you have a great idea there are venture capitalists waiting to fund you. or you can get a franchise license and with that get loans. the point here is that for the overtly-ambitious there is always a way out of every predicament. for those with defeatist attitude there is never a way. you have to be an optimist to be succesful. that alone erases 99 percent of the population of nigeria because nigerians are pessimists. there is a reason white people are trooping into your country everyday. they see what your pessimistic mind cant see.

For every Kola Karim there is a Michael Ogunlesi and for every Michael Ogunbiyi there is Chuka Umanah

pappilo: For every Kola Karim there is a Michael Ogunlesi and for every Michael Ogunbiyi there is Chuka Umanah

i am not familiar with those names

obadiah777: i am not familiar with those names

Google is the knowledge seeking man's best friend.

@Cybernight : A "deal" is 1.An agreement entered into by two or more parties for their mutual benefit, esp. in a business or political context - it does not have to involve fraud as I seem to have interpreted your comment. e.g You have info / authority etc required by 3rd parties...you sit at a table in a bar , talk things out ...parties execute "deal" clean and legally and pay you "homage" thereafter.

Your insight is appreciated as well though. At the end of the day , one might have to say both sides are the same. It is an individual preference based on choice and what each individual wants out of life.

@ Cyberknight

I find it hard to believe you live in Nigeria. Your thinking is completely un-Nigerian. You must have lived in the west for a considerable peridod of time for you to be a able to reason with sense like I can see in your post. No two ways about that!

Returning to Nigeria might not be a bad idea if your friend is currently wasting away in the UK. You only said your friend is a blue collar worker but not the type of work he does to earn 15k pounds.

If your friend works in a degrading field for someone with a PhD from a 1st world country, then he may be better off going to Nigeria for a trial period. But it is important that he comes alone so that his wife can provide for his kids and maybe him if needed.

The way I see it, if he really has no professional career that requires some sort of expertise, he will not really lose much by coming to Nigeria for a year or two. What’s the worst that could happen, him having to go back to UK to get another non-skilled job? Can you imagine the psychological trauma of putting in the work required to get a PhD only for you to end up sweeping the streets; a job that might not even require a high school certificate?

What was his first degree (B.Sc.) in? Regardless of your answer, I think your friend needs a reality check because I think lacks the in-depth knowledge in any subject, at least on paper, to be a professor or lecturer in a 1st world university, especially in this economic climate. His masters and doctorate degrees are in education; what exactly does he intend to teach in a university, education? If he has his first degree is in a substantive subject, he can easily teach that in most secondary schools and his PhD in education will allow him to quickly rise to the top or even branch out to administer school districts.

Personally, I think he’s more skilled to be in the administrative side of education like being a principal, school administrator, guidance counselor or any of the other experts needed to run an academic institution. In the US, school administrators typically earn more than teachers, I think.

If I were your friend, I would get a teaching job in a secondary school for a couple of years then use that as a platform to launch into the school district (or whatever you guys call it) as an administrator. There’s no denying that he has the educational requirements to be a school superintendent.

Generally speaking, I think most Nigerians that travel abroad to school do not give enough thought to exactly what they want to study or do for a living and are still of the Nigerian-mindset of “let me just get into any course that accepts me”.

obadiah777: lol brah ? £50 grand a year is roasting. when i said my brother was roasting in england, he was making £60,000 a year. however his job was in london and he lived in kent. when you take tax out of that and all his travel and living expenses. nothing left. no be roasting be that ? now he is in naija and he can cash down for his house. he is travelling first class every week to different conferences all over the world, all expenses paid. and those other guys i mentioned are now millionaires in pounds. you still think your £40 k before tax is not roasting ?

this is what irks me about people like you! you speak absent of wisdom!! how can you say someone earning £50k per annum is roasting? jeeeez - only 10% of the population of britain earn more than £40k per annum. you mean 90% of the british population are roasting? your ignorance is peerless!

it's either you don't know the value of money or you have been telling porkies all along - either way, no one should take you serious on these pages!!! norrisman with his £50k per annum is among the top 7% of the highest earners in britain!!!

obadiah777: all the people i mentioned were born in london, and one of them was born in sheffield

if they were all born after 1983 and their parents ain't british - then the people you mentioned are not british citizens!

munaco: Strange and interesting topic, why are u using just one person to equate millions of Nigerian abroad. why not tell Achebe and Soyinka to come back home because those people are not even earning what MDs in Nigerian banks are earning.Please, how many of ur mates are in the same shoe like u (i mean primary to secondary). Omo just dey happy and thank God for most things He did for u.
£15000 = 3,7500,000.
Average Lecturer salary N250,000 to N300,000
Multiply by 12months 3,000,000 to 3,600,000 respectively
Can that money pay for duplex in lekki phase one, NO.
that is why the country is still backward.

