^^^yup, i did.

an interesting phenomenom that exists in a lot of nigerian companies is that they are 'top heavy' ie the salary of one management staff can carry several officers comfortably. alot of these management staff come from abroad, and sadly, alot of them do not add any value. it can simply be said that they are hired to boost the companies image as they have multiple degrees, etc, .

while a nigerian who makes it here, will most definitely make it over there, one who comes home after working all his career over there is not likely to make much differenec beyond bitching about how lousy nigerian workers are. i work in a corporate environment and i have become very cynical about people who blow grammer etal, because that is typically all 90% of them do.

the beef comes down to this - this fellow is not adding any value whatsoever, and he has a straospheric salaray. its a mockery of the hard work a lot of people who add value but have not had the privildge or luck to study abroad. to be honest, according to the dilbert comics, the same plays out in corporate America, typicallly featuring silver spoon trust fund ivy leaguers vs working joes

i have my own funny story , also about a project manager. this guy came from uk was hired as a manager almost immediately (i doubt if he had any previous experience) everyone is crazy about project management these days , so he was asked to give some of us a seminar. he has prince 2 cert and an MBS. anyawy, he was talking about how he was on a team at barclays bank that was tasked with handling the paradigm shift of clients towards ATMs. sounded very interesting etal, but i suddenly realised that it is extremely doubtful that barclays suddenly started using atms in 2004/2005. so the guy was proabaly recycling some lecture material with himself as the star. i didn't bother contradicting him - and i doubt if management saw through it. this sis the same guy who i said was telling someone to put a defective pc battery in the freezer
(thats what is done with bad hard drives). are all y'all out there, please, do come back home, but please add value for money, not grammer.

@ oyb

Is performance dependent on the brief/duty given? What you are saying is that most of them are appointed as figure heads and not given charge of deliverables. Is that not the failure of management that appointed them rather than the individuals themselves?

Ogas in general blow grammar and leave the work to the underlings to do, or are you asserting that naija trained and experienced ogas will do the work while the foreign trained and experienced ones will be idle and do nothing? What kind of firms accept that

This phenomenon of 'air heads' or 'low on specifics' bosses is nothing restricted to naija - there are many people in middle to upper management abroad who have no reason to be there except for their well honed schmoozing skills and excellence at bullshitting.

^^^^^

the beef comes down to this - this fellow is not adding any value whatsoever, and he has a straospheric salaray. its a mockery of the hard work a lot of people who add value but have not had the privildge or luck to study abroad. to be honest, according to the dilbert comics, the same plays out in corporate America, typicallly featuring silver spoon trust fund ivy leaguers vs working joes

na so i talk am

Is performance dependent on the brief/duty given? What you are saying is that most of them are appointed as figure heads and not given charge of deliverables. Is that not the failure of management that appointed them rather than the individuals themselves?

both imho. the salaries these peeps get are beyond mouth watering and many of them cannot muster the will to leave even if they know they are well paid dead weight. there is only one dude who i recall actually left. in alot of nigerian firms, esp the nigerian run/owned ones, management is really the decisions of the head honcho.

Ogas in general blow grammar and leave the work to the underlings to do, or are you asserting that naija trained and experienced ogas will do the work while the foreign trained and experienced ones will be idle and do nothing? What kind of firms accept that?

you go suprise at the things wey dey happen. no mind me and my bad belle , me too i go organize my obodo oyinbo master and come back to chop yanfu yanfu and blow big big grammer. shebi i dey do am for NL.

OK. . . I think I see the problem here.
Well. . . for avoidance of doubt, I haven't said you guys in the diaspora should not seek jobs in Nigeria. I have also not said that, once you have lived and worked abroad, it is impossible to work in Nigeria, as debosky implicitly put it. I don't think so anyway.
In fact, for the original poster, my comment is this: by all means, feel free to relocate. If you really know your onions, there's a lot of opportunity in Nigeria for financial analysts.
All the best.

I think Corporate Nigeria is better when you consider fringe benefits like live in servant, paid accomodation, chauffeur, . . .

I guess another thing people should realize is that not everyone coming from obodo oyibo has the qualifications they claim to have. Once you return to the country you are hotcake. i wonder if Nigerians even properly  verifiy claims of work experience and graduate level education. I know people from here who give their prospective employers their friends cell phone numbers to call when they ask for references. So some of the people who breeze in and get fancy jobs were just gatemen over here.

