sweetmelanin:
“Second Class Citizen”
The above phrase is a popular ‘jab’ that those in Nigeria use towards those abroad. They say “id rather live like a king in Nigeria than be treated like a second class citizen abroad”. However, I’d really like to question how realistic this statement is - aside from the very FEW wealthy folks in Nigeria, how many people actually live like ‘kings’? Is it leaving your house at 4-5am every morning to return home by 8-9pm at night due to nightmarish traffic? Or returning home to no electricity and the overbearing heat that comes along with that? Perhaps it is being harassed by blood thirsty, illiterate policemen and SARS officials... or the terrible customer service you experience in almost every bank, restaurant or public service area if you do not know anyone there or you are not someone considered to be worthy of basic human respect. What about tribalism which has consistently plagued the Nigerian society.

Don’t get me wrong, racism is a thing abroad – but it is also highly subjective and very subtle/minimal especially in this day and age of inter-culturalism in the western world. Now I can’t speak for all countries but the UK is a highly culturally diverse society – the Nigerian community here is HUGE. You can successfully live in most parts of the UK without ever coming to terms with the colour of your skin (ask those in London, Birmingham, Northampton, Nottingham, Manchester, Cambridge, Essex etc..). There are areas within London which you will only find Nigerians living there.. Racism in the UK is non-existent in some areas and covert/hidden in others – needless to say, you WILL get a job, a good one at that (if you are qualified). You will not be spat at or violently attacked because of your race, you will not experience weird stares (these people have been surrounded by blacks & Asians for years) we are used to seeing all shades of skin tones and you will blend in just fine ok!

I say all this to say that even if those abroad are treated as “second class citizens” (which is in itself not true).. better a second-class citizen in Heaven than a first class citizen in Hell.

Loneliness & Boredom
Another assumption made by many in Nigeria is that those abroad are living in loneliness – which is a subjective matter. The opposite of living a “boring life” is living a “fun-filled life” right? Fun in itself is a very subjective matter which is wholly dependent on the personality of the said individual. What many call ‘fun’ in Nigeria could be the parties/owambes, hanging out with friends and family or perhaps just the noise pollution and chaos on the streets which guarantee that everyday is filled with drama of some sort.

But what if, just what if, those things are not what tickles your fancy? What if you enjoy your privacy without having anyone in your business? What if you don’t like parties? What if you enjoy living in a sane climate? What if you enjoy the company of the few friends you DO have abroad? What if the hustle and bustle of living in Nigeria wears you out? Would you consider ‘home’ a happy place if you are an introvert? So my dear ‘abroadians’, before you start assuming that those in Nigeria are “having fun” stop and think twice. You may not necessarily enjoy the lifestyle over there (especially if you are someone who has spent a reasonable amount of years abroad). The lifestyle in Nigeria is of high stress NOT freedom or ‘fun’.

Bills, Mortgages and Finance
Many in Nigeria assume those abroad are laden with bills and rely heavily on finance (i.e. paying monthly for cars, houses etc). Now I can’t totally dispute that fact but I would like to correct the negative connotations associated with this. Firstly, not everyone abroad finances their cars, but most homeowners do take out mortgages on their property.

However, for those who do use finance, I don’t think it is a thing of shame to pay monthly to drive a modern luxury car that you love … neither do I think one should be ashamed to obtain a mortgage to purchase a lovely home to raise your family in – everything is subjective especially when you compare things to your counterparts in Nigeria who claim to have paid in full for their cars (which is in fact an old run down 1999 – 2004 model 'lexus' which is equivalent to a mere £2000 - £3000 cash).

They could also claim that their houses are “mortgage free” but will omit the fact that majority of Nigerians live in rented houses/apartments and those who own their homes have spent years building it – some spend their entire lifetime trying to complete a building project whilst living as tenants .. so in reality, how is this any better than paying mortgage for a few years? At least with a mortgage you get to live in that house you are paying for unlike those in Nigeria who do not get to live in their building projects until years later and they are nearing old age.

