Nigerians In The UK Are So Stingy

whats with the uk peeps haters. Why not stick to your USA friends, keep flashing them and begging for money. Honestly this topic is driving me nuts because i just came in now at 12 midnite, checked my acct online and had instant headache. I tot this month would be better as i worked the bank holiday shifts but na lie. Bills, taxes, transport, credit card bills, e.t.c. This month it was just like hell, i had to pay to renew my practising licence as a nurse(which has been increased), i had to pay to renew my work permit (which has in recently increased) £350. Infact the £43 cheque i gave the NMC bounced as thr was just £21 left in my acct.  I work minimum of 42 hrs a week, and in uk 42 hrs is 42 hrs, no sitting down, chstting with friends or lazing about.

I can't wait for the nxt payday n bills can't wait either. As for me o, people can go to hell for all i care, because i hv no f&&king life here in uk and nigeria isnt any better for my type of career. I just need a miracle!

Haha this group is hilarious!!! I like what someone said, thank God voicemail dey chop their money lol
I'm in the US, but i must say we are still prey to the 'attacks' lol. One thing our brodas and sistas back home must take into consideration is TIME, which we don't have here, and resources. MONEY goes FAST here.
The mindset many Nigerians still have is that once u come to Yank or UK, your own don better, your own don CONFIRM.
Yea rite.
Pple dey HUSTLE big time here man, u gotta hustle to make it through to pay bills and all that stuff.
So ya make una try understand small for us abeg. Its not easy and we are trying.
Another point to note: Many people don't consider that its easier just to call one brother wee don travel go UK, than it is for someone here to call lik 20+ friends back home vying for his time and resources. its not easy.

To be honest, I see no reason why any Nigerian living in the UK or US, should have to justify their inability to keep returning dropped calls, or their inability to send "money" to anyone who asks for it!

I used to live in Benin-City, Edo State, back in 1985. There was a family that lived across the road from us, who were distantly related to our next door neighbours.

I recently traced these next door neighbours, who were friends of ours, in Dublin, Ireland, through The Names Database, was great to hear from them. In the course of one of our telephone conversations, my friend mentioned their distant cousin, (who used to live across the road from us in Benin City) and asked if it was ok for him to pass my number onto her. I'd never spoken to her in Benin, but thought, sure, you can give her my number.

The next day, the dropped calls started. In a 35 minute drive from Essex to South London, she flashed me a total of 37 times! In the end, I pulled over, and returned the call, and the dialogue was as follows -

Josephine: "Hello brother, it's me, Josephine".  

Siena: Hi, Josephine, I see Efe gave you my number, how are you and your sisters"?  

Josephine: "What do you mean? Do you think things are easy here"?  

Siena: "Sorry to hear things are hard, what have you been up to"?  

At this point, I told her I was parked in a bad spot, and would call her within the hour. I carried on driving, and lo and behold, 20 minutes later, she flashed me again. I pulled into a filling station, and returned her call, and this time, the dialogue was as follows:

Josephine: "Ah Siena, how long am I going to wait for you to return my call? This is my friend's mobile, and I need to go home soon".  

Siena: "Sorry, I did say I'd call back within the hour, that was 20 minutes ago"!  

Josephine: "Ok, sorry. So, how are you doing now"?  

Siena: "Not too bad, just on my way to see a client".

Josephine: "Do you remember me? I'm the youngest of my sisters, but I need to get married now".  

Siena: "Of course I remember you, Josephine. You were the pretty one, you won't have any issues finding a nice guy to marry".  

Josephine: "You think I am pretty? So, if we were together, would you be interested in me? I always used to fancy you when you lived in Nigeria, but I was shy".  

Siena: "Well, Josephine, we never really spoke in Nigeria, and besides, I couldn't answer, as I'm happily married".  

Josephine: "Ok, I didn't know, Efe did not tell me when he gave me your number. But I need to ask you a favour".

Siena: "Err, go ahead".  

Josephine: "Could you send me some money? I need to sort out some things for business".  

Siena: "I'm sorry, Josephine, but I can't do that, besides, I hardly know you"!  

Josephine: "What do you mean? I remember how you used to look at me, because you wanted me, now you are in England, you think I am rubbish? I only need £500, it is not like I am asking you for a lot, or are you just being selfish"?  

I explained that, as a married man, I don't hide things from my wife, and I would have to tell her. How would I explain I was giving a woman in Nigeria £500? This girl didn't seem to understand, she went as far as saying, I didn't have to tell my wife anything, but if I chose to, that was my problem!

