Thermodynamics:


Nigerians, do not travel to the U.S, it's not as good as you think, that is exactly what your comment suggest.

Mr do what I say but don't do what I do.

I wasn't even going to say anything until I saw a comment that says you've lived in the U.S for over 30years.

Upset my ass, what's my business with you? do I even know you?

You are just here trying to mislead people.

Fvck off.

Lots of emotion

I’m only responsible for what I post, not how you choose to misconstrue it

F Off? Very kindergartenerish, like I haven’t heard that before

EgunMogaji2:


Lots of emotion

I’m only responsible for what I post, not how you choose to misconstrue it

emotions or not, I just told you what you are nigga, a bloody hypocrite.

Mr "I won't go to U.S even if I'm paid" you for burn your passport na.

Trying to bite the hand that fed you.

Thermodynamics:


emotions or not, I just told you what you are nigga, a bloody hypocrite.

Mr "I won't go to U.S even if I'm paid" you for burn your passport na.

Trying to bite the hand that fed you.

Very good comedy relief

My people , some of you are vexing already , please no vex , let's focus on enjoying the thread . Let us respect and address others the way we want to be addressed . Thank you !


Since there already is an ongoing connversation about why someone left or why they came back , I'll write on that even though I didn't plan to until later .

The drive to leave and the reasons differs , actually it felt more like being pushed out. Pushed out because it is not a choice many would have ordinarily made. Exciting as idea of 'the abroad' is , leaving friends, family and life as you know it can be somewhat daunting. For some it comes with a huge wave of depression during your first month (watch out for that one).

Poverty is merciless bastard though , it can turn a make a smart person look like a fool and make people do unthinkable things. I remember a conversation with my course mate then , he had applied for a few visas unsuccessfully and was about to try one more time , if that failed he planned to go the long route . He already had his journey mapped , Nigeria to Cameroun , all the way to Libya and then crossing the Mediterranean sea into Italy. I laughed at him and told him that was a foolish idea . Sometimes you can't understand people's decisions or rationales unless you've walked in their shoes. Thankfully he didn't have to , if this has crossed your mind or you are contemplating it , PLEASE DONT , IT IS SUICIDE !

I found Nigeria confusing , all the morals that were engrained in us with serious beating and frog jumps gradually became less important as we entered our late teens.Teachers helping us cheat , touching the fine girls amongst us , lecturers selling hand out , religious leaders not practicing what they preached . I mean why teach me about honesty and integrity only to introduce 'sharpness ' many years later , I could have just spent all those years preparing to be sharp. I mean the end justified the means - all the time.

Like many people I have many weird and wonderful examples ( a few posts on that in the future ) , in the end I just strongly felt there had to be an alternative and that is what I sought . I remember having multiple conversations with friends and family and some would say "You could have been X by now if you stayed " , truth is they were no guarantees and all a man wanted was some peace of mind and sanity .


The flip side to this is the longing , after you achieve all that it is that you were after in the first place , you start to miss the motherland , very little things start to get to you , all the discrimination you endured before starts to feel utterly and unacceptable because in the end there is no place like home Home however is wherever you make it .

AngelicBeing:
l am doing absolutely fantastic and good, I have been super busy and have less time on Buhari -Nairaland, l trust you are fine, safe and hiding in the celestial realms far away from this yeye coronavirus plaguing humanity

lol!...Glad to know you're doing great

I am doing well too. Thanks

Beautyaddy:


lol!...Glad to know you're doing great

I am doing well too. Thanks

Cheers

Hey Mr Olu, love what you're doing and look forward to reading about your experiences. Like you, I left Nigeria, but for different reasons, and have been away for sometime. Not as long as Mr EgunMogaji2, but I'm only a few short years behind. Couple questions for you, to help us with perspective. Which country did you migrate to and approximately how long ago? Have you been back since you left? I've found that my views and opinions have changed somewhat over the years with time and have also been influenced to some extent by the different growing stages of my family. As much as I'm irritated by somethings in Nigeria, I feel the pull to go back primarily because I miss the deep rooted culture in contrast to a country like the U.S. which just feels so sterile. I am fortunate enough to be able to live the best of both worlds by earning a living in the Western world that enables me to visit Nigeria to experience my people and culture while being shielded from the daily frustrations that exist there today.
Kudos for taking the time to share with us.

