Alphadoor:
@Justwise

Here we are again

While I had decided not to feed your frenzy anymore on this issue and posted latest update on visa 489 to 491 on the DIY thread and was planning on breaking down the new law to everyone.
However, you had decided to further your agenda by moving to assassinate my character and discredit my handle, to the extent that you combed through every one of my 960 post on nairaland to find dirt on me and afterwards, you narrowed and clinched on my post from 2017 and proceeded with a ban till 2021 for the travel section and a two days’ general ban via the antispam bot which was invoked by yourself. This action furthers bring your character and power use into question.

I still don’t want to feed your frenzy at this point, because this abuse of power is obviously coming from a deeper place and I will like not be an Alice (wonderland) at this point.

I urge you to kindly retract/delete your statement assassinating and discrediting my character in the shortest time possible and re-instate my handle with full access. I won’t stand cyberbullying.

@goodmemory @embassy4u, I hope you both have a perspicacious response to this line of action

I wonder who is next on the gallows.

This is also my last post on this matter moving forward.
I will not aggrandize your ego and motive with a response anymore.

May you find Peace

-Alphadoor-

I do not understand what your verbose rant is all about.

You wrote on DIY that "Majority has admitted bellong flouted the rules" . Is my position any different from yours? Infact, is this statement of yours not against Bellong's stance that he did not flout any rule?

I do not understand why grown a$$ men will choose to bicker over a matter that would have been solved if we simply chose to respect constituted rules and regulations.

sweetg:
@Goodmemory I don’t think he insulted you.. no one is supporting any one carrying out his duties or breaking laws. But if you have gotten your visa as said, if this thread is closed other new comers like me won’t have access to information and you already have gotten what you want reason for the proverb. Threatening people and insulting people is uncalled for. No one is baby here and because you are a moderator doesn’t mean you should abuse that. Let’s be guided.

So by your logic, the thread should never be closed even if rules are flouted? Are you saying there shouldn't be any consequences for disobeying the rule? The person in question is a mod of the thread and not just an ordinary person hence the impact on the thread itself. Companies have been shut down because the owners of the company disobeyed the government. So because the company has thousands of employees who in turn have thousands of dependants, the government should not enforce the law?

Sometimes I shudder at our way of thinking.

DoDirtsLikeWorm:


$2 said you've gotten your visa?
IGBO Proverb: when a selfish 0ne crosses a bridge, he prays for it to be broken.

I will be watching to see how many contribution you will make from this day onwards.

[/b]

Oh Wow! Do you have to be rude to make your point? Can you not disagree without being disagreeable? I made my point. Why don't you make yours without hurling insults? Shior..smh.

People personalizing this issue are the real problem, not Justwise or Bellong.

Whatever mistakes Justwise made by deleting posts was just a knock-on effect of the criticism he received for threatening to ban Bellong. Justwise and Bellong had a private chat which these critics weren't privy to. So, if the admin, based on the conversation he had decided to go ahead and ban Bellong, why is that too difficult to respect?


The whole situation wouldn't have been this messy if, from the onset, Justwise was allowed to do his job without interference.

Once again, Bellong is a great guy. No one wants his downfall but laws are laws.

While I agree that Bellong’s contribution to this thread has been of tremendous value, we cannot, however, blame Justwise for upholding the rules and doing the right thing. Sometimes, we should be less emotional about how we see things. Have rules been flouted? Yes. Does Justwise have the right to punish if rules are infringed? Yes. So, what is all this fuss?

edkai:
hello Goodmemory. Please assist me with any information you have about those questions in the quoted comment. I've been awaiting your response. Thanks

I think the same info applies to international students but because they do not have full work rights, they are somewhat limited in their choice of jobs. Most of the international students I have seen do Sales reps jobs, , customer service, care, waiter/waitress jobs.

extraterestrial:

Beautiful write-up as always Goodmemory. Just to touch on the subject of accent and fine tuning it, i have heard opposing views as to changing your accent. Some people perceive it as a sign of self esteem issues. Now i am not for or against it. i really just want to know what the majority think.

I quite identify with that feeling. It can be unsettling when you fake accent but as everything that requires sufficient time to learn, it can take a great deal of effort and practice. I also believe some people have the gift of effortlessly micking accent. Example is Trevor Noah.
I have listened to our own Chimamanda Adichie speak clearly in Nigerian accent and no one in her audience has complained about her accent. But you must realize Adichie, at her level will probably have 99.9% correct pronunciation rate.

So, to contribute, if you know it will require a great deal of effort to fake accent, I think you shouldn’t do it. I think that effort should be directed to correct pronunciation. Why fake accent when people do not have difficulty understanding you? “Why fix it if it ain’t broken?”