She flashed me a few times after this conversation, and I just ignored her calls. Why the hell would I want to give my hard earned to a girl who is little more than a stranger to me? Sure, it wouldn't cripple me, but the point is, I have a wife to look after, and a mortgage to take care of too. I also have my kid sister in Nigeria, who I  send money to as often as I can. I still get flashed even now, by different numbers from Nigerian mobile phones, I don't even know who they are,  they hang up within a couple of seconds.

So, can anyone tell me why I would want to return calls, when I don't know who the caller is, and they don't have the good manners to at least speak to me, even briefly, so I at least know who the callers are???

If that's being stingy on my part, then the callers are even worse.  

@ dakmanzero: Firstly, I am not struggling at all. I have a great job, family and lifestyle.

This thread seems to be diversing - it was about Nigerians in the UK being stingy (because they refuse to be fleeced by "friends" back in Nigeria), then it was about justifying why they choose not to be taken as mugs. Now, there's a different slant - why Nigerians in the UK choose to be in the UK?!

Sure, some folk are struggling, but it's mostly those who are still in education, either full or part-time, and working at the same time. Are all the Nigerians in full time education in Nigeria, or starting businesses / jobs in Nigeria having it easy from the onset? The answer's no. Without family support, a lot of Nigerians in Nigeria WILL have it rough, and probably have to interrupt their studies through lack of funds.

I personally choose to remain here, it's where I was born, and my family is here too. Why on earth would I want to uproot them to come live in Nigeria? They have everything they need here, and live in comparative safety, without the fear of being robbed by armed robbers or worse.

Now, if you were given a free visa to live in the UK or the US, would you honestly turn them down?

@Dakmanzero,
  things may be tough abroad but if you consider that these things are taken for granted here and are worth more than money to some people like myself.
  
1. Security- no harrasment from armed robbers ,area boys and police.nobody in Nigeria is immune from this no matter how rich.
  
2.Stability .you can plan your life 5-10 years ahead and be sure prices won't double overnight or things change drastically.From government to government there is continuity in policy
  
 3. Personal comfort, for most people abroad no matter how poor things like good clothes a clean car , personal entertainment systems i.e DVDs, Plasma screen TV,mobile phones etc are not things you worry about before buying.These are stuff even the guy in one room can afford.
  
4. No PHCN so no need to stress about hand washing,ironing etc

  5. You get your dues without hustling,What effort you put in is what you get out.No need to know any body or bribe any body,thats why the man on the street who is a cleaner can tell the prime minister to F**K off because he owes you nothing as far as he is working.I used to work for the federal govt. in Naija,they paid us when they felt like it.Here on the 23at 8.00pm every month my pay is in the bank

Bottom line ,you can live your life with dignity and not go begging people for favours which even Governors and senators in Naija do all the time,(begging for posts)

@the one, i really liked your post. it is very balanced and i will like to reiterate the fact that the problem is the kinds of relationship that exitsed between the callers and the one being called. i have no issues with my friends in the uk. i never ask them for anything and they have no cause to look down on me. most of our from naija even go there for holidays.

but it has been my observation the america based nigerians are doing better. A friend who travels regularly because of the nature of his work confirmed it. He sees all our freinds on both side of the Atlantic.

This might seem so because of the cost of living. Everything in the US is half price compared to the UK. for instance something that sells for £10 in the UK will also sell for about $10 in the US and that is equal to about £5. their houses are bigger and cheaper. u can get a huge detached house in america for about $250k that is about £125k but in the UK even in areas that are not posh, u will be lucky to get a small 1 bed flat for that price. and when i say small i mean SMALL!

Ok to all ma bros & sis in the Uk, take it easy. Just know that life is also good here. Imagine earning the equivalent of 2k ponds montly after tax here in motherland, you have allowi for  your anual rent say about 2k ponds given every January + many, many benefits I can not mention here. Haba that is mouth watery and please tell me why I shuold leave that and head to the Uk. Infact I 've been to the Uk, Europe and even the US so many times on company's account and I see some of my brothers really suffering Naija is not bad at all. The cost of living is alot cheaper + all the extra, extra. Sha I just love Naija .
I was just responding to that if u see Uk visa shi*t that guy wrote.
The bottom line, get your degrees or whatever and come back home. Home is where the heart, as long as u continue to live abroad, u will always remain a second/ third class citizen and that is not fullfiling.
One love Naija

@ poster
they can be stingy,agreed but also agree with that once someone travels abroad people back home believe that u ve automaticaly become*Donald Trump*which is far from reality.bear in mind that even when those people make the money they also ve responsibilities and if they decide to be stingy with their money,its not an issue to bemoan.i think people shld not see it as an obligation  rather a priviledge that their folks abroad send them money. its their money,work hard and earn urs.