It is therefore a very regressive way of thinking when Nigerians look down on those abroad who take out finance when the lifestyle in Nigeria is quite appalling to say the least.

Menial Jobs
This is very much dependant on your circle of friends/associates and immigration status. However, in my experience, the Nigerians I see around me are doing exceptionally well abroad – we are Business Analysts, Engineers, Scientists, Senior Social Workers, Occupational Health Therapists, Project Managers, Accountants, Solicitors, Pharmacists etc.. meaningful careers that pay well. Some of us here are real hustlers, getting certified and working contract jobs that fetch up to £450 per day (ask those Project Managers, IT technicians and Business Analysts). Therefore, the myth of menial jobs is very much outdated and perhaps only applicable to students or new immigrants in their first 1 – 3 years.

Feel free to add your points.

mu2sa2:
Na who get eyes dey see and no who get ear dey hear!
There are a lot of lazy folks or ne'er-do-wells here who want to "relocate abroad from this shithole". But truth is, if you're living a worthless life in Nigeria, you can never make it elsewhere. In south Africa you will see Nigerians from a particular part of country selling just rechargeable cards! I saw a documentary on tv which shows that some of them had big shops in onitsha but sold everything and moved to south Africa. Hahaha, relocate abroad to languish in poverty and drift into drugs. Some educated nigerians are washing toilets in Europe to survive - chai, god forbid! A colleague was in london sometime ago and he said he saw a security guard at a shop - to his surprise, the man was a university lecturer in Nigeria before relocating to UK (only to end as maiguard).

falcon01:
why not stay at your home and fix your home?

ednut1:
the elite dont want it fixed. If you try protest they buy u over

Okpa042:
Racism

One side of obodo oyibo Nigerians back home don't even realize exists. I've noticed that Nigerians back home who have never travelled out before do not understand racism or what racism feels like, so when people tell their experience they look down on it like it were trashy talk. Racism nowadays may not be aggressive or overt as before but it is subtle and exists in little ways you can perceive - such as going to a restaurant and whites are being given preferential or better treatment than you because the waiters believe the whites tip better than blacks who tip little or none at all (which seems to be true, given that whites are often wealthier than blacks) or going to a store to shop and being followed around like you came to steal simply because you're black meanwhile none of the store attendants are looking the way of whites shopping in the store, or walking/strolling across in a predominantly-white neighborhood and next thing you know someone calls the police to 'check up on that black person walking down the street who may be armed', etc. Things like this are part of the reality of life abroad.