Dude, if you read well the posters friend is earning £15,000 per annum, hence the difference is not much atall

coogar:

this is what irks me about people like you! you speak absent of wisdom!! how can you say someone earning £50k per annum is roasting? jeeeez - only 10% of the population of britain earn more than £40k per annum. you mean 90% of the british population are roasting? your ignorance is peerless!

it's either you don't know the value of money or you have been telling porkies all along - either way, no one should take you serious on these pages!!! norrisman with his £50k per annum is among the top 7% of the highest earners in britain!!!




if they were all born after 1983 and their parents ain't british - then the people you mentioned are not british citizens!

you sound bitter. but anyway there is a reason why people in britain are miserable. its because they are not paid very well in that country. it is one of the poorest paid places to work in western europe. honestly ? £40,000 that you think is balling ? some people spend that amount in a weekend in nigeria. so if you think it is balling then thats because you have not touched real money. and it sounds like you have not touched real money from the way you speak


and on a side note, i am not materialistic, i am not speaking from the point of view of someone who idolizes money. i am a soldier of God. however i am just reporting what people around me are earning and doing in naija. i myself have earned over £50k and i couldnt save. first of all british ppl believe whwn you are in that tax bracket, they have to put you in a new tax code. meaning they take more of your money. etc etc. the point here is the money is not so great in britain if you for one moment forget that 1 of it is 250 nigerian money. thats the only reason you have the illusion that the money is much.

secondly those guys were born in the seventies. not after 1983. you saw those 2 videos. do those look like twenty something year olds ? they are thirty somethings

obadiah777: £40,000 that you think is balling...some people spend that amount in a weekend in nigeria.

And you're inclined to think they legitimately worked for it or earned it. It is people like you celebrating rouges who otherwise should be flown out of town in an helicopter and dumped alive into the mid-Atlantic so aquatic beasts can feed on them.

Patsey:

And you're inclined to think they legitimately worked for it or earned it. It is people like you celebrating rouges who otherwise should be flown out of town in an helicopter and dumped alive into the mid-Atlantic so aquatic beasts can feed on them.

THATS NOT THE POINT. THE POINT HERE IS IF YOU WORK A WHOLE YEAR OF YOUR LIFE FOR £40,000 BEFORE TAX. THIS IS SLAVERY. YOU DONT THINK IT IS SLAVERY ? CONSIDERING THE NUMEROUS BILLS YOU FACE IN UK
COUNCIL TAX ALONE IS 1 GRAND.
TAX IS LIKE 15 GRAND
TRANSPORT IS 2 GRAND

I HAVE NOT MENTIONED FOOD FOR 1 YEAR, CLOTHES LIGHT GAS INTERNET RENT MOT ROAD TAX AUTO-INSURANCE TV-LICENSE

Patsey:
"£40,000 that you think is balling...some people spend that amount in a weekend in nigeria."

And you're inclined to think they legitimately worked for it or earned it. It is people like you celebrating rouges who otherwise should be flown out of town in an helicopter and dumped alive into the mid-Atlantic so aquatic beasts can feed on them.

Yes, there are people who legitimately worked for their money and can afford to spend that in a weekend. Some people even spend way over that in one day. Once my dad's younger brother bought two cars in one day and it cost him a bit over N10 million. just to note; this guy is in his early 40's but has been working at ELF as a chemical engineer for over 15 years. (he's also not married).


