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Travel / Re: After JAPA - How Long It Took To Make Your First 100 Million by Kenn55: 4:55pm On Sep 07, 2023 |
After you make the first 100m what next? Make another 100m? @Raydos, this is what I was trying to talk about in your thread. Every talk or argument about Nigerians is about money, more money, more more money and it ends with money. Nobody seems to give a damn about any other thing apart from the money they make. This thread will degenerate into an argument on who makes more money, the stage is set. This is all we care about as a people. 419 Likes 55 Shares |
Travel / Re: Why Do Most Nigeria Streets Look Like This? by Kenn55: 4:35pm On Sep 07, 2023 |
@op, Nigerians/Africans are very intelligent. In terms of book intelligence and smartness, we can compete with Asians and whites. See the incredible things Nigerian professionals are doing abroad as evidence. The problem we have is our MENTALITY. We have one of the most flawed mentality of any group of people. I don't know if it is the way God created us or something we developed but our mentality is very flawed. We have a mentality of "dominate and oppress" others so that we can be worshipped and that makes us fulfilled. The average Nigerian mindset is about making big money, building mansions, building hotels, buying cars,spraying money at ocassions and oppressing the less privileged. Anywhere he goes, people hail him, call him big man, he "blesses" them with some change and they worship him. Ask yourself why is it only in Africa people spray money on someone? If you want to give someone money, why not give it behind the scene through envelope or bank transfer? They won't do that because that show off and getting that glory from people is what we live for. Despite the complain of things not working, the general progress of the society does not matter to us genuinely. What matters to us is what I explained in the last paragraph above. If you pick 100 random people on nairaland and give them 100m each to develop their village or community, chances are at least 95% of that 100 people will take out some of that money for their personal mansion. Even if you remove the current government and pick the president and ministers randomly from the street, the result will be the same. Because of our flawed mentality, the country is now in a state of "class war". The elites will never want the gap between them and others to close in other to maintain their "god" status in the society. For example, if the streets of Ajegunle has good tarred roads, underground drainage, 24/7 light and water, ok public schools, how then will the "big boys" in Lekki and other elite estates in the Island who have all these things differentiate themselves from the poor people? Everyone will start becoming equal and that equality is not what an average Nigerian wants. He wants to be on top while others are under. Make no mistake, the poor that complain now will automatically start oppressing others once they become rich. They won't try to make things better for their former poor colleagues rather they would want to use them as tools. It is a cycle. No matter what you think, the present state of Nigeria and Africa is a deliberate effort by the elites to maintain their status. It is not a problem of government, taxes etc. Even if they collect more taxes, they wouldn't use it for anything cos their focus is not in having beautiful environment etc, their focus is on getting richer so they become more powerful and oppress others. The more money you have in Nigeria, they more powerful you are and can be worshipped. 95% of the population don't care about beautiful environment and the remaining 5% with a different mentality that would care can't get into leadership cos they are outnumbered. For a country to work, you need a majority of the people to have the right mentality, unfortunately Nigeria or Africa dont have that at the moment I don't know how our mentality can be changed to be frank but I hope one day majority of the people will start seeing life like Asians and whites do so that we can develop. 10 Likes 1 Share |
Travel / Re: Friends That Have Travelled Abroad by Kenn55: 3:02pm On Sep 07, 2023 |
nomolos92: Which country do you live and how do you make your calls? Note if you use your normal line to make an international call directly, it's very expensive. For many of us in North America, we call through voip for international calls which is very cheap. My calls to Nigeria costs me around 8 cents per minute so with just $1, I can call naija for about 12 minutes. In fact, some voips are even cheaper, I have been very lazy to shop around and compare prices. I have not made call to naija directly from my line before, it is always routed through a voip. You can Google to see options available in where you stay. 2 Likes |
