There are infinitesimal advantage in establishing a company back home, a system that is not in financial equribrium. You can take the nation for a sweep while they kill themselves in the oil, It takes strong and courage optimistic potentials to reach these goals, after my masters here in the US, I will do my PHD in nigeria which is basically the same thing as working
well put. hear hear good luck.

what the hell did you just say?

could someone pls decipher that message

I WOULD LOVE 2 GO HOME. INFACT, I MUST GO HOME CONSIDERING I DID MA HIGH SKOOL AND HAVE A YEAR 2 COMPLETE WITH MA UNI. HERE. I JUST KNOW 9ERIA IS DA PLACE 4 ME RITE 4ROM TIME. PPL ALWAYZ THINK AM INSANE WHENEVA I SAY I WOULD GO BACK BUT HEY, THERE IS NUTHING WRONG WITH 9ERIA ESP. IF U HAVE THINGS GOING ON DERE 4 U. I HEARD THEY R ENCOURAGING 9ERIANS THAT STUDIED ABRAOD ESP. OUR GENERATION TO COME BACK. I CAN ALWAYZ COME BACK HERE IF I WANT SO I GAT NUTHING 2 LOSEEEEEEEEE SO I WILL GO AND SEE. AM LOOKING 4WARD TO DOING MY YOUTH SERVICE

Lots of opporunities in Naija...
...but let's be honest...lot's of problems too..
I wld prefer to work outside naija...but with investments in the country...and visit often...
...then at my oooooold age...retire in my village.

Objection! Whose accent would I listen to if all the Nigerian men go back home after studying abroad

There are quite a few Nigerians at the university I attend and I just love to hear them speak. I could just sit around them all day, but then they might think I'm kind of weird if I do that Ha! Ha!

I'm all for you (male/female) going back to your country to contribute and give back if that's what your heart desires...........good luck!

Anyway.....................LONG LIVE THE ACCENTS!

_{love those east coast accents too}

Nope,

of course there is nowhere like home, but the level of stress and worry is multiplied several times over, especially if you are a member of the rat race, working for an employer. Nothing like knowing you can get quality healthcare, security when you need it.

Why would any body think of going back to nigeria? I don't think there is any amount of money that is worth my life. I will rather work in walmart for 6dollars/hr, than get "oil money" in nigeria. see, it is not the money, it is the security of life and properties. what is the point of working and making the money and i can't spend it? i can feel like eatin pizza at 3pm and all i'll have to do, is drive to the nearest supercenter. see, the rich are the ones that own nigeria. if u are not going to be rolling in a whole lot of dough, ain't no point. from the time u step out of the plane, u'll start to wonder why u went back. unless something happens to that country, the only time i'll go back is to go do some politics and eat part of the nigeria cake!

Bhola:

Why would any body think of going back to nigeria? I don't think there is any amount of money that is worth my life. I will rather work in walmart for 6dollars/hr, than get "oil money" in nigeria. see, it is not the money, it is the security of life and properties. what is the point of working and making the money and i can't spend it? i can feel like eatin pizza at 3pm and all i'll have to do, is drive to the nearest supercenter. see, the rich are the ones that own nigeria. if u are not going to be rolling in a whole lot of dough, ain't no point. from the time u step out of the plane, u'll start to wonder why u went back. unless something happens to that country, the only time i'll go back is to go do some politics and eat part of the nigeria cake!

Bolah well put, there r reasons to turn away from nigeria however we just have to love it irrespect of the bad its doing to us. I am going and security is one of the areas in my mind.

i would only come back home to start my company in nigeria. Nigeria is a hopeles country to say the list. The country is doomed until people change their ways of thinking and doing things. corrupt to the core, we need some kind of cleansing of the population, right from nursery school and upwards to the government.

