Back to chapter 1- No vex for the rather long interlude ( Inspiration was missing )-


During my Uni days a good number of my friends also wanted to leave or "Ja" as we used to say , after my first 2 tries I soft peddalled, perhaps it wasn’t my time yet, my knowledge of the application process however grew , so did my contacts , from Oluwole to Alagomeji to Fola Agoro . I didn’t know a lot of people but I knew people that knew people. I became an adviser/ enabler and sometimes I would even follow people to Eleke Crescent. It was the early days of internet penetration in Nigeria so I was one of those guys people came to help them set up email address , advise on application process, how to register to SAT , TOEFL ETC

Boys were just so bent of leaving, but given learning conditions , financial situation, generous strike actions and school closures , you really couldn’t blame them. The background of these people varied, some rich boys , you know the ones with nice rides and designer clothes and some not so rich boys , the ones that already had side hustles and were self sponsoring their education. One lovely December armed with I-20s, passports and all kinds of bank statements , boys just stormed Eleke, many lives changed that month. It was chaotic , consulars got overwhelmed with the crowd, some people got denied without their documents being checked, some just got told come back next year, some got luckly that the consular attended the same school on their I-20 , some got denied on one queue and just joined another queue because the consular did not stamp their passport . It was pure chaos and in the end it just boiled down to luck, how bad you really wanted it and God. I was there as an observer/supporter, interestingly I never had an I-20 in my name. I did have plenty brochures though for all kinds of universities even Ivy league , a boy could dream eh . PS- I didn’t know any girls then

Things got a little quiet after that December, I think that was the final call for anyone in our group who wanted to study abroad as an under graduate, after that we just settled and enjoyed what was left of the undergrad ride before facing NYSC and the big bad wolf that was the Nigerian job market. During my uni days my parent had tried so hard to convince me that undergrad in the motherland was the best for my future, I wonder what was the real reason given they never studied in Nigeria, I suspect lack of funds to support a child's education abroad was a major factor ( God forbid they admit to that ) . There was another stupid strike in my final year and I was able to somehow finally convince my parent it was Visa time.

A few weeks later and voila ! My UK visa arrived, 6 months, single entry visiting visa and of course 'No recourse to public funds', I could sensationalize this by saying I hustled , I struggled , I payed this person or was on the queue for so long or had to call for hours to book an appointment but honestly I didn’t do anything , well I think I was beaten by the rain on the day I went to take my passport photograph if that counts - my parent just got back that night and handed my passport and said congratulations.

I know !!

nice one op

This thread is a goldmine sir
Following raptly

Still Chapter 1

I feel the need to clarify , that I stilled had to fill in an application form and pay the fees and submit the necessary documents , well truly my parent did that, but compared to my other applications where I had planned and strategized, this one felt like a walk in the park. To be honest prior to that I never really thought about travelling anywhere but U.S. Everything about the country just seemed to be way better, I didn’t have any facts to back this up of course.

I cant remember how long after I got my visa that I bought my ticket, but it couldn’t come fast enough. I remember being decked up in my suit that my tailor from Aba sewed for me, the collar of the suit made it look more like a lab coat or rain coat, it definitely did not look like a suit but who cared, I was going to JD and that’s all that counted. The suit thing was my parent's idea. My parent prepped me about the likely questions I could be asked throughout my journey and of course if anyone asked if I planned to work the answer must be NO, you really don’t want to know how many stories I've heard of people being honest at the port of entry and saying "If I see work, I will do it " , erm NO, it's a visiting visa, I will not work .

D day came and I decked up in my coat, first stop was customs or NDLEA, I cant remember now, I had already gone past airport security where you show your passport and all , so this was just a random stop , they asked where my final destination was and I said with a proud smile 'London' , next question was how much travel allowance did I have and when I told them they took to a small room for a search, my travel allowance was inside my socks and when they saw it they wanted their own share. They didn’t accept 5 pounds, they were adamant on 20 otherwise I will be taken for X-ray, I pointed out that I wasn’t carrying any drugs, but that’s not why I was being threatened with X-ray, If I was taken for X-ray I would miss my flight , so I had to part with 20 pounds even before boarding the plane.

I thought I had dodged evil people when earlier one bros approached me in the airport departure lounge and asked if I was travelling, when I confirmed I was, he asked if I will be nice enough to help him take some jewelry abroad. I politely said no, I don’t care if it is jewelry or paper I am not carrying anything for anybody.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, I don’t remember the food, but I remembered being very nervous, I used to have a major phobia for flying, I mean I was always uncomfortable , I wouldn’t be able to sleep, read a novel or even watch a movie. Touch down London Gatwick !! I don’t think I had taken 5 steps from the plane before I got stopped , they wanted to know how I paid for my ticket , these were the early days of international credit card fraud so they were on the look out, I told them I paid with full cash. I got stopped again before I got to the immigration desk , I cant remember what those ones wanted. More questions were asked at the immigration desk