Travel / Re: Japa: I Am Confused, Please Advise. by Kenn55: 6:11pm On Sep 02, 2023 |
[quote author=gbeseun post=125530756][/quote] Why are you angry? I made sure I stated it clearly that there is no guarantee of success anywhere in the world. I even gave an example that some people can have 5 strong passports and are still useless. I never said there is no opportunity to be successful in Nigeria, I said I wanted "MORE" opportunities for my family. That means in addition to the opportunity they have in Nigeria, I wanted them to have more options in other countries. Oga, this your beef is unnecessary |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 23 by Kenn55: 8:47pm On Sep 01, 2023 |
Hi all, Someone asked me if he can land with an expired medicals. He was supposed to start in January but due to initial refusals and delay he deferred to September. Now, his medical expired early August and he just discovered it today with flight already scheduled for Sunday and school starting in next week. I don't know the answer. Will there be an issue for him when he lands? |
Travel / Re: Japa: I Am Confused, Please Advise. by Kenn55: 4:26pm On Sep 01, 2023 |
@op. First of all, there is no 100% guarantee in life. Not everyone who migrates or don't migrate abroad will be successful. Have this at the back of your mind. Life itself is a risk. Let me tell you about my own philosophy. I subscribe to the view that the first 30 years of your life is yours. Enjoy every bit of it, you can think about yourself alone, you can be selfish and take decisions that benefit you and you alone. If you want to explore in sambisa, do it, it's all yours After 30 years of age with kids coming or about to come, your life is no longer yours alone. You should dedicate your life to your next generation, your kids. At this point, your decision in anything you do should be based on first how it benefits your kids or future kids before yourself. If it benefits you but not your kids, I'll say no but if it benefits my kids and not me, I'll say yes. While you were greedy and selfish before 30, this stage requires you to be selfless and be ready to be a sacrificial lamb and allow your family to be greedy. This is my own philosophy that guides me, anyone can have a different philosophy. This philosophy helped me make decision years ago about migrating. I asked myself, how do I ensure my children are better positioned with more opportunities when they grow up especially in today's uncertain times? After some research, I came to the conclusion that giving them the opportunity to become global citizens will give them more and better options down the road. They won't be restricted to just Nigeria, they will have options in other countries as well. Since I didn't give birth to them abroad, the only option was to relocate. Because I had the money and opportunity to migrate LEGALLY, I took the chance. I wouldn't have done that if there was no legal way to do that even with my desires. I discourage illegal immigration, it is not worth it. I had no reason to migrate cos I was doing well but I put them first. Before I left, recognizing that there is no guarantee abroad, I had already conditioned my mind that even if I end up not getting what I worth abroad but my children succeed, I'm okay, it is a sacrifice I'm willing to make. But at the end, thank God it worked fine for me, i made a career pivot when i got abroad and boom, i became even more successful than i was in Nigeria but I was ready to accept my fate if it didn't work out. As Canadian citizens, I and my children can decide to come back to Nigeria tomorrow to work or do business, can decide to work or do business in Canada or the US. These are 3 options available to my kids now and I have never been happier. Note that there are kids or people who have 5 strong passports but are useless so it is not always a guarantee but I believe as a parent, it is my duty to do the best I can to position them in a way they can become more successful and hope it works out at the end. The decision to migrate is solely based on your view. Look at what you desire most and see how your decision will affect it. Again, there are no guarantees anywhere in this world, we just have to do the best we can to achieve our desires. 273 Likes 43 Shares |
Travel / Re: Between The United Kingdom, The USA, Canada And Europe Which Is Better? by Kenn55: 10:19pm On Aug 31, 2023 |
pansophist: Canada is 9.9m sq km while Continental Europe is 10.1m sq km. If you look at just the EU, the size of the EU which is total of 27 European countries is just 4.2m sq km with 448m people which is far smaller than Canada of just 39m people. A province in Canada alone is bigger than some European countries combined Europe is in a small space and need to manage their space well. Canada is too large with few people. I prefer to live in Canada because Europe is too crowded. I love my space abeg. One man meat is another man's poison. |