I'll respond to Macana as my post for the day , lazy eh , I know.

I have been outside Nigeria for 12 years so I am still a small boy in this game , I spent those years in England , Scotland and the US. One of the other "Dreams" I had was to live in all the continents of the world and then write a book about the different cultures and similarities, ( this is me practicing for the book ) or maybe this is the book . I like to dream eh - it's free and it keeps me moving.

I have shelved that dream by they way, I think 3 continents will have to do, I underestimated how attached I would get to certain places and frankly moving is stressful. There have been tempting interests from Dubai though , but certain things about that zone don't sit well with my values or maybe the money isn't right yet. I shudder to think of how my wife would reach to us moving again.

I haven't been to Nigeria since 2016, prior to I visited at least once every 2 years, it got emotionally exhausting though, things and people just appeared to get worse on each visit.Now I am visiting other places.

I worry people may have more questions , too many questions can take the fun away ,while I am happy to answer any questions based on my experience , it may mean I have to jump to chapter 20 when I haven't finished chapter 1 yet. Part of the fun is being anonymous, so I may not answer any questions that could compromise that.

As we used to say - I remain loyal

oludanobi I must really commend your write up
Following you closely.
Just can't wait to position myself immediately after my degree program here in Nigeria to leave to one of the western block.

Please I need answers here to know which skill is selling out there.
Have got less than a year and few months to finish my degree program and am desperately in need of a skill I could learn here in Nigeria to help me position myself out there.

Am an educationist in the making.

Thanks for answering my questions. I now have a lot more perspective given your background. I've found stark differences in opinions between Europe and US immigrants so good to know you have lived on both continent. I realize the answers would have come later in your write up so my apologies for jumping the gun. I will now be still and follow

Mancala:
Hey Mr Olu, love what you're doing and look forward to reading about your experiences. Like you, I left Nigeria, but for different reasons, and have been away for sometime. Not as long as Mr EgunMogaji2, but I'm only a few short years behind. Couple questions for you, to help us with perspective. Which country did you migrate to and approximately how long ago? Have you been back since you left? I've found that my views and opinions have changed somewhat over the years with time and have also been influenced to some extent by the different growing stages of my family. As much as I'm irritated by somethings in Nigeria, I feel the pull to go back primarily because I miss the deep rooted culture in contrast to a country like the U.S. which just feels so sterile. I am fortunate enough to be able to live the best of both worlds by earning a living in the Western world that enables me to visit Nigeria to experience my people and culture while being shielded from the daily frustrations that exist there today.
Kudos for taking the time to share with us.

Hmmm, I wonder how people travel to the U.S and still miss a county like Nigeria.
Guess people always long for what they don't have wether good or bad, it's really crazy.

Thermodynamics:


Hmmm, I wonder how people travel to the U.S and still miss a county like Nigeria.
Guess people always long for what they don't have wether good or bad, it's really crazy.

Marslows theory on the hierarchy of needs explains it perfectly. He argues that humans have a series of basic needs that fundamentally need to be met. Once these are satisfied, humans will often move on to focus their attention on achieving more acquired emotions which are of secondary importance. In our local parlance, na when I don chop belle full I dey go find trouble

For me, Nigeria was not so bad when I left. I have sweet memories growing up there. I often feel like I'm in a foreign country when I visit because things are just so much different now, unfortunately much worse.

If I may digress , I noticed one of the Nairaland rules of posting saying something about perfect spelling and grammar - I think that's unfair given the state of our schools and the high level of illiteracy. It shouldn't be a rule since it's not achievable . Maybe I am writing this because I noticed some typos in my last post as well - I did say the rule was not achievable plus I also said anything goes . No this is not the post of the day .

EgunMogaji2:


I too remember my first USA visa rejection and the emotions.

It was humiliating. After my rejection I went on to visit England and Switzerland. I got approved for USA visa the next year.

It’s the same USA that you can’t pay me to visit today

Gods time is the best.

You are blessed with wisdom Sir...

EgunMogaji2:


You do you, I do me.

Cuddle your own life expectations and experiences and please afford me my own.

As I’ve said many times on here, I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had all my life. I’ve said this many times but you chose to ignore that because it doesn’t fit into the narrative you want to sell. Shame.

