Personally i Love home, and i go frequently and in fact i am going back finally, becos no place like home and being amongst your own people. i enjoy the hustling and bustling, in lagos, traiifc, having to struggle for petrol, most especially the driving speed.  ,  hanging out in cinemas after a hard days job and drinking cold star    with the excuse of traffic.   Lagidi all the way.

why i go fear to return home becos of Nepa, police, bad road e.t.c

i was born and bread in lagos becos i don live abroad no mean say i no go survive for lagos or begin complain of these things and becos of am i no go go gree go back. 9ja uy 4life jare.

Oh well, you can always paint a picture as it suits you. I lived in UK for a considerable amount of years, yes it's all good, the system offers you most that you can ask for, however, it never felt like home to me. You never get accepted by the people even if they don't make it seem obvious.

Since i've been back in Nigeria, I have been able to secure a good paying job and save more money than I used to back in the UK.

Sure there are levels of corruption and a lot of issues that needs to be addressed. Before Nigerians used to be strong willed and determined. These days, they just wanna give up, pack it in and run away.

All these countries abroad started from scratch, Im guessing if their citizens decided to stay away, they would have not got it developed to such levels of today.

The Ghanaians decided to start coming home in order to develop their country, who else was gonna do it for them? Maybe we need to do the same instead of easily giving up and running away.

If your neighbor had a better house; two things you can do, fix up your house or move into his,

I don't thing the problem with Nigeria should be completely blamed on governance, the people are to blame as well. From what i can infer, even the highly educated Nigerians who worked and studied abroad can end up being the most corrupt individuals,

Just some food for thought.

I thought the basis of this was to discuss what makes it difficult for those who want to return back to Nigeria, not whether it is is a good idea to relocate.

^^ I told you it was a pointless thread and one that would degenerate into another my di.ck is bigger than yours contest.

"I live in london and I am doing alright. All those in nigeria are street begging"

"I like in lekki and my house is the biggest on my street. All those ppl abroad are suffering and washing dead bodies."

Just watch. The thread is just warming up. The usual suspects haven't arrived yet

salamsm:

Oh well, you can always paint a picture as it suits you. I lived in UK for a considerable amount of years, yes it's all good, the system offers you most that you can ask for, however, it never felt like home to me. You never get accepted by the people even if they don't make it seem obvious.

Since i've been back in Nigeria, I have been able to secure a good paying job and save more money than I used to back in the UK.

Sure there are levels of corruption and a lot of issues that needs to be addressed. Before Nigerians used to be strong willed and determined. These days, they just wanna give up, pack it in and run away.

All these countries abroad started from scratch, Im guessing if their citizens decided to stay away, they would have not got it developed to such levels of today.

The Ghanaians decided to start coming home in order to develop their country, who else was gonna do it for them? Maybe we need to do the same instead of easily giving up and running away.

If your neighbor had a better house; two things you can do, fix up your house or move into his,

I don't thing the problem with Nigeria should be completely blamed on governance, the people are to blame as well. From what i can infer, even the highly educated Nigerians who worked and studied abroad can end up being the most corrupt individuals,

Just some food for thought.

That is your story. Good for you.

Do you want me to tell you stories of others, not so unlucky: poeple who left good jobs in the west to come and try to settle down in Nigeria but returned after years of misery . . or I should refer you to some that are dead?? I am sure you have heard of them but choose to ignore it.

Whatever works for you and floats your boat but dont come here and start bashing others because you were lucky or got the hook up.

And must we always bring Ghana into this? I am getting tired o!!

Like someone rightly said, this thread is for people to share their concerns.

Do u get all the £40 u are paid in Uk? You are paid £40 and 50% of amount goes back to government as tax.

scopusng:

Do u get all the £40 u are paid in Uk? You are paid £40 and 50% of amount goes back to government as tax.

Have you moved back home yet then?

picking my chair sitting in-front roll,this gonna be right.

scopusng:

Do u get all the £40 u are paid in Uk? You are paid £40 and 50% of amount goes back to government as tax.