Taxation, Expenses and Insurance

Nigerians back home think that obodo oyibo is heaven. Obodo oyibo is not heaven. It has its good and bad sides. Yes, the place is beautiful, well-organized, working system, constant light, water, gas etc., fast internet, better phone service etc. but Nigerians don't understand that you would have to work very hard, I mean very hard like bankers back home do to afford the good things of life America or abroad offers. Nothing is free in America, life here is very independent - nothing like depending on uncle, aunt, cousin, relative or living in their house free of charge for 1 year or more like we do back home. Not to mention that the tax on your salary here is VERY high. Here in the US, you're taxed about 30% of your salary and you go home with 70% (imagine being paid N100,000 salary per month and N30,000 is deducted as taxes and your take home is N70,000. It is really that bad. In the UK, the tax rate is up to 40% for employees. In Nigeria, we do not even know what tax is or feel taxes deducted every month because it is too small). Out of 70% you take home you have to pay your monthly rent (abroad rent is usually paid monthly and not yearly like we do in Nigeria) or monthly mortgage if you bought the house on mortgage (also abroad you buy already built houses, unlike in Nigeria where you buy land and build a house from scratch according to your pockets, and most times homes range from between $150,000 to as high as $600,000 and it would take almost an entire lifetime savings to save up to buy a house so people obtain a mortgage from a bank to buy a house and pay back that mortgage monthly for over the next 20 to 30 years until all of it is paid off. Bad news, if you ever default on your mortgage payment, the bank will eject you, take the house from you, sell it and recover their money), pay your utility bills (water, light, gas, cable, internet, phone bill, etc.), pay your car insurance (if you drive a car in the US, you MUST buy and carry car insurance at all times. It is against the law to drive a car without insurance and if the police ever stops you or should you get into an accident and you don't have an insurance, you are in for trouble big time), pay your health insurance (medical treatment here in the US is very expensive and it is required that you have medical insurance to pay for 90% or more of your health bills should you ever fall sick), car loan (same as buying a house, buying a brand new or fairly used car is expensive and most times people do not have the money saved up, so they obtain car loans from a bank or car dealership to buy a car and pay the back the money monthly until it is paid off, which takes about 5 to 10 years on average), fuel your car, feed yourself etc. and at the end of the day you barely have little or anything left to save. Just when you're struggling to pay off all these your bills every month, then someone calls you from Nigeria asking you to send them 'ordinary $500' because he thinks you're swimming in a pool of money. You can't afford to house someone in your house for too long because an extra head in your house can spike up your light, water and gas bills and your expenses shoot up. With a house mortgage, you're stuck in the system of debt that they have here for the next 20 to 30 years. Americans basically live from paycheck to paycheck. I mean as each paycheck comes in it is being used to clear debts upon debts. Then you'll understand why some Nigerians living abroad cannot afford to come back because they barely have savings to afford a flight ticket home or to live up to expectations of the people back home.

Being an Immigrant

As an immigrant or black person, you'd have to deal with issues of subtle racism. For the first time in your life, people would judge or rate you based on your skin colour and as Nigerians growing up back home this is something we never used to think. We look beyond one's skin colour into one's personal characteristics or person. Abroad, by just seeing you they assign you different characteristics simply because you are black even before they get to know you as a person. Then life abroad becomes a struggle for you to overcome the general beliefs the majority has about you etc. You try to prove you're 'different' or you're not like 'the others'. In the office, as a black person, you might find yourself constantly having to prove yourself just as capable as your white counterparts even though you may have a master's degree while your white counterparts have associate bachelors (equivalent to OND in Nigeria) or bachelors degree.

As an immigrant to a foreign country, basically life starts afresh for you. In the US, you'd have to start life all over again. When you arrive you find out that you are behind others and you'll need to catch up to compete with others. First you have to deal with getting your permanent residency or green card so you could work average-paying jobs or higher so you can survive or else you'd settle for under-the-table jobs where you will be underpaid and forced to work under the toughest of situations. Next you have to go to school here to get a US degree because our degrees are not recognized here, especially if you want to get an office (corporate) job or work for the US government. Then you have to start building your credit history which is your history of debt management that shows how responsible or irresponsible you are with managing money, etc. that enables you get approved for a house or car loan or even phone service or renting certain apartments. With little or no credit history, you would not enjoy these benefits. This takes about 3 to 5 years after getting here to achieve to be, at least, on the same level as native-born Americans, that is if you're fast enough. For some people it may take them up to 10 years.

Culture

Then you deal with the HUGE difference in culture and mentality in a foreign country. The way we see life is different from the way of life abroad. You cannot just lift up anybody's cute little baby and rock affectionately in the air, without the parent's permission, like we do back home or else the parents can report you for pedophilia. While back home life is still very much communal, in the US life is VERY independent. In Nigeria, if a neighbor doesn't see you in just a few weeks they could actually come around to look for you. Here in the US, you could even die in your house and nobody would notice or care until maybe they start to perceive the stench coming from your corpse. Everybody stays on their own, with very minimal interaction. You could live in a neighborhood for 20 years and still not know who your neighbor is or what they do. Neighbors barely interact with each other. Friends here are very fake and it is hard to find a very good friend here. Just get into the littlest of trouble and watch all of them disappear and you're on your own - nobody wants to get involved in your issues, only for them to re-appear when the going gets good again.