My Nigeria, and for many others is a great place. It’s our home. If you don’t love Nigeria, she has an open border, do like hundreds of thousands of Nigerians do yearly. Immigrate.

Don’t hang on my postings and use that to chart your life.

Ideas of travelling varies from one age to another...

Sometimes travelling doesn't depend totally on finance (If you want to live legal), other documents and qualifications are needed.

Yes,
I will so come home by 45 to 50 years to establish and also use my certificates to be self employed and also employ others, for now, I wont mention any certificate as long as Nigeria is concerned.

Yes i will be needing money for this dream of mine and how will I achieve them?
by going to saner countries where I can raise money easily.

what crime is it to travel when Nigeria has nothing for me as a graduate?

Yes,
I will so sojourn but I will be coming back by 45 to 50 years to establish and also employ others...

I WILL NOT DIE IN A FOREIGN LAND.

uchman:


Ideas of travelling varies from one age to another...

Sometimes travelling doesn't depend totally on finance (If you want to live legal), other documents and qualifications are needed.

Yes,
I will so come home by 45 to 50 years to establish and also use my certificates to be self employed and also employ others, for now, I wont mention any certificate as long as Nigeria is concerned.

Yes i will be needing money for this dream of mine and how will I achieve them?
by going to saner countries where I can raise money easily.

what crime is it to travel when Nigeria has nothing for me as a graduate?

Yes,
I will so sojourn but I will be coming back by 45 to 50 years to establish and also employ others...

I WILL NOT DIE IN A FOREIGN LAND.

It’s not a crime to travel out. I did, many have been doing it for decades. It’s nothing new. I’ve never suggested for anyone not to travel but I vehemently support those that are here in Nigeria making it happen. It’s my prerogative.

Nigeria has an open border as we’re not North Korea. Embassies liter both Lagos and Abuja. Take your choice.

Safe travels.

Thermodynamics:


Mr Nigeria, on the contrary, Nigeria does not have an open border, getting out of Nigeria to a sensible country has become a very difficult task for most, people die everyday trying to get to Europe by road. You know all these and you still open your mouth to say "Nigeria has an open border"

I'm not using your post to chart my life, because I'm not doing so bad here either, what I wrote up there have very little to do with me.

What I wrote up there is just the reality of how things are for most people from continents like Africa and Asia.

If you love Nigeria so much, why did you stay up to 30years in the U.S as someone here pointed ?

Why do you still have your American passport with you, if America is so bad that even when you're paid you won't go there, what are you doing with your American passport, why not burn it?

You bloody hypocrite,

A typical selfish Nigerian, that's what you are, because you can afford three square meal and you and your family are now comfortable in Nigeria and because you have enough money to fly out to the U.S for medical treatment, that is why you feel so plump and overfed to call Nigeria a great Nation.

You take your family outside to get a good education and as well for medical treatment and you are here trying to tell us how unnecessary it is to travel to the U.S, after spending 30years over there, thank you.

Why the bad mouth and name calling?
He never mentioned that you should not travel to America if you want...
He said that he Egunmogaji2 will not travel to America even if he is paid and there is a lot of wisdom in what he posted...

The post may not be for you but for our brothers in diaspora that have come of age like 45 to 50 years and above and have already made money to remember that the best place to live at that age is Nigeria as along as you are of age...

Yes,
I will do likewise, come home,establish, employ others, build my house at the latest happening place, drive good cars and arm myself with security, then you will know that Nigeria is sweeter than America( When you can provide for your self, all those amenities the masses have been waiting for the govt to provide).

When you come home to establish that money you made, you are creating job opportunities for others and that's one of the things you are expected to do for your country.

The message is for the Oldies (45-50)
living in diaspora and not for everybody...

uchman:


Why the bad mouth and name calling?
He never mentioned that you should not travel to America if you want...
He said that he Egunmogaji2 will not travel to America even if he is paid and there is a lot of wisdom in what he posted...

The post may not be for you but for our brothers in diaspora that have come of age like 45 to 50 years and above and have already made money to remember that the best place to live at that age is Nigeria as along as you are of age...

Yes,
I will do likewise, come home,establish, employ others, build my house at the latest happening place, drive good cars and arm myself with security, then you will know that Nigeria is sweeter than America( When you can provide for your self, all those amenities the masses have been waiting for the govt to provide).