If you can fake it perfectly, without that feeling of uneasiness, try it. It might be your survival tactic

Australian Experience

One of the biggest challenges new immigrants will face while trying to secure their first job in Australia is the issue of Australian work experience. This one thing has forced many people to abandon their chosen profession for the so-called survival jobs. Others have given up and forced to relocate back to wherever they came from. Can you really blame them?
Savings are getting depleted, bills are there pilling up in a strange land with no family or real friends to fall back on. What do you do? It can be quite frustrating as it is scary. It is worse if you do not come from a wealthy background. Even if you did, you do not want to perpetually rely on them. If you manage to get someone to send N250,000 from Nigeria, that is just a paltry $1000. It cannot even pay your monthly rent! Who will give you N250k in present day Nigeria? So, if it is your intention to migrate to Australia, you really need to come up with a plan and a strategy that will outlive the period of joblessness.

A lot has been said and written on the much-dreaded Australian Experience. Let’s analyse it one more time.
In fairness to the requirement for Australian work experience, there are jobs that indeed require the knowledge of local experience. Majority of them are regulated professions. That’s understandable as a professional who just migrated might truly not fit or perform well on the job if he gets it. He is unfamiliar with codes, standards, bye-laws, etc of the profession which in some instances are country specific. If you are therefore a professional in a regulated industry, you may want to adequately plan for the period when you have to update your skills, write exams, do internship.

To non-regulated professions, several factors contribute to the reasons why Australian work experience is gradually becoming the bane of getting the first employment.
The biggest culprit is recruiting process/structure. Company A needs a Data Analyst and therefore approaches a generalist recruiting agency B. Recruiting agency B has beautiful ladies and guys who know nothing about Data Analysis. The nice, sweet talking lady picks up the CV and starts to look for keywords! She wants to see Australian experience at all cost. After 2mins, she does not see anything Australian, she tosses it into the bin and writes a polite feedback that it has been saved in the database.
Compare that to a scenario where the internal HR department of company A handles the recruitment process. Because they are a Data Analyst Company, the recruitment specialist already understands the concept of data Analysis, though not in-depth. She knows a good CV when she sees one as compared to the robotic generalist whose only skill is reliance on scanning software, keywords and Australian local experience.
What is the lesson here? Target companies directly. When you see job ads from companies, give the application 100% of yourself.
Some companies specifically write it on their job ads that they will not entertain applications from recruiting agencies. I have seen many people bypass the Australian local experience thing by targeting companies as against focusing on recruiting agencies.


Secondly, the Australian experience thing can also be a polite way of expressing reluctance to hire applicants the recruiter perceives may have poor communication skills, especially poor knowledge of oral and written English language. The potential employer is unfairly doubtful of the communication skill level of an applicant whose entire work experience is acquired in a place like Nigeria. Do not forget we are dealing with people whose mind and perception are clouded by media projection of Africa. They have forgotten that outside western Europe, N. America, Australia and N. Zealand, the next place where English is widely spoken is Africa. It is more or less our first language. I cringe at times when I read emails from so called native English speakers. Having said that, making an impression that one’s communication skill is advanced is a first step to crushing that prejudice. A good place to start is the CV. Let your sentences be full, correct and expressive. Avoid typos. A recruiter who sees our complex Nigerian name is already prejudiced, he will be much more when he sees typos. His prejudiced brain would not see errors as mistakes, rather it would be interpreted as poor knowledge of English. Read and re-read your CV. There were instances I discovered errors on my CV after it had been used a thousand times. I would be like, OMG! How in this world did I miss this?
I personally think it is the responsible of the sender to make sure the receiver understands the message he (sender) is passing across. So, considering this, effort should be directed to writing with minimal typos. Orally, efforts should be made to learn correct pronunciation of words.
A speaker who pronounces words correctly will be easily understood even though he speaks with a non-native English accent. Spend more time learning pronunciation rather than accent.
Some people soften their naija accent by trying to speak like oyinbo. That on its own isn’t wrong. Do not mind our people back home who laugh at fake accent. If they had seen your sorry look struggling to be understood in a boardroom full of white men, they would not be there laughing at accent. What is the essence of communication if the recipient of the message cannot understand what you are saying and if there is a way to make them understand, do it.
A friend once told me about his embarrassing interview. He couldn’t hear what the interviewers were saying, and they also couldn’t hear what he was saying. He kept saying “pardon me?” They also kept saying “pardon me?”
Fake it if you have to. To oyinbos, you aren’t faking it, you are communicating well. That is why a Chinese who relocated to Australia 5 years ago speaks clearly with a stint of Aussie Accent and a Nigerian who relocated 15 years ago is still struggling to get understood.
Don’t worry, your naija accent is still intact. Use it when you see fellow Nigerians or when you are back home… hahaha
Lesson here is: improve your communication skill. Employers might overlook Australian Work experience requirement if you write and speak well.


Thirdly, the concept of local experience has been slightly watered down to mean different things and the term and usage are often loosely used. To some, it is a filter for lack of Australian qualification, to others, it is a filter for lack of Australian work experience indeed. To some people, it is a sieve to disqualify people with deficiency in oral and written communication.
Knowing that fact, anything that will make one’s CV speak “Australian” will be helpful.
Start now by looking at courses you can do online before you arrive. There are heaps of cheap online Australian education providers. Try short courses too, if you can afford them. Be prepared to do volunteer work if need be but be very careful it does prevent you from attending interviews or any other activities that could land you your proper job.


