"America. The land of dreams and opportunities, the land of the free. The beautiful home of money trees that rained dollars to all that stood beneath it. The land flowed with milk and lots of dollars. It is indeed the promise land.”

Kunle listened in awe as his cousin, Jide narrated the beautiful stories of America over the phone to him. Just some months ago, Jide was roaming the streets of Lagos with his CV in search of a good job. Somehow by sheer luck, he met someone who promised to get him a Visa to America if he could come up with the sum of 2 million naira.

At the time, Jide didn’t have a dime to his name but the thought of going to America filled Jide’s head. He couldn’t think of anything else, he was tired of this forsaken country anyway. So he started hunting for loans or anything he could do to raise the money but none came to fruition as he didn’t have anything substantial as collateral. The next viable option that surfaced was selling his Dad’s second car, a Toyota Camry which he used on special occasions. And that was what he did. He pulled a drama that convinced everyone that the car got stolen then sold the car for far less than its worth.

Today Jide is in America enjoying the reward of taking a bold risk. Jide’s parents are proud of him, his dad would often chip it in any random conversation that his son now has a lucrative job in America, even when it had nothing to do with the conversation.
“Take risk just like me. Try to get the money.” Jide motivated Kunle over the phone.
“Okay.” Kunle replied.
Kunle ended the call on the note that he would try to raise the money for the visa so that he could join Jide in America.
Kunle sinks deep in thoughts, how would he raise 2 million?. He had never seen that kind of money in his life.
The financial situation of Kunle is totally different from that of Jide even though they are cousins. Kunle’s dad died when he was only 4, Kunle and his mom had been struggling since then. His mom sold Akara by the roadside so they could have something to eat by the end of the day.
The highest he ever owned was N50, 000 which he saved from carrying blocks at building sites. There was no way he would ever make it to America, even if he starts lifting blocks in all the sites in Ajegunle, it would take him months before he would be able to save up to N50,000. He quickly resigned the thought of ever going to America but the fantasy never left his head.
The answer to his predicament came some few days later as he was going through some old books in the house, he found the documents of the bungalow they lived in. It was the only valued property they had to their name and it was built by his father before he died.
Different thoughts started pouring in but the one that stood out the most was the echoing voice of Jide “Take risk like me.”

A debate ensued in his mind, to do it or not. He became restless. The thought of America filled his head so much he could barely think straight anymore. He would go there, pick money on the floor and send dollars home so they would buy another house. In fact, his mom would be proud of him and the risk he is about to take very soon.
Two weeks later, he had sold the house, gotten the necessary documents, and was on his way to America.
He got there only to find out that the land of America didn’t flow freely with milk and dollars as Jide portrayed. No free dollars anywhere in America, one had to work hard for every cent earned plus taxes. It was almost harder than being in Nigeria.
The lucrative Job which Jide claimed he worked at, was being a cleaner at a local restaurant. This came as a shocker to Kunle who wondered what was lucrative about being a cleaner.

He painfully discovered that he had been heavily deceived and when he challenged his cousin for deceiving him, Jide playfully replied “I didn’t think that you’d take me seriously.”
So now he’s stuck, he can’t go back home because of the shame of returning empty-handed after selling the only property they had. He decided to do unto others as it was done to him.
He’d call up old friends in Nigeria, tell them about the gold paved roads in America and how it rains dollars, defraud them of some money, block and move to the next victim. This is his life and job now. To his friends and relatives in Nigeria, he now has a lucrative job in America. He had become a prayer point in his old local church, everybody used his story as a point of contact.

Article originally published on
https://medium.com/@ologunsegun/going-to-america-90580810a0a7

Does this article has part 2

no sir

Obagreatdatoye:
Does this article has part 2

Rubbish article