@Sade u 've made a good point anywhere you earn your living,have a peace of mind is your Home.
We can contribute to the development of Home in so many ways.
The younger generation are the home makers of the nation of tomorrow lets do something for them.It does not really involve money it involves our time and any resources available at our disposal will make a great impact so lets us think of what we can do.

i PLAN on living in Nigeira!
I want to set-up a business Importation of goods
While working in de bank
This will be attainable since im studying Business Admin

There is no point in going to Nigeria when you do not have the personal convictions to go back to Nigeria.
The question to ask ourselves is that: will the decision be based on sentiments or a pragmatic appraisal of the directions we want to face in life?

If we are to base it all on just pure sentiments, then I can assure anyone that there would be a mass movement of a lot of diasporan Nigerians back home. But the issues at stake are essentially more than that.
There is an issue with capacity utilisation in Nigeria, and funny enough we are not the only nation with that problem.

I personally believe, that we should not purge ourselves at any time of our Nigerianess and that indeed we should endeavour to achieve something of ourselves as individuals in whichever calling or vocation. I also believe that the potentials of Nigerians in the diaspora should not be overlooked even by themselves. There have been cases of other nationalities around the world who have been the catalysts of their country's national rejuvenation by virtue of their sojourn in foreign lands ( and a particular case here is India).

I would not sentimentally just head back to Nigeria, if as it were I have something going on for me elsewhere,but I will endeavour to always to look for ways to contribute to activities back home be it economically or otherwise (e.g. I could decide to create my pension fund in Nigeria) in which case I would be a contributor to the economy (even though in absentia) and at the same time having the best of both worlds. I have been an advocate of investing in Nigeria for a while now, and not just because I am Nigerian, but practically we have one of the highest ROIs (return on investment) at the moment, and that should always be emphasised.

I also believe the Nigerian government should create  the right incentives especially for a lot of people (and here I mean Nigerians all around the world, and indeed for those at home) who want to invest or contribute economically to the nation. Incentives like tax- free accounts, better and more streamlined ways of conducting transactions, aggressive war on corruption, transparency in governance, seriousness in governmental policy formulation and in effect implementation, greater security for lives and property ( I was in Nigeria in 2003, and was robbed at gun point, so the problem remains real) etc.

But having said all these grammar, Home will continue to be home. But we should be very practical and maximise our opportunities in the global economy that we are in now, rather than just playing up sentiments.

I have followed this thread and realised that most people who are considering going back to Nigeria after their studies are just being sentimentally altruistic. They have some wonderful fantasies of what they could do when they got back to Nigeria. I don't want to scare you but please on issues like this you have to dump mere sentiments or altruism and face hard facts.
1]Businesses are not so easy to start up in Nigeria.
2]Real profits may be difficult to make honestly
3]No professional work ethics
4]No properly co-ordinated and recognised professional bodies
5]Face the harsh reality of no electricity,no water,poor or zero internet connection,poor telephone connection,no security,no good transportation,no health care,etc

I have a good job in Nigeria.I earn very good money and I may go back after my Master's degree here in the UK but it is not because Nigeria is such a wonderful place.It is just because I believe they can't pay me in the UK what I will like to earn,so no need giving up my Nigeria job for a UK job.

Friends,it is good to go back home but don't be too dreamy about what you will do when you get there.Life in Nigeria is tough and that is the plain truth.Go back if you are really convinced but don't go back just because you are fantasising.

You have only one life and in making certain decisions you have to consider yourself first before the nation or the family or whatever.If you die today,the nation will move on.

For those who say they want to contribute to making Nigeria great note, unless the government in a country is well organised NO INDIVIDUAL EFFORT will achieve anything much.There are lots of great and idealistic people in Nigeria.How much have they been able to contribute ?

All the great nations of the world did not become great because one or two individuals worked hard but because they had GOOD GOVERNANCE.One person can't make a great nation that is why the likes of Wole Soyinka,Gani Fawehinmi,Chinua Achebe,Aliko Dangote,Adedoyin,Sunny Odogwu, and so on have not be able to transform the nation.We need a good government for anything tangible to happen.

I am not a pessimist but in what ever you do be logical.Be convinced.Face facts and forget sentiments or fantasies.

If you are convinced to go home go, if not, do not go.

Well said funloving. Well said.