Fourthly, read up and apply for jobs through the various inclusion programs and trainings. One of such inclusion programs is the Jesuit Social Services. They offer trainings, internships and workplace inclusion programs. Many Africans, especially ladies got their first jobs through the program. Here is the link:

https://jss.org.au/what-we-do/education-training-and-employment/workplace-inclusion-programs/.

https://www.nab.com.au/about-us/corporate-responsibility/our-people/african-australian-employment

Fifthly, this one is quite intuitive. Another way to bypass the Australian work experience requirement is to specifically target jobs in the same profession but at a lower level. For example, if you are a senior data analyst, apply for junior data analyst or just data analyst jobs. The interviewer/employer might waive the Australian job requirement for a solid overseas experience if you are willing to start from a lower level. This in my opinion is a fair trade off.

Lastly, Australian work experience is just what it means, work experience. The job ad says you must have local experience. My advice is, do not let that discourage you. What happens if they cannot get anyone locally? They will either have to headhunt a resource oversees or source for one locally. The former is more expensive. So ignore the Australia work experience requirement and apply for the job joo.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers in the house. Thanks for juggling work with care for hubby, kids, home in a country where hiring a housemaid is near impossible.

afosahid:
I found your initial response to my post quite condescending and judging from your numerous posts here, I would expect you to know better.

Dear Afosahid,
Do not take it personal. My post was not an indictment on you. This is an avenue to air our different opinions and views on issues and there was no where I was condescending in any way.
On many occasions, after writing, I ask for opinions and even ask for corrections where I am wrong. I am new in Australia and still learning.

If you feel I am offensive, sorry bro(or sis).

afosahid:
Good thing i started my write-up with if you look at every situation from a prism of racism....

Honest Question... can a black person be startled if he sees a white man in the most unexpected place like in a ministry office or anywhere else for that matter, especially if he has never seen one walk through that building for as long as he has been working there? Does that mean he doesn't know of the existence of the white man or the fact that we have thousands of them living and working freely all over black countries?

I quite agreed with you his actions might not be racist. It cannot be discriminatory as well as you did not even have any interaction. Please check my last sentence.

There is a huge difference between surprise and startle. You used the word FROZE and even in Caps. Freeze means "become suddenly motionless or paralyzed with fear or shock". I do not know of any black man that will freeze on seeing a white man in a most unexpected place. At most they might be pleasantly surprised on seeing one. Comparing Nigeria with Australia on this issue is a wrong analogy. Nigeria is a homogeneous society with 99% of the population black. It is justifiable if a Nigerian is surprised and even startled when he sees a white man. Moreso, in terms of residency and spread, most white people in Nigeria live in designated suburbs and posh hotels far from majority of black people in Nigeria. On the other hand, Australia is a heterogeneous society, (at least the big cities) where black people and white live in same suburbs, work in same cbd, shop in the same mall etc. If therefore after all these, someone FROZE or is STARTLED on seeing a black person unexpectedly, then that person might have unconsciously reacted to it based on what he thinks about black people.

This calls for sober reflection on our race and how we see ourselves as a people if in 2019, a human being sees another human being in an office environment for that matter and gets startled or scared.
While I cannot question how individuals choose to react to situations, I think there is need to start looking at where we are coming from and where we are going as black people.
The act on its own is not as important as what prompted it. The white guy has in his deep-seated subconscious mind programmed that black people are a danger, a threat, so, when he saw a one in an unfamiliar space and time, his suspicion came into play. I have personally had about two encounters like that too. One on occasion, the white guy apologized. He himself must have been embarrassed. For Goodness sake, its 2019, black people are everywhere. In our lifetime, we have seen a black man become the world most powerful man. We have seen influencers and achievers like Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson, Neil DeGrasse, Ben Carson etc.

While I agree it might not be a racist act, it is not a sight I will be proud to capture on camera for the fun of it as a black man. Thanks

ideamaster:


Nice one. I like long distance trips. Is it dual carriageway all thru between Sydney and Melbourne?

Yes it is a dual carriageway all through.
You are right about the Kangaroos hopping out at dawn or dusk. They are nocturnal in nature, so are very active during the night.
We saw more dead ones on the return trip from Sydney to Melbourne. They must have been killed by vehicles the night before or at the wee hours of that morning.

grandstar:
Do the criminal stigma attached to South Sudanese youths especially, does it rub off on other blacks?

It all depends on who you meet.
To an extreme far right winger, it does not matter if you are Sudanese or Nigerian, he hates all blacks.
A liberal minded (leftist) who is well traveled might know the difference. Though that on its own makes me sad at times when non-blacks play the "You are different from the Sudanese" card. On such instances, I defend the Sudanese. I am an African after all.

Mzally:
Hello house,

My family and I have our PR and we are planning to relocate in Dec. For those living in Sydney how easy is it to secure a good school for kids of age 6 and 8 years. Wouldn't it be too late to get a good school assuming we arrive in December 15th.