Travel / Re: My Friend Just Got Convicted In The USA, Will He Be Deported? by Kenn55: 1:21pm On Aug 30, 2023 |
DiscoverID: What you are trying to say is if you do illegal things, you can declare to run for president to avoid being held accountable. Running for president shouldn't be a cover to evade justice What Trump did is something only 3rd world countries do. Even in 2000 election between Bush and Al gore that was decided by less than 250 votes, the loser still conceded and gave a beautiful concession speech and moved on. If Trump is not prosecuted for his actions, it will be emulated by all politicians across board. Imagine if Biden loses in 2024 and follow Trump playbook to overturn the election and now declare to run for the next election to avoid being prosecuted. Everything Trump is facing is strictly by his own making cos of his flawed character. We all saw the tweets, the videos and audio of him doing what he was accused of. I don't like Biden but Trump is the most flawed politician I have ever seen. |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 23 by Kenn55: 9:11pm On Aug 28, 2023 |
Gentlesoul3268: The 20 hr work per week cap was removed in November last year and it will last to December this year. By the way, it applied to students already in Canada last year or who got their study permit approved as at October 7th last year. So people who got approved this year will still apply by the 20 hr work limit. This is the information I know except it has changed as at today. 1 Like |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 23 by Kenn55: 6:15pm On Aug 28, 2023 |
Letusconnect: Sorry, I didn't mention my province. I'm based in Ontario. Everything I said is based on my experience in Ontario. I have no idea the situation of things in other provinces. 6 Likes |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 23 by Kenn55: 5:29pm On Aug 28, 2023 |
I have wanted to write this for the past 2 weeks, but each time I write, i end up deleting it, after all, it is not my business. But I feel some people need to understand reality. Now, over the last 3 months or so, I have been coming across a lot of international students especially in church who are getting so frustrated. As someone who has lived in Canada for many years, this is the first time I'm seeing this trend. One thing that is common among these frustrated students is that they pinned their hopes on getting a job to augment the cost of their programs in Canada. Unfortunately, jobs for international students are now a problem. There are many theories on why things are getting rough for international students. One theory is that there are now too many students unlike before. In fact, there is an increase of about 400k students compared to previous years and this is why the govt is now considering putting a cap on the number of students allowed into the country. So the number of students have surpassed the available jobs making it difficult to get a job as a student and even accommodation Second theory is that because of the government allowing students to work up to 40 hrs a week, it has now made 1 student to do a job 2 students would have shared when it was max of 20 hrs a week. So student A can work 40 hrs while student B won't find any. There are many other theories to the issues but the fact is that things have changed for the worse for students in recent times. So it is important for anyone coming to study to understand this reality. If you don't have money that can take care of all the expenses for the duration of your studies, please for your own sake, consider deferring your admission and gather all the money you need before leaving. DON'T RELY ON WORKING TO FUND PART OF YOUR EXPENSES. It might have been reliable 3 years ago but not now. Last week I met a student who was complaining bitterly. She has been looking for a job for sometime now. She said if she doesn't get a job within the next 2 weeks she wouldn't be able to pay her rent and other expenses from October as she is running out of money. But she blamed Canada for scamming her. I asked how? She said "They" said she will get a job on arrival. I asked, who are "they"? Did the school promise you automatic job? Did the visa offer promise you job as you applied for visa? As far as I know except things have changed, you can't get a visa unless you provide believable proof of fund for your complete program. I asked where is her POF, she answered by asking me how many students come to Canada with their POF and saying it is all make believe. If God forbid, she ends up not getting a job and runs out of money, she will end up on the street. Life will become harder for her. She might not graduate and that means no post graduate work permit and no status to remain in Canada and the whole thing will become a waste. The only thing she can do if it happens is to bash