When you come home to establish that money you made, you are creating job opportunities for others and that's one of the things you are expected to do for your country.

The message is for the Oldies (45-50)
living in diaspora and not for everybody...

You got it correctly Sir.

There’s a phenomenon called Cabin Fever. I think some are suffering from it due to the lockdown

May our blessings find us wherever we may be.

uchman:


Why the bad mouth and name calling?
He never mentioned that you should not travel to America if you want...
He said that he Egunmogaji2 will not travel to America even if he is paid and there is a lot of wisdom in what he posted...

The post may not be for you but for our brothers in diaspora that have come of age like 45 to 50 years and above and have already made money to remember that the best place to live at that age is Nigeria as along as you are of age...

Yes,
I will do likewise, come home,establish, employ others, build my house at the latest happening place, drive good cars and arm myself with security, then you will know that Nigeria is sweeter than America( When you can provide for your self, all those amenities the masses have been waiting for the govt to provide).

When you come home to establish that money you made, you are creating job opportunities for others and that's one of the things you are expected to do for your country.

The message is for the Oldies (45-50)
living in diaspora and not for everybody...

I don't know about you, but I hate to be in an environment where people suffer, I hate to see people suffer.
Even when I'm rich, I won't be happy crusing in my A.C tight car while watching my fellow humans hustling and toiling, sweating and suffering in the sun, only to take receive peanut at the end of the day. living and eating like dogs.

People are suffering in this country and I hate suffering, I don't want to experience it and I don't want to see it anywhere around me.

I agree with you that coming back home to set up a business to employ jobless Nigerians is a commendable step to reduce the suffering, but I see that as just a temporary solution, that won't stop the suffering.

A significant and effective change can only be done from a position of power.

Finally you said " You won't die in a foreign land"
Well, I'll tell you, Nigeria is not your home, you ancestors migrated here from somewhere, and their own ancestors migrated from somewhere else, the migration goes on and on and on.
Earth is your home, people just move from place to place.

Don't get psychologically tied to a particular land and call it home because some centuries ago, your ancestors had not even stepped a foot in the place you now call home.

Thermodynamics:



I don't know about you, but I hate to be in an environment where people suffer, I hate to see people suffer.
Even when I'm rich, I won't be happy crusing in my A.C tight car while watching my fellow humans hustling and toiling, sweating and suffering in the sun, only to take receive peanut at the end of the day. living and eating like dogs.

People are suffering in this country and I hate suffering, I don't want to experience it and I don't want to see it anywhere around me.

I agree with you that coming back home to set up a business to employ jobless Nigerians is a commendable step to reduce the suffering, but I see that as just a temporary solution, that won't stop the suffering.

A significant and effective change can only be done from a position of power.

Finally you said " You won't die in a foreign land"
Well, I'll tell you, Nigeria is not your home, you ancestors migrated here from somewhere, and their own ancestors migrated from somewhere else, the migration goes on and on and on.
Earth is your home, people just move from place to place.

Don't get psychologically tied to a particular land and call it home because some centuries ago, your ancestors had not even stepped a foot in the place you now call home.

You don’t know about it - laughing in Ghanaian

Nigeria doesn’t hold the monopoly on suffering. Every single ill in Nigeria occurs somewhere else on earth, even in the USA.

May our blessings find us wherever we may be.

Thermodynamics:



I don't know about you, but I hate to be in an environment where people suffer, I hate to see people suffer.
Even when I'm rich, I won't be happy crusing in my A.C tight car while watching my fellow humans hustling and toiling, sweating and suffering in the sun, only to take receive peanut at the end of the day. living and eating like dogs.

People are suffering in this country and I hate suffering, I don't want to experience it and I don't want to see it anywhere around me.

I agree with you that coming back home to set up a business to employ jobless Nigerians is a commendable step to reduce the suffering, but I see that as just a temporary solution, that won't stop the suffering.

A significant and effective change can only be done from a position of power.

Finally you said " You won't die in a foreign land"
Well, I'll tell you, Nigeria is not your home, you ancestors migrated here from somewhere, and their own ancestors migrated from somewhere else, the migration goes on and on and on.
Earth is your home, people just move from place to place.

Don't get psychologically tied to a particular land and call it home because some centuries ago, your ancestors had not even stepped a foot in the place you now call home.

Oh ok!
you are right...

OK , I am jumping to chapter 10.