@Obadiah777, that may be a bad comparison. Of course people can spend £40,000 in a weekend in both continents heck in almost any part of the world nevertheless not up to 20% of any population in any country have such commands over money.

obadiah777: you sound bitter. but anyway there is a reason why people in britain are miserable. its because they are not paid very well in that country. it is one of the poorest paid places to work in western europe. honestly ? £40,000 that you think is balling ? some people spend that amount in a weekend in nigeria. so if you think it is balling then thats because you have not touched real money. and it sounds like you have not touched real money from the way you speak


and on a side note, i am not materialistic, i am not speaking from the point of view of someone who idolizes money. i am a soldier of God. however i am just reporting what people around me are earning and doing in naija. i myself have earned over £50k and i couldnt save. first of all british ppl believe whwn you are in that tax bracket, they have to put you in a new tax code. meaning they take more of your money. etc etc. the point here is the money is not so great in britain if you for one moment forget that 1 of it is 250 nigerian money. thats the only reason you have the illusion that the money is much.

secondly those guys were born in the seventies. not after 1983. you saw those 2 videos. do those look like twenty something year olds ? they are thirty somethings

Good gracious. People spend 40k pounds equivalent in a weekend in Naija? Really?. That's 10 million naira. Are there really people, who earn legitmitate money, who are not Arab oil sheiks, South American drug lords or Nigerian government members who spend 10 million naira of a weekend?!! Untrue.

Secondly, it is diffcult to believe that someone in the UK was earning 50k p.a and couldn't save. For those who know the value of money, tzxes, and the way life is organized in the UK, that obviously bespeaks someone who was living life at full thrust (which is not a crime), but a prudent man can live on that, save, and still enjoy life. The cost of living in the UK is not as high as it is made out to be, considering that the system is so strucutred that everyone who has employment and even those who dont have are able to LIVE. For example, in the UK and other countries, a minimum wage is what the term minimum wage means..income that can allow you to live on that level. With a minimum income in the UK, I can share a flat, in the East End or wherever, pay bus fares, still have access to the NHS, get government funded education for my children, buy cheap clothes at Primark and cheap food at Asda, etc, etc. In Naija, what can you get on 18k a month? That barely covers the cost of a room rent(which you have to pay one or 2 years in advance, keeping many young people stuck in their parents' houses), before you talk about eating good food, or paying for hospital visits (you are stuck with the general hospitals), or getting education for your children (you are stuck with the abysmal schools), etc, etc.

How many of us here on NL will send our children to government schools, the schools most of us went to in my time? I went to a government primary school in Lagos and a federal government college. In my first year in university, my fees were 90 naira (in 1992). How many of us walk into general hospitals when we are unwell? And so forth. Under the right conditions, lving in Naija would be the best, because yes, you always have certain advantages living in your own country where you know how things work. But comparing Naija and the UK in terms of possible earning power is way, way out. It is possible to earn high salaries in both the UK and in Naija, true. But how many people earn these salaries? How many people work in oil companies, the big multinationals, upper levels of the banks, etc in Naija? How many? How many people are EVEN in employment or generating decent income in Naija? How many? Let's not talk about so-called "business" in Naija, with no access to credit or bank loans, what can one really do in Naija? Import stuff? You need money. Set up a pure water business?

Where the UK and other countries are way ahead of us is in this - they provide much more of their people with a good standard of living than Naija does for us. People might not be earning 700k/month incomes equivalent in the UK, but there are a lot more of them in the middle and lower middle class who are getting by. In Naija, the class distinctions have almost ceased to exist. There are the rich (those in government, and their hangers on, and other shady characters), those with good jobs on multinationals (notice I used the term multinationals, how many real Naija companies pay well?), the few who are making their way up the ladder at some companies, or running existing business, and then the poor. Stark, but there you have it.

And finally, a lot of people, I regret, suffer from tunnel vision. THEY have it good, or OK, so they don't understand what the rest of the people are suffering in Naija, that makes them ready to relocate abroad to earn ANYTHING at all, as opposed to earning nothing in Naija. Yes, there are lots of people doing funny things abroad. Its a given, we all know that. But does funny things are all paid enough for one to LIVE on, as opposed to here. Compare the lot of a part time security man at Boots with that of his counterparts here, for example.

"Just passing":
@Cybernight : A "deal" is 1.An agreement entered into by two or more parties for their mutual benefit, esp. in a business or political context - it does not have to involve fraud as I seem to have interpreted your comment. e.g You have info / authority etc required by 3rd parties...you sit at a table in a bar , talk things out ...parties execute "deal" clean and legally and pay you "homage" thereafter.