I dont mind going back to work, but am sick and tired of hearing people say that we should go back home and change the country, why arent the politicians changing it first then people would follow by their example

I know at least a dozen ppl, maybe 2, who plan on going back to Nigeria after their studeis. They are currently Eng & Acct majors (yes all of them) and some of them are Ethopians who just want to live & work in Nigeria. Maybe they'll chnage their tune but I think that they are sincere. I for one am currently looking for a job in Nigeria. I'm here in TX b/c I'm too afraid to travel w/o a job. I don't like the idea of being there w/ no employment and no connections. (Hook me up w/ any advice or openings!) However, I plan on coming back to yankee for my Masters degree. After that degree I'll re-evaluate the situation again.

Building a strong middle class is a vital component in stablizing Nigeria. So if ppl don't go back the country will never improve. Let's not be afraid to grease our elbows. _{But if going back isn't your cup of tea, then so be it.} Peace.

Badman888:

I don't mind going back to work, but am sick and tired of hearing people say that we should go back home and change the country, why arent the politicians changing it first then people would follow by their example

Interesting sentiment but life doesn't work that way & politics NEVER works that way. In every country it is the people who change the politics and the politicians.

anyhow we see how it goes, but would love to go back and do something

Well its all been said and blah! No amount of waht can be said that can persuade me not to go back. As for now, I just cant wait to finish my degree and head back home to Nigeria straight away. Aint living in no fantasy dreamland, I'm just trying to pick up from where the family are gonna stop, they need to take a break, so they need me back there to continue, let shun all sentiments about security and stuff, our ancestors lived in the stone age and they survived, life is not really about the comfort or the luxury, its the satisfaction you get from the society you are in. if I believe Nigeria is my choice well I am aware of what happens there and PEOPLE i mean people survive. mine shldnt be an exception, go there live as they live and sure take something out of it.

I am currently studying to be a doctor and i mentioned to my folks that i was planning on moving back home after i graduate! They laughed at me saying that i would never be able to pay off the loan i took out to go to med school not to talk about earning money for myself! I gotta admit, this was food for thought for me! I decided that it would just be plain dumb for me to go back to Nigeria to live permanently and since i had been blessed with citizenship here, i should make the best use of it. Who in his right mind would say no to a starting pay of $100,000 per annum just so they can go and be soaking garri in Nigeria! You mite but i wont!
Yes, i shall visit home in 2010 and who knows when after then but i am have non plans on going home to live permanently!

In your case, that is totally unreasonable for you to go back to Nigeria, unless you have some magnificient hospital in your care built on some water off the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, that might do, cos you are never going to pay back the student loan

Thank goodness I am not on student loan, i wouldnt have anything to lose if I head back there, I am thinking of going to Law school after my undergraduate, I knw after going thru that, it doesnt make sense rushing to Nigeria unless I have something so "huge" going for me there. With the exception of that, I am still in high faith of heading back home in no time. we shall see how it unfolds later on

Sure, there are many good companies back home which pay good money. Check out my boy's company, located in Calabar of all places: http://www.kapstoneng.com . Flash developer, I believe, is making N3.5million. That is a lot of money in Naira for people back there o!

If I ever had the opportunity, I would rather run my own business, rather than work for anyone. Why deal with potential non-payment of salary? The stress for kill me o! Perhaps, if they paid me at least as much as I make in the states, plus housing and car allowance (to mention but a few ), I for think about am.

Even if I were tempted to move back, I would still have to think about 419, lack of security, basic infrastructure, etc. I love my country, but let's get real - if I am paid N10million a year, yet every time I want to make a phone call, I have to set my head a certain way and stand in a certain place so as to get signal, is it worth it? Is it worth sleeping like a cat due to fear of being robbed? The answers are not as easy as you may think, even for me.

In summary, IMHO, moving back to Nigeria to work is like a mosquito you see perched on the wall - it is easy to kill abi? Now, suppose that same mosquito perched on your scrotum, would it still be that easy to kill?