I think it depends on the date of birth of your kids.
There are some good info here:

https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/enrol-nsw-public-primary-school

bellong:


Ok. Well, at least you tried and it extends the payment period. If you want, you can choose to pay in installments like $50/month.

Good trip you had. I am hoping in the very near future, I will be able to travel round the country in a caravan. I have only done Sydney - Adelaide, Adelaide - Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney and[b] Adelaide - Perth.[/b]

Hopefully I can find people who will be interested in doing the country tour to move in a group.

Thanks Bellong.

I doff my hat to you on the Adelaide-Perth trip. Google says it's 2,697 km. That's no small distance.
Count me in too for any of such long trips.

Sydney V Melbourne

Potential migrants are often faced with the difficult choice of Sydney or Melbourne. In my estimate, the probability of moving to either Sydney or Melbourne is 40% each. Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane share the remaining 20%.
I do not know if I am qualified to write on the difference between Sydney and Melbourne as I only spent 1 week in Sydney, but I will try and present an unbiased view of both cities. I will also rely on contributors who have lived substantially in both cities to correct me wherever my views are inaccurate.
For the purpose of this exercise, I will give a 1 to the winner and 0 to the loser. Please note the 0 point does not represent an absent of that factor in a city, rather it is only a relative score.

JOBS – Sydney 1 Melbourne 0
I am tempted to make this area a tie between Sydney and Melbourne, but I think it will not be fair to Sydney if I did so. A quick search of the keyword “accounting” on www.seek.com.au returned 5,841 jobs for Sydney and 4,052 for Melbourne. This is particularly close. A second search for the keyword “Engineering” returned 5,081 for Sydney and 4,016 jobs for Melbourne. Once again, a 0 does not represent difficulty in getting a job in Melbourne, it is merely a comparison between number of jobs in Melbourne and Sydney. Having said that, you can see the returns are close so either choice is a good one.

SALARY - Sydney 1 Melbourne 0
According to Numbeo, average monthly salary after tax in Sydney is 5,179.21 A$ while that of Melbourne is 4,556.03 A$ (April 2019). Remember, these are just average values.

COST OF LIVING - Sydney 1 Melbourne 1
This is a tie as the cost of living is a function of average salaries earned. While cost of living is higher in Sydney, salaries are higher too so it evens out. See the link below.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Australia&city1=Melbourne&country2=Australia&city2=Sydney

TRANSPORTATION - Sydney 0 Melbourne 1
This is one area where Melbourne wins hands down. Moving from point A to B is quite easier in Melbourne as it operate trains, tram and buses as against Sydney’s trains and buses.


FOOD AND CULTURE - Sydney 0 Melbourne 1
Melbourne has on several occasions won the Most Liveable City in the world. Melbourne is known as Australia’s coffee capital. Asian and European cuisines are also everywhere. It is often said Melbourne has great restaurants but Sydney great pubs. As a Nigerian, I doubt if this will have any effect on your lifestyle as we are traditionally lovers of naija food. (smiles)

SPORTS - Sydney 0 Melbourne 1
Most Aussies claim, though ignorantly that Melbourne is the sport capital of the world! While this may be far-fetched, I think when compared to Sydney, it takes the upper hand. Formula One Grand Prix, Australian Tennis Open, AFL Grand Final are some of the major sporting events in Melbourne. So if you are a sport lover, Melbourne is the place to be.

WEATHER - Sydney 1 Melbourne 0
This is a subjective one. Some people prefer a cold weather to a warm one. Melbourne is colder than Sydney. Melburnians say there are 4 seasons in one day. In Melbourne, it’s 5 degrees in the morning, 32 degrees in the afternoon and 10 degrees in the night with lots of rain. One day, maximum temp is 35 degrees, the next, it’s a high of 18 degrees, so temperatures fluctuate in Melbourne.
Temperatures are relatively warmer and more stable in Sydney.

ROAD NETWORK AND URBAN PLANNING - Sydney 0 Melbourne 1
I wish I could give Melbourne 2 points here because it wins hands down! The roads network in Sydney are horrible. Very narrow, undulating and confusing. To me, the planning of the roads looks more like an after-thought. There are also many roads sign warnings and visible traffic cops. In Melbourne, you can drive months without sighting a traffic patrol.

SAFETY - Sydney 1 Melbourne 0
To Nigerians who are moving to Australia, you might not see the difference in this regard. Australia is safe and you can sleep with your eyes closed in both cities. However, lately there have been concerns about cyclist gangs (Middle eastern extraction) and African gang violence in Melbourne. Even though the organized African gang thing was the creation of the media, there is still some elements of violence among the Sudanese youths.
Having said that, both cities are safe, and you can walk anytime of the day without fear of being mugged.
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Australia&city1=Melbourne&country2=Australia&city2=Sydney

GENERAL FEEL - Sydney 0 Melbourne 1
Melbourne is pretty laid-back when compared to Sydney. Sydneysiders seem to be more in a hurry. They hardly maintain eye contacts. At a time, I felt it was good in some ways as that was different from the crazy stares in Melbourne. On second thoughts, I realized most of the people I met were tourists who do not really care where you came from. Then I went to the suburbs and the staring started. This is a subjective one, but I personally think Melburnians are generally nicer and more approachable than Sydneysiders, so my point goes to Melbourne

