So they are guilty...of being superstitious.

...I honestly fail to see why anyone should care if they are superstitious or not, so long as the politicians in question are not corrupt and at least decent at their job

A simple thread born out of my curiosity for your nation:

How are you guys doing down there, romantically speaking? Are things as bad between men and women as they are here in Europe?

I mean, judging by what is written in many threads and all the "red pill people" going around, it almost makes me think things are (almost) as bad as they are in certain European nations (especially the Northern ones), but I was honestly just curious to see what kind of honest opinions I'd get.

For comparison, where I'm from things aren't nearly as bad as for example in the US, but things have gone very downhill since 40-50 years ago, in terms of the quality of people (aka good luck finding a woman like those my granma spoke about, that would stick by your side come hell or high water)

Well what did he expect? One of the first unwritten rules when dealing with women is to not give them a chance to "monkey branch". If you are a Westerner and decide to marry an African, either you are 100% sure she's truly "the one", or don't even take the chance - much better to go live like a king in her country, given how easy it is nowadays to get a remote job in the West, and that even a meager salary (for the West) will give you a very high standard of living in many African countries.

Frestuffng:
You Dey mad abi? 10% return a whole year.

If you mean that over 10%/year is little - if one invests regularly, compound interest will take care of the rest. And true, one can reach much higher returns if he picks the right options, that's what the ETF part is for.

Many P2P lending companies have a unique advantage thought - they offer a Buyback Guarantee, which means that if the one you lent money to cannot pay it back, the company itself will pay you back the principal and the interest - quite literally, you have 0 risk of losing in that case.

There are faster ways to become rich, but honestly? They all require much more effort than this way - just invest some money on the regular once you receive your salary and simply let time do the job for you.

Let's be real - it's ridiculously easy to become rich over the span of 15 years or so if you are dedicated to saving and investing.

I want to simply make another thread about passive income/investing, since too many people throw away their money in "get rich quick" schemes that never deliver in the end.

This thread will be short and sweet, if you want the longer version here it is - https://www.nairaland.com/6930719/passive-income-investing-retire-early

How does one get rich?
You invest a chunk of your salary as soon as you receive it, every single month. And then let compounding interest work its magic.
Yes it is really that simple.

How long will it take?
Depends how much you invest and how much money you want to make.

Use this calculator to calculate how much time it'll take for you to reach your personal goal - https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/calculators/retirement-plan-calculator/

Where should I invest?
I invest in P2P lending (Lendermarket, Afranga, Robo.Cash, Mintos) and ETFs via the app "Degiro". You can see screenshots of the different apps in this thread. They all give over 10% return per year, with the difference that P2P is stable form of income in time, while investing in ETF is more of a long-term strategy.

Give me a short version.
There is no "get-rich-quick" scheme that actually works unless you got some revolutionary idea (and then become an entrepreneur). The best way to become wealthy is to simply have multiple streams of income (employee work, online business, investing, etc) and to invest long-term.

Two screenshots - Degiro (ETF), Lendermarket (P2P)

Kingkyle1:


Please Teach me senor

Just check out this thread where I listed the specific websites/apps I use to invest - https://www.nairaland.com/6930719/passive-income-investing-retire-early

But to make a long story short - this year the stock exchanges in the West rallied like never before due to the massive amount of public money the governments pushed in the economy. I use the app "Degiro" to invest in ETFs tied to either indexes or a basket of titles, and the past year has been an exceptional one since some titles such as "Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF USD Acc" gaines up to 25-26% of their value (depending when you entered the market).

Joeblazeochola:
We are confronted by multiple security challenges, notably the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the north east, increasing violence between herders and farming communities spreading from the North central southward, and the separatist Biafra agitation in the south east wch i think is the reason why Abia, Anambra, imo, were listed. NOW, Violence, particularly by the Boko Haram insurgency, has displaced more than two million people and have created a massive humanitarian crisis wch has prompted the rise of civilian vigilante self-defence groups. Even we from the south are very careful wen we visit places like Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. That's why u need a guide/a local to keep you out of troubles

The "plan" for now would be to organize the trip via the Italian embassy, since apparently they do have a list of hotels/restaurants/etc that are reliable in their eyes, and then I'd simply ask for guides/etc at the reception of any hotel from that list that I'd stay in. Not the best plan, but better than nothing I guess

Limassol:
is Abuja not part of the north? just so you know some northern cities such as Kano are as safe as Benin(if not safer), inquire from your kinsmen living there so you get a balanced picture. Suggesting he cancelled the north due to insecurity is misguided.

I'm going off what the main Western websites say about which regions to avoid, so their list might be accurate or not - hence me asking other Nairalanders about what is the situation "on the ground" so to speak

Stephen0mozzy:
These Monero, lendemarket and othwrs, what's their average interest per annum or month?

Also, do you know of any brick and mortar (physical) investment platforms one can use to achieve atleast 13%?