If you actually hire someone from here who[b] had real experience and education [/b] and actually watched and learned how a functional corporate office operates that person surely should be an asset. Its not anything personal. Its just called seeing the bigger picture.

The typical Nigerian corporate life is ALOT different from the American one. Its mediocre but getting better.

@ Poster
If you're in Finance,processes are above average technologically.However,you might have to deal with colleagues who've got that 'complex' because you schooled abroad.Some think schooling abroad ought to have made you know everything even if you deliver on the job(you've got to show good good competence ).Be confident, not cocky ,be prepared to learn.You will meet some of those challenges at first,you'd adjust with time.Wishing you the best.

@oyb
bj, That Columbia don.

proudly9ja:

erm, wetin I talk to frustrate the guy? And how come Im the hater here? Nawao, Im sure there must be a mistake somewhere. I accept your apology in advance

Apology for what now? If you check that post well well, you'll see I was not referring to you. My response was to Ajanlekoko.

still got me confused man. I asked you to rephrase your question and you descend to warning me of , ?? man Im totally confused on how to respond to this

let it slide man. . . .

kokoye:

Apology for what now? If you check that post well well, you'll see I was not referring to you. My response was to Ajanlekoko.

Forgive me if I misinterpreted your post just that you quoted me in your response. I knew there had to be a mistake somewhere.

tkb417:

let it slide man. . . .

done

Corporate Nigeria vs Corporate America?

Here is my take. That one lived overseas does not automatically translate to the fact that such person will excel in corporate Nigeria (whatever that is, a few banks, telecom outfit, and some multi-nationals with overseas origins anyway).

What can not be denied however is that the work attitude of most Nigerians who have schooled and worked abroad for years is radically different from that of most Nigerians at home. Hence, those same
set of people are more likely to succeed in corporate Nigeria should they decide to return.  I said likely because there is no guarantee that they might be successful in re-adjusting to a Nigerian work  environment.  I mean if you have to factor fuel scarcity, power disruptions, chaotic traffic, accent envious co-workers, etc. on a daily basis, that may be just too much for some people to endure - true in spite of the fact that they were born and raised in Nigeria to begin with.  Come to think of it I wonder why some people in Nigeria are hating on those abroad with accent, after all I have heard all kinds of American accents from Nigerians who may have never left Nigeria once  - think Nigerian movies

Having said the above, while there are pockets of Nigerians abroad who truly wants to return home for
whatever reason, a good amount of the returnees may simply be those who might have hit a brick wall in their careers abroad and are simply viewing Nigeria as a last resort.  Its also fair to assume that a portion of those people were not strong performers in corporate America to begin with, and one shouldn't expect
much out of them in corporate Nigeria.

Think about it, what would cause someone with a "decent" salary (lets say $80K to $100K+) in corporate America to trade living in America for Nigeria? Sure they may be offered N12million to N20million+ and with some other benefits, but if you factor in all the other hassles that they have to contend with in Nigeria (lack of - light, roads, health care, schools, fill in the blank) is it really worth it?  I guess that's the question each person abroad has to answer before deciding to accept an offer with corporate Nigeria.  

Speaking for myself and at this stage in my life, its only money that will make me to accept an offer with corporate Nigeria, and it has to be at least twice what my current combined family income is, and based on my math, it looks like I may just be here for a very long time!  I have seen a friend of mine who is a top assistant to the head of a telecom outfit in Nigeria in action, I have seen his oga and the staff in action, and there is very little to be desired there.  Its really hard imagining going to work there every day - unless of course the price is right!

Iyke-D:

Corporate Nigeria vs Corporate America?

Think about it, what would cause someone with a "decent" salary (lets say $80K to $100K+) in corporate America to trade living in America for Nigeria?

I'd like to address the above point you raised. I can humbly say that our household income is in the 6-figure $ range and if it was just for money, we would not have considered relocating back home. Our biggest reason for going back home is to instill Nigeria in our kids. We have come to realise that it's going to be almost impossible for our kids to truly identify with our homeland unless we go back. I do not want my kids to grow up referring to Nigeria as Africa, dreading holidays in Nigeria or just waiting till their 18 so they can grab their foreign passports and head back. Our desire is that they grow up amongst their kind, fully immersed in the culture of the Yoruba people, knowing what it means to be descendants of Oduduwa, embracing the traditional values with which we were brought up. Maybe I'm just being sentimental but that is what we desire for our offsprings, God help us.