Canada as she has started doing. She can open a thread on nairaland about how Canada is rubbish, overrated and how Nigeria is better than Canada. But even at that, it will not remove one single strand of hair from the Canadian government "Blokos". This is just one example, there are many I have met of late in this category I'm not discouraging or trying to scare anyone but I'm trying to make people understand reality to avoid a bigger problem. I have heard people say if you survive in naija, you can survive in any condition anywhere else. That may not be true for someone who comes into a new country as an international student without money, YOU GO SUFFER oooo. Finally, whatever you do, DO NOT JOKE WITH YOUR POF and DO NOT RELY ON GETTING A JOB TO FUND PART OF YOUR EXPENSES. Goodluck to all aspiring students and may God grant you all your heart desires. Amen 13 Likes 1 Share |
Travel / Re: If You Had ₦6M, Would You Japa Or Open A Business In Nigeria? by Kenn55: 2:24pm On Aug 22, 2023 |
If I have to define nairaland, I will say it is a place where anyone can be anything by their imagination to feel good about themselves. You can claim to be anything you like You can turn 6m to 60m in a short time, you can establish 20 successful businesses . The dreams are unlimited Talk is indeed cheap. Sorry for people who take what they read on this forum seriously 3 Likes |
Travel / Re: How Do Nigerians Survive In Canada!!! by Kenn55: 1:34pm On Aug 21, 2023 |
I'm sorry but you are asking a useless question. Except you are a JJC or you didn't do your research well, you should have known that Vancouver is the most expensive city in Canada. In case you don't know, cities like Vancouver and Toronto are for people with deep pockets or for those who are comfortable living paycheck to paycheck. I never lived in Toronto or even the GTA when I worked there, I wasn't stupid. Luckily almost all city jobs are now hybrid or remote so you can live in other places and still work in big cities. What you are asking is like someone earning 400k naira in Lagos and decide to live in the Island and then start asking how people survive in Lagos. People who live in the mainland, are they stupid? By the way, everywhere in Canada is expensive, but some places are madly expensive than others. Besides, not just Canada, all the developed world cities are all expensive to live in. From London to Tokyo to LA to Singapore etc, they are expensive. You pay for the development, nothing is free in this world. Let take Naija for example, the most expensive places are the most developed places. This is why Lagos is the most expensive place to live in Nigeria. Even in Lagos, the Island is more expensive than the mainland. Even in the mainland, places like Anthony, Surulere, Maryland, Magodo are much expensive than Ikorodu and Ketu. Last last, if you want the cheapest place to live, na to relocate to your village straight, you might not need to even pay rent 2 Likes |
Travel / Re: See The Jamaican Men Who Massage Female Tourists by Kenn55: 3:26pm On Aug 17, 2023 |
I hope the guys doing that massage are not taking it as an invitation to sex. If they try to go beyond what is agreed, they will be accused of sexual harassment. They should better be careful. |
Travel / Re: Living In Nigeria VS Living In Canada - Chichi Ibe by Kenn55: 12:59pm On Aug 17, 2023 |
Half truths are more dangerous than outright lies. At least outright lies can be spotted and debunked but half truths is difficult to spot cos some truths and lies are mixed together. Except you are well informed before hand or do your own independent research, chances are that you will be deceived by half truths. This is what the OP has done. Mixing true with untrue about Canada. Anyway in this century, anyone that relies on someone else knowledge to make decisions without their own in depth research and analysis deserves to be deceived, I have no sympathy for them |
Travel / Re: See Ticket Price - Abuja To Toronto by Kenn55: 3:54pm On Aug 16, 2023 |
ednut1: The question shock me ooo I was now wondering if our own ednut1 has left Canada for Libya. Anything can happen these days 1 Like |
Travel / Re: Nigeria Is An Unserious Country. Wait 6 Months For Passport ? by Kenn55: 1:11pm On Aug 15, 2023 |
sukkot: Probably to discourage people from traveling or sheer corruption and incompetence 5 Likes 1 Share |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 23 by Kenn55: 8:54pm On Aug 10, 2023 |
Mzabby: If I were you, I'll book and go to BC direct and come out to Toronto if need be later. It will cost you additional hundred of Dollars but it gives you peace of mind and avoid potential wahala. Even if you have to pass through Toronto, show that you are just transiting by having your BC flight ticket at hand. Study visas are temporary visas and your entrance into the country will depend on the border agent. Apart from PRs and citizens, temporary visa holders can be denied entry if the border agent can establish a probable cause to do that. Unfortunately they have that broad discretion. You don't want to put yourself in a position where the agent will wrongly suspect you are not a genuine student. I'm not saying it will happen but I wouldn't want to take that chances. |