Me - Hello
IO - Hello, passport and landing card please
Me - Handed over docs
IO - What is the purpose of your visit ?
Me- Visiting for 2 weeks
IO - What do you do ?
Me - I am a student
IO - How did you pay for your ticket
Me - My parent paid for it with cash
IO - What does your parent do
Me - Business
IO - What type of business
Me - Getting slightly irritated Standard business
IO - I need more details
Me - I provided more details
IO - Where would you be staying
Me - It's on the card With my family member
IO - Are they resident here ? What do they do
Me - Yes, they are British, they work in security
IO - Enjoy your stay

No that wasn’t enough, they stopped me 1 more time, this time is was customs, they wanted to know if I packed my luggage myself and If I was carrying any prohibited items, No I wasn’t. They proceeded to search my luggage and test for drugs anyways. I think it was the yam flour they saw that made them do a test but hey, it was yam flour. I haven't been stopped that many times since then, that was also the last time a wore a suit for long distance travel. In hindsight I think I called too much attention to myself by wearing that suit, it wasn’t the fact that I was wearing a suit, it was the kind of "suit" I was wearing. Now I just wear a shirt and jeans, anything that makes me comfortable, definitely not a suit.

Chapter 1 cont'd


My first suprise was how cold it was , yes I knew it would be cold but I just didn't imagine it being that cold , it must have been about 10 Celsius but for a local boy like me , that was extreme. On the drive to my cousin's house I think I'd sum up what I felt as being underwhelmed , I don't know if I somehow overhyped the city in my mind or if it was all the nice stories I heard from the "been tos" . then we got to my cousin's house flat in Plaistow and again I thought , "is this it ? "

They lived in a 2 bedroom flat on the 4th floor of a high rise building , later on I'd find out these buildings were called council flats. Interestingly I didn't feel like I had left the motherland until after I stepped into the flat itself , the furnishing , the smell , the big screen plasma , talk about a stark contrast between the exterior and the interior . The flat felt tiny though , I guess it would considering I lived in a 4 bedroom house in Lagos . In this flat if you do an number 2 , the whole house would know .

I spent the next 2 days indoors , mostly making phone calls putting the word out that I was in the building . I had a few friends from secondary school and uni that had since relocated so we arranged to meet, my cousin also introduced me to some of his friends ,I remember thinking people spent a lot of time on the phone in this country.

So started my long interesting relationship with London

We’re waiting Op

oludanobi:
Chapter 1 cont'd


My first suprise was how cold it was , yes I knew it would be cold but I just didn't imagine it being that cold , it must have been about 10 Celsius but for a local boy like me , that was extreme. On the drive to my cousin's house I think I'd sum up what I felt as being underwhelmed , I don't know if I somehow overhyped the city in my mind or if it was all the nice stories I heard from the "been tos" . then we got to my cousin's house flat in Plaistow and again I thought , "is this it ? "

They lived in a 2 bedroom flat on the 4th floor of a high rise building , later on I'd find out these buildings were called council flats. Interestingly I didn't feel like I had left the motherland until after I stepped into the flat itself , the furnishing , the smell , the big screen plasma , talk about a stark contrast between the exterior and the interior . The flat felt tiny though , I guess it would considering I lived in a 4 bedroom house in Lagos . In this flat if you do an number 2 , the whole house would know .

I spent the next 2 days indoors , mostly making phone calls putting the word out that I was in the building . I had a few friends from secondary school and uni that had since relocated so we arranged to meet, my cousin also introduced me to some of his friends ,I remember thinking people spent a lot of time on the phone in this country.

So started my long interesting relationship with London

Still in London

Thinking about why I felt underwhelmed, there must have been some kind of misconception that what makes these countries appealing was something I would instantly see , but a lot of it was more about the processes in place and the people .


My cousin and his wife worked 2 jobs each , they had 3 kids 2 boys and a girl , all under 10 at the time . Chai those kids showed me pepper , I think it was just kids being kids and reacting to a stranger coming into their space and trying to tell them what to do . We became friends eventually , but not after a few knocks and pinches. My being around meant my cousin and his wife could pick up extra shifts since they didn't need to be home as early as they did .It also meant their kids had a new figure of authority they needed to test their rebellion with and rebel they did. I was glad to be of some kind of help , afterall I was eating their food and sleeping in their house for free.

One of the first things I did was to cancel my return ticket , I had a ticket valid for one year and even though I was initially scheduled to return to Lagos 2 weeks later , I thought I'd explore East London a bit more and who knows perhaps I could make some of those cool pounds I had been hearing about. The cool pounds did not come, the under the table job that I was so looking forward to proved elusive.

I started going to the park to while away time, there was a basketball court there as well so I would play a little and also just enjoy the scenery ( some fine fine London girls were part of that scenery too ) , no harm in looking eh. I remember one day when I was enjoying the scenery and these 2 girls waved , that's how I summoned the courage to go and speak to them , in my mind I was a cool guy from the streets of Lasgidi . These girls weren't having it , I ended up messing myself. I learnt another lesson about London girls, they can be very forward and mean at the same time.