Total Sydney 5/10 - Melbourne 6/10

A week before Easter, we decided on a trip to Sydney. Flight tickets for a family of 4 was a record high especially because it was close to Easter holidays. The alternative was to drive. Drive 870km? We immediately booked a room in a hotel in the CBD just 2km away from the Harbour.
We set out at 4:00am and by 8:00am just before sunrise, we had covered about 400km. It is generally my practice when doing long distance trips to set out very early so I can at least cover at least half or two-third before sunrise. It helps prevent fatigue caused by heat and humidity.
There are rest areas regularly spaced along the highway. Some of the rest areas have amenities such as restaurants, toilets, enough space to walk around and stretch your legs. Etc.
We got to Sydney at about 2:00pm. The whole journey took about 10 hours with two stops of 30 minutes each. Surprisingly, we were not tired. Why should we be anyway? The road was good (Not one pothole on an 850km stretch) and car suspension was good. Then it dawned on me the reason it feels like a hammer has been used on your body joints when you travel from Lagos to Abuja(750km) is because of the condition of the road and public transport.
We immediately changed into other clothes and headed for the Harbour. It was simply breathtaking and for a moment, I was envious of my naija folks in Sydney. The Harbour dwarfs Melbourne’s Yarra River by every bit of the imagination.
After a week in Sydney, we felt we had seen enough. I think there are more to see in Sydney than in Melbourne. The Harbour, the Bridge, Seal Life Aquarium, Bondi beach, Ferry trip on the harbour etc. We also visited 4 of the wealthiest suburbs in Sydney. I wasn’t shopping for a house there oo. (Lol).
The return trip was smoother. We left the hotel at 3am and by 1pm we were in the house in Melbourne.
For those who might be curious to know, see the info below:
1. Total cost of fuel – AUD 250(To and fro, Sydney local trips inclusive)
2. There are constant warning signs urging drivers to take a powernap. This is really a great safety measure. It prevents dozing.
3. The biggest hazard were animals crossing the road. We lost count of killed kangaroos on the road. You must be very careful.
4. Get enough munchies and drinks. It might also help to play your favourite playlist of songs you haven’t listened to in a while. They will keep you awake. Before we left Melbourne, I burnt on a cd 200 oldies. So, if one is 3mins long, 200 songs would play for 600mins(10hours!).
5. There are Safe T-Cams which are basically cameras that record vehicle number plates as they pass. The system calculates travel time taken between two points.
If the actual travel time is less than the allowable time for that journey, one might find oneself in trouble. So be careful.

@ Bellong

Feedback on traffic fine.

I wrote them but they declined to waive it. They reiterated that driving through the red light was a grave offence and quoted all the sections in the manual etc.

So, I have no option but to pay.

bellong:


Send an email to the address included in the ticket. Explain what happened, try to give a convincing reason on why you had to move at the time

Goodluck.

I will do that.Thank you.. Much appreciated

bellong:


Have you paid the fine?

Is it your first ticket?

No I have not paid it.

It is my first ticket.

Got slapped $403 fine and 3 demerits points for driving 0.9 secs through a red light. I never knew driving through a red light incurred so much penalty.
Was rushing to pick up my kids.

Penny wise, Pound foolish. huh?

https://www.camerassavelives.vic.gov.au/fines-penalties/fine-amounts-demerit-points

.

Hi folks.
One area about job search which I would advise potential migrants and possibly landed ones is the area of acquiring and strengthening one’s skills. A weak CV won’t get the applicant interviews.

One key skill that almost cuts across all disciplines is the knowledge of Microsoft Office. Accounting, bookkeeping, engineering, business analysis, HR, project management, property management, customer service etc. all require a good knowledge of MS office especially spreadsheet. (Excel). An advanced to expert knowledge of excel can separate two job applicants with same qualification and years of experience.

The level at which these tools are used in developed countries are probably in the advanced to expert level, so it will really be good if we can improve our skills in this area.

A good place to start is ordering a course on Udemy. www.udemy.com

Udemy has thousands of online courses from beginner to expert stage. There are also specialized courses like Pivot Table, Charts, Macros etc. Some of the courses are expensive but towards the end of the month or during holidays or special days, prices are discounted to $10! Take advantage of the never-ending sale on Udemy. A downloadable PDF copy of the certificate is available on completion of a course. You can also download the courses to your PC by using an add-in Firefox called Video Downloadhelper. If you do not know how to do it, let me know.

Some courses are 5 hours long, which means you are just 5 hours away from learning new skills that will make a great difference on your CV.

Guys who are familiar with online training platforms can suggest other ones. I only use Udemy

rs172:







At the bolded, i think there should always be recording devices with guys,so it could be use as defence when such accusation come.

It an opinion.