Travel / Re: Safety Of Travel By Bus To Abuja by Kenn55: 6:09pm On Aug 10, 2023 |
I understand your anxiety. However, it is important to note that insecurity issues does not happen all the time 24/7. Even if a road is unsecured does not mean that kidnappers or arm robbers will operate 24/7 on it, it's all about timing which you have no control over. Night journeys are the worst but then there are still majority of the people who get to their destination in peace even in boko haram areas. Insecurity can happen anywhere and anytime. It's all about probabilities of occurrence. A place is said to be safe if the probability of bad things happening is very low not because it is zero because it can never be zero mathematically. For example, what is the chance of an arm robbery or being kidnapped in Canada and Nigeria roads? The difference is in their probabilities not because it can never happen in Canada. While Canada may be 0.1%, Nigeria may be 5%. If this is the calculated answer, it still means that 95% of Nigerians will not experience arm robbery or kidnapping while travelling on Nigerian roads despite the general consensus of insecurity. What I'm trying to say is don't be scared if you don't have means to take a flight. You don't have control over when bad guys will strike but the chances of you not experiencing anything bad is far higher than experiencing bad things. At least this should give you some confidence. So the koko of the matter is to pray not be at the right place at the wrong time |
Travel / Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant Part 2 by Kenn55: 9:49pm On Aug 02, 2023 |
Tricia14: All the western world countries are almost the same except for little variations here and there. They are all credit societies where large chunk of their economy is driven by consumer spending. However you have the choice to stay out of loans. For example, If you don't have money to go to school, then you don't have to study courses that would keep you heavily indebted since you will be taking loan to study. You can study in demand courses in colleges with grant rather than go to a high ranking university to study with loans. You can decide to drive a 15 year old car and pay for it in cash rather than going for a brand new or fairly new car with loan. You can even keep renting instead of buying a house on mortgage if you hate loans so much but that doesn't make sense since houses are assets and not liabilities. Even though you owe money on a house, you can sell it and make profit when the time is right. Note that an average oyibo doesn't care much about debt the way we do cos that is how they live from beginning and it's part of their lifestyle as built by their system. You talked about savings but note that these western countries are not built for savings but spending. Like I said before, it is the bedrock of their economy. Besides, the structure of their society coupled with fairly good governance makes savings not to be a big deal. Why do people need savings? In case of emergency. What are the do or die emergencies? Loss of job, health, accidents, loss of shelter,life etc. The oyibo model is insure instead of savings. This is why insurance is one of the biggest industries in North America. In this place, your insurance is your savings while in places like Nigeria, your savings is your insurance because of the model our society is run. You see the difference. Why would an average oyibo be bothered much about savings when he has insured against all possible emergencies? Life, employment, health,home,car,accident and even pet sef dey get insurance. These insurance coverages cost money but because of their mentality, they embrace it but majority of us Africans will see it as a waste and instead save those money in the bank and that would form part of our "savings". So when you read an average oyibo have little or no savings, that is the truth but it doesn't tell the full story. You asked a valid question but you need to understand how the society is built in order to properly navigate it. The choice to embrace the oyibo model or our Nigerian model or a little mixture of both is left for you. 36 Likes 11 Shares |
Travel / Re: Americans Will Need A Visa To Visit Europe Starting In 2024. by Kenn55: 2:41pm On Jul 28, 2023 |
clems88: Sorry to disappoint you, US passport is not getting irrelevant. Did you read the entire article or just the headline? European citizens pay $21 to get authorization to travel to the US and the EU wants to charge Americans $8 for the same thing. ETA is just a money generation tool for countries and that is why the EU wants to do that, they are losing money. 99% of travelers will get the authorization in minutes so what is the point? 2 Likes 1 Share |