I remember following my cousin to his friend's kid's birthday, my people in London find any excuse to party, it was a house party and when we got there it felt more like an adult party, anyways there I was enjoying the scenery and this fine gey came over with her "you look familiar line", I smiled , apparently that line is a global pick up line, I told her it couldn’t have been me in a very friendly voice as I brought out my Nokia 3310, we exchanged names and just as I was about to progress I remembered this little matter of age, you shouldn’t ask a lady their age unless you think that info is crucial , appearances can be deceiving you know. Turns out she was 15, even with all her assets, I just smiled and thought to myself "I waited too long for this visa to allow one girl, whether fine or not take it away" , I put my phone in pocket and said see you in a few years when fraternizing with you will not be a crime.

That’s how my story could have easily changed and my they would say my village people were after me.

Gradually becoming my favorite thread. Like how you relay your stories. You’re doing a great work.

oludanobi:
Still in London

Thinking about why I felt underwhelmed, there must have been some kind of misconception that what makes these countries appealing was something I would instantly see , but a lot of it was more about the processes in place and the people .


My cousin and his wife worked 2 jobs each , they had 3 kids 2 boys and a girl , all under 10 at the time . Chai those kids showed me pepper , I think it was just kids being kids and reacting to a stranger coming into their space and trying to tell them what to do . We became friends eventually , but not after a few knocks and pinches. My being around meant my cousin and his wife could pick up extra shifts since they didn't need to be home as early as they did .It also meant their kids had a new figure of authority they needed to test their rebellion with and rebel they did. I was glad to be of some kind of help , afterall I was eating their food and sleeping in their house for free.

One of the first things I did was to cancel my return ticket , I had a ticket valid for one year and even though I was initially scheduled to return to Lagos 2 weeks later , I thought I'd explore East London a bit more and who knows perhaps I could make some of those cool pounds I had been hearing about. The cool pounds did not come, the under the table job that I was so looking forward to proved elusive.

I started going to the park to while away time, there was a basketball court there as well so I would play a little and also just enjoy the scenery ( some fine fine London girls were part of that scenery too ) , no harm in looking eh. I remember one day when I was enjoying the scenery and these 2 girls waved , that's how I summoned the courage to go and speak to them , in my mind I was a cool guy from the streets of Lasgidi . These girls weren't having it , I ended up messing myself. I learnt another lesson about London girls, they can be very forward and mean at the same time.

I remember following my cousin to his friend's kid's birthday, my people in London find any excuse to party, it was a house party and when we got there it felt more like an adult party, anyways there I was enjoying the scenery and this fine gey came over with her "you look familiar line", I smiled , apparently that line is a global pick up line, I told her it couldn’t have been me in a very friendly voice as I brought out my Nokia 3310, we exchanged names and just as I was about to progress I remembered this little matter of age, you shouldn’t ask a lady their age unless you think that info is crucial , appearances can be deceiving you know. Turns out she was 15, even with all her assets, I just smiled and thought to myself "I waited too long for this visa to allow one girl, whether fine or not take it away" , I put my phone in pocket and said see you in a few years when fraternizing with you will not be a crime.

That’s how my story could have easily changed and my they would say my village people were after me.

EgunMogaji2:


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

It was humiliating. After my rejection I went on to visit England, Austria 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.

@Bolded,
America is marinading in Covid-19 right now. So I can't blame you for shunning the place.

Thanks for sharing your experience. We await your new post.

oludanobi:
[size=8pt][/size]First Post :

I started this journey 20 years ago but didn't leave Nigeria for another decade.

I could list many reasons but overall the decision to leave was because I believed there was more to life than the country could offer by the time I left I had a stronger feeling that the country could only get worse . Unfortunately I've been right till date , the country has unarguably and unbelievably gotten worse.

About myself , you can call me Olu ( my online persona) and I would rather tell my immigrant story than allow someone else . I'm doing this in fulfillment of 2 things I enjoy , photography and writing. I'd be sharing my story across multiple phases , a few continents , reflecting giving the gift of hindsight and traveling back and forth in time touching various topics.

The plan is to post at least once a day , please hold me to that if I slip, feel free to share your story too

You may also follow me on IG:@Olu_dan_obi

There is no structure so anything and everything goes.

Enjoy the ride !!!

Following.
I don't know why that EgunMogaji2 love to demonize uSA. Even on twitter, he's there doing his ralk down. Baba, it's getting obnoxious, is it a coping mechanism? To feel good? You deported or had baby mama issues. Abeg abeg.

I want to believe you’ve not abandoned this project op.

oludanobi

Still .....

I dont know what Still means but the London boys used to say it so why not, they had a lot of interesting slangs and even though I didnt like it at first, before I knew it I started using some of them

Other interesting things happened in the park , I met a few young boys too , very few of them were bothered about going to university, most of them just wanted to have fun and smoke weed, I remember one trying to sell me weed and I said I didn't want any , he kept pushing , he just didn't understand why I didn't want to buy weed. He was shocked when I told him I don't smoke anything , his response was "you are black and you don't smoke anything", I said "no I don't " , what I meant to say was "you are black and you are this ignorant, come to Lasgidi and see correct weed that will connect you straight to your ancestors " .