Your insight is appreciated as well though. At the end of the day , one might have to say both sides are the same. It is an individual preference based on choice and what each individual wants out of life.

Point noted, mate. Well explained. such a transaction can obviously take place in the UK or anywhere elese in the world. Relating it to Naija was a tad superfluous then?

Cyberknight:

Point noted, mate. Well explaned. such a transaction can obviosuly take place in the UK or anywhere elese in the world. Relating it to Naija was a rtad superfluous then?

It is more likely , though not impossible , to have the required Info/Authority/Connection & Network at home ( Naija ) than in any other part of the world.

Cyberknight:

Good gracious. People spend 40k pounds equivalent in a weekend in Naija? Really?. That's 10 million naira. Are there really people, who earn legitmitate money, who are not Arab oil sheiks, South American drug lords or Nigerian government members who spend 10 million naira of a weekend?!! Untrue.

Secondly, it is diffcult to believe that someone in the UK was earning 50k p.a and couldn't save. For those who know the value of money, tzxes, and the way life is organized in the UK, that obviously bespeaks someone who was living life at full thrust (which is not a crime), but a prudent man can live on that, save, and still enjoy life. The cost of living in the UK is not as high as it is made out to be, considering that the system is so strucutred that everyone who has employment and even those who dont have are able to LIVE. For example, in the UK and other countries, a minimum wage is what the term minimum wage means..income that can allow you to live on that level. With a minimum income in the UK, I can share a flat, in the East End or wherever, pay bus fares, still have access to the NHS, get government funded education for my children, buy cheap clothes at Primark and cheap food at Asda, etc, etc. In Naija, what can you get on 18k a month? That barely covers the cost of a room rent(which you have to pay one or 2 years in advance, keeping many young people stuck in their parents' houses), before you talk about eating good food, or paying for hospital visits (you are stuck with the general hospitals), or getting education for your children (you are stuck with the abysmal schools), etc, etc.

How many of us here on NL will send our children to government schools, the schools most of us went to in my time? I went to a government primary school in Lagos and a federal government college. In my first year in university, my fees were 90 naira (in 1992). How many of us walk into general hospitals when we are unwell? And so forth. Under the right conditions, lving in Naija would be the best, because yes, you always have certain advantages living in your own country where you know how things work. But comparing Naija and the UK in terms of possible earning power is way, way out. It is possible to earn high salaries in both the UK and in Naija, true. But how many people earn these salaries? How many people work in oil companies, the big multinationals, upper levels of the banks, etc in Naija? How many? How many people are EVEN in employment or generating decent income in Naija? How many? Let's not talk about so-called "business" in Naija, with no access to credit or bank loans, what can one really do in Naija? Import stuff? You need money. Set up a pure water business?

Where the UK and other countries are way ahead of us is in this - they provide much more of their people with a good standard of living than Naija does for us. People might not be earning 700k/month incomes equivalent in the UK, but there are a lot more of them in the middle and lower middle class who are getting by. In Naija, the class distinctions have almost ceased to exist. There are the rich (those in government, and their hangers on, and other shady characters), those with good jobs on multinationals (notice I used the term multinationals, how many real Naija companies pay well?), the few who are making their way up the ladder at some companies, or running existing business, and then the poor. Stark, but there you have it.

And finally, a lot of people, I regret, suffer from tunnel vision. THEY have it good, or OK, so they don't understand what the rest of the people are suffering in Naija, that makes them ready to relocate abroad to earn ANYTHING at all, as opposed to earning nothing in Naija. Yes, there are lots of people doing funny things abroad. Its a given, we all know that. But does funny things are all paid enough for one to LIVE on, as opposed to here. Compare the lot of a part time security man at Boots with that of his counterparts here, for example.

You are well schooled. Most of them only look at cost in terms of finance thus ignoring social and economic costs. Truth is, Nigeria is a very expensive place to live in when you examine taking all costs into consideration. Most of these costs are the most important but are intangible and are thus easily ignored. Thumbs up to you, you are very well educated.

Imagine saving in a country where inflation is at double digits and you compare savings to a country where inflation is at single digits.

ememonl: Guy i will advice you to seriously encourage your friend to hang on.
he should only consider returning if he has like 10 - 50million naira
to invest and run his own show. Otherwise he will abuse you for not
using chain to hold him back when he was planing to return to naija to
huzzle.