I am not saying this to discourage anybody to come here. Many would still not understand this after all I've written. If you want to come please feel free to come here. The point of my article is that life in obodo oyibo is not exactly as you see it in Hollywood movies. Hollywood movies do a good job of only showcasing the good sides of America and relegating the bad sides to the background. Only when you arrive will you see the reality on ground and the stark difference between movies and reality. Some of you will say, life abroad is still better than in Nigeria and I would say it all depends on what you make of it. Some people are ok with living a middle class lifestyle here, enjoying the amenities of life America gives but being heavily stuck in debt (house loan, car loan, etc.) and cannot break free from the well-packaged cycle of debt in America. Whereas some other people prefer the freedom life in Nigeria has and the possibility of doing business back home (you pay much less taxes anyway) or landing a good job with connection (if they know people). Before Nigeria's economy went into a recession, you could get a good job, pay very little taxes compared to your counterparts abroad, have much more in savings and you're financially better off than your counterpart abroad. In America, with an average-paying job, even with the heavy taxes if you're able to keep your expenses to the barest minimum you would afford to have some savings to invest back home or even here in the US. Just imagine, approximately 62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts and 21% don’t even have a savings account, according to a new survey of more than 5,000 adults conducted this month by Google Consumer Survey for personal finance website GOBankingRates.com. It's very hard to save here when you have all these bills and debt to pay every month. Better still, if you're entrepreneurial in spirit and launch a company or business here and are successful, then you'll enjoy America because you are no more severely financially constrained like most employees in the US.



My point is if you want to come you are always welcome to come but do not expect life here to be all cozy and bliss. The grass is not always green on the other side.

Please, can you kindly GO BACK to NAIJA..... and enjoy the dividends made available there...?

Your triumphant exit will create more opportunities for people to relocate and come over.
It's like you are tired of the SECURITY provided by the US Government.
You want to relocate and meet the CHIEF INSECURITY OFFICER...

I will take you serious when you pack your BAGS and start Leaving the US for those same reasons you stated.

falcon01:
change the elite! together we are stronger.

Petyprincess:
1. About racism it actually exist everywhere in the world!! Nd i hope you know not only black experience racism infact we blacks are racist nd triabalist ourselves!! Have seen the way people here insults whites nd some other race bt when their notice is brought to it,they reply "a black person can't be racist" like seriously? I'm not encouraging racism dnt get me wrong bt at least we should remove the spec from our eyes b4 pointing at other people!! I noticed people tend to easily point white people are racist meanwhile have never seen a race as racist as Arab people!! Some people are rude naturally which got nothing to do with race!

2.I dnt think being an immigrant is a big deal or kind of discouragement to avoid USA! All these procedures are official nd essential! Are you expecting to move to a sane foreign country without following legal procedures to become a legal citizen? Not all country can be like Nigeria that are so careless about their immigration rules! You want to live in foreign then you have to follow nd obey their rules nd regulations!

3.High tax=good,sane nd developed country! As long as you seeing the benefits of your tax payment then it worth it!!

4.Culture difference really not a big deal except you into interracial relationship! Why going abroad nd still expect to live that Nigerian life? Moreover USA is diversed with many Nigerians still partaking in our culture life like attending events of Nigerian communities with local music nd food etc
Country with less black immigrants experience more culture shock!! Above all USA is overrated!
But i noticed people like you living USA discourages people going there bt you will never come back home isn't that strange? If you planning to move please do! Don't let anyone to discourage you! It's better facing all these he mentioned than facing failed government,bad road, unstable electricity,unemployment etc

skylane:
thank you for this ,u always to the rescue

Petyprincess:

Anytime

skylane:
it seems u based there or am i confusing it?

Petyprincess:

Not at all just have alot of friends nd idea

skylane:
wow that is good,that means you planning to relocate like us?

Petyprincess:

Not at all,that's actually not my dream country lol
I'm only interested in any country in EU

falcon01:
why not stay at your home and fix your home?