A few years later when I started frequenting the clubs, I would be asked by different people if I had weed or some ecstasy to sell - "Why don’t you ask your father if he has weed for you", I wasn’t really annoyed by this, I just found the display of ignorance irritating, most of these people that asked me were white - yep white people wanting to smoke weed and assuming the black guy must be able to hook them up . I digress, back to the park, some of those young people in the park later ended up in jail, a few got killed as well, I remember walking past a woman and thinking she looked familiar : she did because her son has recently been stabbed and I had seen her on the TV being interviewed.

Besides the park I did the regular touristy things, visited McDonalds , Trafalgar Square, River Thames and of course Buckingham Palace - one had to pay respect to the queen. I was disappointed when I got to McDonalds though, the place was super dirty and the burger was small and didn’t even taste great , so this was what those posh boys have been raving about , they didn’t even have correct meat pie ! You always knew I was a JJC because of my jacket, it was a hand me down from my cousin who was bigger and taller than me so the jacket was oversized.

I almost forgot about the water, so in my cousin's house they drank tap water, it was clean and pure but it tasted awful, I know water is supposed to be tasteless but I realized the water in the motherland is sweet, the water in London was very hard and you could taste it, give me Nigerian tap water any day - as long as it is cold and clean.

Even though my cousin had a car, he didn’t drive much, honestly I think the car was more of a liability, you had to pay so much to park and he got tickets a few times, best way to give drivers sense - give them correct fine with no option to bribe anybody, you will be amazed at how people behave when their money is at stake. I liked the transport system, buses and trains were frequent and timely ( most of the time ) so you easily plan your journey.

Abandon gini, no I havent, I had to rush this post just because of your comment. Honestly I asked people to hold me to this because I know myself, let's just say interests fluctuate, but I remain committed - Thank you

moauk:
I want to believe you’ve not abandoned this project op.

oludanobi

keep it coming

More questions than answers : Chapter Anything Goes


Throw back to when " Yahoo "was in its infancy ,it must have been at the start of the new millennium , a lot of us didn't even have email addresses at the time , but somehow credit card numbers had started going round, mostly card numbers of strangers , but a few names were recognizable. In the cybercafes those days , people used the cards for various things , from porn to exam registrations to buying airline tickets , it seemed like harmless fun at the time , if you didn't know the owner of the card then it didn't really feel like there was any harm done to a real person and when the conversation got heated this explanation always came up - "We are only taking back what is rightfully ours, call it reparation if you like , for all the exploitation of our forefathers , there is nothing wrong with what we are doing ". Fraud had been on going before then , each area had a bros/sis who was a 419 and a lot of us had friends who had uncles/aunties abroad that were involved in one type of runs or the other.

Gradually Yahoo became more popular and the cyber cafes got fuller , all different types of runs evolved and so did the reasons and justifications , even the police became aware of this new found area of opportunity . The justification and reason now became rooted in poverty or should I say the state of the nation. It is poverty that made an 18 year old defraud people and use the proceeds to buy a nice Honda and move out of his parents house and into a hotel , it's that same poverty that made him customize his plate number . This same poverty that the police man on the street blames when he is collecting bribe , the same poverty that the lecturer blames when he is selling handouts and when he asks girls to pay in kind when they cannot afford it. If it is poverty, is it moral poverty as opposed to financial poverty or our favorite answer of all; all of the above ?

But we were raised to be morally upright, parents would beat you silly just for telling a small lie, you were as good as dead if you were caught stealing or taking something that didn’t belong to you, it however feels like all of those teachings are forgotten the older we get or is it that our realities become different, there is no fear of punishment from parents anymore, perhaps the temptations are greater.


Talking about temptations, I remember someone was offering an American citizen $10k to travel to the US to pick up documents , after I found the American citizen the client changed his mind , apparently the job was already given to someone else but they had another job if my American friend was interested , this time it was to carry drugs for the same amount . They tried to convince me by saying they would provide insurance ,tell that to my distant relative serving a life sentence in Hong Kong , she thought she had insurance too . After my first London trip an area aunty who traveled to London frequently wanted me to notify her before my next trip. Rumour had it that she was a drug carrier, and even though there was the temptation of quick money and buying a nice car to cruise around with babes, I didn’t tell aunty when I was going on my next trip, if I wasn’t discouraged by the number of times I got stopped and questioned on my first trip , stories of people that got caught was enough deterrent. No, the deterrent had nothing to do with the lives being destroyed by drugs, I didn’t entertain the thought that long. Imagine a young me then in my Mercedes or BMW or Audi, imagine being the envy of the area with girls just falling over me and boys hailing me, oh the temptation !

In the midst of all our morals is a fundamental part of our culture, the need to be celebrated and respected ,even being envied. To have many flashy cars, acquire more wealth than one whole generation requires and for what ?