Diary Mode - 2011

Today James called me a nigger at work, he stood right there across the table from me when no one else was there and said it.  I couldn't believe it. I felt a new kind of confusion that made me silent for a few seconds which felt like forever. I had to ask him - "what did you just say ?", he said - "I said what's up my nigger" and he had a mischievous look on his face, but his voice had started to shake , like he was scared . James is one of my office friends , we are in the same team and most importantly  he is white , surely he must know that this is a big no no . More silence, I felt many things at once , I felt ashamed , I was shocked and confused , interestingly I wasn't angry but I was upset, it felt like I was being bullied. I looked at him calmly and I said - "Is that you trying to be all gangster ? You don't ever get to say that to me .  If  you had  said that in front other black people , I would have been forced to deck you". James is crazy and I think part of him was testing me , now a few hours later I am still upset and now I am angry , angry that I wasn't angry when he said it to me , angry that I somehow betrayed my people by letting him say it without decking him

Reflection Mode - Current day

Yes, that happened , right in the office , it was just the 2 of us , perhaps others hadn't gotten to work at the time , interestingly it wasn't the first time I received a racially motivated insult and it wasn't the first time I was called a nigger . It however was the first time I was called a nigger by a white person. I was upset for days.

Growing up loving rap music, my friends and I would always call ourselves N this , N that, our rap idols said it so it must be cool. It was different when I was called that by a white person though , there was just something unacceptable about it . Actually everything about it was unacceptable. I think that incident changed something in me, it forced me to take words literally. I don't care if black people have embraced the world as a coping mechanism , it doesn't change the fact that the word itself is derogatory.

It's interesting how you don't really notice discrimination when you are in the majority, in Nigeria everyone looked like me and I interacted in circles where my kind was a majority. I lacked the preparation and instant anger that my "innit" brethren had, their own tolerance of any nonsense from white people was 0.

I was forced to confront some of my own biases too , I started challenging my friends when they called me nigger , if it wasn't acceptable for my white friend James , then it wasn't acceptable for anyone, period. I also made a conscious effort to stop using derogatory terms like  paki, chinko, I even stopped the friendly insult of calling my friends aboki.

I did have other racially motivated incidents both inside and outside work , but I had learnt to assess each situation and deal with it as I deemed fit .On a bus in a strange town with 2 drunkards I would leave it alone, it isn't worth risking my life to prove a point. In the office I would sit down calmly and look the person in the eye and ask them WTF was going on , politely of course in a language that was acceptable. It's interesting watching people shake when shit gets real. One thing I never do is to take it home and dwell over it , that just messes with your mind and honestly it isn't worth it . I never reported anyone though, I didn't want to be the black guy that got a white guy fired. I didn't pull the race card or anything like that but the message was clear, don't come for me or I'll come for you.

James is still my friend , I would go ahead and become a new manager in another team and tried to get him to work for me , he would decline only to come and work for me years after, when I had proven myself as a manager. He became part of the dream team I led. No grudges held , we just kept it moving , he may be crazy but he is a good guy and he is smart and hard-working. He never called me a nigger again, If he did , I would have decked him and then gotten the both of fired.

been following since day 1

EgunMogaji2:


You don’t know about it - laughing in Ghanaian

Nigeria doesn’t hold the monopoly on suffering. Every single ill in Nigeria occurs somewhere else on earth, even in the USA.

May our blessings find us wherever we may be.

I know, it's not like there are not jobless and homeless people in the U.S, but the percentage compared to Nigeria is unimaginable.
Suffering cannot be eliminated, it can only be reduced to an insignificant level.

2law:
oludanobi I must really commend your write up
Following you closely.
Just can't wait to position myself immediately after my degree program here in Nigeria to leave to one of the western block.

Please I need answers here to know which skill is selling out there.
Have got less than a year and few months to finish my degree program and am desperately in need of a skill I could learn here in Nigeria to help me position myself out there.

Am an educationist in the making.

I try to avoid telling people what to do, I'd rather tell you what I'll do or what I did.

Key questions for me when it came to career choices is

1. What is the most important thing right now ? Money, fulfillment, impact. It will be nice to get find something that has all of these but it is easier to focus on 1. Mine was money at the time so I would visit the different job sites and just filter based on money. Site examples below -

Jobserve.com - Global
Indeed.com - Global
Jobsite.co.uk - UK
Monster.com - US
Dice.com - US

2. What skills, knowledge and experience do I have that I can leverage on - This means your dont have to start from scratch unless it is absolutely necessary.