You have to earn over a certain amount to be taxed. £40 a day is surely below the tax threshold and such jobs are held mostly by students who don't get taxed anyway.

scopusng:

Do u get all the £40 u are paid in Uk? You are paid £40 and 50% of amount goes back to government as tax.

At least you see what the tax is used for.

Although I know folks are taxed almost to death in the u.k, but please can we stop defining tax like nothing good comes out of it?

@ Poster, good thread which so far looks like good educative discussions going on. Anyway I believe even if all was well and good back in Nigeria their would still be people who prefer to live abroad for obvious reasons but maybe not in their droves as it is the case now. One of the reasons why people may find it difficult to return home could be due to family commitments. For example I came over here (UK) as a single man but today I'm married with a child ~ having established both professional and family life here it is not easy just to uproot myself, leave everything I have worked so hard for including my family to return to Nigeria. I have to seriously consider how that would impact on my family when making such big life decisions. The argument about living in the west or back home in Nigeria has its pros and cons as already mentioned previously by some posters. I value the little comforts of life over here but miss the social and cultural life back in Nigeria, but do I want to swap my career and family comfort to an unkown and unpredictable future at this stage of my life? probably not.

I would definitely not want to hang around over here in my old age that's for sure but at this stage of my life it would be far too risky to abandon what I have for what I don't. It is not to say there aren't any success story of people returning but I don't think they will be in their high numbers. My advice for anyone planning to do so is to do it in small steps ~ maybe go back yearly or twice a year and research about what is it you want to do. Such trips could also help you to re-adjust to life back in Nigeria but a word of caution is to remember that going to Nigeria on holiday and going for business are completely different.

kokoye:

At least you see what the tax is used for.

Although I know folks are taxed almost to death in the u.k, but please can we stop defining tax like nothing good comes out of it?

Some of em complaining about tax are those milking the council as well.

Oga Kokoye. . I throw-away Salute

kokoye:

That is your story. Good for you.

Do you want me to tell you stories of others, not so unlucky: people who left good jobs in the west to come and try to settle down in Nigeria but returned after years of misery . . or I should refer you to some that are dead?? I am sure you have heard of them but choose to ignore it.

Whatever works for you and floats your boat but dont come here and start bashing others because you were lucky or got the hook up.

And must we always bring Ghana into this? I am getting tired o!!

Like someone rightly said, this thread is for people to share their concerns.

Please ignore the fool. I also known so many people thought they will succeed in Nigeria but today, they now calling for money just to buy food alone. This are people that where doing well in their prospective field in NYC only to go to Nigeria to join the suffering people.

May of 2009 I went to Nigeria, my family especially my sisters made promise never to travel to Nigeria years to come due the accidents that happened between Lagos and Benin City and arm robbers that attacked us on two different locations in oneday. Come and see death bodies everywhere. As for Nigerian police, they will go to hell. Can u imaging a police offices telling a six family members that we went to fucckk in a hotel. Because they saw three men and three girls in the car, they said when went to fucckk our own sisters. They held for no reason. Immediately they found out that we where Americans, they demand dollars not Naira. They threaten to shot us.Because of the delay, we had to say in Warri because it was too late to get to where we supposed to go

kokoye of course Ghana will always be brought into such discussions, because a few years ago they were worst off than we were, now they seem to be on the right road to recovery. In any field of research, there are always comparison. Ghana is the closest we've got. It's useless comparing Nigeria with the West because we have not yet reached such a level.

Besides all that, I speak the truth when I say, who will help develop Nigeria? God might as well made us all Americans or put us in one big country. Everything has its difficulties which needs to be overcome but some sit over there and talk bad about Nigeria, and believe me I have met people who see nothing but negativity in Nigeria.

In Africa, we've got countries worse off than Nigeria, ravaged by war, corruption and all kinds off ill justice. Nigeria has had it's own ills but still stands strong. That's why I will always give credit to Nigeria. These foreigners we see in Nigeria whisper amongst themselves that these guys don't know what  jewel got. We just need to realize that and work on developing Nigeria in all aspects.