When I worked in a bank, there was a fraud that was attempted, this was carried out by a colleague in another branch but at the same grade as me, Executive Trainee or Graduate Trainee. Based on requirements the suspected colleague couldn’t have been more than 28 years old at the time. Wait for the amount ….. 4 bn. I will spell it out just to be clear Four Billion Naira , I still have goose bumps even thinking about it . That kind of money was enough to run down even a legacy bank and they almost got away with it. They had succeeded in moving the money into various account, the main challenge was getting the money out. I heard some of the money was used to buy many cars, different products and they successfully withdrew millions. I will stop here because this post isnt really about the details of the attempted fraud but questioning why we commit fraud in the first place. This guy couldn’t claim this was about poverty because he was already in what could be considered a decent job for months and he had a somewhat bright future - at least he till till he tried to f**k it up. There were frauds committed by other colleagues, even some people I respected, well most of the got caught, imagine the freaking audacity they had coming into work everyday knowing what they had done. Was I tempted to commit fraud when I worked in the bank ? Honestly the answer is No, I wouldn’t do anything that could jeopardize my freedom , I was also older at that time and knew there were many ways to make clean money . I am not claiming the moral high here but anything that could potentially harm or destroy the lives of other people is something I steer clear of.

People's lives do get impacted and in some instances the impact is severe, people have been know to lose their lives savings to fraudsters and subsequently not being able to cope with the aftermath, others have lost opportunities simply because they are Nigerian, I did consider introducing myself as anything but Nigerian at one point, this was during my early years abroad where people would make snide comments when I told them where I was from. One of my direct reports told me how he sold his Play Station 2 online and when he said he shipped it to Nigeria, I started laughing . It really wasn’t funny though because until he met me, that was the only experience he had with dealing with a Nigerian, he got defrauded and then they sent him a separate email asking him to report the crime and provide personal details , luckily he figured out that was another scam. I felt I needed to apologize as a Nigerian. In the end I decided to stick to introducing myself as Nigerian, even though some people will form opinions of me based on that, it really isnt my problem if people want to judge me without really knowing me, there are 200 million of us and well the fraudsters may be plenty but if you care to know enough Nigerians well you'll see us in our different shades of brilliance.

There always is that argument that only greedy/foolish people get defrauded but my counter argument is what is greedy or foolish about trusting other people and expecting them to be genuine , isnt that the default? Is someone supposed to distrust you the minute they meet you? Recent developments in Dubai has further highlighted a separate issue, the issue of new job adverts clearly stating "Nigerians should not apply", in my opinion this is just a manifestation of whatever stupid biases the job advertiser has, I mean some of these jobs are menial , what does being Nigerian have to do with doing the job and doing it properly, but alas it is the price we pay for the acts of a few.


It is human to point the finger and blame others for our actions or inactions, it's the same thing that makes toddlers lie when they do something wrong , it's the need to absolve ourselves of the blame , is it really poverty, greed of the victim or is there a bigger cultural issue here .The culture that celebrates flamboyance, the culture that creates the illusion that we are smarter than others, the culture that encourages being "Sharp" .It is somewhat amusing how rebranding an act or a certain life style can change how the act is perceived , is a Yahoo boy different from a Fraudster and is sharp guy the same as a thief or is it getting caught that changes the true meaning of these terms ? Does the end justify the means or is it just a means to another end ?

Mehn! your story will be good for documentary or some kind of biographical movie. Simple and engaging.


Do you think it is beneficial for someone moving to abroad "permanently" in his/her thirties for the first time for the purpose of "greener pastures?"

if not, why? if Yes, what are the challenges such immigrants will face?

oludanobi:
More questions than answers : Chapter Anything Goes


Throw back to when " Yahoo "was in its infancy ,it must have been at the start of the new millennium , a lot of us

....
is a Yahoo boy different from a Fraudster and is sharp guy the same as a thief or is it getting caught that changes the true meaning of these terms ? Does the end justify the means or is it just a means to another end ?

Thanks for this post
It really resonated with me

The society rewards flamboyance regardless of how you make your money. I’m still young and making legit money but opportunities Abroad though unlimited, has some limitations as a result of being Nigerian. I’ve seen cases where friends or Nigerians online lost remote jobs simply because we are Nigerians.

I really do hope we can change the mentality of rewarding fraud, flamboyance, “smartness”.


Did you consider introducing yourself that you’re from Lagos rather than Nigeria?

TheBlessedHero:
Mehn! your story will be good for documentary or some kind of biographical movie. Simple and engaging.

Do you think it is beneficial for someone moving to abroad "permanently" in his/her thirties for the first time for the purpose of "greener pastures?"

if not, why? if Yes, what are the challenges such immigrants will face?

Thank you for the kind words.

Caveat - This is my opinion o

It totally depends on a lot of factors, things like are you single, what stage of your career are you at, how would you rate your state of affairs , what country you plan to go and your proposed status at point of entry.

I personally think the older you get, the more challenging it is to settle into a different country. There are things you need to adjust to and older people are set in their ways because it has always worked for them.