3. What skills/job are in the highest demand - You can just google this for your particular country of interest ,there are many articles online about this written yearly. Different countries also have an occupation shortage list where people with those skills can apply for visas.

Right now I know there is a demand for Nurses, Doctors, Data Scientists, Data Analysts, Programmers, Teachers, Cyber Security Engineers, this however is limited to my area of interest.

I think it is a smart move to learn skills from Nigeria if you can, on one of my trips to Nigeria I enrolled in a PHP programming course, really good value for money and I was the only student so the guy had my time. I also tried to learn to paint cars.

Hope this helps.

oludanobi:


I try to avoid telling people what to do, I'd rather tell you what I'll do or what I did.

Key questions for me when it came to career choices is

1. What is the most important thing right now ? Money, fulfillment, impact. It will be nice to get find something that has all of these but it is easier to focus on 1. Mine was money at the time so I would visit the different job sites and just filter based on money. Site examples below -

Jobserve.com - Global
Indeed.com - Global
Jobsite.co.uk - UK
Monster.com - US
Dice.com - US

2. What skills, knowledge and experience do I have that I can leverage on - This means your dont have to start from scratch unless it is absolutely necessary.

3. What skills/job are in the highest demand - You can just google this for your particular country of interest ,there are many articles online about this written yearly. Different countries also have an occupation shortage list where people with those skills can apply for visas.

Right now I know there is a demand for Nurses, Doctors, Data Scientists, Data Analysts, Programmers, Teachers, Cyber Security Engineers, this however is limited to my area of interest.

I think it is a smart move to learn skills from Nigeria if you can, on one of my trips to Nigeria I enrolled in a PHP programming course, really good value for money and I was the only student so the guy had my time. I also tried to learn to paint cars.

Hope this helps.

Thanks alot sir

Hope everyone is keeping safe , with most countries starting to ease down the lockdown process and a lot of leaders showing poor judgement or the total lack of it , the onus is on us all to make sensible decisions about going out or not.

Round 2

I don't remember my second interview as vividly as the first, but I remember I laughed when I saw a lady hawking a book on how to get an American visa, she didn't find the whole thing as funny as I did.

This time we went as a family , one of my parents and my younger ones , another stupid boy interviewed us , well more like he interviewed me alone , he wanted to understand why the parent had been travelling without the kids, he wasn't convinced with the parent's explanation so he just called me up and asked me JAMB questions.

Then he made his decision , he granted the parent a visa and refused us kids , now you know why I said he was a stupid boy, I mean who does that , person don suffer o .

I think I was in my first year of university then , we had all documents that showed ties to Nigeria and enough money in the account , it just boiled down to the Consular Officer's gut. I feel somewhat responsible for not giving a very smart answer to a dumb question like - "Why haven't you been travelling with your parent ?" , I should have said something smart like - "We are patriotic citizens and did not want our moral values shifted by your capitalist country , now we feel well grounded and unshakeable so we are ready to explore " . Oh well no use crying over spilt milk, we live to fight another day .

In hindsight I don't think there is anything I could have done , perhaps the parents could have taken us on earlier trips but it just wasn't priority for them. I did however learn that sometimes we could get too busy making money that we forget to enjoy it .

EgunMogaji2:


Please quote where I’ve told anyone on here if they should travel or not. What business of mine is how anyone charts their life?

The reality is that you’re simply upset that I’m happy in Nigeria as is some other people. I mean look at the length idiotic and untrue epistle that you responded with?

I love Nigerians I especially salute those folks who are making it happen here. They’ll always have my respect and support

PS: it’s 33 years, not 30. Don’t shortchange me Bro

I am a younger dude, below 25, I am very curious and will like to know what your mates did differently to earn your respect, as you stated above, as that will help me in planning my life, since I have most of my life ahead of me. Also, what do you think one needs to have to be able to make it in Nigeria. Is it favouritism, or hardwork?.

LogTM:


I am a younger dude, below 25, I am very curious and will like to know what your mates did differently to earn your respect, as you stated above, as that will help me in planning my life, since I have most of my life ahead of me. Also, what do you think one needs to have to be able to make it in Nigeria. Is it favouritism, or hardwork?.

