₦airaland Forum

Treadway:
lol OK. Respond truthfully as God is your witness, Yes or No bro. If Trump, had said on a podcast that 'if you dont vote for me, you aint white or christian enough' would you have considerd that just playful informal talk, or would you have once again heard another reason why the guy is a no-good divisive piece of shittt?

Hehe.. would add to the long list of other sly and despicable remarks he's made and be more difficult to forgo. Just like Nigel Farage calling Kamela a 'black-African woman' or Buhari and his 'dogs and baboon' statement.

Forget talk. Do you support Kamela's stand on LGBTQ issues or Tim W's stand on abortion issues?

AgentXxx:
Make Una help me jubilate oo,
As Oga Lexus once said “the more years you spent driving the Nigeria roads, the more lessons and trainings you would need to pass unless you are among the few lucky ones. 😂

Hehe.. Big congrats.

Forget luck, lemme ask, what caused the 5 failed practical attempts?
You wouldn't blame 9ja for the faild theory attempts.

Interesting article for a weekend read. ( https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/09/12/low-skilled-migrants-cost-taxpayers-150000-each/ ) Not a fan of grading humans according earning but putting numbers might help adress the often regurgitated tripe against us. Need to look beyond the initial clickbaity anti-immigrant Telegraph heading

Fist oddity is the representation of the low wage migrant worker but none for the low-wage British worker. I assume it was too gory to include on the graph. The average Brit has already costs the state almost 500k by the time they get to their mid-20's. Goes to butress a point I made earlier that in assessing the benefit of a low wage immigrant, one needs to also factor in the cost for the nation to produce an equivalent replacement (if available) or additional costs of labour shortage to the system.
An average earning migrant coming in at 25y is like handing the UK a cheque of £450k (equivalent replacement) + >12k (visa fees) + ? 20-50k (uni fee if a student) + benefit of that person not being able to claim public funds for at least 5 yrs during which they must work and keep contributing.

Treadway:
Jedisco

Blacks, if you don't vote for me you ain't black enough - Biden 2020. How's that for divisiveness? Apologised a year later, but hypocritical much ain't it?

......

Hehe.. I see your point. Let's not too belabour it so you don't finish me with too much 'research'.

Looked up the video of Biden making that statement to appreciate the context. ( https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2020/may/22/joe-biden-charlamagne-you-aint-black-trump-video ). I saw your post defending Trump against unfair media reportage between him and a black reporter and compared that to the statement Biden made jokingly to an interviewer at the an informal interview.

Racism has far evolved beyond overt barndoor seperate public spaces ish we had decades ago. So asking for proof (I.e waiting for him to call a black person a n**ga) is only a tip. What's more telling is to recognise whats unsaid, the true meaning of whats said, underlying nuances and patterns. It's like asking me for evidence on Nigel Farage or painting him as a defender of migrants. Even in Nigeria with tribalism and Buhari's history, many didn't bother and still voted him- they said afterall his supposed cook was from another part of the country.

I see you dodged the lgbtq and anti-abortion stance. Don't you consider those important?

lavida001:
Na 10k for deposit be my target as we speak. Rent money is truly dead body money 🤣

Lol... we need to up those numbers.

10k kwa? Might go far in some parts of the north for 'room and parlour' property except you're going for 95% mortgage. Double it and targets get more interesting

malali:
You have raised good points.
Our main problem lies in the inefficiencies of our systems in place
The same issues that killed NNPC is still alive and it poses an existential threat to Dangote refinery
Dont forget Dangote refinery is limited by downstream and midstream activities, which he has not control over.
Refining is just one step. Nigeria as a whole has to genuinely fight corruption, budgetary inflationary expenditure, corruption,lack of accountability by government officials and rule of law enforcement.
Not until we fix all these socioeconomic ills, nothing will work......Not even Dangote refinery.

We were able to attain self-sufficiency in cement production despite all that. No country is without challenges.