Waht he is earning is equal to N300K a month, and his wife's is N600K a month
men, thats like a director's salary.

N10m to N50m? Guy this your analysis get as e be ooo

Godogwu:

Yes, there are people who legitimately worked for their money and can afford to spend that in a weekend. Some people even spend way over that in one day. Once my dad's younger brother bought two cars in one day and it cost him a bit over N10 million. just to note; this guy is in his early 40's but has been working at ELF as a chemical engineer for over 15 years. (he's also not married).


@Obadiah777, that may be a bad comparison. Of course people can spend £40,000 in a weekend in both continents heck in almost any part of the world nevertheless not up to 20% of any population in any country have such commands over money.

THE POINT BEING MADE IS THAT £40,000 A YEAR BEFORE TAX IN THE UK IS NOT BALLING. IT IS A DECENT SALARY. BUT ITS NOT BALLING

obadiah777: you sound bitter. but anyway there is a reason why people in britain are miserable. its because they are not paid very well in that country. it is one of the poorest paid places to work in western europe. honestly ? £40,000 that you think is balling ? some people spend that amount in a weekend in nigeria. so if you think it is balling then thats because you have not touched real money. and it sounds like you have not touched real money from the way you speak

just when you thought the day's gonna be boring, another walter mitty emerges....
£40k per annum is more than balling in the united kingdom and of course i am talking about people who earn their money legitimately - not the poor excuse of an example you brought up. your ignorance is peerless in that only surgeons and neurologists earn more than £40k per annum in the medical field! you must have mistaken the british pounds with the somalian shillings or you don't understand the value of money.

and on a side note, i am not materialistic, i am not speaking from the point of view of someone who idolizes money. i am a soldier of God. however i am just reporting what people around me are earning and doing in naija. i myself have earned over £50k and i couldnt save. first of all british ppl believe whwn you are in that tax bracket, they have to put you in a new tax code. meaning they take more of your money. etc etc. the point here is the money is not so great in britain if you for one moment forget that 1 of it is 250 nigerian money. thats the only reason you have the illusion that the money is much.

you earned over £50k per annum? where? british pounds or the old nigerian pound? you must be having a laugh......you are a walter mitty!
money is very great in britain and like i said, you speak absent of wisdom! you focus too much on takehome-pay and only a tool would use such barometer to measure wealth!
the tax you talk about is the reason everything works in britain. 24/7 electricity, good roads, social services, etc..... in nigeria, the money is in your pockets but you then spend it on boreholes, generators, fuel, vigilante groups, erect massive gates and other needless security measures(something the government should be providing in the first place)! at the end of it all, i am better off!

secondly those guys were born in the seventies. not after 1983. you saw those 2 videos. do those look like twenty something year olds ? they are thirty somethings

i don't believe your tales by moonlight stories. your uncle never earned £60k per annum and roasted.....that's a white elephant lie!

Cyberknight:

Good gracious. People spend 40k pounds equivalent in a weekend in Naija? Really?. That's 10 million naira. Are there really people, who earn legitmitate money, who are not Arab oil sheiks, South American drug lords or Nigerian government members who spend 10 million naira of a weekend?!! Untrue.

JUST CUZ YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT DOES NOT MAKE IT UNTRUE. THERE ARE ACTUALLY PEOPLE WHO LIVE LIKE ROCKSTARS IN NIGERIA. I KNOW ITS HARD TO BELIEVE. THEY CHARTER COPTERS AND CHARTER BOATS AND MOPEDS AND RENT ISLANDS SO THEY CAN THROW PARTIES. AND THE COOLER IS FULL OF ONLY CRISTAL AND MOET. OH BOY MONEY DEY FOR NAIJA OOOOO. BUT OF COURSE IT IS NOT IN MANY HANDS. HOWEVER THE POINT IS PEOPLE SPEND £40,000 ON A WEEKEND. THERE ARE ISLANDS YOU CAN RENT FOR THAT AMOUNT IN LAGOS SO YOU CAN THROW A PARTY.