There is the legality part of recording without the consent of the other person. The evidence may not be admissible in court if the consent was not sought. I am not sure of Australia but I know in some states in the US, you need the consent of one party, surprisingly, that person might be yourself, the one who is recording...hahaha

A lot has been written about getting a job, settling down in general but little has said on dating in Australia. This is understandable as majority of the immigrants from Nigeria are married and therefore has no reasons to go into that subject.

But there are still some single men and women from Nigeria who have migrated to Australia or are planning on doing so who will benefit from our insight and advice on this subject.

While getting a job, graduating from school etc top the priority list of most immigrants, their social life will inevitably follow when all these have been dealt with and naturally they have to move up the triangle of Maslow’s hierarchical needs.
You are well settled. So what next?

How it affects Men
Someone jokingly said when it comes to dating in Australia, two things are involved. if you are man, you are safe. If you are a woman two things are involved. In as much as I share that sentiment, there are still some grey areas worth looking at and dating for single men is still hard compared to what obtains back home. Studies have shown that interracial racial dating and marriages are on the increase, but it is largely skewed in favour of black men when compared to black women. Caucasian women are more open minded to interracial dating than their male counterpart. Some of the reasons attributed to that are the following:

1. Family orientated culture. A large percentage of white women who date black men admire parts of the African culture which promotes the man to the status of bread winner. Black men are seen as strong, protective and financially more liberal than their Caucasian counterparts.

2. The African American influence. Influence of African Americans in Hollywood cannot be overemphasized. Irresistibly handsome Denzel Washington (my wife’s crush.lol), Terrence Howard, strong and tall Lebron James, Michael Jordan are a few of such men. Their swag, cool way of walking, unique dress sense etc are some of the mannerisms that draw Caucasian women to black men.

3. Some Caucasian women think, though erroneously, that all black men are well endowed with Ray J size of tool.

Nice as it sounds, you are not likely to get women falling over you as you walk the street because to majority of Caucasian women, their preference remains Caucasian men. If you are in your late 20s and 30s you will be surprised at how much attention you will get from 45-60-year-old Caucasian women! If you don’t care, good for you, if you do care, it becomes an issue. It remains a subject of research to reveal why most Caucasian women wait till they are in their middle age before they develop interest in black men!
So, for my Nigerian bros who are single and are planning to move to Australia, note it is not like Nigeria where you would have different girls each day of the weekend. Lol.
You might also struggle to find real love as some women’s intention is to objectify you.

There isn’t much difference attempting to date black women in Australia. Melbourne/Sydney have a very small population of Africans. Majority of them are Sudanese, Ethiopians, Somalians. Unfortunately, these set of people hardly date outside of their “race”. You are left with possibly Kenyans, Ugandans and Zimbabweans. Unconfirmed reports have it that these last set of African ladies prefer Caucasians men to brothers because of the flawed belief that Caucasian men are more romantic than African men. So, bro, if you are thinking of ditching that lovely girlfriend of yours in Nigeria simply because you are relocating to Australia, think twice, it is not as easy as that.




How it affects Women
Just as black men suffer from racism when it comes to being perceived as threats, black women are worst hit when it comes to open-mindedness in inter racial dating. In a survey conducted by Colorado university, majority of the respondents (white)placed black women at the bottom of their preference list. This is fuelled by age-long bias on the definition of beauty.
Caucasian men’s definition of beauty has been largely in favour of white women’s features. Not minding the current trend of blackfishing, they still consider long and silky, blonde hair, slim/slender physique etc as standard of beauty. They carefully exclude features such as big backside, full lips that are missing in white women as non-attractive. Has anyone ever questioned why beauty pageant is exclusively for slim girls, even in Africa where a substantial number of men find plus size, heavily featured women attractive?

Another reason why Caucasians men still find it reluctant to date black women is the unfair claim that majority of black women are “ghetto”, unrefined, loud and aggressive. Their judgement is tainted by media projection of African American women. This is an unfair generalization of millions of sweet, hardworking, level headed black women out there. Whatever their (Caucasian men) position is on black women’s beauty, it does not invalidate the fact that black women are the most beautiful, attractive, hardworking and considerate among races of women. This my opinion and I am entitled to it.
Sisters might also struggle to find brothers in Australia for the simple reasons that some brothers’ preference remain Caucasian women. It is considered a thrilling experience among some African men to date the great granddaughters of slave masters and colonisers. Little wonder why it is still seen a status symbol to date Caucasian women and flaunt it.

I know my naija women like naija men. (smiles). I know some Nigerian women who cannot touch other African nationals with a 5m pole. On one occasion, we were introduced to a Zambian guy whose wife is Nigerian. All the Nigerian ladies in the gathering cringed and hush fell on the gathering when she mentioned her hubby was Zambian. They would not have reacted that way if the lady was Zambian and the man Nigerian! So, if you are coming with the intention of dating only Nigerian guys, you might be in for a shock as there are few Nigerians here and when you finally meet one, the fact that you are a Nigerian lady may not be enough motivation for him to date you. Nigerian men are not as “patriotic” as the women, so they date anyone from anywhere.
Do not get me started on Asian men….



