Danyl: @Everyone,I want to ask how much is the police clearance certificate @alagbon CID...

clintwine: Amy its all up to you, if you say that your husband's dad is a wealthy political man, then u would probably live a better quality of life (QOL) in Nigeria than here in the UK
however, you would live a lower Standard of Life (SOL) in Nigeria.

its better taking advice, from those who have lived in Nigeria -> then lived in UK --> Then back to Nigeria. Rather than someone looking for any chance to leave Nigeria and thinks UK is a dream country.

I have noticed that many people who have stayed here for a long while would never encourage someone going back to Nigeria even when they are suffering and smiling (They mostly have this mentality/picture of Nigeria in the 80s/90s.

For those that say they call them oyibo, while in Naija in the markets people call me oyibo even when am black (cos am a bit light), its nothing derogatory or insulting. No one will ever pick on your kid for being Oyibo.

In terms of education, place your kids in one of the best secondary schools, when it comes to university, they are best doing it abroad.(or in private uni in Nigeria and masters abroad)

Someone mentioned that teen pregnancies are in Nigeria, but what they failed to mention is that the UK ratio to that of Nigeria is about 500:1
I haven't even mentioned the heavy drinking and sleeping around.(tue, thurs, sat nights out)

Its funny when a Nigerian parent is migrating with the kids abroad, all these funny topics about missing friends , very cold weather , don't come up; but when its the other way people come up with million of excuses

Granted, you would never be guaranteed 24hr light, but i guess we would love to have kids who quickly adjust to any change in the environment, than those who moan about it

Its unfortunate that you can contemplate breaking a relationship of many years just because of a move, even though he has stayed these many years with you in uk
The last time i checked, Nigeria doesn't kill kids.

Before i wrap up, i do remember that one of the directors of firstbank (she used to head the HR) is not Nigerian but she and her kids adjusted and they are doing well.

Its all about how you see the move, as the saying goes, some see a half glass as half empty and another as half full.

There will be challenges, just like anywhere else, you just deal with them

Henry40: Amy, my advice - DON'T COME TO NIGERIA, YET! Why?


-  Electricity: Unlike in the UK where you pay for what you use, and if you'd like to pay less then use less, here in Nigeria YOU PAY, but you hardly ever use! On this point, I'd advice you go to Abuja. There's more value for electricity there and you don't need to pay for it twice { via fuel for generators and actual electricity bills} since electricity is really cheap there. The roads are better and life is comparatively less stressful.
-  Standard of Life: Although cost of living in Nigeria is comparatively low, standard of life is even lower. I suggest you know the sort of "business" your father-in-law is doing first, then think up ways of bringing it up to the standard that would afford you the standard of living you're used to {or want}, if it isn't already. Come to Nigeria only when you've been successful in preparing a befitting standard of living when you arrive, and not before. At the end of the day, everything about living in Nigeria boils down to that - standard of life. Since you've been called to the bar in the UK, you wouldn't find it difficult to secure a high standard of living, especially in Abuja. First, you're a graduate, second, a professional, third UK trained, and lastly, and most importantly, WHITE!
-  Honesty: You should be aware {regardless of how patriotic I would even care to admit} that Nigerians are generally dishonest. Keep that at the back of your mind in everything you do whenever you come around, or else you'd become a victim so many times that you might get frustrated back. There's a saying in Nigeria - Shine your eyes!
-  In laws: Know who your in-laws really are. Some of them are green snakes in the grass.
-  Security: In Nigeria, your security is in your own hands, and not an outsider's. This is a place "standard of life" {above} becomes important. If you have a high standard of life, then you'd probably be in a position to afford yourself security.

These are all I have for you, for now!

agiboma:

lol ohh yes ooo and prepare for hubby reNATIONALIZING himself and becoming a Nigerian again

violent:

Of the three places you mentioned, Abuja is likely to be your best bet if availability of infrastructures and good social services rank tops on your priorities. By social services, this excludes 999 calls, fire service and regular power supply.



