₦airaland Forum

jedisco:
Others have called it a hood nigga vs a field nigga. I've called it wallpaperism. You put a tokenised fellow in charge of controversial policies that could affect their group. Its much easier to limit criticism that way.
Take Suella for e.g. first she called Pakistanis rapists, now this. All in pursuit of an election.

Too bad. This is similar to what Vivek Ramaswamy is trying to do in the US elections. Trying to be more notorious to immigrants than Trump himself just so that he is accepted by the hard far right. He wants to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants born in the US, even Trump hasn't gone that far. Imagine someone whose parents migrated to the US just 40 years ago has the guts to be spewing that nonsense. I don't blame them, they are oportuned to be born in a free society where they can aspire to rise to any position and they now feel they have arrived.

DereI:
With the current interest rate? And furnished? Probably all inclusive? This is a great deal!!!

Do you know what utilities cost these days? The other day we paid $640 for gas, water and electricity - and it’s not winter yet. Last winter our enmax bill went up to $1050.

So before you comment about someone trying to rip people off, think again!!!

Check out how much property taxes are now.
Research current interest rates
Confirm rate of utilities

Then come back and apologize to poster.

SMH

Abeg no vex. Where do you pay this kind of outrageous amount on utilities? Which kind of property is that?

kokoA:
This is the part of Africa foreign media will never show you.

Why is it compulsory for foreign media to show it? Are my sensing low self esteem or what? For your information, whether foreign media shows it or not doesn't change anything

Talk is cheap

Please guys,

Someone I know has gotten his PPR but it's late to start coming as school has resumed. He has deferred to sep 2024 and will be coming to Canada around July 2024.
The initial plan was to arrive first before applying for the spouse SOWP, since he can't arrive till July, can the spouse apply for SOWP now while he is still in Nigeria? Or must the spouse wait for him to land first before she applies for SOWP? Thanks

ednut1:
Cant wait to vote this man out in 2025. So much energy for 2slgbtqia zero for economic reforms and interventions 😆

Exactly my brother, I can't wait to vote him out. His time is up. Thank God Canadians are now seeing through his bullshit.

Quintessence44:
Hahahaha…

Dem go shock….from manager at Deloitte or business owner in Lagos to security guard or warehouse operative in London.

Small oyinbo secretary of 18 will be addressing you like a school dropout and a slave.

You wey be big boy for Naija.

After some weeks, all the constant light, good roads, cheap food etc will be no biggie to you, as heavy bills plus the decline in your personal status take their toll on your psyche.

You will even miss that your generator in Naija.

Leave them make them japa.

You guys like exaggerating things to suit your narrative. The problem with these stupid arguments that never cease to end in this forum is that the pro and anti japa sides have failed to be specific in their assertions.

Are we talking of japa through green card/ permanent residence or japa through visit visa, asylum,refugee etc? Because these 2 modes of japa are not the same but for some ulterior motives, they are lumped together to confuse people.

To your point, nobody who is "doing well " in Nigeria will leave his job or business to japa through an illegal means. My brother, people aren't stupid naa.

People doing well japa through PR like I did years back. I remember when I was relocating and wanted to convert my 10m naira to USD, my cousin could not understand my decision and felt I was stupid. In a last ditch effort to stop me a day before we flew out, he showed me lands to buy trying to convince me that I'll triple my money in few years as the lands are fast appreciating but I still declined. I had my reasons to relocate and besides I was japaing as a PR, I wouldn't have japaed if it wasn't as a PR.

With PR, you can rebuild your life faster and better. You can go back to school easily and acquire better skills that would catapult your career. I went back to school as I landed cos I wanted to switch from my career in Nigeria to IT in Canada. I didn't spend any shishi of my money to go back to school, I got grant from both the Federal and provincial government that covered all my school fees and 60% of my family living expenses. I was offered loan if I wanted but I declined to take the loan cos I came with money of my own. Fast forward years after, I have established in the IT world and now running away from recruiters in LinkedIn cos I can't be switching jobs every year. Most intelligent Nigerians who came legally end up becoming better off years after landing cos they make good use of the system.