, and that's my 2 cents

yes

I don't mind going back to work, but am sick and tired of hearing people say that we should go back home and change the country, why arent the politicians changing it first then people would follow by their example

My point exactly. Nigeria is earning $1.3+ billion a week from guaranteed oil sales alone. Yet with all that free income, workers don't get paid salaries on time.

What is all the money getting spend on? Of course we all know the answer to that one - Swiss, English, American banks have the money. The little guy busting his butt going to work everyday is supposed to return to Nigeria and suddenly make things better? Any advocate of that insanity must be high on something.

sorry, posted twice, deleted this one, see post blow:

@vexxy

thanks for the topic,

now, at @nigerians studying abroad, since the post was directed to y'all,
Abeg, after your acada, if you have an opportunity to work, go ahead o, in-fact, find the opportunity to get a good stable job. Nigeria is only as good as a vacation spot.

1) The work environment
The problem with Nigeria is that no matter how much you love your country, and you want to do something good, regardless of your genuine intentions, people will still want to bring you down. In fact, its like there are some kinda peeps whose job-description is just to destroy the good-intentions that others have. If we can get rid of these peeps, Nigeria will be a better place. I have a lot of stories, having been in the shoes of those who studied abroad, and worked abroad after graduation, and came back to work at home.

I had decided one morning:
what am I even doing here, if ive made so much impact in my profession in a foreign land, in this environment, and in such a short time, i believe i can do ten-times more in my papaland where my people are. But alas!!!!!

The story hasnt been funny o. The work environment alone here(Nija) would put you off in one minute, if you're used to everybody been nice, approachable, easy to get along with, encouraging, challenging you to do your best, appreciative of effort, interested in you, etc., i mean people that wont have any ill feelings once they see you, when you land in a Nija company/office, the story will just change. wolaaaa

Honestly, its only in Nigeria that ive begun to pray every-morning that God should protect me from my office-mates, i mean serious prayer(binding and loosing) The reason: if you decide to stand your ground and do the right thing, enemies will gather like a flood. Those enemies of good things go to the church on Sunday and go to the mosque on Friday.  If you have a good suggestion, na wahala. If you keep quiet, the wahala increases. So what do you do?

Even the slowpoke or the beggar on the street has enemies, how much more you, if people know that you have the brain.

2) The Job itself,
As a foreign graduate, if you have good connections, use them to the maximum. Get where you wanna be and get there fast. If you study courses in the extra-terrestial, they might have no application here in Nigeria. Technology available in Nigeria is like scratching the surface of an egg, you wont get to do the nitty-gritty-get-your-hands-dirty. I was very ashamed when I bought a Zinox computer(rooting for the fatherland), decided to register the installed WinXP online, and I was told that the Liscense had expired. I was so surprised. I called Zinox, only for them to be transferring me from one manager to the other, till today, they havent answered my question. I have since disposed of the woeful PC.

3) Salary
even at close to 300k/month now, i still earned more as an undergraduate.

so to foreign-graduates, if your middle name is Charity, like mine, pls home is your next destination.

As for me, i will like to stay and work there cos i dont think there is work here in nigeria and will not like to mis the opportunity to stay there and work since there is job.

@sade

I believe wherever I am and I have peace is my home.

Yes, O

Those who want to go back and contribute well goodluck but how many people has actually contributed and if at all you contribute how will it show that you've contributed.

That is even if they will allow you to contribute, Abi

@rasheedah

, i want to study medicine and believe me there's no way I'm working in this country,

Please, come coz we need a lotta doctors, everybody here is sick!!!!

@larger_20

I plan on doing my PHD in nigerian university

If you have the opportunity of doing your PhD abroad, abeg, finish all the acada wellu wellu. SO you just bring your card-board and begin to fling it around.
Here: Research in Nigeria is Research about the Past, not about the possibilities for the future.
I met someone about two yrs ago who told me a 45-minute tale of how he used and wasted 7yrs on a Masters degree in a Univ in Nigeria here. Reason: the first and only PhD in his department was the definition of Frustration. He wangled his way, went abroad, finished his masters degree and PhD in 3yrs.
- except its your senior brother that will give you the PhD o, who knows, leg pass leg for Nija!!!