Kidnapping is no longer very prevalent in many areas of Abuja.  As a matter of fact, i once argued with someone that there are higher chances of getting shot, stabbed or beaten by a random sad fellow in London than in Abuja.  The safety rules in naija are simple; stay away from the core north, never argue with the Police even if you are right and don't talk to people about your business.



Social life is a very subjective term and could be defined to mean anything.  You kids may likely find it very hard adapting to new location and making friends with people who were brought up under completely different conditions.  They won't be able to ride their bikes freely around the streets, and there aren't many parks to sit in and play with the dogs all day.  You must understand that the idea of having a good time in Nigeria for most people means going to the cinema, restaurants, owambes and clubs.



Children of mixed races are well accepted and i can guarantee that there are very slim chances of racial abuse.  Nigerians are known to only discriminate among themselves, never against foreigners, much less ones with good accents.



IMF or the WHO may very well have positions that may fit into what you are looking for.  I would also consider banks like RenCap or Standard Chartered or companies like Shell, Chevron, British American Tobacco, Schlumberger, or Oando.  If you are also flexible, you may consider lecturing with some well paying Universities like the American University of Nigeria.



There are good schools, although very expensive ones, in Nigeria.  Most expatriates have their kids attending these schools and could very well boast of a similar level of education that may be obtained in Britain.

Overall, I would suggest that you spend some time in Nigeria as suggested by many other posters.  This help you to form a better opinion of the place.

GenBuhari: @agiboma
Oyibo means a foreigner from Europe /America/white people countries, although it can refer sometimes to any foreigner from any country - even neighbouring African countries.

It is not a derogatory term as there are no alternative words for "foreigner" in Nigeria.

Even Nigerians returning from long stay abroad would be called "oyibo" as a term of endearment or playful teasing/banter.

Truth be told, Nigerians admire anybody that has lived in a Western country, so do not necessary take it as negative that you are being called "oyibo".


I suggest you stop getting stressed unnecessarily about that word, and tell the same to your children. because it would continue for as long as people could recognise that you are from a western country.

I am surprised that your husband hadn't explained this to you

agiboma: Hi Amy,

I'm a Canadian living in Nigeria now with my Canadian son he's 19 months and his father who is Nigerian. I got a question for you, have you ever visited this country. You need to see it befor you make such a BIG move.
1.) The places you mentioned i can only voice my opinion for 2 places Aba, DEFINETLY NOOOOOO, locals have labelled it the dirtiest city in Nigeria. Abuja is simply beautiful, but expensive, you would be best their imo. I never been to ebonyi so i cant comment. All the things you mentioned about the UK they understandable, but I dont think Nigeria is the answer. All the families i know both parents are Nigerian that moved back from Canada to Nigeria, their move did not last long and they had kids your age, the children hated it, no light so they cant watch t.v, the roads are bad, they missed their friends. If you think its the lesser of two evils please think again.
2.) Also as a white woman your always gonna be hearing them talk about "oyibo" (it means white person) i hate that word they call me it every time and im not even white,I'm black go figure smh. Their also gonna refer to your kids with that term. My hubby's biracial friends kids and his white wife, did not last long here and they hated it for all the reason's i stated previously but most of all the kids felt discriminated because of that word and the attention they got as being biracial.

I know you are afraid to raise black teenage boys in the UK, but honestly their life won't be much easier over here either. To an extent because of my accent I fell discriminated against at times. Talking to locals and they dont understand my English because of my heaven Canadian accent omg. These are hurdles that you are definetly gonna face. teach your kids the right things such as avoiding, drugs, gangs etc. Dont disrupt your lives and come to this messed up society.

3.) The school system is crap unless you got some serious cheddar, you can enrol your kid in a very nice school. The best school in my area the yearly tuition is like 50k USD a year.
4.) About your business you can defiently start your own business and make money in time

Please think really hard about this move, wishing you all the best

denzel2009:

E-book on the movie or OSCP?