Yeah, there are challenges but they would only be solved by putting in effort and not raising hands, doing nothing and waiting for someone to come solve our problem while we export our jobs and our population languishes in poverty.

Dangote refinery is already working despite all those issues. We also have other local businesses e.g Air Peace trying their best. It can be frustrating but the solution is not to ask them to shut down until Nigeria fixes all the problems you listed. They need our support and we should push them to do better.

Kenn55:
I struggle to understand why some of us immigrants support a con man like Trump. Have you guys listened to his MAGA base like Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and other of his surrogates and see the kind of venom that comes out of their mouth? MAGA is not about policy, it is about " white grievances " and you guys are being used without knowing.

Hehe... it's largely down to lgbtq and abortion issues. Don't be surprised if Reform proposes to strip all non-white folks of their British citizenship and at the same time proposes an anti-abortion/lgbtq stand some of our people would consider supporting them based on the later.


When you listen to those mentioned folks, you see most of their anti-illegal immigration stuff is a smoke screen. Their main concern is the changing demography and increasing attainment of minorities. They then go on to paint previous decades before this change as some utopia to rally their fan base so they can 'make America/UK/AUS/Can great again. Yes, I don't support uncontrolled undocumented immigration but as we've seen with the recent UK election campaign and riots, to many of these nut heads, any non-white person = illegal immigrant.

Treadway:
......

Anyway, I agree that Harris benefitted more from the debate in terms of being who is likely winning some new people to her side...can't say the same for Trump, cos not many are as knowledgeable or objective about the nuances playing out here as I am, for example. Only thing I've seen Harris contribute in 4 years is junketing around the world being a champ for lgbtqrstuvw and all that BS. She can champion and strengthen that group specifically, but no such initiatives for the black community for example.

Are you sure your main issue with her doesn't stem from the bolded?... plus some abortion issues

Hehe.. you've done your research I can see. I'd hazard a guess and say that some of that 'research' might point to Kamala being backed by globalists/one-world order and illuminati

Treadway:
..... I hear you and understand you, but I'm just not a bandwagon fella, and I know this, ask just about anyone who is suffering from Trump derangement syndrome (as I like to call it) why/how Trump is a racist or bad for America, and all you will hear is incoherent babble, you won't get a rational or sensible response ....

Is it that you can't see that someone who is that divisive is not the best choice for a multicultural society like the U.S? There's room for healthy disagreement bit such divisiveness is unhealthy

It's like saying you've done your research and Nigel Farage is the best candidate for PM.

malali:
I am not saying that.If Scotland can find it cheaper to import.
Why do we think it will be cheaper to refine in Nigeria ?
Scotland is a first world country, with minimal corruption compared to Nigeria
With a lot of technical expertise, yet they said it was cheaper to import.
My point is refinery doesn't guarantee cheaper prices than importation in "Nigeria."
Forget what the government is saying, they are just saying it to make Nigerians excited.

Have you considered cost of labour? Also the availability of raw crude, local market, exchange rate differential e.t.c?
Many western nations have a fairly stable or declining population plus the introduction of electric vehicles and better efficiency means less demand for crude.
How does that compare with Nigeria- a country of over 200million which is rapidly expanding? Even western nations are using sanctions to stop cheap imports killing off local industries.

So should we close dangote refinery and import from who?

While at that, should we also end any attempt at manufacturing and depend on China? We could also stop farming and depend on import afterall some western nations import food.

malali:
.

A lot of countries are closing down their refineries to reduce carbon emission and also because importing petrol is cheaper than refining it. I wonder why Nigerians think refining would be cheaper than importing. Unless we subsidize the crude oil

So you think it's best we keep importing finished petroleum products?
From who exactly if I may ask?

Treadway:
Largely, cackling Kamala did better than I expected, had very good punchlines. Trump started off good, but over time was tying too many things to the people flooding into the country, so much so it became way too rehashed like a broken record.....