I know it's easy to stay abroad and say when things get better, im coming back, so whose gonna make it better?
If El-Rufai decided to stay back in US and not come back to the Minister of FCT, maybe the city of Abuja would have been worst off. Situations like that give people hope,

Anyway, if anyone chooses to live abroad, I won't hold it against them cos it's a matter of preference, after all the Brits move to other countries, so do other nationals.

----

OvieE you talk about all thats wrong with Nigeria, yet you cannot take a criticism from me without disdaining to your natural urges by calling me a "fool".

But you did mention in your post that they 'found out that you were Americans' so im guessing you're no longer a Nigerian then.

It's very easy for one to contradict themselves.

salamsm:

OvieE you talk about all thats wrong with Nigeria, yet you cannot take a criticism from me without disdaining to your natural urges by calling me a "fool".

But you did mention in your post that they 'found out that you were Americans' so im guessing you're no longer a Nigerian then.

It's very easy for one to contradict themselves.

Yes, they found out that we where Americans. But in which country in the world a police officers will open their dirty mouth and say you went to sleep with your sisters because they saw three men and three girls in the car. Do know how foolishness that is, or what kind of police will say I will shot you. For what. Don't you heard of 40 people that died between Ibadan and Lagos all because of road block useless police made. Where in the world have you seen road blocks in an expressways. Tell me of your location as a matterfact because I do not trust you. Go and join your corrupt leaders.

If you will like to know, I can cool and calmly tell you that i'm back in Abuja.

If I wanted I could have continued living in UK because i am entitled to but I decided to come back HOME.

My 'leaders might be regarded as corrupt' but they come and go.

When I returned last year, it was some guy named Alerio who seem to lack basic knowledge of governance, his Legacy? a debacle called "Speed Breakers" Well, since the new guy came in, he sensibly removed them and replaced them with user friendly speed bumps. In addition, he fixed up most of the street lights.

So like I said, leaders come and go.

Im in Naija, and i tell you the basics of life is not just here. Given a choice, i will choose the comfort and peace of ming living in the west brings (for those that are willing to work hard and pay the price) to life in Lagos, which is close to anarchy right now, Mad traffic, no security, no light, bad roads, i have been to the Uk a couple of times and i can tell that we need serious help in Nigeria.

To me, its a no-brainer, I could stay in Nigeria if i see that the government is committed to providing the basics of life, but for now, given a chance, i'm outta here!

Im in Naija, and i tell you the basics of life is not just here. Given a choice, i will choose the comfort and peace of ming living in the west brings (for those that are willing to work hard and pay the price) to life in Lagos, which is close to anarchy right now, Mad traffic, no security, no light, bad roads, i have been to the Uk a couple of times and i can tell that we need serious help in Nigeria.

To me, its a no-brainer, I could stay in Nigeria if i see that the government is committed to providing the basics of life, but for now, given a chance, i'm outta here!

because naija is blessed lol

most of us have been priced out of ever returning to naija. what i mean by this is that house prices in naija are going for 100 million naira, 50 million naira. if you convert that into dollars this is like 1 million dollars. or half a million dollars. 99.9 percent of us abroad dont have that kind of money so we are stuck here

@ respondents, thanking you for honest feed back, the beginning of this thread was to know why Nigerians found it difficult to return home while still moaning about the tax they pay and how difficult it is abroad and if they had the chance would hop sticks and leave. But, the response has been ever so enlightening and raised so many pertinent issues as well.

Those who opt to remain because of the safety and sure nature of life expected, I do no blame at all. Before I go on, it will be appreciated if we refrain from abusive words and casting aspartions on one another. We dont know each other and are only joined together by an electronic meduim, so lets enjoy the thread, learn from it, laugh at it and move on.

Someone mentioned going back home and having it on easy street and another responded that he was lucky, that there were loads of those who got maimed and even killed because they knew they lived in other climes. Let me give a scenerio, having lived in an European country for 3 years, I met with some wonderful Nigerians who didn't even finish their primary school education but believe me, they were more informed and quite enlightened than expected. I met a guy who was an 'agbero' at oshodi, he looked rough and one could tell his earlier life wasn't a bed of roses. He had fierce looks and a rough demenour ( pls correct my spelling) ( May I add he has passed on) he was the biggest softie you'd ever meet. He said it was the takings he made and saved that he used to come abroad and he had no regrets about doing so. This also with so many people I encoutered, they seemed to calm down and live quiet lives, worked normal jobs, shopped as their pockets permitted. Now, what hope do these 'illiterate' people have in Nigeria?