Seun: That's actually just DNS information, but information about our host is easy to find, too.

palliative:
It would have made more sense if ur husband did the sponsoring no matter how much he got in his account. At least, his friend could help in window dressing his account to make it fat..
In a situation where that seems impossible, canadian embassy doesn't give a damn about humanity and for d sake of God when it involves their visa and money issues. Even a distance cousin cannot sponsor u according to them sef let alone a family friend.
I would suggest u tag him as ur employer but when u do that, u still need to show evidence of employment with employment letter and payslip for d past 3 months.
The summary of d matter is that, "ur relationship with ur sponsor must be sufficient enough to allow funding". This was d basis for my denial d last time. So, its either ur parents, bor or sis, spouse or direct uncle and employer can sponsor u effectively.
As regards multiple degrees, its possible although it depends if u have had a B.sc, BA or so. U can even have 2 B.sc if d school supports that. [i][/i]
I have a friend who got a visa for an undergraduate studies at 27 years and as a transfer student as long as ur previous degree doesn't deviate from ur anticipated degree.
Cheers

Danyl: @umehart,thanks 4dt piece,i already cald nd dy said they r stil expectn my university transcript bt my alma matter is nw on strike. I'm settln wit them,i only have to wait.
@bamshy, thanks,i got the info, all my docs r in my former name, i didnt send any doc with a different surname tn d schl as palliative assumed,they r only delayn in returning mails due to d volumes of mails they receive everyday, though am stil waiting 4my alma mata to resume frm strike. I already knw d change of name wil cause certain ripple effect so am planning to use d new name,not dt I already used it,
@palliative thnks 4bn blunt,bt i av 2say dis, I neva usd my new name on my applicatn n my documents i submitted,so u only assummed that,though u may nt really undastnd me as much I would bt its alright. Thanks

Noswaa: @bamshy,thanks for your wonderful suggestions always,i have second class lower which it seems most schools in canada prefers second class upper and above for masters,so i decide to go for undergraduate in a related field,and i strongly believed that it is not a suspect for some body to have more than one bachelor degree which i knew one of my lecturers have about 3,and am going on transfer credit not starting from year one,and about the gain my husband friend may gain,does it mean some body cannot help one another without gaining for the benefit of humanity and God,and what of if i now take this my husband friend as my employer to sponsor me so that his company will benefit from my wealth of experience relating to economic matters of his business,again he have upgraded my account to a million naira and he will send some document to stand as my co sponsor,what do you think?thank you

palliative:
Thanks bro. I am printing on d 1st of june(friday) to submit to VAC on the 4th of june (monday). Thanks once again cuz school resumes on d 6th of sept. U of S. My 1st application which I submitted last sept 27th 2011 stayed 5 months in their office. But this one would be shirted cuz I only covered my reason for denial..

Bigboyz32: Hi guys.
I am a computer science undergraduate and I'm confused on where to specialize and build my talent. I have networking and programming as options. Which would you advise me to do? Need to know possibilities and opportunities in it in Nigeria
Thanks

palliative:
Thanks bro. I am printing on d 1st of june(friday) to submit to VAC on the 4th of june (monday). Thanks once again cuz school resumes on d 6th of sept. U of S. My 1st application which I submitted last sept 27th 2011 stayed 5 months in their office. But this one would be shirted cuz I only covered my reason for denial..