@IYKE

Think about it, what would cause someone with a "decent" salary (lets say $80K to $100K+) in corporate America to trade living in America for Nigeria? Sure they may be offered N12million to N20million+ and with some other benefits, but if you factor in all the other hassles that they have to contend with in Nigeria (lack of - light, roads, health care, schools, fill in the blank) is it really worth it?  I guess that's the question each person abroad has to answer before deciding to accept an offer with corporate Nigeria. 

Speaking for myself and at this stage in my life, its only money that will make me to accept an offer with corporate Nigeria, and it has to be at least twice what my current combined family income is, and based on my math, it looks like I may just be here for a very long time!  I have seen a friend of mine who is a top assistant to the head of a telecom outfit in Nigeria in action, I have seen his oga and the staff in action, and there is very little to be desired there.  Its really hard imagining going to work there every day - unless of course the price is right!

True talk Mr Iyke.
I work in the financial sector, and my company decided to off-shore job positions to India about six years ago. I was one of the trainers who trained the Indian colleagues that came over from India (Classroom and on-the-job). Intellectually, they are not any better than an average Nigerian. But the "Nigerian elements / factors" some of which have been rightly mentioned by Iyke constitute enormous stumbling blocks that will require extraordinary financial insentives to persuade some good professionals from Diaspora to consider returning home.

I'd like to address the above point you raised. I can humbly say that our household income is in the 6-figure $ range and if it was just for money, we would not have considered relocating back home. Our biggest reason for going back home is to instill Nigeria in our kids. We have come to realise that it's going to be almost impossible for our kids to truly identify with our homeland unless we go back. I do not want my kids to grow up referring to Nigeria as Africa, dreading holidays in Nigeria or just waiting till their 18 so they can grab their foreign passports and head back. Our desire is that they grow up amongst their kind, fully immersed in the culture of the Yoruba people, knowing what it means to be descendants of Oduduwa, embracing the traditional values with which we were brought up. Maybe I'm just being sentimental but that is what we desire for our offsprings, God help us.

I respect and appreciate your opinion very much. I have very young kids too, but unlike you, they are largely part of the reason why I don't see myself swapping corporate America for corporate Nigeria. I am not sure I can truly justify subjecting them to living in a place where there seems to be non-stop chaos. I mean, what tradition am I trying to imbibe in them about not having constant electricity, good roads, and other basic things? Sure, we may be able to afford to live in a very secluded and decent place in the usual places (Lekki, VI, etc), but what about the rest of the country?

If I have my way or the opportunity, I will rather go there to bear it alone while leaving them out of it. For all the wrong things we say or see about children in America, I don't think people in Nigeria or elsewhere do a far better job of raising children than those in America - maybe more (not all) American kids experiment with sex and drugs, while their Nigerian counterparts are honing their 419 skills? Kids in Nigerians wants to be like Americans so bad, and its only a matter of time before those same attitudes find their way in Nigeria. If indeed Americans don't know how to raise kids, why is it that the country leads in just about every sphere of human endeavor? We may not agree with their methods, but they have to be doing something right, don't you agree?

@ Iyke-D

Thanks for respecting my stance as I do yours.

I have heard your viewpoint before from other people based overseas and I have met a few who share mine though I have to say most are on the same side as yours. I guess ultimately, each person decides what matters most to them and at the end of the day, there's no right or wrong position.

My post above was strictly to address your question "what would cause someone with a "decent" salary (lets say $80K to $100K+) in corporate America to trade living in America for Nigeria?" For me, the reason I stated up there is it, others will have similar or different reasons.

Best wishes to you and yours, may God help us all (Amen).

@Iyke-D
You have said it all. I am truly your friend and we live in the same city in SC. I told you lets go back home. Everybody knows that journey cannot be so sweet and better than home. With this creative thinking and keen perception to think out of box. I guess we need to go back home and contribute our quotas. Folks in Nigeria on the other side, we love you guys and no day passed by that we don't think about you. The fact still remains the same; we all walked through the struggle together. I was born in Bariga and nurtured in Mushin I know that says a lot about me. After I traveled out more I realized that Nigeria is a better place. I mean, you might be captivated by the all-bound beauty in abroad. But guess what you will have every reason to think about Nigeria because of its distinct cultures, patterns and uniqueness. I mean forget about the accent, you might think some people seem pretentious when they are speaking in American accent. That was the result of stress they went through to learn the accent and at a point to which it forms the basic part of them. When you first get to America, no matter how grammarian you are --you must drop your accent and try to learn in America ways if you want to leave a life of convenience. Because America too is not about what you know but who you know. Whatever you are doing try to be better; I don't care where you are. (If you schooled in Nigeria and you went through hurdles of Ife or Yabatech just to name a few). You will realize that there is no place you can’t survive in the world. Because Nigeria base on pure knowledge and in US it’s cumulative y’all know what I mean…? First of all, I know you want abroad returnees to perform but don’t expect much from them. Environment might influence you but does not change who you are. I have come across students from Stanford, Ohio State University and MIT that did not know anything. So you have 4.0 in America institution does not mean you can compete with 2.2 in Nigeria. Taking the chicanery altitudes aside which just the bane of life of some few people among us; a lot of Americans have respect for Nigerians especially among Akatas. They think when will come over we are ready to take over from them. Because of our characteristically will to survive in education, work and all life endeavors.