I don't know about respect.

Here's what I would advise my 25 year old sef.

Learn a trade. Be the best at that trade.

Even if you throw stones at a light pole all day. After a while you'll become the best at throwing stones at a light pole and people will pay to watch you throw stones to hit a light pole at 50 yards blind folded.

Most of the traditional self made millionaires in the USA (let;'s remove the dot com folks) are plumbers, electricians, home builders, carpenters, etc

That's what I'll tell my 25 year old sef.

There's got to be something you're good at or you have a passion for. Is it working on cars? Is it making custom furnitures? Something that you can do and offer at international level because if you do then you'll get paid premium international level prices.

The biggest thing that my age/exposure has afforded me is the luxury of thinking outside the box. Maybe before I left Nigeria I looked down on mechanics as Baba Mufu. But living in the USA exposed me to the fact that most of the parts and design from the vehicles that we cuddle in Nigeria are made/tested/designed by the small Baba Mufus of the USA.

I was opportune to live next to an industrial complex back in the days in Orange County. One unassuming mechanic shop there did a lot of work for Nissan factory.

Anyways, long story short. Think outside the box. Learn a trade that you have a passion and be the best at that trade. Watch the money flow in. Abi the end game no be money?

Good luck. And may our blessings find us wherever we are at.

EgunMogaji2:


I don't know about respect.

Here's what I would advise my 25 year old sef.

Learn a trade. Be the best at that trade.

Even if you throw stones at a light pole all day. After a while you'll become the best at throwing stones at a light pole and people will pay to watch you throw stones to hit a light pole at 50 yards blind folded.

Most of the traditional self made millionaires in the USA (let;'s remove the dot com folks) are plumbers, electricians, home builders, carpenters, etc

That's what I'll tell my 25 year old sef.

There's got to be something you're good at or you have a passion for. Is it working on cars? Is it making custom furnitures? Something that you can do and offer at intentional level because if you do then you'll get paid premium international level prices.

The biggest thing that my age/exposure has afforded me is the luxury of thinking outside the box. Maybe before I left Nigeria I looked down on mechanics as Baba Mufu. But living in the USA exposed me to the fact that most of the parts and design from the vehicles that we cuddle in Nigeria are made/tested/designed by the small Baba Mufus of the USA.

I was opportune to live next to an industrial complex back in the days in Orange County. One unassuming mechanic shop there did a lot of work for Nissan factory.

Anyways, long story short. Think outside the box. Learn a trade that you have a passion or. Be the best at that trade. Watch the money flow in. Abi the end game no be money?

Good luck. And may our blessings find us wherever we are at.

Hmm....motivated.

PS: I'm one of the dot com folks troubling you with adverts everywhere you go on the internet

After round 2 I took a pause from any applications , I just got on with university and all. In my second year I realized some of my classmates weren't writing exams so a curious me asked , turns out they didn't need to because all they needed to do was pay for "tutorials", what an easy way to pass eh. Yes I joined them , not that I needed to , these were guys that sat near me in exams so they could copy me. It seemed like an easier option , so an averagely serious me became even less serious.

I could tell you I used some of the time freed up chasing girls or partying but I didn't , I just did nothing really , well there was a lot of thinking . I also tried cheating for the first time in my second year , then I got caught by someone who had taught me in computer school. She was pissed , I think her being disappointed got to me , again I didnt need to , part of the exam was basic programming that I had learnt when I was 10 , plus I learnt it again in computer school , but everybody had the questions before the exams .

There is something about a system that enables corruption, people would always choose that option especially when there are no consequences , the phrase goes "work smart" . I didn't get penalised or anything , she just wanted to make an example and she begged the senior lecturer on my behalf , she couldn't believe it though , I used to be one of her best students. I was in the top 10 best students in my class , it could be because I am smart or it could be because there weren't a lot of smart people in my class or maybe they had other things going on .

In hindsight I should have stayed in my lane , I would have passed those 4 courses with a little reading but I didn't want to be there and couldn't care less. Corruption in different shades would always present itself , it's not an excuse to say the system enables it , even though it those. One way another I have contributed to corruption , of course not participating wouldn't have stopped anything but at least I would have been able to say I never cheated now all I can say is I didn't need to cheat .