There is the challenge of getting a job , this could be easy or not depending on whether the knowledge and skills you have acquired are transferable e.g it may be easier for a good computer programmer or excellent teacher to get a job than a good bank manager . Certain skills are globally recognized and some others are specific to the region.

There is the cultural challenge too, some of the values and beliefs could be different but one must adjust to stay sane.

Depending on how socially active you were, you may struggle with unless you have a circle of friends in that country, technology has however made that bearable at least.

Depending on where you go, there is the small matter of the weather .It can get really cold in some places.

There are certain countries and cities I would stay away from because of their human rights reputation, racism etc

I like your second question better , because I think ultimately it is for your to decide whether it will be beneficial for you or not based on information available to you The second question is asking for some of that information.

Hope this helps.

Fellow Nairalanders who have lived abroad, please chime in !

Olalekank:


Thanks for this post
It really resonated with me

The society rewards flamboyance regardless of how you make your money. I’m still young and making legit money but opportunities Abroad though unlimited, has some limitations as a result of being Nigerian. I’ve seen cases where friends or Nigerians online lost remote jobs simply because we are Nigerians.

I really do hope we can change the mentality of rewarding fraud, flamboyance, “smartness”.


Did you consider introducing yourself that you’re from Lagos rather than Nigeria?

I hope so too.

Lagos didnt cross my mind, Ghana and a other West African countries did though, in the end I thought I'd be doing myself and my forefathers a great disservice by disowning my motherland.

Thanks for this post.
I've learnt a lot from it.
I'd really want to experience other forms of life, and i'm looking forward to relocating to another country. But am not certain of my choice yet(either US, Canada, Australia or the UK) anyone that favours my profession most(Architecture).
I'm planning of going there to further for my M.Sc then remain there and continue my life there perhaps.
I never knew the process of getting there was this hectic (the visa issue) but i believe that I'll make it out of this place very soon.


Thanks for this thread and i hope we will get posted regularly and help when we need them.

Chapter we’re waiting

oludanobi

In a few weeks it was time to return to the motherland, the trip seemed shorter than it actually was, that usually happens when you are having fun . I don’t remember having fun though , but I had a better appreciation for the abnormalities that I previously considered normal . Imagine not having to worry about NEPA and being able to plan your journeys without putting in 3 hours buffer for traffic. I did learn a few things , some of them listed below

1. Telling a lot of people that you are travelling can be expensive as there is an expectation of gifts when you return, it doesn’t matter if you worked or not . I resorted to buying items from Poundland and other cheaper stores, most things of that value are very low quality and even though the total I spent was significant , the sum of the appreciation was insignificant. Now I travel in stealth mode ; I know you think it is selfish but …

2. What makes these countries more appealing are the values, laws and regulations they live by. People of all nations will definitely misbehave if there are no consequences but introduce a non negotiable fine of 50k for anyone that drives unlawfully and you will see magic on our roads .

3. Things that appear to be loop holes/ foolish could easily get you into trouble - I heard of people got sent back because they tried to use a fake bus ticket

4. It could be really challenging if you don't have the right papers , being an immigrant without the right documents limits your chances significantly

I went back to Nigeria with a resolve to restrategize and plan my return

Oludanobi. We’re waiting sir

Still here , sorry for the rather long break, I was supposed to plan out the next few stories and introduce Dan and Obi , then I got carried away with life. It's election time in the US. I haven't been here that long so a few things are still strange . I think the saying politics is dirty must have been gotten from the US. I mean the ads they run in the name of campaigns are just straight up mean. Name calling and major accusations , I only just noticed that some messages in small print, that's usually a clue that they are trying to mislead you. Oh well hopefully they get it right in November .

OK I'll get back to writing my story shortly.

oludanobi:
Still here , sorry for the rather long break, I was supposed to plan out the next few stories and introduce Dan and Obi , then I got carried away with life. It's election time in the US. I haven't been here that long so a few things are still strange . I think the saying politics is dirty must have been gotten from the US. I mean the ads they run in the name of campaigns are just straight up mean. Name calling and major accusations , I only just noticed that some messages in small print, that's usually a clue that they are trying to mislead you. Oh well hopefully they get it right in November .

OK I'll get back to writing my story shortly.

so apt brother, it is really crazy and heart wenching. Stay safe.

Back to the motherland , I just have been gone for 6 or 7 weeks , I can't remember, I can't even check my passport to confirm , back in the day you could just tell the bros or sis at the immigration desk the date you wanted them to stamp . Imagine me feeling smart when I was able to get my passport stamped for £5, one sis was waiting for me in front she just stopped me and said show me today's stamp on your passport ! Yep I had to pay another £20 , welcome to Naija . The irony of it all , everyone complains about corruption but we all benefit from it one way or the other . One of the first things I tried to sort out was to get another visa , UK was an eye opener , I had to go back .