Bros (Lax75). Pple don yarn their mind n dem don mke sense frm their own point. Me i wan bliv say u no b JJC(asin u av lived here in 9ja b4 even if briefly) unto runnins 4 9ja.either mumsi or popsi go don hint u or u get cousin,uncle or aunt wey dy dis side wey don gv u d low down as to hw tin run here. Wit ur kpali (qualification),e 2 sure say u go get job cos 9ja HR dy monkey(Lyk) tokunbo (just returnd frm abroad) pple. Nw 2 go wrk 4 here no easy.pple wey dy wrk 4 v.i/lekki(whr mst org operate frm in 9ja) go yarn u. U leav hme by 5/6am to gan (hustle 4) bus even if u drive sef so as 2 beat trafic xcpt ur ofice n hse dy same strt.u go dy reach hse 4 night o. 4 d ofice enviromnt,settings (clique) dy wey go beef u,jst do ur best n leav d rest. 9ja's can loyal to oga (4 recomendation).u gas (shld) bam urslf wel 4 d 9ja atitude on d job o.it cant b defined bt its there. U go get lyt 4 ofice bt u fit no get 4 hse.bring gen com o, lol. U go njoy 9ja last last if u no dull urslf. Na my 5kobo thot o.

yemmydavid:

Bros (Lax75). Pple don yarn their mind n dem don mke sense frm their own point. Me i wan bliv say u no b JJC(asin u av lived here in 9ja b4 even if briefly) unto runnins 4 9ja.either mumsi or popsi go don hint u or u get cousin,uncle or aunt wey dy dis side wey don gv u d low down as to hw tin run here. Wit ur kpali (qualification),e 2 sure say u go get job cos 9ja HR dy monkey(Lyk) tokunbo (just returnd frm abroad) pple. Nw 2 go wrk 4 here no easy.pple wey dy wrk 4 v.i/lekki(whr mst org operate frm in 9ja) go yarn u. U leav hme by 5/6am to gan (hustle 4) bus even if u drive sef so as 2 beat trafic xcpt ur ofice n hse dy same strt.u go dy reach hse 4 night o. 4 d ofice enviromnt,settings (clique) dy wey go beef u,jst do ur best n leav d rest. 9ja's can loyal to oga (4 recomendation).u gas (shld) bam urslf wel 4 d 9ja atitude on d job o.it cant b defined bt its there. U go get lyt 4 ofice bt u fit no get 4 hse.bring gen com o, lol. U go njoy 9ja last last if u no dull urslf. Na my 5kobo thot o.

Hehe u don yarn ur own be that o

Next, yes me

Where i dont really like in this matter is the aspect that Oga (boss) will be sending workers an erand like go and buy me food from mr bigs or boli and ekpa. I think you are not paid to be doing this. Well I live in UK, my boss will never tell me to buy him KFC or Macdonald, when we have break everybody will go for break and we shall all be back after break then work continues, simply life. Every friday you will get your payslip and you will see your wage in your account.

If there is work in the office and you are not sure of what to do, you can ask your team mate else ur manager, if problem still not solve, you can do group work.

As regard working attitude in nigeria, i tell you what, it is just sooooo bad. I remember when i was still in Nigeria 4 years ago, there is this guy working for STB bank, he was shouting on this girl which happens to be his work colleague, the guy said "u have to do it, i dont care and all sought of bad words" and I and so many people were there as customer. Not only him but this happens in so many offices in naija. Anywayz sha we just have ro take it easy at work,even during recruiting.

