Its Easy to Succeed in America
For so long-I have heard about how difficlult it is for Nigerians and black people to succed in America. With evidence I have come to the conclusion that this is actually the opposite. Indeed a new book by Yale law professor Amy Chua lists Nigerians amongst 7 other culural groups as those most likely to succeed in America-this has only confirmed my observations.

I have lived in Nigeria,the UK, Ghana and been to other several countries-but I can tell you that IT IS EASY TO SUCCEED IN AMERICA. By success of course I mean- the ability to prosper financially and earn enough money to allow you to live comfortably.
Bros-if you are planning to come to America-please come, abeg come...there is milk and honey flowing here!

Dont get me wrong-you can succeed in Nigeria as well-but if your dream is to come to America-please come. All you need to do is to follow some simple rules-and success is yours.
Forget about all the so called bad things you hear happening in America-its less than 0.00001% of life in America and bad things happen every where. White people are not going to go make life difficult for you. Just obey the rules (and I know sometimes Nigerians find it diccult to obey rules), work smart, not just hard,save money and THINK.

RACISM
You might have heard that blacks are discriminanted against here. The truth is that sectionalism whether it be racism, tribalism, neoptisim occurs everywhere in the world. There are Ibos who hate Yorubas and Yorubas who hate Hausas and Hausas who hate Ijaws and Ijaws who hate Oginis. There are even Ibadan people who hate Ijebu people (yet there are both Yoruba). In Anambra-there are two communities- both speaking the same languagae who have been at war with each othere for decades-with many lives lost.


THINGS TO NOTE

BEFORE YOU COME
1)Education is good-but regardless-you will still have to go back to school. Aquire skills in carpentary,mechanic,plumbing,computer repair, electrical repairs or any other hands on skills. These are things that we look down on in Nigeria. But in Yankee-these guys earn up to $100 an hour. The carpentar who is going to repair my door wants me to pay him $160 for labour for a 30 minute job!
Combine this with your job and you can earn mega bucks.

2) Open a GT or an other bank account that gives you a mastercard-this will help you when you start sending things home to sell -so that you can get your money easily.

IF YOU COME WITH A SHORT VISA AND OVERSTAY
I dont advise anyone to do this. I know a popular musician who came here in the 90s-and is now stuck here. It can be difficult.

IF YOU COME WITH AN IMMIGRANT VISA /OR WORK VISA

1) Get a job. Get a job. Get a job. Dont make the mistake some like me who were self employed in Nigeria made. Get a job. There are jobs in America-ignore the stats. There may not be office jobs-but there are jobs. Target states with low unemployment like Minneosta-currently about 4 %!
With a school cert from Nigeria-you can get an entry job with pay of like $8 to $12 an hour. Walmart will pay you like $8 an hour-while Boston Scientific temp job will pay you like $10 an hour. With overtime-you can make as much as $500 to $700 a week-thats up to $2000 a month. Offer to do overtime-work yourself bro.
Nursing seems to be the easiest way to good pay these days. With a 2 week course-you can be on track and within 2 years -you can be an RN -earning $35 to $50 an hour and working just 3 days a week (12 hours a day). Giving you days to work over time or another job. I know many Nigerian Nurses earning $5000 to $8000 a month.
Then go ahead and get a bachelor degree and Masters.
And this is for men too.

2) Live below your income. Ignore the offers to buy new gadgets or iphones-discipline yourself and save at least 30% of your income. Forget about sending money to ANYONE in Naija for your first year or maybe your first few years. DOnt be like me-sending money to people who are not even hungry. Its better to send them 200,000 naira in 5 years time then $100 now (with them telling you that its too small!)

3) Get a second job if possible-even if its 10 hours a week. There are many of them-especially at the stores or schools.

4) Go to school-get a degree-if you plan to work all your life-it will make the difference in what you earn.

5) Start a small business. The easiest to start-is simple buying and selling to Nigeria. Electronics, clothes, books, computers, phones etc. $300 from your paycheck used to buy some items every month and shipped to Nigeria can be turned into $1000. I have done it before and still do it. With consistency -you can earn more from this then your paycheck.

6) Acceralate your credit status. The American life is made easier with the credit system. Its not an issue of borrowing money. Without a credit report and credit score,there are many things you cannot do-including renting an apartment in some places, buying a house and even getting a job these days. It takes about 2 years for the average immigrant to qualify for credit-but you can accelerate this process. Within your first month -apply for and get 1 or 2 secured credit cards-these are cards which you place a deposit to get. There is 100% approval on these cards as its your money.
For example the Capital One Card only requires $99-and you get the card with $99 to $200 on it. Your aim is to make sure that on your statement 80% of the money is still on it. You mustnt leave all the money there-YOU HAVE TO SPEND SOME. What I did was to allocate the card to a specific bill-maybe your phone bill or gas bill (petrol). Just make sure that on a $200 card for example-you have $160 there on the statement day. If you do this for 6 months to a year on two cards and combine this with a telephone bill or small car note -you can move your credit score from non existent to 700 in a year and 750 in 2 years. Within a year-you will start getting credit card offers of $1000 to $5000 or more. By your 2nd to 3rd year-you can use this credit score to buy a house/get up to $100,000 personal loan or more.
The average American uses their credit to buy clothes, go on vacations, pay bills. Use your credit for business-so that you can make money from it. I see no sense in borrowing money to eat or buy clothes.