I went back to uni to finish my final year ,
Outside of school I was doing some business by the side , just standard buying and selling and helping with my parents business or should I say trying to prevent their workers from stealing what was left of the business. I sold things like mobile phones , perfumes , shirts mostly from UK , I had seen a few items on sales when I was doing my shopping to return so I bought them , of course I didnt make enough money for my next ticket but I made some money.

My visa renewal was uneventful , after the first time I easily secured a 2 year multiple visa , the problem was money for my ticket , by the time I was ready I didnt have enough , return tickets must have been about 150k at the time , my parent sponsored my first ticket so I couldn't really go back to ask them , this time around I planned to stay for longer than the last time and maybe find some under the table work , but again I didn't have money .

I started to ask around, looking for someone to lend me 100k for 6 months , I was hopeful that I would get a job this time around even though I didn't get one the first time .

Chapter X , work life

First week at the bank

I remember day 1 at the bank , it didn't start well , I had to go to the area office to get my branch assigned , I somehow thought it would be wise to get there within the time window specified on my letter , of course my sharp colleagues had gotten there way ahead of me and had first dibs , I ended up being assigned to the worst branch in the area , about 40mins on the bus from my house and in a very tough area. The excitement of my first day quickly vanished , I tried to use my connections to get reassigned but it was a done deal , even though the area manager was friendly , his PA didn't appreciate me name dropping . I learnt a lesson from that - never name drop unless it is absolutely necessary and also only do that with the decision maker .

I got to the branch around 10 am , the younger members of staff were friendly , the older ones not so much , as if they were threatened , a few months later when the bank had to lay people off , their fears made sense , a lot of them were panicking , even though the bank hired them when they just had secondary school leaving certificate and in some other instances primary school , the bank expected they'll have miraculously found time to get a degree despite their tasking banking job , these people had an average of 15 years experience under their belt . I'll talk about the lay off on another day .

Interesting experience at work , someone or some people start testing you from day 1, on day 1 , I was asked to get drinking water for one of the cashier's , this wouldn't have been a problem in itself , but the older person that asked me then asked other people if they wanted water too. I gladly got the water for both of them . That didn't last though, I quickly blended in and became their friend , even though I was younger I could tell them that I was busy in a friendly way.

I don't know where I got the courage but I asked my manager for permission to take my Oracle exams , I had to miss my last month of Oracle training to attend the 4 weeks orientation for new starts . My manager allowed me leave early for my first week , the Head of Banking didn't like that , in his mind I wasn't ready for work . I didn't mention that the Oracle training cost N200k and I was really passionate about it . Well he got over it and I passed my OCA and OCP exams.

I was so scare when I started working on the bank , the fear of shortage or the fear of receiving fake money , you learn about accountability and ownership in Nigerian banks , any shortage or any fake notes you received is your liability and not the banks.

There really wasn't any need to be scared , the shortage and fake notes didn't come , well they didn't come until later .

Finally. Fingers crossed

oludanobi:
Chapter X , work life

First week at the bank

I remember day 1 at the bank , it didn't start well , I had to go to the area office to get my branch assigned , I somehow thought it would be wise to get there within the time window specified on my letter , of course my sharp colleagues had gotten there way ahead of me and had first dibs , I ended up being assigned to the worst branch in the area , about 40mins on the bus from my house and in a very tough area. The excitement of my first day quickly vanished , I tried to use my connections to get reassigned but it was a done deal , even though the area manager was friendly , his PA didn't appreciate me name dropping . I learnt a lesson from that - never name drop unless it is absolutely necessary and also only do that with the decision maker .

I got to the branch around 10 am , the younger members of staff were friendly , the older ones not so much , as if they were threatened , a few months later when the bank had to lay people off , their fears made sense , a lot of them were panicking , even though the bank hired them when they just had secondary school leaving certificate and in some other instances primary school , the bank expected they'll have miraculously found time to get a degree despite their tasking banking job , these people had an average of 15 years experience under their belt . I'll talk about the lay off on another day .

Interesting experience at work , someone or some people start testing you from day 1, on day 1 , I was asked to get drinking water for one of the cashier's , this wouldn't have been a problem in itself , but the older person that asked me then asked other people if they wanted water too. I gladly got the water for both of them . That didn't last though, I quickly blended in and became their friend , even though I was younger I could tell them that I was busy in a friendly way.

I don't know where I got the courage but I asked my manager for permission to take my Oracle exams , I had to miss my last month of Oracle training to attend the 4 weeks orientation for new starts . My manager allowed me leave early for my first week , the Head of Banking didn't like that , in his mind I wasn't ready for work . I didn't mention that the Oracle training cost N200k and I was really passionate about it . Well he got over it and I passed my OCA and OCP exams.

I was so scare when I started working on the bank , the fear of shortage or the fear of receiving fake money , you learn about accountability and ownership in Nigerian banks , any shortage or any fake notes you received is your liability and not the banks.

There really wasn't any need to be scared , the shortage and fake notes didn't come , well they didn't come until later .