Bump!

skfa1:


As regard working attitude in nigeria, i tell you what, it is just sooooo bad. I remember when i was still in Nigeria 4 years ago, there is this guy working for STB bank, he was shouting on this girl which happens to be his work colleague, the guy said "u have to do it, i dont care and all sought of bad words" and I and so many people were there as customer. Not only him but this happens in so many offices in naija. Anywayz sha we just have ro take it easy at work,even during recruiting.

this is a horrible

skfa1:

As regard working attitude in nigeria, i tell you what, it is just sooooo bad. I remember when i was still in Nigeria 4 years ago, there is this guy working for STB bank, he was shouting on this girl which happens to be his work colleague, the guy said "u have to do it, i dont care and all sought of bad words" and I and so many people were there as customer. Not only him but this happens in so many offices in naija. Anywayz sha we just have ro take it easy at work,even during recruiting.

Hmm. Some would say this is kind of characteristic of bank staff, especially in the banking ops or commercial banking areas. Not in the investment banking sector.

Nice to run into this thread again. We had quite a heated discussion then, and I ended up upsetting a lot of my diasporean friends

@Ajanlekoko,
I just read through the thread now,  very interesting perceptions.

The only thing I kind of had a comment on was your bias aginast "diasporeans".

I wonder why people think that returnees walk on water, isn't that expecting too much. They are just normal human beings that know a few things about many things like everyone else. I have met people with excellent work ethic and managerial skills both in Nigeria and here. It's all about the individual not where they schooled or lived. Sheesh!

By the nature of developed countries, we get exposed to things that an average Nigerian may not be expsoed to, experience wise but thats about it. For example, most PM's in the banking industry here handle projects that run in to 10's of millions of dollars as part of their every day job. Thats not considered a feat here,  most PM's in Naija banking are not afforded that kind of opportunity on a day to day basis.

Anyway, anyone going back to work in Naija should learn to blend in and deliver. They shouldn't be expecting a 9-5 job, that does not happen in Naija, if you cant handle the heat get out of the kitchen ! lol! Nigeria is a different animal.

yodiyokun:

@Ajanlekoko,
I just read through the thread now,  very interesting perceptions.

The only thing I kind of had a comment on was your bias aginast "diasporeans".

I wonder why people think that returnees walk on water, isn't that expecting too much. They are just normal human beings that know a few things about many things like everyone else. I have met people with excellent work ethic and managerial skills both in Nigeria and here. It's all about the individual not where they schooled or lived. Sheesh!

By the nature of developed countries, we get exposed to things that an average Nigerian may not be expsoed to, experience wise but thats about it. For example, most PM's in the banking industry here handle projects that run in to 10's of millions of dollars as part of their every day job. Thats not considered a feat here,  most PM's in Naija banking are not afforded that kind of opportunity on a day to day basis.

Anyway, anyone going back to work in Naija should learn to blend in and deliver. They shouldn't be expecting a 9-5 job, that does not happen in Naija, if you cant handle the heat get out of the kitchen ! lol! Nigeria is a different animal.

Hmm.
Well, you can't blame me for my bias. I am surrounded by 'diasporeans' at work. Most of them assume that they are smarter than the home-grown Nigerians by default. Unfortunately their output tells a radically different story.

AjanleKoko:

Hmm.
Well, you can't blame me for my bias. I am surrounded by 'diasporeans' at work. Most of them assume that they are smarter than the home-grown Nigerians by default. Unfortunately their output tells a radically different story.

You know what, Nigerians are like that everywhere. they come here, they think they are smarter than every oyinbo they meet. We think so highly of ourselves meanhwile na ofo bante!.

Also you coudl be a tad sensitive though, it's either that or your company's HR needs to get a Human BS detector!

I am going to play devil’s advocate here. These comments are not to slight anybody or in any way am I trying to compare dick sizes. From a personal perspective, currently living in the states (been here for abt 9 years now, came after I graduated high school in Naija),

I am of the school of thought that getting a degree from abroad should not automatically guarantee a cushion job back home, I believe the Nigerian worker has a better mental capacity to get the job done (in Nigeria). A friend was going to relocate home back in 2007 and he was offered 11M naira, but in all fairness I am sure that his company instead of paying him all that cash could easily hire four Nigerian graduates. Coming with a foreign degree does not mean jack, I have come across Nigerian graduates with more on the job skills than their American counterparts.

I am a big advocate of entrepreneurship, why cant Nigerian abroad save up money go back home and create jobs instead of taking jobs from poor graduates that have suffered the “Nigerian factor(s)”- ASSU strikes, etc.

yodiyokun:

You know what, Nigerians are like that everywhere. they come here, they think they are smarter than every oyinbo they meet. We think so highly of ourselves meanhwile na ofo bante!.