Because some of them have bought houses ( some might snigger, shebi na mortgage) so what will happen to them when they might want to return, because there is no degree and no big name to throw around.

Every one's postion on why they go or stay is very well respected.

Waxviven

Your spot on there are poorly educated people in the West who`s can make a decent living, while in naija they would only make N17,000 or even 100,000. We cannot compare the person educated in the UK/US/Ger/Canada who father is best friends with the Chairman of Zenith bank, and lands him a job on his return, with a house and driver.

The other thing is most people who have lived overseas want to go back and live or buy there plot in the best neighborhoods, whether that be Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Ilorin. Folks lets be honest the returnees never build a modest two bed bungalow, it a mansion 3 floors, 8 bed ensuite, two boys quarters.

These neighnorhoods are not cheap even by western standards. Everyone knows prices in Lagos and Abuja, but its not usuall for people to ask for N18million and upwards in cash.

However, allot do not return because of shame, because they have not done much. There is too much familial expectation, you must arrive in a big way home. Not all can.

The way I see things:

People tell you they’ve returned home and then 3 – 5 yrs later they may come back. Get smart and don’t make return home your goal.

Is return home really relevant today? The digital & mobile age is gradually making this an old phrase. 10 yrs ago communicating by email, phone or internet with Nigeria was a herculean task. Now, we can see the difference; even this forum was non-existent 6 yrs ago. The digital age has unleashed more business potentials and greater mobility. Sadly a lot of Nigerians abroad are still stuck in the past.

For me, the Yoruba adage: Ile labo simi oko does not hold true today.

Home they say is where the heart is. Why not establish “homes” in both worlds and take advantage of your contacts/networks in Nigeria & wherever you are abroad. I consider both places home, but plan to spend more time in “Nigerian home” as I grow older.

Some Nigerians come over here and set goals like: I’ll work abroad, save $ 500,000; build a mansion in Lagos (or some remote village) and go back home after 8 years. This is a retrogressive mindset and it’s holding a lot of people back from realising their real potential. They are influenced by snide comments by “friends” in Nigeria. (Comments like: you run go abroad; see your mates for home dey build mansion, buy Navigator etc)

Start setting goals based on increasing your net worth, working less as you grow older and generating revenue stream from a solid business/investment. 

Let’s stop thinking like migrant labourers and open our eyes to the vast possibilities of living in a truly global village.

@buguzee when you say 'stuck', can you expantiate pls?

WAVixen:

@buguzee when you say 'stuck', can you expantiate pls?

stuck as in,many folks in england especially, cannot afford house prices in lagos (and i am quite aware that nigeria is bigger than lagos but i am only familiar with lagos house prices). so whats the point in coming home from abroad to rent ? i have seen houses that sell for 100 million naira. this is 500,000 pounds. even on 50 pounds an hour job, you cannot amass that much in cash because of taxes and bills (keep in mind naija is all about the cashola. no mortgage. na cash down).

let me put it to you like this. if you offered every nigerian in britain 2 million pounds in cash, i can bet my last penny that 99.999999999 percent of nigerians will be on the next thing smoking out of england back to nigeria. all that nepa, bad roads, bad schools etc etc na just convenient excuse. the real issue is HEAVY CASH FLOW

@@@@@@@@@@@

just wondering if anyone could help out with these

1; why do most naija leaves for overseas in the first place a-money; b-peace; c-others

2; why do most claim never to go home until they get old? why bother going in the first place until u are old?? fishy and contradictory ehhhh

3; why even the ones that wana go home are knee on getting fat salary way above what they get in London

4; how come as naija are leaving their shore the Chinese and other are flooding in??