Still pretty sure he's winning come November tho💯🤞

Hehe... it's the usual modus operandi. Ever societal ill is blamed on immigrants plus some purposefully vague terms intended to mean something different like how they change the 'feel' of a place. If your pet is missing, perhaps an immigrant has eaten it. Afterall, his younger bros Nigel Farage blamed us for vehicular traffic.

He has insinuated the likes of Kamela, Obama and a few non-whire politicians are not qualified or American enough to run....

Wouldn't be to sure, still dicey atm but I'd give her a good edge.

justwise:
As expected… humiliated

Lol... you carry this matter for head.

I'm in watch mode- the ultimate results might not be as close as people think.

ukay2:
Black Africans are making good progress currently, looking at current home owners in the other UK property section. We should check out the data in 10 years time...

Perhaps anecdotal but home ownership among recent entrants (<8yrs) has been quite impressive. Well above 20% for those who've stayed long enough.

GraciousWords:
Calgary's blue skies are beautiful....love it......sunniest city in Canada with over 300 days of unfiltered vitamin D!

Hmm.. didn't know it was the sunniest.

Was truly beautiful to see moreso coming from the UK where it's layers and layers of cloud.

Stumbled upon these and decided to share. Deferential attainment and its drivers always fascinate me. Good thing the UK has reasonable data on this.

We are a bit above average when it comes to GCSEs but lag quite a bit with housing.

With GCSEs, good grades are nice but also important are mentoring (i.e what couse/uni/apprenticeship), exposure, links and soft skills

Housing OTOH is good baseline for wealth in this country. Without this, other levels of attainment are more difficult. We lag quite well in this. Granted, we did not arrive as early as Caribbeans and some Asians hence did not benefit as much from council houses buyout cheaper housing 20yrs + ago. Over that period, lots of wealth was built in housing. Difficult to say where future wealth would be built but like with most life issues especially finance, he who already has is more likely to have more.

Going forward, if few Asian countries continue compounding at such rate, it'd be more difficult to argue discrimination as an reason for affirmative action.

Flyola:
Pls how do i study nursing ? I no get money but i av 3 yrs UK care experience

There is a nursing masters programme that enables you to apply for the RCN PIN at the end. It's quite pricy and I'm unsure if you can do it part time or how it'd interlace with your current visa (if on one).

There is also an apprenticeship route. When last I checked, it was open to those with settled status. These roles are many times sponsored by Trusts for those who are HCAs already. If sponsored, you'd still retain good pay as a HCA while you study part-time.

If say you have 2yrs left till ILR, with your experience you can target HCA roles with your local Trust, work up the ranks and see if you could be sponsored via the apprenticeship pathway. That way, you don't have to pay a fee and you retain your pay plus NHS benefits. You might need to change location or move Trusts if need be. Also worth being open to mental health Trusts

Hopefully, nurses or folks with more info can shed more light.

I wonder why there is so much hyperfocus on Chinese debt when it's just 10% of our foriegn debt but responsible for many tangible infrastructure.

Are our media houses not worried about the billions more borrowed from IMF, the world bank e.t.c. what have those been used for.

Recently, we borrowed 2.8 billion usd from the INF. But due to the way it's structured and depreciation of our currency, we may end up paying back over 40 billion. If that's not worrying enough, most of that money is not billed for anything tangible and may be looted back to the West

But what

Shadomaan7:
Reno's ex wife must be a troublesome woman.

Crap

opeoyek:
We got the keys to our new home on Friday. The process took over five months. Thanks to @lexus, jedisco, solumtoya and every other person who contributes to this thread. My wife and I got almost £7000 from LISA (bonus and interest).

Big congrats... well deserved. You don league of folks wey deh 'take our houses'.
LISA's for many is a no-brainer

Yorubastardz:
Ajuri is half caste
He has some white man DNA inside him

White people have more integrity than the whole black race. So it's not new for white man to resign if his integrity is affected.

If Ajuri was 100% black man.....FORGET IT!!
He will rather die than to resign office.

