₦airaland Forum

castrogee: Dear sister,

In reply to your further concerns, I wish to advice your accordingly: there's no country in the world where you won't find opportunities even in Somalia. Also there's no country in the world that is a haven or a basket of opportunities not even in America. Opportunities are more or less 'individialistic' by this I mean while mr A might have the best opportunity in Canada Mr B migt find his in Nigeria, so opportunities are personal... I hope you get what I mean?

In direct answer to your question, let me first assume you are a science student, who wants to pursue her professional career abroad. The first thing you do starts with your decision of which is made up of; course and location, by this I mean for example while Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, 50% of our GDP comes from our oil sector and 30% comes from finance sector (The banking, the insurance and the stock or money market). Taking the above case as an example, if some one comes to you and says he wants to study space technology in Nigeria, what will be your reaction? Of course you will laugh and maybe you will recommend a psychiatrist for the person.

However, if in America where the American space programs is the biggest in the world, and your friend in America says he wants to go into space technology will you laugh at the person? Absolutely not! Because there are opportunities in that area in America unlike in Nigeria.

Conversely UK has small oil resources unlike in Nigeria, knowing this, if your friend in UK says he wants to go into petroleum engineering, what will be reaction? So from these examples I hope by now you should understand why I said your decision will be determined by course and location.

If for example you are into IT off course America or Germany is your best bet. Let me use myself as an example, I did Computer Engineering in my undergrad in Nigeria. I gained admission to study Engineering mgt in a USA university, coming to the US I discovered that IT is the ruling master in the country, I immmidiately switched to Software Engineering, so you now see how your course (department or discipline if you like) affects your decision of which country you want to go to.

UK vs Canada, dear sister I want you to know that no matter what people tell you about oyinbo country, it will always be different when you see your self abroad because then you will know better. But just know that England is the financial capital of the world. With more than 5000 banks and other financial institutions. Know also that every major international company in the world has it's office either head or branch office in England. Canada is not excluded it has one of the worlds biggest agricultural firms, and other big industries like the blackberry inc.

For me I think the major problem with UK is just that it is hard to get residency papers whereas in Canada it's a bit easy. Having said that, you have to ask yourself dear sister what is my life ambition?

Is my life ambition to work a little bit abroad and retire in Nigeria, or is it just to get education from the west. If your life ambition is the former then I think you may need a place where getting residency paper will not be a problem, but if your life ambition is the latter, definitely you need a place where you can do your MSc in shortest possible time and at low cost and return back to Nigeria.

You see my dear, why I decided to advice you is because I know this is the period in your life when you MUST get it right! Otherwise the consequences of wrong choices might spoil your entire life and you will become frustrated for the rest of your life, God forbid it shall never be your portion in Jesus name.

Don't be in a hurry to take a decision plan carefully and stragize intelligently, I know a lot of people in US who are so frustrated in life. Most of the friends you have posing or doin shakara to you that they are in America don't even know where to lay their heads this night. Honestly you won't believe me, but any sincere person will tell you that Oyinbo country is not rosy, let alone now that there economies are shaking.

Even in America, cities like Detroit, Pholadelphia, Bridgeport etc are worse than what you can imagine. The bottom line of every thing is for you to plan prayerfully, ask God to lead you aright, and I bet you will come out on top!

Remain blessed.

castrogee: My dear sister,

From your questions and worries I can sense that you are passionate about your future, and you want to make the right choices! Granted, from experience no choice is entirely bad (wrong) or absolutely good (correct) but in the game of choices I think some choices are more rewarding than others. I suppose that you are in Nigeria right now and have the ambition of crossing over to the west to pursue your noble ambition.

Absolutely! When faced with this kind of dilemma of choices you hear a lot of advices both from experts, mediocres, and the downright novice. In regards to your questions I will like to chip-in my advice, which to the best of my knowledge might help you, because i was once in your shoes but now I think I know better.

Going to the UK vs Canada is synonymous with the simple Nigerian comparison of Lekki and VI which is better? The answer depends on the individual/s, but given that some people will prefer UK to Canada and others will do just the opposite tells you that both countries share a lot in common.

In terms of education I will advice you to go for UK and these are my reasons: first, I will categorize these reasons into subheadings which are duration, cost, adaptability, and opportunity.