Travel / Re: The Importance Of Acquiring A Second Passport For A Young Nigerian by Kenn55: 1:41pm On Jul 27, 2023 |
pansophist: . You are very funny but on point. Lol |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 22 by Kenn55: 3:01pm On Jul 22, 2023 |
zubizareta: Please don't take it personal, it is not a fight. I'm interested in it because I want to do it. All the banks are talking of SDS eligibility. Do you mind saying which bank was involved and the process? Thanks |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 22 by Kenn55: 2:15pm On Jul 22, 2023 |
zubizareta: I need to see the evidence to believe. GIC for international students are for those living legally in countries participating in Student Direct Stream SDS program. https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/solutions/student-banking/international-student-gic The countries are China, India,Brazil, and some other countries. Nigeria is not among. Any Nigerian doing it would have to be a legal resident of these countries. This is what I saw on all Canadian bank website. If you have evidence to show otherwise, please show me cos I'm interested in doing GIC for my sibling |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 22 by Kenn55: 1:24pm On Jul 22, 2023 |
zubizareta: I thought GIC is for some selected countries and Nigeria is not among? Has things changed? Which bank is doing GIC for people in Nigeria? |
Travel / Re: Canadian Student Visa Thread Part 22 by Kenn55: 1:21pm On Jul 22, 2023 |
odogwu4real: You can use the visit visa to your advantage. Why not go to Canada, spend like 3 weeks and return to Nigeria if you can afford it. This will give the VO assurance of your ability to return home especially important since you have ties in Canada. Having siblings in Canada is already a disadvantage. You need to prove twice as hard than someone without siblings in Canada that you will return at the end of your studies cos you already have an incentive to stay back. |
Travel / Re: Japa For Me, But Not For Thee. by Kenn55: 5:02pm On Jul 04, 2023 |
gforce5: Your last sentence is wrong in my opinion. There is no genuinely patriotic Nigerian. If there are, they aren't more than 1%. The masses appear patriotic because they have no option not because they are genuinely patriotic. Once they have they same opportunity they elites have, their behavior will change instantly. As a people, our mentality and character is fatally flawed. I have studied a lot of other countries to arrive at this conclusion. That is why it will be almost impossible to get a better country than we already have, unfortunately. I wish I could be wrong on this. 2 Likes |
Travel / Re: Nigerians In The UK Are Really Suffering by Kenn55: 1:29pm On Jun 23, 2023 |
quadraheem: Sometimes I don't really blame people who sold properties to travel. Some of them Nigeria has happened to them. When Nigeria happens to you, it can radicalize your thinking. A guy in my former estate spent a month during this past Christmas period in the hospital, what happened? His wife was driving him in his car while he was making a business call, he didn't realize when they were passing an army checkpoint when a soldier saw him making a call. They pulled him out of the car, collected his iPhone and smashed it on the floor. He asked them what his offense was and that was it. They beat him blue black, took him to their barrack for days and tortured him. The wife called everyone she knows in this life for help but none came, even the police didn't want to get involved as they don't want army wahala. When he was later released, he spent a month in hospital escaping death by the whiskers. There was no investigation, justice, compensation, nothing. The guy nearly died just like that in the hands of the state. Is there any law that forbids someone making a call cos they are passing police or army roadblocks? When he recovered, the wife told him it is time to relocate abroad. They inquired and decided on the UK. He sold some of his assets to fund the move. They are in the UK now Some of these people who sell their properties to move abroad don't do it with a clear eyes, some do it in reaction to something that had happened to them that radically changed their thinking. 66 Likes 6 Shares |
Travel / Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant Part 2 by Kenn55: 10:46pm On Jun 22, 2023 |
ednut1: I watched one Piers Morgan show where One gay and Lesbian were blasting one queer and transgender. They accused them of bringing ridicule to their community. The gays and lesbians are angry with these trans and other additions. I laugh tire that day 2 Likes |
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