obadiah777: JUST CUZ YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT DOES NOT MAKE IT UNTRUE. THERE ARE ACTUALLY PEOPLE WHO LIVE LIKE ROCKSTARS IN NIGERIA. I KNOW ITS HARD TO BELIEVE. THEY CHARTER COPTERS AND CHARTER BOATS AND MOPEDS AND RENT ISLANDS SO THEY CAN THROW PARTIES. AND THE COOLER IS FULL OF ONLY CRISTAL AND MOET. OH BOY MONEY DEY FOR NAIJA OOOOO. BUT OF COURSE IT IS NOT IN MANY HANDS. HOWEVER THE POINT IS PEOPLE SPEND £40,000 ON A WEEKEND. THERE ARE ISLANDS YOU CAN RENT FOR THAT AMOUNT IN LAGOS SO YOU CAN THROW A PARTY.

hahahahahah - this tool is comparing the 0.005% of naija population that are spending 95% of the wealth to the spending power of the average nigerian. now who says the very rich in britain don't party too? any tool can spend £40k in any given weekend......the question is, does he spend £40k every weekend of the year?

coogar:

just when you thought the day's gonna be boring, another walter mitty emerges....
£40k per annum is more than balling in the united kingdom and of course i am talking about people who earn their money legitimately - not the poor excuse of an example you brought up. your ignorance is peerless in that only surgeons and neurologists earn more than £40k per annum in the medical field! you must have mistaken the british pounds with the somalian shillings or you don't understand the value of money.



you earned over £50k per annum? where? british pounds or the old nigerian pound? you must be having a laugh......you are a walter mitty!
money is very great in britain and like i said, you speak absent of wisdom! you focus too much on takehome-pay and only a tool would use such barometer to measure wealth!
the tax you talk about is the reason everything works in britain. 24/7 electricity, good roads, social services, etc..... in nigeria, the money is in your pockets but you then spend it on boreholes, generators, fuel, vigilante groups, erect massive gates and other needless security measures(something the government should be providing in the first place)! at the end of it all, i am better off!



i don't believe your tales by moonlight stories. your uncle never earned £60k per annum and roasted.....that's a white elephant lie!

OK HERE IS ONE OF MY PAYSLIPS. THATS A WEEKLY WAGE AFTER TAX. IT MAY NOT COME OUT WELL BECAUSE I AM COPYING AND PASTING.

John Samuel
1 Corn Mill Drive
Farnworth
Bolton
BL4 9EN
Part 1 - Your Payslip
Employee John Samuel Employers Name Payerise 118 Limited
Employee ID 16783 Week Number 20
NI Number W/e Date 21/08/2011
Tax Code 747L W1 Payroll Date 26/08/2011

Payments Amount
Contractual Pay at NMW (1)
Any Additional Amounts (2)
Holiday Pay
211.70
441.20
75.29
Total Taxable Pay* 728.19

Year to date totals
Taxable Gross 3586.03
Paye 582.09
Employees NI 345.15
This Period
Taxable Gross 728.19
Paye 116.89
Employees NI 70.70
Other Deductions (3) 0.00
Expenses 609.60
Net Pay 1150.20

Part 2 - Receipts, Statutory Payments and Expenses
(Provides details of the amount that has been invoiced to the Client in respect of work performed by you in the relevant
period. Part 2 is for information only and does not effect your contractual entitlements to pay)
*
Net Invoiced
VAT at 20.0%
Invoiced Amounts to Agency
Less:
VAT adjustment
Umbrella markup (4)
Employers National Insurance (5)
Billable Expenses (6)
Non Billable Expenses (6)
Total Deductions
1447.10
289.42
1736.52
289.42
28.00
81.31
534.60
75.00
1008.33
Total taxable pay 728.19
(1) NMW - National Minimum wage
(2) To include any assignment bonus, enhanced rates for out of hours work and advance payments
(3) For example - student loan deductions
(4) The amount of Gross profit that is made on the supply of your services to clients
(5) The amount of Employers National Insurance that is required to be paid on your earnings
(6) Expenses deducted here will be added back to the Net Pay amount

THATS £1150 PER WEEK. IN A YEAR ? OVER 50 GRAND

obadiah777: OK HERE IS ONE OF MY PAYSLIPS. THATS A WEEKLY WAGE AFTER TAX. IT MAY NOT COME OUT WELL BECAUSE I AM COPYING AND PASTING.