An average MSc course in the UK takes just one year of two semesters, whereas in Canada it's basically two years of four semesters. Who wants to spend his entire life studying? If you have two assignments to do with different time variations I believe it's wise to choose the one with lesser time commitment.

Cost: remember in UK you have two semesters while in Canada there are four semesters to do. I know some Universities in UK, good universities for that matter where you can do MSc for less than 12000GBP, whereas a good recognized school in Canada will take at least 30,000 CAD in tuition fees alone and that's about 17,000GBP. I know you are looking for the opportunity to work and study but i will disappoint you with a revelation - as a student your work can only pay your house rent. I tell you this my dear sister, because I don't want you to be under the illusion that you will work and make millions, all those stories you hear na complete wash! Furthermore, getting a student job is simply luck and by chance both in UK and in Canada you might be lucky to get something but just know that it's not automatic anywhere and that's the more reason you need to make sure your tuition fees are reasonably low, so that you could have surplus to take care of yourself.

Adaptability: in this category I think I will still choose UK; this is because for someone coming all the way from Nigeria ( a tropical country in the sub Saharan Africa) cold is usually an obstacle and you have to know that the cold in Canada is no joke! Even here in America, the part of America facing Canada is called the New England and sometimes during winter the temperature can be -10 degrees So you should know what I mean now. Going forward the teaching technique in UK is quite similler to that of Nigeria unlike Canada where it's a totally different ball game. I thinks also that Nigeria shares a whole lot in common with UK more than Canada and adaptation will not be much of a problem for you in UK.

Note that the UK degree is valued very well in Nigeria and even in the west. UK remains the education capital and academic destination of the world! Canada's eduction is equally very recognized and valued.

As for opportunities there is a major reason why people choose Canada in preference to UK, and that's in getting residence papers and that where lies the whole difference in these two countries. While it is near impossible to get UK residence papers it's somehow less difficult to get Canada's papers. In fact when you finish your MSc in Canada they will give you a two year visa extension for you to work in Canada but in UK it's nothing. When you hear people shout Canada! It's simply because of the papers. I've a lot of friends in Canada and they complain to me how hard it is to survive in the country.

My sister I've taken out time to write this lengthy sermons to you because I don't want what happened to me to happen to you. I'm a software engineer based in the USA and when I came into America newly I thought all my problems have been solved, so I didn't plan very well while in Nigeria. In fact it was when I have landed in America that I started planning my life and re shaping it. I discovered immediately that all this things we used to hear while in Nigeria about the west na film trick. The reality is that things are as TOUGH here as it is in Nigeria.

Finally, I want you to take your time and plan very well. Cross check your facts don't just depend on the advice of people, but try to understand the reason why you want to travel abroad and plan accordingly. This is because people will tell you things from their own perspective and their own perspective might not be your lot. Another thing I want you to know is that at this your stage in life the sky is your starting point if you plan well. I want you to know that there is no way you can plan well without the Master and that's JESUS so I earnestly advice you to pray and believe strongly in God. I believe God is gonna see you true!

Be blessed.

OXCUBA: you never sleep?

Chibenze: you mean till 2019?

Chrylich: "Cortana" don do mistake.. Argentina go beat Belgium?? Impossible!!!

Cortana ko, cantona ni..

Chibenze: when is the bid ending?. Start $8 for all

T-val:
This shud hlp you

T-val:
This guy dey always funny me

folba: Wia u c ojoro
Wia u c ojoro

makkitush: honestly i hate that netherlands team.

Intellab: Oga dotcom_na_me_na_me where i fit exchange my paypal money for naira. I have $61 available.

RealSleek: Afro Pop Artiste “Imelda J” (Her Picture Below) has blasted organizers of BET AWARDS to stop humiliating & treating our Top African Super Stars like “sh7t”.
The Benue Diva whose cousin was among the stage technicians that worked on the BET AWARDS stage, took to her twitter to Divulge top secret on how the international organizers actually made Tiwa Savage and Mafikizolo to perform in an empty rehearsal room used by top American counterparts.

The singer stated that she had it from top accurate source, that all the people Tiwa Savage & Mafikizolo performed for, where technicians, cleaners and workers that worked on the decoration of the BET AWARDS Set and not real fans or audience.

It`s high time BET organizers start taking African Artistes serious and stop making mockery of our “African Superstars”. its better they don`t perform than making them look like “second hand” artistes, she said.

See grabs and more photos below..