Forgive me, I must be tired as hell - I mixed Mintos with Monero, which is a cryptocurrency.

So, I'll provide a quick list of the websites and my annual interest for the year 2020, which might differ a bit from the one advertised by the website (since that one is an average):
a) Mintos (https://www.mintos.com/en/) - 11.98%
b) Lendermarket (https://www.lendermarket.com/) - 14.83%
c) Robo.cash (https://robo.cash/) - 11.40%
d) Afranga (https://afranga.com/) - 16.2%

Brick and mortar that will generate at least 13%? I'm not Nigerian/in Nigeria so I couldn't suggest anything that is physically located in your nation, but I'd advise against investing in areas outside of the West as a matter of principle - the EU and the US take quite seriously investor protection, so I always suggest to invest through companies/banks located in those areas.

I add a screenshot of Lendermarket (with financially sensitive info blanketed, obviously), which is my favorite platform for its simplicity.

I've seen a lot of misinformation as of late, so I wanted to contribute by putting together a very basic guide on how to invest with the specific goal to maximize passive income and reach financial independence, based on the investing strategy that I've followed for the past decade.
Note that everything I write in this guide is based on my own experience and opinion, so what worked/works for me might not work for you - use your head when investing

What is Financial Independence (FI)?
From my point of view, it's when your investments generate enough passive income that you can stop working. Passive income is any form of income that is generated without any expenditure of time/effort on your part.

How much money do I need to reach FI?
Calculate how much money you need to spend monthly (on average) to live a decent life and multiply that by 18 (12 months + 6 = average expenditure x 1,5). If you ask me, need to generate that much money in a year to consider retiring.

E.g. - "X" needs to spend 1000$/month to live a good life. 1000*18=18 000 $/year.

How does one generate that money?
My investment strategy is divided in 2 parts- passive income, and long-term investing
Passive Income - P2P lending
Long-term Investing - ETF investing & Crypto

P2P lending - You invest money in a company which is raising capital in order to lend it out. In any case, you earn excellent interest rates on the money you invested, up to 18% APY.
My pick & where I invest my money - Mintos, Lendermarket, Robo.Cash, Afranga (in that order of importance)

ETF investing - An ETF is a financial product which allows you to invest in a single title linked to either a specific index (which represents a basket of companies, for example the S&P500), or to a basked of companies that the ETF managers selected themselves.
My pick & where I invest my money - I use the app "Degiro", and invest exclusively in a couple of ETF such as the "Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF USD Acc", which went up 27% in a year.

Crypto - The field that one should pay the most attention to, if you want to actively trade on the market.
My pick & where I invest my money - I operate through the bank "PointPay Bank" (European-based crypto bank) and invest primarily in ETH, BTC and their own PXP token.

Note the possibility to generate passive income via crypto.

What results can I expect, year by year?
Passive income - I've averaged a 14.58% APY in passive income in the past decade, which is excellent.
Long-term Investing - The average has been brought up a lot by the last year and half; the Western indexes have gone straight up thanks to the massive financial injection done by the Federal Reserve (US) and the ECB (EU), with returns in 2021 up to 27%.

If you have any question ask away, I will answer to the best of my capacity.

NOTE - I am not looking to invest money in some scam offer or stuff of the sort. This is just my contribution to the financial education of fellow Nairalanders.

chumsfortech:
If you are planning on saving in Naira this year, then I don’t know if you are okay o!

Naira is falling everyday and if you keep saving in Naira your money will keep losing value. So what’s the simple solution? SAVE IN DOLLARS.

How do you save in dollars? Good question, use this app called XEND FINANCE.

With XEND FINANCE, you can convert your Naira to dollars and save it on the app. The app gives up to 15% daily interest on your savings.
And you don’t need plenty money to start saving, you can start saving with as little as N3,000.

You can withdraw your money at anytime and when you want to withdraw, you will withdraw at the current rate of the dollar!

The app is available on iPhone and Android. Download it, check it out and let’s talk about it

Apple - https://apps.apple.com/ng/app/xend-finance/id1587050825

Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xendmobile

It's 15 APY - 15% yearly, in the best case scenario as they say on their website. You could earn much more by simply putting money in the bank, convert it into $ or € and buy any ETF linked to any Western index - for example the Italian MIB went up by more than 25% in a year.

Just don't. Suicide should be the last solution one chooses, for it is a definitive one - there is no coming back.

Have you tried talking to her? I mean if you two got married, something made you two "click" enough to make you propose no? Simply tell her how you feel and that you need some space - what's the worst that could happen, that she nags some more, thus giving you the excuse to go to a bar/pub/local equivalent and drink something/spend some time with your buddies? Not the worst thing that could happen if you ask me.

I have literally no clue how I smell, but being Italian I'd rather smell like pizza than milk

Apart from jokes, I'd bet it comes down to individual diet, environment, ethnic genetics and lifestyle. I likely don't smell another Italian as "different" due to similar conditions (diet, environment etc), but you'd smell quite different/strange to me, and I to you.