My brother, the only set of people who are doing well in Nigeria but trade it to japa by any means are people who have been personally touched by Nigeria and are so angry that they don't want to spend the next night in Nigeria. For example, someone who has been a victim of kidnapping, lost lots of money and nearly lost their life. There is someone I know who left Nigeria though I don't know which Visa he used sha but he left after he nearly lost his life in the hands of the army because he was making a call as his car driven by his wife was passing through an army checkpoint. He was brutalized and he spent nearly 2 months in hospital. After his recovery and release, they started planning japa and they eventually left for good. The truth is that I don't even blame them for that

People japa for many personal reasons that is beyond money. But to say people who are comfortable in Nigeria are leaving it to become illegal immigrants in the west is an outright exaggeration, people are not stupid and I have not yet seen anyone in that category

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.

@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.

nomolos92:
Airtime is cheap where?
I always recharge for people back home to call me cos it's far cheaper that way otherwise it's Whatsapp call

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.

[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

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?

@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.

pansophist:
Yes.

Kids lacks the mobility to go to school themselves in Canada, either the parents drop them in school, or maybe school bus. In Europe, either kids bike to school, or they walk, giving them a sense of Independence.

Canada is a photocopy of the US. Cities are built for cars, not for pedestrians. Human interactions are deeply lacking in North American cities. Point of contact for people to socialize is scarce.

It's difficult for an American tourist to come to Europe and not love how well-planned EU cities are. You can perfectly survive without a car in Western Europe. For example, the prime minister of the Netherlands is known to go to work by bike everyday.

Europe is insanely well-planned, that if I tell you to meet me at the train station at 3pm tomorrow in let's say Germany while I'm in the Netherlands, my train will be there at that time, or few mins earlier.

Than to live in Canada, I'll live in Ghana. I can understand if one move to Canada from Nigeria, then it's a better option. But for a European, moving to Canada is to reduce your quality of life.

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.

DiscoverID:
Selective justice is no justice. Just imagine Buhari using state assests to arrest Atiku during his reelection bid of 2019? That's a new low for the purported land of brave and free, something below the belt and expected from a 3rd world country.
Again, by all indices, America is also a shithole less 3rd world country with nuclear bombs.

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.

Gentlesoul3268:
Thanks for your write up bro, sorry I was convinced about the 40hrs a weeks jobs you mentioned? I tot student can only work for 20hrs a week ?

Also nothing good comes easy bro we will survive last last lol

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.

Letusconnect:
Thank you for sharing. But can I ask what Province you are ? Because I’ve heard it depends on the Province too sometimes. But regardless, we pray and hope for favour. Thanks for the enlightenment.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

ednut1:
wetin concern me with Libya Abeg o

The question shock me ooo
I was now wondering if our own ednut1 has left Canada for Libya. Anything can happen these days

sukkot:
This country is all kinds of madness and unserious. Why 6 months ?

Probably to discourage people from traveling or sheer corruption and incompetence

Mzabby:
Hello everyone.
I'll be traveling to Canada in a month but I'll be staying at a family friend's place in Toronto for 2weeks before I go to the school that offered me admission which is at British Columbia


But I'm worried if I'll be asked about how I'll be getting to British Columbia at the port of entry in the Toronto Airport so I'll like to ask if I should book a ticket to my final destination which is British Columbia from Nigeria here or I should get to Toronto first then get the ticket at their Local Airport there In Canada.


And is it a valid point if I tell the immigration officer that I have enough money to purchase a local ticket myself at the local airport and I'll be staying with a family friend for a while before going to British Columbia.


I need a reply please .. Thank you

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.

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

Tricia14:
Hello house, pls I have many questions to ask about Canada but allow me to start with this:
In USA, loan is everything. Most of them carry school loan and pay till old age; some to buy car which can be paid for 5yrs; to buy house which can be paid more than 20yrs and even carry loan just to go for vacation. And these loans are transferred to their children to complete payment when they are dead.
And I read, that the average American can only safe $5k in a yr which will not be enough for anything. Pls, is Canada like that?
Thanks for your answers.

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.

clems88:
The thing don touch them too lass lass everybody go chop breakfast . Does that mean the US passport is getting irrelevant

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?