Classickj:
am tired of hearing this.. how have you fixed this this country

Petyprincess:

Not at all,that's actually not my dream country lol
I'm only interested in any country in EU

bligs:

Any country in Europe like Belarus, Poland, Uzbekistan etc

Okpa042:
Racism

I've noticed that Nigerians back home who have never travelled out before do not understand racism or what racism feels like, so when people tell their experience they look down on it like it were trashy talk. Racism nowadays may not be aggressive or overt as before but it is subtle and exists in little ways you can perceive - such as going to a restaurant and whites are being given preferential or better treatment than you because the waiters believe the whites tip better than blacks who tip little or none at all (which seems to be true, given that whites are often wealthier than blacks) or going to a store to shop and being followed around like you came to steal simply because you're black meanwhile none of the store attendants are looking the way of whites shopping in the store, or walking/strolling across in a predominantly-white neighborhood and next thing you know someone calls the police to 'check up on that black person walking down the street who may be armed', etc. Things like this are part of the reality of life abroad.

Taxation, Expenses and Insurance

Nigerians back home think that obodo oyibo is heaven. Obodo oyibo is not heaven. It has its good and bad sides. Yes, the place is beautiful, well-organized, working system, constant light, water, gas etc., fast internet, better phone service etc. but Nigerians don't understand that you would have to work very hard, I mean very hard like bankers back home do to afford the good things of life America or abroad offers. Nothing is free in America, life here is very independent - nothing like depending on uncle, aunt, cousin, relative or living in their house free of charge for 1 year or more like we do back home. Not to mention that the tax on your salary here is VERY high. Here in the US, you're taxed about 30% of your salary and you go home with 70% (imagine being paid N100,000 salary per month and N30,000 is deducted as taxes and your take home is N70,000. It is really that bad. In the UK, the tax rate is up to 40% for employees. In Nigeria, we do not even know what tax is or feel taxes deducted every month because it is too small). Out of 70% you take home you have to pay your monthly rent (abroad rent is usually paid monthly and not yearly like we do in Nigeria) or monthly mortgage if you bought the house on mortgage (also abroad you buy already built houses, unlike in Nigeria where you buy land and build a house from scratch according to your pockets, and most times homes range from between $150,000 to as high as $600,000 and it would take almost an entire lifetime savings to save up to buy a house so people obtain a mortgage from a bank to buy a house and pay back that mortgage monthly for over the next 20 to 30 years until all of it is paid off. Bad news, if you ever default on your mortgage payment, the bank will eject you, take the house from you, sell it and recover their money), pay your utility bills (water, light, gas, cable, internet, phone bill, etc.), pay your car insurance (if you drive a car in the US, you MUST buy and carry car insurance at all times. It is against the law to drive a car without insurance and if the police ever stops you or should you get into an accident and you don't have an insurance, you are in for trouble big time), pay your health insurance (medical treatment here in the US is very expensive and it is required that you have medical insurance to pay for 90% or more of your health bills should you ever fall sick), car loan (same as buying a house, buying a brand new or fairly used car is expensive and most times people do not have the money saved up, so they obtain car loans from a bank or car dealership to buy a car and pay the back the money monthly until it is paid off, which takes about 5 to 10 years on average), fuel your car, feed yourself etc. and at the end of the day you barely have little or anything left to save. Just when you're struggling to pay off all these your bills every month, then someone calls you from Nigeria asking you to send them 'ordinary $500' because he thinks you're swimming in a pool of money. You can't afford to house someone in your house for too long because an extra head in your house can spike up your light, water and gas bills and your expenses shoot up. With a house mortgage, you're stuck in the system of debt that they have here for the next 20 to 30 years. Americans basically live from paycheck to paycheck. I mean as each paycheck comes in it is being used to clear debts upon debts. Then you'll understand why some Nigerians living abroad cannot afford to come back because they barely have savings to afford a flight ticket home or to live up to expectations of the people back home.