Why do you have such self-deprecating views about yourself?

Hope you know the term half caste is considered derogatory.

It's absurd you attach things like integrity to a race. This would get you into serious issues outside this country. They have integrity but yet enslaved you forefathers on a pack of lies for centuries. They have integrity but some have continued to wreck havoc on different nation states. I hope you leave the shores of this country one day to see that humans world over have similar basic traits and people who see themselves as less because of their skin colour never amount to anything.

This post would have earned you a ban on a lot of international fora but remains on nairaland cos of what @Seun has let this place be

tushqueen:
Hi, can anyone please recommend a tax accountant, these ones I got through to wants monthly charges, is that what they do?

For most you can either choose pay monthly or yearly. To me, the total yearly sum is what counts. If it's for individual tax returns, then usually a one-off fee is what they take. That said, many PAYE employers can sort their tax returns themselves. For more complex endeavours like or ltd co accountancy, estate planning e.t.c its sensible to get help. Also there are niche ones e.g for medical accountants

What monthly cost are you being quoted and is it as an individual?

edmasta01:
I see that you are stating your experience as a greenhorn who is new to properties. I state my own from my own experience as well.

That is fine. You can focus on your index funds. I'll focus on what I know best. Wishing you best of luck.

Hope you know you've not said anything enlightening in this exchange?

The certainty with which you type despite making basic mistakes is worrying. e.g house prices doubling every 10yrs
There's only so much YouTube/Tiktok 'property experts' with little practical experience can teach. I'd be careful investing my hard earned money on the advise of such 'experts' whose main income source is tiktok views

What is the source of this based on?

gmacnoms:
Shey na this uk driving test una say e hard?

After A for Apple, it is the next easiest thing I’ve seen For anyone coming from Nigerian roads

Hehe it can be tricky but overall straightforward. Just like IELTS, attitude towards it matters.

Haven taking quite a few tests/exams, I have come to see exams here are largely straightforward. There's hardly a catch. There'd be clear instructions on what's needed to pass. You do them and that's it.

edmasta01:
I repeat, property investment will give you way more return than the S&P 500. Property prices if purchased properly doubles every 10 years. If I lie, go and check property price history on land registry.

If you and I were given £100,000 for investment each and you invest yours into S&p 500 and I invest mine into properties, i will make more money than you within 2 years - 10 years.

No property investment that does not use leverage. If not, why do we have mortgage companies in the UK? Even the direct tax exposure you are highlighting is not a big deal.

What matters is diversification.

Actually it used to be 14 yrs in the UK but that has not held thru since the global crises of 2008 and are not even close to doubling.
Usually, I wouldn't indulge but you make some very troubling statements

I'm worried about how you speak in absolutes. In investing, nothing is certain. I just detailed how UK real property prices are where they were in 2004 yet the stock market historically returns 5-7% pa on average after inflation.

Secondly, I worry about your 2yr timeframe moreso with property. Have you considered costs of conveyancing both for both buying and selling, void periods before sell and risk of defaults? With investing in either of the two, I would not even go close if I'm not looking at a 5-10yr frame at least. When I was looking to buy my place which was within a 2yr timeframe, I remained in a cash isa following advise of a financial advisor.

Lastly, I like limiting my talk to things I have some knowledge on. I've been in the market for a BTL for over 6m now. As I was not in a hurry and still weighing options, I put the money in an index fund. I've been to view a number of properties many of which are from landlords selling as they did not find it profitable. Discussing with some others gave more insight. When I considered fees, tied down funds and the fact that a spoilt boiler or an entitled tenant in rent arrears (trust me there are loads) can wipe out your annual profit, not considering accounting fees if looking to incorporate, the remaining advantage of BTL becomes leverage which is only appreciable longterm. My capital in index funds currently has gains of 15% in just under a year (was almost 20% at a point). Granted, this has been a particularly good yr. However that gain is tax free (if in an ISA), can be withdrawn at the touch of a button with no lawyer or estate fee e.t.c.