In conclusion,
1. Do not be quick to dump your girlfriend/boyfriend in Nigeria simply because you are moving to Australia. Dating in Australia is still largely divided across racial lines. I know the distance is far, it would be a good idea to keep tab on him/her back home while hoping one day you will bring him/her over here.

2. Everything I have said above is broad generalization. If you are single be open minded. Who knows, a Vietnamese/Indonesian/Aussie/Nigerian lady or man might be waiting for you here.





NB
Be very careful when it comes to turning down advances from women in the so-called first world countries. Caucasian women have been known to take rejection from black men very badly. A lot of men have been sent to jail from “harassment” and “rape” that never happened. Guys please be careful.

@Tyosho


Thanks sis. We will also like to meet you guys. Your posts earlier in the tread were of tremendous help to everybody.

I will pm you.

extraterestrial:

O yea I agree definitely I think we will earn the respect of the wider community if we build our economy and are self sustaining. Let them invest in Nigeria first please

Realityshot & Extraterrestial

There is no hint in the write-up that suggests businessmen/politicians shouldn't invest in Nigeria. I only mentioned investment in Australia within the narrow context of gaining respect and helping immigrants in Australia.

Businessmen can invest in Nigeria, Australia or anywhere in the world. Proceeds and profits (in dollars) will be injected into Nigerian economy.

I completely agree with you that investing in Nigeria is very important and I think it probably should have been number 1 on the list. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

A lot has been said and written on the issue of racism in Australia. Most of the write-ups have come from non-Africans, usually Indians and Islanders and sometimes, but rarely, blacks who aren’t Africans. I believe racism/stereotypical behaviors towards these set of people might be different depending on the circumstances.
Personally, I feel Australians do not deserve the bad image which they have earned internationally as a racist country. It may have been because of the way and manner the Aboriginal people were treated or the growing concern about increased migration into Australia. In a survey, Australia, was ranked top as one of the most tolerant countries while India is ranked as the least tolerant country.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/?utm_term=.4b318d97beda

In another survey by economic and trading group, Insider Monkey, India again ranked top country where people are racially least tolerant. Australia is not even on the list of racially intolerant countries.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/116644/the-most-racist-countries-in-the-world/

This is not an attempt to downplay racism in Australia. It is alive and well. However, what you will experience here is different from what immigrants in Canada, the USA, or the UK experience daily. For example, you may witness commuters not wanting to sit next to you in public transport, people going back to their car on seeing you, to check if their car door is safely locked, pedestrians changing lanes on sighting you from afar etc. the number and frequency is just the same whether you are in Vancouver, BC Canada, Texas in the US , Manchester in the UK or Melbourne in Australia. These acts are not on their own conclusively pointing to racism as a second meaning might be read to them. Pedestrian changing lanes might be doing it genuinely, commuters sometimes prefer standing to sitting, etc. Please note I am not holding briefs for perpetrators of racism.

As someone who has lived in a western country for 10 years before relocating to Australia, I can tell you one thing you will witness. Supremacy mentality. Superiority complex is pervasive in any first world countries or any nation with predominantly Caucasian population.
The average white person feels genetically superior to the next black person until circumstances prove him otherwise. A homeless guy, a slowpoke and a never-do-well feel they are better than a black person who is perhaps a medical doctor. Remember we are dealing with 400 odd years, age-long mentality.
Superiority complex will daily confront you at work, during social interactions etc.


As an African, here’s my top 4 ways that will help minimize racism. Some of them are long term approach but I think they have to happen before racism can be reduced.

Awareness
The first step to defeating any problem is having an awareness of the problem. Knowing the full strength of the problem helps to access the strategy and tactics to deal with the problem. Knowing your rights is another form of having awareness.
We need to be able to recognize tell-tale signs of racism. If convinced you are racially abused, call out the perpetrator and seek justice in Australian Human Rights Commission.
https://www.humanrights.gov.au.
Unfortunately, Black people are not known to escalate issues like this as they are quick to forgive people who racially abuse them. The fact is, you can forgive and still take your abuser to court. That has nothing to do with your religious instruction to forgive.

Black people should stick together
I do not advocate black people should create their own enclave and live there. I mean black people should learn to cooperate with themselves. We are quick to say “I avoid fellow Africans wherever I go because of my previous experience with them”. What I want to know is do you also avoid white people and Asians because of your experience in their hands? I doubt, otherwise you would have moved back to naija. Why are we quick to forgive other races and hold eternal grudges against people that look like us? Why are we quick to befriend others and reluctant to be friends with our own? As an example: My kids were the only black kids in the school until this school term when another black kid, a Nigerian for that matter, joined them. The principal of the school had told us about the new kid, so we were looking forward to meeting them.
On the day we finally met, we were given a cold shoulder by the parents of the kid. We thought maybe they were introverts and were the type that reluctantly warmed up to strangers. Well, after several failed attempts to talk to them, we gave up. We hardly even say ‘hi” to each other anymore. What message do you think both of us had sent to other races in that school? To minimize racism, the culture of self-hate among black people has to stop.
When a people are united, it is hard for others to disrespect them. Are you the type who feels happy when he is told by other races “you are not like others”? If you were, then you need to know they (other races) are playing divide and rule on you.

