MandingoII:

I'd rather be HOMELESS in the states than Live a comfortable life in Nigeria.

At least there is hope for me.

surely one day I will get a government funded housing and gainful employment.

then I will be able to develop some self-esteem.

these opportunities are not available in Nigeria.

~Lady~

lol where u at

BellaRouge:
Hi Nairalanders,

What do you think?
Is life really better abroad?

America might have more educational opportunies than Nigeria but overall, I dont think that life is better here. Although it's nice to have electricity 24 hours a day, but I really didnt mind sleeping without in the dark.

People go through the same problems that some Nigerians complain about; Crime and corruption. The American government is also filled with corruption just like Nigeria. Except education, what other reasons do people have for leaving Nigeria?

If it was up to me, I would return to Nigeria in a blink of an eye because I miss everything about it.

AjanleKoko:
For the same reason that you are not older than your father, Nigeria cannot be better than abroad.
Abroad in this case being Western Europe and North America.

Even those of us who live and work in Lagos don't deceive ourselves. Some people work in top jobs here, but nobody is decieving themselves. I have four generators and an inverter. Last Monday it took five hours before I got home. Even though I have a driver, I sure didn't enjoy the time spent in traffic!

Someone said Nigeria has the cheapest education anywhere. What a crock. We don't even have a functioning educational system.
I think like someone said, Nigeria manages to function. It's not really a country, it's just a place where people live. Some make good money from the environment, the by far greater majority just scrape by. Nigerians are great people though. Very resillient and adaptive, and they try to make the best of whatever situation they find themselves.

But there is no money made in Nigeria that cannot be made elsewhere, if you are talking about legitimate earnings, and not looting. Of course it's more difficult to steal abroad. They have working law enforcement, unlike Nigeria, and there's a system in place. So nobody can just make millions of dollars disappear just like that, though some like Madoff or Stanford are able to do it. They still end up paying for it sha. I know lots of Nigerians abroad who are making very good money, both paid employees, and business owners. Unlike their Nigerian counterparts, they don't go for lau-lau spending, primarily because of the tax system, and also because they understand the true principle of business, which is expansion by re-investing profits, not using the profits to buy houses for your girlfriends and stuff.

MrBean:
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Its down to the individual. However the fact remains that most of the contributions to this thread has been directed toward the middle class which is not a good representation of majority of nigeria but may be in the case of the US.

My point is the percentage of nigerians that are suffering is insane. I dare to say 65%
Kids hawking on the street
countless undocumented murders, rapes, kidnappings,
Jobless graduates etc

I will be a doctor here in the US in few months and I will say even back at home in Nigeria I was priviledeged to be from a middle class family and could always afford to come here on holidays but it broke my heart all those years seeing the contrast between the standards of living.

Anytime I go to Nigeria on holidays. I try to have fun and I also see all my friends that are doing well in business and their respective careers but the fact still remains that majority of nigerians endure suffering that many US citizens see in movies or on CNN

The system is in shambles.
Let me ask the comfortable nigerians some questions:

1. How do you feel driving in your vehicles and seeing a boy your sons age trying to sell to you under the scorching sun? Just another day in lagos eh? your hearts are hardenend so much so that its now a norm.

2. have you been to the public hospitals and check out the infrastructure? sorry i forgot you use private clinics. Most nigerians cannot even afford to pay registration fee for the hospitals. some cannot even afford transportation to the hospital and they die.

3. Do you pay your regular toll to the police officers at every checkpoint? (bribe)

4. What is the average time for picking up a body killed trying to cross the road? My last visit to lagos I saw two bodies in the last stages of total decomposition on public streets and kids see these sights too.

5. Have you experienced the traffic menace constituted by the "yellow devils" that leads to endless hours on the roads. You are probably used to it.

These are the few i observed in my breif visit in 2005.


The problem is the system is broken and a few Nigerians getting ahead doesnt take away the problem. I personally don't do well seeing the number of women and children suffering. The number of comfortable nigerians if negligible when compared to the nigerians suffering.

This is not about how much money you make but dignity and decency for human life. This is widely accessible in the US and scarcely seen in nigeria. Inconclusion my answer to the question is Life is better here a million times over judging by these parameters.

Like someone on this thread rigthfully said: "A country that pays a policeman 7000naira ($60) a month and gives him a gun is set for anarchy'





Apt@ the bolded

Seun:
BellaROuge: Please don't decieve yourself. Nigeria is only good for those who are willing to generate their own power, dig up and refine their own water, maintain their own private police force, et cetera. Life in Nigeria is only tolerable to those who are used to it, not those who have spent a lot of time abroad!

somebody:
theone, I know companies pay undergrads N7.5 million in naija, two of my friends even got better than that last year. If I did not know anything about Nigeria then you can come and start giving me those stories you want idiots to believe. I am very in touch with Nigeria, just even got back from hols so I know what I am talking about. How many graduates would earn N7.5 million. Try going to the jobs section of nairaland and see how many peope would be grateful for a job that pays N50,000 a month.

Zanzibar1:

you made this post in 2007.
the year is 2023 and its hard to get a job of 50k

Seun:
BellaROuge: Please don't decieve yourself. Nigeria is only good for those who are willing to generate their own power, dig up and refine their own water, maintain their own private police force, et cetera. Life in Nigeria is only tolerable to those who are used to it, not those who have spent a lot of time abroad!

tensazangetsu20:


Nna men. That 2009 with 50k sef you can buy a car o if you save like 20k from your salary for like a year

Raalsalghul:


You can never lose betting against Nigeria.