Overall, I appreciate the pros and cons of both and see room for property investing in a diversified portfolio but it should be done out of knowledge and not building butterflies.

Cyberknight:
You're right. We're stressing different points.
My first comment was about the fact that minority politicians are still seen as just that - minority politicians. Echoes of Michelle Obama's "we have to work twice as hard to get half as far".

As a black person, I'm happy to see Badenoch and other people aspiring and reaching wherever they want to go. I don't mind if aspiring leaders play politics, speak from both sides of their mouth, talk up all the rightwing talking points, that's the game... But only up to a point.

I see.. The demography of western societies + others are changing and with it racial tensions too. It's still a tricky path for minority politicians in the West as democracy is a game of numbers and humans would vote in what they consider their self interest.

Two issues I notice is that countries and nationals (back home) from the global south want to 'join body' with such western minority politicians forgetting that those folks would only act in the best interests of their new nation. They are not Indian, Nigerian or Kenyan. Rishi being PM does not help the average Indian on the streets of Delhi and manytimes due to different life experiences would see things differently. Kemi for e.g hardly says praiseworthy things about Nigeria. Sometimes, it's largely optics but should result in a changing narrative

Another one is that in the west today, it's much more difficult for a minority politician to push policies in favour of minorities. Even in Nigeria with our more powerful executives, most major controversial constitutional ammendments have been done by politicians from the other side of the divide e.g Lagos and it's LG issues, Sharia, and resource control.

stevolinkon40:
Thanks for the detailed response.
Yes I was asking if the delivery of the PR card by courier won’t require a signature.
From your explanation i guess someone in the address can collect on one’s behalf. But if you leave before the card arrives, your colleague will probably have to send it by courier to UK for you to reenter canada again when you want to finally move since the visa given with COPr is single entry. Thanks for the other advice.
Though for my drivers license I haven’t had the Uk own for upto 2years, it’s just 1year 4months now and the requirements says you must have held the license for up to 2years for a direct exchange.

Yeah. He would send it to me together with my bank card and other correspondence.
Didn't know abt the 2yr criteria. Would they give you a provisional licence at least?
8 months still far small

stevolinkon40:
Nice, since you won’t be staying for long. How do you intend to get your PR card. The address you filled, will someone receive it on your behalf? I was thinking it will be signature required. I am also in the Uk and don’t want to leave just yet, want to stay till end of the year to get my annual bonus especially since most people say it take months before most people get a job. If they will be able to deliver to the address filled without requiring signature perhaps I could just go and return to the uk within a week as well and I keep applying for job from here.

I used the address of a colleague which was same thing that same colleague also did when he arrived. Not aware of a signature part. Is to sign for courier delivery? Also got a prepaid sim card, social insurance number and opened a bank account. Folks generously gave me a 2k credit card. Main thing left is to get a driving licence (have to submit my UK licence hence had to wait) and decide what province I want to stay which is partly dependent on job.

Urgency of arrival all depends on when your COPR is due.
Regarding jobs, it's largely field specific. Being a PR holder + UK experience should count if you're looking at same field of pactice. You could consider starting your job search now. One way could be to touch base, get a few bits sorted, visit recruiters (if need be) return to the UK and them come when ready hopefully to resume a role

Just touched down calgary. Should be staying a few days before return. With my COPR set to expire in Feb, didn't want to come in winter.

One striking difference when compared to the UK is the little cloud cover. Nice blue skies with little cloud cover. Also roads, houses and cars are much bigger with loads being dual-carriage. Roads are straight with the city compartmentalised- similar to abuja. Theres no 'high street' perse but rather an area zoned to retail outlets in each locality. Driving here is essential as just getting across a road might mean long waka. Much different from UK cities where roads are narrower (some A-roads are not dual carriage), windy and towns much more connected - one could walk everywhere and go 'people watching' on the highstreet.

Hung out at 360 grill and lounge- nice vibes. Had live music and food was tasty