Also you coudl be a tad sensitive though,  it's either that or your company's HR needs to get a Human BS detector!

I guess that would explain it. I even get stuff like that on this forum, from people who were probably still in Uni when I became part of 'management', in fact. Tickles me to no end. Not that I am feeling cool or anything, but it just is silly to tell someone 'you really write very well for someone who lives in Nigeria'.  Like you just can't find someone in Nigeria who can speak or write English .

Just like some hillbillies from Idaho or somewhere that some dodgy Nigerian businessman brought to my office a while back, to peddle some great 'innovation'. One of the oyinbos told me 'you know, you speak really good English, you must be real educated!' The Naija guy no help at all. He was like 'These Men are from Amerikka!' They are ex-pahts! Do you know *some city in yankee I can't mention*? Have you heard of it before? That is where I brought these men from!'

AjanleKoko:

Hmm.
Well, you can't blame me for my bias. I am surrounded by 'diasporeans' at work. Most of them assume that they are smarter than the home-grown Nigerians by default. Unfortunately their output tells a radically different story.

Mr Ajanlekoko
What about the Oyinbos and Asians at your work place or those you work with, are they also dead-weights or just the nigerian 'diasporeans'?

Dis Guy:

Mr Ajanlekoko
What about the Oyinbos and Asians at your work place or those you work with, are they also dead-weights  or just the nigerian 'diasporeans'?

Good question.
The Oyinbos are naturally condescending, but many of them have good reason to be. If you've been a CFO at T-Mobile in Germany, and have worked all over the world, I guess you can't really be blamed for being a bit condescending, after all you are in a 3rd world country. In any case, the Oyinbos usually come in at the very top, and they don't really intimidate anybody, they just do their normal colonial-style divide-and-rule approach, which we're all used to, and have built countermeasures against.
Though in my office, the majority of diaspora returnees tend to suck up to the Oyinbos like anything, which doesn't help their goodwill with the local chaps. I can understand when you were in their country, but na Naija we dey now, haba!

The Asians no dey do pass their power. Some of them can't even speak English, like the Chinese, and they're naturally subdued, no gra gra in their behaviour like the average Naija man. The only issue with them na the smell.  The Indians can be a bit rude and condescending, but again, they have good reason to be. Wipro, Infosys . . . get what I mean? Usually they have the CV and the work experience, compared to Nigerians. They don't put on airs and speak in odd accents though. They focus on the job, and are down to earth. Usually I just neutralize them by telling them how I saw grownups peeing in the high street in Mumbai

For avoidance of doubt, I don't have any particular issue with Nigerians that joined corporate Nigeria from abroad, save for the assumption that your foreign education automatically confers superior status on you. That there is some kind of Sambo-Mlambo crap, and annoys most people. Just come and do the work, and share knowledge with your local colleagues if you have any to share. If you don't just keep your head down and focus on your job. The few that do this actually do very well.

Studying abroad doesn't make one smarter. I think those guys are just using the typical nigerian swagger to intimidate.

the only advantage might be if these guys has some years of experience abroad but again the experience might be useless in a nigerian setting

Quite a thorny topic!

Obviously there is a lot of point made so far on both sides but from my personal perspective I have this little to contribute:

It’s true that studying abroad does not auto drive you into the Nigerian corporate world it could even be a disadvantage. I have been to an interview in which the interviewer seems desperate to bring me down simply because he’s intimidated my foreign degree. I had to excuse myself from the interview cos I could see unjustified beef in his eyes in the same view I know some foreign degree holders who have this perfect than thou attitude that does not justify value.

Give or take I am happy that I’ve studied abroad comparing my initial experience studying here is just like comparing hell and heaven.

The value of a foreign degree or even working experience might not be that appreciated in the traditional Nigerian corporate world cos u have to learn or unlearn ’how it it’s done here’.

But the real value in my modest opinion is unarguably in INNOVATION.

Taking Finance as an instance, the finance industry in Nigerian is largely shallow. There is a great need to deepen our financial instruments, risk management instruments, real estate, energy trading, fixed income trading and lots more. The real value of a foreign degree experience come handy here.The Nigerian market must and will be deepened.

A foreign degree and experience will definitely give you an edge here if you think of coming back home to further expand the market-those who dare on this be the big players in the next 15 to 20 years.

So I submit that you’re are better positioned to be a market innovator with a foreign education and experience than being more of transactional on the home front guru here at home.

Ideas rules the world!!!