Interesting thread.
I've had a somewhat similar argument with my friends in the past. They claim Rich people are the stingiest(?) ones and i claim they have a right to be! If you work hard through blood, sweat and tears you damn well have the right to choose who or who not to give your money to. I personally CANNOT ask anyone other than my parents for financial favours, even my boyfriend,if i have one. It is not right,ridculous even.
My siblings are British and we all grew up together but i am not because they are my step siblings. My sister has a life of her ownshe's combining school with family(her husband isnt a British subject) so i would imagine the bulk of financial responsibilities rest on her. It would be absolutely ridiculous to ask her for financial assistance. In fact,if i were in her shoes and anyone asks me for money, i would hate that person but yet she manages to do what she can for me and even sometimes my dad.

On the other hand however,its obvious that some ignorant people believe that everyone living in Nigeria is either a thief or is living in abject poverty thats why it annoys me when my friends who live abroad call me up and ask me if there's "anything i need" like i am some kind of charity case.

As for the original poster of this thread. You seem rather angry. If someone/people don't want to pick up your call and wont call you back it means they don't want to talk to you and probably don't reaslise what a good friend you are. Leave them alone,its really that simple.

@ Poster.

I can understand when you say your calls are not returned by UK folks. When I was working in Naija, I used to make all the phone calls to my friends in the UK and hardly ever received a phone call from them. I did not mind this as I was very comfortable and wanted to maintain the relationships since they were my childhood friends. I bet its left for u to maintain the relationship if you think it is important. They will surely call you when they are about to land naija or are in naija and you can renew the relationship.

Being in the UK now and looking at my phone contacts, in what priority should I call people in naija? With countless number of friends, family members, relatives, ex-schoolmates, ex-colleagues, ex-neighbours, ex-service providers, where is the time and resources to call everyone? When u don't call, its like we no dey hear from you, abi u don abandon us. Even call cards to Naija actually give you about half the stated minutes when u start calling, abi my UK people, una fit tell me which card better pass when I go dey buy?  

People are strictly on budget here, plan and account for every expense. Its a lot easier to plan because things are pretty much stable and predictable. Imagine paying for things such as TV licence when u buy a TV. Lots of bills and if u default, u get a bad credit rating or go to jail.

For those comparing the UK with US, we all have our preferences in live. What is important to you may not be to another person. I never initially liked the UK in the past but have come to very much love the place. I have visited the US several times and must say that it is very different in structure and lifestyle to the UK. I should say that it is beautiful though. Prices are higher in the UK than US and like other posters said, what is $10 in the US is £10 in the Uk, yet the pound is almost twice the dollar!

Do I expect Nigerians in the US to do better than those in the UK? I can't say. UK is an Island and job opportunities are not vastly created like in the US.

Food for thought: Those of you calmouring for people to return, una go get competition for the already limited jobs if people come back. u know how many them be? Where una wan accomodate them and their families?

@ Sienna, please tell them that you can live abroad and live a good life. I would always say that most Nigerians are ignorant which is why they believe that everybody in the UK is like their poor relatives and friends struggling here. I have never and by God's grace will never suffer in the UK so when people start saying rubbish like pack your bags home or you're a second class citizen, I get really irritated (like what do they know??). Back to the topic at hand, I hardly call Nigeria these days and that is because my life has moved on, I have new friends and a new life. I call my good friends once in a while, I remember their birthdays and all that good stuff but the truth is my life has moved on.

There is also the call card issue esp when you can't call Naija directly from your phone but Nigerians want you to call right this minute.  I need to go out and buy a call card but can I really be bothered to leave my house to buy a card so we can have an irrelevant conversation. On my old phone, I could call Nigeria directly and to be honest it wasn't that expensive but I can't even do that on my new contract because calls to Naija have been banned which I am sure is no thanks to my odu brothers and sisters. To the original poster, bear in mind that your true friends will keep in touch where ever they are. If they don't, then they don't consider you guys close enough to waste their credit on.

You can live comfortably  anywhere

People in d UK  would be seen to b stingy because they hav to save evry penny
if not they r doomed
with their small cramped houses abi apartments

There is danger evrywhere
with all d bomb threats n mindless killings
atleast robbers in Naija hav a reason

So people let em Janded Naijans Be, we don't need them oh!

it depends on how you see it the word' stingy ' people in UK are even trying i raise my arm for them. Uk is not like any other oversea countries in terms of spending. Whatever you do you pay, enough bills are paid over there. unlike here in Nigeria where some people hardily pay their light bills not to talk of taxes. Abeg una dey try for UK. but that doesn,t mean that you don't extend hands to your loved ones at home. Keep trying we will all survive

Tell me about it my brother. You can never win with human beings.

lol