7) Buy a House and turn it into Money-when I was in University in Nigeria-I was reading Ovation maagzine and in the edition-I saw pictures of Waisu Ayindes (KWAM 1-the Fuji muscian) opulent house in Cananda or USA-I cant remember. They said it was worth about N100 million (that was way back in 1996). I was like wow-this guy has made it o!
The first day I arrived in America -one of the first things i noticed was how the houses looked so much the one I had seen back in 1996 in Ovation. I later came to realise that even a messenger can own a 50 million naira house in America. Have a job with moderate income and good credit-and the house is yours. The secret is the mortagage. It was very easy before 2008-when ANYONE could buy a house,with the 2008 crisis-its a bit more difficult and you need at times up to 10% down payment.
But the point is-buy a house and plan to sell it within a year or 2 or use it for collateral. If you buy a house for $160,000 -you can sell it for up to $200,000 in a few years-the $40,000 is yours. In some areas-it could be more.
Or rather than sell-get a loan on the house (THAT IS IF YOU HAVE A SOUND BUSINESS TO PUT IT INTO) and make profit on the money.

Obey The Law
Dont drive without a liencse. Dont over speed. If you obey the law-you are 99.9% sure of not getting into trouble. Bad things sometimes happen to 'good people' and not just black people. Dont be driving and smoking hemp or driving while drunk or beating up your wife of girlfriend.

9) Become a Citizen
If you come here with a migrant visa-you can be a citizen in a few years and you can still keep your Nigerian citizenship.

America is still the greatest country in the world. The things we struggle for in Nigeria are taken for granted here. Buying a car or cars, buying a house etc. Armed robbers are not holding your estate hostage going from house to house, policemen are not waiting for you on the road, NEPA is not taking off the light at will,a rich man is not slapping your face and telling you to do your worst, you dont need connections to get a job......

I love Nigeria and one day I pray that Nigeria gets there-but if you can, come to YANKEE-make your money and go back if you must.
The one thing we need in Nigeria is order-if order comes, then every other thing will fall in place-the police, light, good roads, true democracy, justice , economic boom for all.

ezo4fta: GOD bless u for ur post. Please I want to ask if it is advisable to come to USA with a student visa..I mean a 2 years student visa.

jakaiso:

What are your intentions? To come and live or basically study?
Any visa you can get is good to me. Just use the Visa well-so that you can get extensions. I think student visas dont allow you to work-except on campus (Im not sure)-but that doesnt stop you from doing business-including selling on ebay/craigslist or shipping to Nigeria. You will be suprised how many Nigerians make money from this.

ezo4fta: To live there. Pls how can I extend my student visa,incase of expiration or how do I get their papers. Thanks in advance.

simply_me: Capital NO. Enjoy it alone.

ezo4fta: To live there. Pls how can I extend my student visa,incase of expiration or how do I get their papers. Thanks in advance.

jakaiso:
I dont know too much about immigration issues-thus you might want to get more facts from an expert. But if you have a student visa for 2 years-thats a lot of time to do something good.Most student visas preclude you from working-but sometimes you are allowed to work on campus.
I suggest that during that time-explore various options to extend your stay including but not limited to:
1) Extend your course of study-like a further 4 year course.
2) Seek opportunities for employment after you graduate-such that the employers can hire you and get you a visa.
3) Establish a business while in the US -people with businesses in the US-have a path to permanant residency-(and if by any means-you have a business worth $1 million-or have $1 million to invest in the USA-then you have an almost automatic green card-through the business path-although one might ask that if you have $1 million-why are you leaving naija!!!)
4) Contact an immigration lawyer when you get to the USA and explore other options.

fittty:

If you're not in school or attending classes, your student visa status will be terminated regardless of how many months or years you still have on it. All you'll have is your naija passport with US visa on it, but that visa is useless because you're out of student status when verified. However you must note it'll costs you tuition and attending classes to maintain your status. If your papa no be Dangote to afford the tuition, then sorry. Your student status is what matters most to stay legal and not your visa. The visa is just a pass for you to go out and return but you MUST maintain your status. Your visa could expire and you'll still be legal if you maintain your status.

You are authorized to work on-campus only and part time only(20hrs max). However you can work off-campus but after your first year in school.

codebrew85: Please, can ¶ get to study to become a nurse if ¶ came in through 2years visiting visa?