@mochafella

Nope,

of course there is nowhere like home, but the level of stress and worry is multiplied several times over, especially if you are a member of the rat race, working for an employer. Nothing like knowing you can get quality healthcare, security when you need it.  

You said it right, now, none of those are available here.

@funloving

For those who say they want to contribute to making Nigeria great note, unless the government in a country is well organised NO INDIVIDUAL EFFORT will achieve anything much.There are lots of great and idealistic people in Nigeria.How much have they been able to contribute ?

Pastor funloving, please tell us again. Its not only good governance we need, we need good people. The problem is not only with the leadership. The people been led also have a problem. The poor man on the street is corrupt. The rich man changing figures is corrupt. If the leader would not follow the corrupt path, he'll be in danger, pretty soon.

@badman888

don't mind going back to work, but am sick and tired of hearing people say that we should go back home and change the country, why arent the politicians changing it first then people would follow by their example

Nigeria is a long way far off from Changing. I dont believe in the idea of people saying governance, governance, bad-leadership. The truth is: The people been led always more than the leaders. In Nigeria with a population of 120million,  if the census still says so, we dont have 60million politicians. We dont even have up to 1-million. I believe its the 119million who should change the remaining 1-million, and not the other way around.

@my2cents

if I am paid N10million a year

Are you going to be robbing 1-bank/month so you could be getting your N10million/month? for how many yrs would you work to be earning 1mil/month average, if you go work for niger-delta, you would be looking right and left so that you wont be the next kidnap victim. By that time, the U.S wont be on hand to rescue you, because once Nigeria brandishes you as a kidnapped Nigerian, regardless of whether uve got U.S Citizenship or not, O boy, you're on your own in your father land!!! hehehehe

@oasis

My point exactly.  Nigeria is earning $1.3+ billion a week from guaranteed oil sales alone.  Yet with all that free income, workers don't get paid salaries on time.  

What is all the money getting spend on?  Of course we all know the answer to that one - Swiss, English, American banks have the money.  The little guy busting his butt going to work everyday is supposed to return to Nigeria and suddenly make things better?  Any advocate of that insanity must be high on something.

* How many former civil-servant pensioneers are lining up everyday at the Civil service? FYI, some of these guys-pensioneers were counted right there during this last census. They have no home to go to. When it takes 3-weeks to "process" a single piece of paper, and this new processing is not going to reflect in the records until the next 3-months and its until then(3-months) time that another mistake will be discovered, its just better for them to sleep there and become pests in-order to hasten things up.
* Now, If the people that are currently agile, young and active are not getting paid salaries, how much less those retired oldies.
* Former Millitary/police men - pensioneers, disabled in service are also on the queue for yrs. So why wont those still in service do all they can to wreck everything before they leave, grab all the money they can, with the hope that they wont need to come and fall-in-line for some unsure pension.

How many former civil-servant pensioneers are lining up everyday at the Civil service? FYI, some of these guys-pensioneers were counted right there during this last census. They have no home to go to. When it takes 3-weeks to "process" a single piece of paper, and this new processing is not going to reflect in the records until the next 3-months and its until then(3-months) time that another mistake will be discovered, its just better for them to sleep there and become pests in-order to hasten things up.
* Now, If the people that are currently agile, young and active are not getting paid salaries, how much less those retired oldies.
* Former Millitary/police men - pensioneers, disabled in service are also on the queue for years. So why wont those still in service do all they can to wreck everything before they leave, grab all the money they can, with the hope that they wont need to come and fall-in-line for some unsure pension.

A few terms that describe what you just said:

vicious cycle
domino effect

Nigeria is caught in a vicious cycle, and we don't know how to get out.

When am made, i will return to nigeria, by the way the is not only the poor that dont cum back(thats crap)

I have two friends who have returned home and currently earn 13M and 7M naira respectively. That is prettyy much more than a lot of people earn abroad.