palliative: Pls o my pipo, if I print a bank statement from january 1st to june 1st before submitting,would that be enough? Since 1st of june happens to be d only day in d 6th month history

bamshy: I have a friend who coughs between dec. and mar. of the year and is okay for the rest of the year. It's happened twice now! After several tests including tb, hiv and the rest which came out -ve, the doctors said it's a seasonal cough and some form of asthma. The interesting thing is, no matter the amount of drugs during the cough period, he still coughs. However, once it's like mid-march he stops coughing even without drugs! please advise

okeyxyz: @bamshy,
from your dialogue with kobo, i sense that you are more interested in the post-graduate certification than getting down to the bolts & nails of the technical works involved in computing\programming. i mean, for someone who is MCP & basic web design certified, you seem not to have personally ventured (beyond the classroom) to do any real work with them, otherwise you'd probably not be asking these questions, you'd have acquired a personal perspective and preference as to what aspect of IT you want to pursue.

if I may advice you, I'd say you should rather do a post-graduate in an IT-related management course(since you are not the nitty-gritty type), it would give you a more strategic view of IT rather than an operational\detailed view. that way, you are in a position to work with the operational IT guys under you to co-ordinate them & ascertain the profitabilty of operations or projects. I hope you give this option some serious thought.

lastly, I must commend your calm headedness in your exchange with kobo despite her efforts (deliberate or not) to ruffle your feathers, you kept your cool, not showing offense but interest in the important matters of the subject. this actually shows you have a talent for management by knowing how to deal with people, i hope you give it a go. we do need more guys like you on nairaland that can focus on issues & ignore distractions. this is top notch management material. cheers!

xtus:

1.Completed Application for Study permits
2.A valid passport
3.Two photos of the students and each of the
family members. The photograph must not
be more that six month old. Back of the
photo, the name and date of birth of the
person appearing in the photo should be
written
4.Proof that shows the educational institution
has accepted the student for admission in
their institution
5.Evidence of sufficient funds to overcome all
the living expenses and study costs in
Canada
6.Bank transaction statement of last six
months
7.Proof of payment of fee in acceptable
format. This format varies according to
country and region. However, the most
general method is presenting it through
Bank Draft
8.Evidence that show students have no
criminal records
Students from some nations may even need
to present medical reports (Nigeria falls in this category)
9.Any other documents that may help for
obtaining a Student visa for Canada.

As per d bank statement, i would suggest ur husband friend pays in the money into ur account and after u must have print out d bank statement u can easily send back the money, in dis way the VO wont start asking question abt u and ur husband friend and stuff like that.

olaremy2k: ......pls someone should answe my question

palliative:
Paddy. Ur university haven't been replying ur mails probably because of the stunt u have played in ur application at their office to send u an acceptance letter with ur new "assumed" surname.
How do u even think they would do a thing like that when ur certificates u used in seeking for and admission are all in ur former name? Do u think they might listen to ur story? Cuz obviously that's what u might have done. Ur waec is in ur surname and u applied with it asking the school to send u a letter that u have changed ur surname. Wow
I am not a VO but like I said, this sceme of urs is tarnishing ur image.. 2ndly, u changed ur surname of recent and ur dad's bank have taken to new surname immediately? When ur "assumed" dad submits his CAC and other company documents and they all bear d new surname, how do u explain that.?
Now lemme tell u d truth bros. Me I be guy man too but need to spit d truth. I knw say u be hustler, u just wanna migrate. But I knw hustlers to be smart. This ur move is lame. U didn't plan it well.
This man u wanna claim to be ur popcy, u rather use him as an uncle "mother's brother". This ur dad scam is dirty and childish. Nobody, not even me let alone d almighty canadian embassy to believe ur story.
U may not even get ur admission letter with d new surname bro. Stop messing ur record up. The school can even report u to d embassy to trail u sef and arrest u for fraud if u don't knw.
This is d last time I would write on dis ur issue. It is simply lame. Get a new scheme and in whatever u do, don't do anything that would destroy ur record in canada.
I don talk finish. Nor say I knw tell u. Bye.

Noswaa: Please help,am married,graduate,no good job,but my husband is a Doctor with good Job abroad but his friend in Nigeria want to sponsor me,i secured admission to study Economics in canada as an undergraduate haven obtained bsc in education economics in nigeria,what exact document can you suggest that i should put together for visa application.Thanks