John Samuel
1 Corn Mill Drive
Farnworth
Bolton
BL4 9EN
Part 1 - Your Payslip
Employee John Samuel Employers Name Payerise 118 Limited
Employee ID 16783 Week Number 20
NI Number W/e Date 21/08/2011
Tax Code 747L W1 Payroll Date 26/08/2011

Payments Amount
Contractual Pay at NMW (1)
Any Additional Amounts (2)
Holiday Pay
211.70
441.20
75.29
Total Taxable Pay* 728.19

Year to date totals
Taxable Gross 3586.03
Paye 582.09
Employees NI 345.15
This Period
Taxable Gross 728.19
Paye 116.89
Employees NI 70.70
Other Deductions (3) 0.00
Expenses 609.60
Net Pay 1150.20

Part 2 - Receipts, Statutory Payments and Expenses
(Provides details of the amount that has been invoiced to the Client in respect of work performed by you in the relevant
period. Part 2 is for information only and does not effect your contractual entitlements to pay)
*
Net Invoiced
VAT at 20.0%
Invoiced Amounts to Agency
Less:
VAT adjustment
Umbrella markup (4)
Employers National Insurance (5)
Billable Expenses (6)
Non Billable Expenses (6)
Total Deductions
1447.10
289.42
1736.52
289.42
28.00
81.31
534.60
75.00
1008.33
Total taxable pay 728.19
(1) NMW - National Minimum wage
(2) To include any assignment bonus, enhanced rates for out of hours work and advance payments
(3) For example - student loan deductions
(4) The amount of Gross profit that is made on the supply of your services to clients
(5) The amount of Employers National Insurance that is required to be paid on your earnings
(6) Expenses deducted here will be added back to the Net Pay amount

THATS £1150 PER WEEK. IN A YEAR ? OVER 50 GRAND



and you want me to believe this is obadiah777's payslip? do i have S-T-U-P-I-D tattooed on my forehead? lolololololol.
you would have to do better than this to convince me. firstly, that might not be yours....secondly, the figures might have been cooked and thirdly....if you have to print your payslip on the internet to convince people you earn more than 52k a year, then you don't earn 52k per year.

A

obadiah777: OK HERE IS ONE OF MY PAYSLIPS. THATS A WEEKLY WAGE AFTER TAX. IT MAY NOT COME OUT WELL BECAUSE I AM COPYING AND PASTING.

John Samuel
1 Corn Mill Drive
Farnworth
Bolton
BL4 9EN
Part 1 - Your Payslip
Employee John Samuel Employers Name Payerise 118 Limited
Employee ID 16783 Week Number 20
NI Number W/e Date 21/08/2011
Tax Code 747L W1 Payroll Date 26/08/2011






Payments Amount
Contractual Pay at NMW (1)
Any Additional Amounts (2)
Holiday Pay
211.70
441.20
75.29
Total Taxable Pay* 728.19

Year to date totals
Taxable Gross 3586.03
Paye 582.09
Employees NI 345.15
This Period
Taxable Gross 728.19
Paye 116.89
Employees NI 70.70
Other Deductions (3) 0.00
Expenses 609.60
Net Pay 1150.20

Part 2 - Receipts, Statutory Payments and Expenses
(Provides details of the amount that has been invoiced to the Client in respect of work performed by you in the relevant
period. Part 2 is for information only and does not effect your contractual entitlements to pay)
*
Net Invoiced
VAT at 20.0%
Invoiced Amounts to Agency
Less:
VAT adjustment
Umbrella markup (4)
Employers National Insurance (5)
Billable Expenses (6)
Non Billable Expenses (6)
Total Deductions
1447.10
289.42
1736.52
289.42
28.00
81.31
534.60
75.00
1008.33
Total taxable pay 728.19
(1) NMW - National Minimum wage
(2) To include any assignment bonus, enhanced rates for out of hours work and advance payments
(3) For example - student loan deductions
(4) The amount of Gross profit that is made on the supply of your services to clients
(5) The amount of Employers National Insurance that is required to be paid on your earnings
(6) Expenses deducted here will be added back to the Net Pay amount

THATS £1150 PER WEEK. IN A YEAR ? OVER 50 GRAND



Is this a doctor's payslip? Or that of a financial analyst in the City?