I'm in love with this thread ... please keep the posts coming

Still on work life

My new shiny suit got torn during my first 2 weeks , you can imagine how irritated I was , I just concluded my branch was cursed , I was just trying to board a bus to go home , I am struggling to find the right adjective for the bus , I think the Naija phrase 'any how ' comes to mind , it was an any how bus with any how seats , with any how metal that caught my new suit. I still don't know why we needed to wear suit to work in that heat , I mean was it really necessary . I know this is a lot of moaning but remember I detested that branch .

In hindsight this was a very immature mindset to have , this affected my enthusiasm at work and also how I related to customers , I just didn't want to be there . The customers didn't really care if I liked the branch , they just wanted their money paid or withdrawn in the shortest time possible . Oh my, they were quick to rain insults on bad network or long queue days.

One of the things I did subconsciously at the bank was study people , I'm very comfortable being quiet when I meet people and this sometimes make others so uncomfortable they try to talk throughout, in a few weeks I knew who was liked and not liked in the branch , there were tribal affiliations and a few clicks , we the younger ones didn't really have different clicks, we just vibed , who has time for work fight ?

In a few weeks I also realized I didn't need a degree to do my job , I mean yes my degree got me the job but none of the things I learnt at university was needed for the job . What was needed was common sense , computer skills , attention to detail and being able to empathize with the customer and being a good judge of character so you can spot the customers out to defraud you. Imagine the difficult entrance exam and interview I had to scale through , oh well life went on .The first salary came and it was good to have 100k in my account , not that it was my first time having that type of money but this was going to be steady , every month ! In Nigeria !

Work life - Somewhere in England

The feeling was quite different for this one , my first white collar job in 'the abroad' , after over 50 applications , some of them involving filling lenghty application forms with lots of JAMB questions , psychometric tests, phone interviews all ended with rejection letters, "We are sorry". I landed a contract role. It was for 6 months as a Test Analyst in the IT department of a large retailer. The pay wasn't great but I kept telling myself this role will lead to a better one . For context this role paid £8/hr , which is £64/day compared to the £200 to £400 day rate other companies paid for the same role. I'll write about the process that led to securing the job when I jump back to the interview section .

I think I'll summarize the way I felt as positive and hopeful , I was at home at the mercy of factory agencies for about 4 months and I had a fixed deadline. I still owed my school £13,000 and if I didn't pay up they wouldn't issue my certificate, without the certificate I couldn't get the 2 year Post Study Work visa I needed to remain in the UK. I was at risk of returning to the motherland without a job , a certificate or even money, in 2 months!

I know , right , WTF ! Let's blame it all the youthful Naija mindset , you know that feeling that you can conquer the world and achieve anything you put your mind to . I'm humbler now , perhaps that comes with age and I know even superman gets weak sometimes .

The commute to work was about 1 hour each way , a combination of walking , a short train ride and then some more walking . This was during winter and sometimes I'll see my fellow pedestrians slipping and falling on ice, man must survive.

Oh well back to work , my new team was predominantly white , it was a team of about 20 and I was the only black person there so I didn't form an instant connection with anybody. In those days I assumed anyone that looked like me ,thought like me , therefore I gravitated towards my own kind.

The on boarding process was standard , I shadowed 2 ladies, an English and a Chinese for about a week before I started work proper. I didn't really talk much and I didn't smile often so people just left me alone in my lane. My manager had just been recently promoted into her role and she came across as either timid or just afraid of me , it was so bad that even though I sat across the desk from her , she'll rather email me instead of walking over for a quick chat. There was also another guy that worked with the databases I shadowed him as well. That stupid guy tried me ehn, he would ask me to pick things up from the printer , I didn't think much of it at the time and to be fair he was older, but this was corporate UK and I wasn't there to serve him .

My initial review wasn't impressive , this was after about 1 week, apparently because I didn't talk much they just assumed I didn't even understand what they were explaining to me . I mean anytime the database guy explained something to me I'll just say OK ,when he asked if I had questions , I said I didn't. In honesty I didn't have any questions because I didn't have any . Feedback I got was whenever someone explained something to me I should replay it to them in my own words so they knew I had a full understanding of what they just explained. I countered the argument by stating it was unfair to assume I didn't understand if they didn't give me an opportunity to demonstrate my understanding .

Gradually I started replaying what was explained to me , they started giving me more tasks and I continued to surpass their expectations , I was hungry for work and I had to impress them so they'll extend my contract .

Another Indian girl joined the team but she didn't last more than a week , she joined when there wasn't much work so she thought she had hit jackpot , free money, she was never at her desk . She was mostly downstairs chatting with her Indian brothers and sisters so they just fired her. Did I mention there are a lot of Indians in the IT world in UK ?
Anyways lesson from there was stay at your desk , if there is no work just open a document and read , you can read the same thing for a week if you like, have BBC or a sports website that you can flip to when no one is looking .

It wasnt long before they started thinking highly of me , I remember the IT director coming to introduce himself and saying he heard about the good work I was doing . People still didn't talk to me much though , I gave the wrong first impression and it just stuck , I was that guy who kept to himself.