Being an Immigrant

As an immigrant or black person, you'd have to deal with issues of subtle racism. For the first time in your life, people would judge or rate you based on your skin colour and as Nigerians growing up back home this is something we never used to think. We look beyond one's skin colour into one's personal characteristics or person. Abroad, by just seeing you they assign you different characteristics simply because you are black even before they get to know you as a person. Then life abroad becomes a struggle for you to overcome the general beliefs the majority has about you etc. You try to prove you're 'different' or you're not like 'the others'. In the office, as a black person, you might find yourself constantly having to prove yourself just as capable as your white counterparts even though you may have a master's degree while your white counterparts have associate bachelors (equivalent to OND in Nigeria) or bachelors degree.

As an immigrant to a foreign country, basically life starts afresh for you. In the US, you'd have to start life all over again. When you arrive you find out that you are behind others and you'll need to catch up to compete with others. First you have to deal with getting your permanent residency or green card so you could work average-paying jobs or higher so you can survive or else you'd settle for under-the-table jobs where you will be underpaid and forced to work under the toughest of situations. Next you have to go to school here to get a US degree because our degrees are not recognized here, especially if you want to get an office (corporate) job or work for the US government. Then you have to start building your credit history which is your history of debt management that shows how responsible or irresponsible you are with managing money, etc. that enables you get approved for a house or car loan or even phone service or renting certain apartments. With little or no credit history, you would not enjoy these benefits. This takes about 3 to 5 years after getting here to achieve to be, at least, on the same level as native-born Americans, that is if you're fast enough. For some people it may take them up to 10 years.

Culture

Then you deal with the HUGE difference in culture and mentality in a foreign country. The way we see life is different from the way of life abroad. You cannot just lift up anybody's cute little baby and rock affectionately in the air, without the parent's permission, like we do back home or else the parents can report you for pedophilia. While back home life is still very much communal, in the US life is VERY independent. In Nigeria, if a neighbor doesn't see you in just a few weeks they could actually come around to look for you. Here in the US, you could even die in your house and nobody would notice or care until maybe they start to perceive the stench coming from your corpse. Everybody stays on their own, with very minimal interaction. You could live in a neighborhood for 20 years and still not know who your neighbor is or what they do. Neighbors barely interact with each other. Friends here are very fake and it is hard to find a very good friend here. Just get into the littlest of trouble and watch all of them disappear and you're on your own - nobody wants to get involved in your issues, only for them to re-appear when the going gets good again.

I am not saying this to discourage anybody to come here. Many would still not understand this after all I've written. If you want to come please feel free to come here. The point of my article is that life in obodo oyibo is not exactly as you see it in Hollywood movies. Hollywood movies do a good job of only showcasing the good sides of America and relegating the bad sides to the background. Only when you arrive will you see the reality on ground and the stark difference between movies and reality. Some of you will say, life abroad is still better than in Nigeria and I would say it all depends on what you make of it. Some people are ok with living a middle class lifestyle here, enjoying the amenities of life America gives but being heavily stuck in debt (house loan, car loan, etc.) and cannot break free from the well-packaged cycle of debt in America. Whereas some other people prefer the freedom life in Nigeria has and the possibility of doing business back home (you pay much less taxes anyway) or landing a good job with connection (if they know people). Before Nigeria's economy went into a recession, you could get a good job, pay very little taxes compared to your counterparts abroad, have much more in savings and you're financially better off than your counterpart abroad. In America, with an average-paying job, even with the heavy taxes if you're able to keep your expenses to the barest minimum you would afford to have some savings to invest back home or even here in the US. Just imagine, approximately 62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts and 21% don’t even have a savings account, according to a new survey of more than 5,000 adults conducted this month by Google Consumer Survey for personal finance website GOBankingRates.com. It's very hard to save here when you have all these bills and debt to pay every month. Better still, if you're entrepreneurial in spirit and launch a company or business here and are successful, then you'll enjoy America because you are no more severely financially constrained like most employees in the US.



My point is if you want to come you are always welcome to come but do not expect life here to be all cozy and bliss. The grass is not always green on the other side.