Let’s start taking over
How do you expect others to respect us when we are constantly rocking the bottom of the social ladder of any society? How will others respect us when our target are jobs that pay minimum wages but because of exchange rate to Naira and other African currencies, we are proud to label it “good money”. Why do we always think so small? Why is it that the only business Africans run is a tiny African shop that caters for only Africans? An Indian moves to Australia. He is accommodated by his friends. He saves up money, teams up with friends and they buy 7-Eleven franchise. He employs and brings in 5 more people from India to work in the 7-Eleven shop. The white guy who goes into that Indian owned 7-Eleven is bound to respect because he knows they are visibly contributing to the Australian economy. The cold fact of life is no one respects an economically backward people. There was a time when Caucasians used to look down on Chinese, but today it is classy to go to Chinese restaurants and it is also a sign of sophistication to eat with chopsticks! Let’s start dominating wherever we find ourselves. If you have the capital or resources or know rich politicians back home, convince them to start investing in Australia. There are lots of opportunities in real estate and other businesses. Trust me, you can never imagine the impact it would have on our beautiful race and its people. Let’s cultivate the habit of selflessness.
I thank the moderator, creators and the selfless contributors on Living in Australia and A Guide to Permanent Residency in Australia on Nairaland. These platforms have assisted a lot of people and is continuing to assist thousands of people. That is what we are talking about. I benefited immensely from these threads. Ironically, some people who have benefited are the ones who are mute now after receiving the PR and are settled in Australia. Let’s us learn to share information just like other races.

Be firm and assertive
You are on the train and someone racially abuses you. What are you going to do? Sit there and smile? Hell no! Calmly but firmly give it back to him. Watch your words though so you do not in anger racially abuse him too and you know what? They will not hesitate to sue you at the drop of a pin. If possible, use your phone to record the encounter so you can have evidence that will be presented when you approach human rights commission later.
At work, being assertive is good because it is a proactive approach. If they know you don’t take nonsense, they are less likely to say things that will annoy you.

Having said all these, racism in Australia is not as bad as people say. Most Australians are friendly. On the street, no one cares what you look like and in the offices and workplaces, there are strong laws that prevent people from discrimination.
The people who complain the most are the ones who are guilty of it. They are the people whose country are ranked No. 1 on the list of racially intolerant countries.

Racism is probably worse in the US compared to Australia, so guys if you are thinking of moving to Australia, please come over and have fun!

Nigerians in Melbourne, here's an event to look forward to

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/best-of-africa-live-stand-up-comedy

Part 2 – Kid’s school

There is a periodic parent/teacher meeting. In most schools in Australia, you have to book online a time session with your kid’s teacher. It’s usually for 15 minutes. In those 15 minutes, you will have the opportunity to discuss with the educator your child’s progress in school. For some weird reasons, I notice they expect parents to do more than the teachers. After discussing your kids academic progress, do not forget to ask how he’s faring socially. Ask the teacher if your kid has friends or not. Note: Australian teachers won’t expressively say your child isn’t socializing well. You will only pick the negative answer from his reluctance to answer the question. When it starts with “hmmmm…”, just know you have to start paying attention to his social life. While I agree that it is the responsibility of the teacher to make sure kids socialize, I want to say parents should share in that responsibility too. I will tell you what I did on one instance. It was Teachers’ Day. I put a call across to the admin department of my kids’ school and requested to speak with the principal. When she picked it, I introduced myself and I said “I want to specially thank you and all your teachers in the school for the tremendous work you are doing. My son has made giant stride in a short time. Happy Teachers’ Day.” For some minutes, she was dumbfounded. She said. Wow! “We haven’t received this call in a while”. She thanked me, and we exchanged pleasantries.
When I showed up in the school later that day to pick my kids, I was the star of the day. Teachers thronged me in appreciation of the call. I’m sure my kids would be proud of their dad and other kids would be envious of them. We are immigrants and people around here go about with agelong stereotypes. We therefore should do more (unfortunately, but it is what it is) to break it, in as much as Nigeria isn’t getting things right and we intend to make Australia home for now.

Wife occasionally takes a leave day at work, so she can volunteer to help school sort out and rearrange books. I might be wrong, but I think all these send messages to the school that we care about the kids as much as other parents care about their kids and as such cannot be messed with. It also sends a message to potential bullies.

Seniors, I will be happy to read about your experience in this regard too.

Wesrene:
Which state are u...pls what's your advice on visa 190 and 489

I am in Melbourne, Victoria.

190
https://archive.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/190-


189
https://archive.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/189-

489
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/skilled-regional-provisional-489

189 is the most flexible of the 3 in that it there's no restriction in location. You can live anywhere in Australia. 190, you have to live in the nominated state for 2 years before you can move elsewhere.
I'm guessing you are an engineer so I will recommend 189 or 190,if your nominated state is NSW, Victoria and WA. Those are the states where you would easily find employment as an engineer.