5;how come Abuja when i was there has so much expatriates all over the place

6;why does some Nigerians deceive themselves; some claimed to have a good job without saying like emm i get above £24,000 annual to put the Nigeriansback home in a position to have a verdict ehhhh; everybody is equal; ehhh that's a lieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!Your black azz equal to what ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?? well just say nobody is above the law period cuz there are place like hotel only the elite dine and wine there nevermind u and Richard Brownson sat next to eachother in the train

7; right who will fix naija; aliens ehhhh then u fly ur black azz back ehhhh ready made ehhh try tell that to the test pilot

8' what about the britons that could make it in their holiday home abroad that came back; so nigeria wahala should be unprecedented ehhhh

one thing certain this isnt easy as some of yall think; its more complicated if all the cutting corners are looked into i think

we got to be real!!!!

ikeyman00:

@@@@@@@@@@@

just wondering if anyone could help out with these

1; why do most naija leaves for overseas in the first place a-money; b-peace; c-others

2; why do most claim never to go home until they get old? why bother going in the first place until u are old?? fishy and contradictory ehhhh

3; why even the ones that wana go home are knee on getting fat salary way above what they get in London

4; how come as naija are leaving their shore the Chinese and other are flooding in??

5;how come Abuja when i was there has so much expatriates all over the place

6;why does some Nigerians deceive themselves; some claimed to have a good job without saying like emm i get above £24,000 annual to put the Nigeriansback home in a position to have a verdict ehhhh; everybody is equal; ehhh that's a lieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!Your black azz equal to what ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?? well just say nobody is above the law period cuz there are place like hotel only the elite dine and wine there nevermind u and Richard Brownson sat next to eachother in the train

7; right who will fix naija; aliens ehhhh then u fly your black azz back ehhhh ready made ehhh try tell that to the test pilot

8' what about the britons that could make it in their holiday home abroad that came back; so nigeria wahala should be unprecedented ehhhh

one thing certain this isnt easy as some of yall think; its more complicated if all the cutting corners are looked into i think

we got to be real!!!!

i think you are in a better position to answer the first question since you are in the UK

we ,ll sure see need to return when nigeria,

NIGERIA LAUNCHES ITS SATELITE

LAUNCH A ROCKET TO THE MOON OR EVEN TO CHINA

HAVE A TRAIN NETWORK EVEN IF ITS FROM LAGOS TO BENIN

FIND A NEW MEAN OF STABILLISINING ELECTRICITY

NO CUEING FOR FUEL AT FILLING STATION

POLICE LEARN TO DEPEND ON THEIR SALARY

POLITICS IS NOT THE ONLY TOPIC ON THE NATIONS AGENDA

PEOPLE BEGIN TO ENJOY THEIR RIGHT TO LIVE

SACHET WATER IS BAND

PIT TOILET IS A THING OF THE PAST

WATER WATER WATER

HOUSING HOUSING HOUSING

GENERATOR IS NO MORE


ROAD ROAD ROAD

WHEN PEOPLE LIKE OBJ, BABA, NZERI,AND MANY MORE ARE DEAD,

THEN T
HERE WILL BE LIKE HERE AND WE,LL HAVE NO REASON TO REMAIN HERE

ikeymann00 does make some interesting point.

No one is against those that choose to live abroad and for what ever reason.

However some speak of Nigeria like it's hopeless or worse off than places like Rwanda, Niger, Mali or even Malawi.

If you've got a great paying job abroad then that's excellent, but if you're working cleaning lavatories or doing menial jobs abroad, then is it really worth it? Besides, most Nigerians doing menial jobs abroad try and give a false impression of them doing some white collar job out there.

In UK, there is always a class system and If you are black, the system is mostly designed for you not to get past a certain level.

, but the main question to y'all is that, who are you expecting to address and fix the problems in Nigeria? Because from what i have seen, a handful of Nigerians  put up with things like bad customer services in shops or banks, lazy co-workers, corrupt practices as well as being lied to and deceived by political figures.

Maybe if people started to speak up about such injustices then things will begin to change.

I recently relocated back to  Nigeria and honestly the transition hasn't been easy and is incredibly expensive but it has been one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself.  I encourage all Nigerians abroad to honestly explore the possibility of coming back home, things aren't easy here, but in this economy, tell me where it is easy these days?