Joeblazeochola:
Because of ur skin get a guide and/or a driver! Do it. You will not get very far without them, do not try to go on ur own especially in lagos it's impossible. You will be stopped by so called "Area Boys" at the next intersection. Just get a good guide (ask at the hotel you are staying at) and enjoy your time here.

Personally, I will advice u stay out of "trouble", i.e. no drugs, no hookers, no fights. In Nigeria, even refrained from going out at nights without someone u trust. U will probably miss out some unforgettable partying in Lagos (supposed to be great) but there are still plenty of ways to enjoy yourself during the day.

Try going to different regions. Naija is so diverse, its mind boggling. There are like 300 ethnicities with different languages, customs, traditions. So travel to different areas, e.g. Kano in the North which is heavily influenced by Islam and Arab culture (tribes are Hausa and Fulani), the South-East (Igbo and mainly Catholic) and Yoruba-Land (southwest, mainly Christian with large minority of muslims).

If ur stay is in Lagos or other large cities, you'll not see Nigeria. Hire a driver and discover the countryside. Visit a school in the middle of nowhere, you will see children that have never seen a white man in their lives and freak totally out. Get out of the car and speak to people. You will fall in love with them and get addicted to our vitality.

Note there are no agencies, just go to the reception of your hotel and ask for help. You'll be set in half an hour. they will find you a driver in no time!

Be openminded. Who knows, you might be asked play a short role in a Nollywood movie, You will never forget these things. But this requires that you are open minded. Remember foreigners are always welcomed in Nigeria

Thanks a lot for the comprehensive reply, and yeah one of the many things I read online is to (quite literally) "get out" of the big cities to experience the true country. I wanted to ask how bad is the situation regarding the North and the South-East, given that at least the Italian Foreign Ministry advises to avoid the area(s), but of course a local would likely known more about it

A simple thread to ask about anything that Nairalanders think might be worth checking out on a 3-months trip in their country, as well as any suggestion they would give to a foreigner visiting.

Given the current travel restrictions, I'm planning to take the trip in the fall of 2022 / once the restrictions will be lifted. Regarding security I have read the main travel advice given by the Italian Foreign Ministry (avoid Imo, Anambra, Abia, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa; avoid going out late etc etc), but I wanted to ask some suggestions from locals, given that I'll obviously stand out due to my skin color.

Thanks a lot for any help

Biodun556:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4BJhgZcq4c

It's Italy. Sadly we are full of idiots - there are some that still claim the virus doesn't exist (not that it's weak and that the governmental response was too much, they literally deny a virus exists)

Valwezzy:
Quite insightful.

Which programming language can one start with, the one that is easy to learn and also the one universally in demand?

In my experience, in this order - Javascript, Java, Python. Personally I learned the obvious HTML/CSS and Javascript. One can easily learn them over the course of 5-6 months.

You can use this website since it's free and gives a good comprehensive introduction to many programming languages:
https://www.learn-js.org/

t

EmzyT:



Bro, I'd be glad for life If you can teach me this! I want to have one Internet Job I'd be doing before entering 2022! I have a friend who does the coding stuff (He works for a company online too and earns like 250k every 2 weeks) but has refused teaching me! Please bro, I take God beg you

Given that some asked how to go about it, I've made a thread - https://www.nairaland.com/6903780/how-find-remote-well-paid-job

Rome.

(EDIT - yes, this is a shitpost that should not be taken seriously, if it wasn't obvious enough - too much tension in the thread..)

BlackXabbath:

This requires a laptop right?

Well yeah, you'd be working on pc.

SIBF:
@OAra
Sir I'll be glad if you can consider my request.
My generations depend in it.
I have every credentials to present to you.
Thanks.

I'm sorry, but I am not offering a job - I'm simply offering advise that I wish someone gave me when I started looking for a remote IT job. if you have any question ask away

fnep2smooth:

is japan ok for remote job

As a general rule any developed economy offers remote jobs. If you happen to speak Japanese, Japan would be a goldmine for you, given that while given the majority of IT people are English-speaking, few of them speak Japanese - Japan is a very culturally homogeneous country, so speaking Japanese would be a huge plus in their book.

Given that some people asked me how should one go about to find a well-paid IT job, I wanted to put down some of my experiences and thoughts, so that it might be of use to you all

Preface - I am not Nigerian but Italian, so my experience in this field might differ from yours, but given that I work remotely for foreign (Western) companies, I feel that at least some of what I write will apply.

I - What to learn, aka finding a niche
I don't mean it in an entrepreneurial sense, but in a literal sense: you need to choose what you wish to specialize in.

Make use of websites that are commonly used in the West when looking for work - examples could be Linkedin, TheLocal, Monsters, Indeed, etc - and apply the filters that apply to your wishes. For example, in this case we'd apply the "remote job" filter (however it is written on the website you've chosen), and then whichever filter related to salary/etc you want to.

Once you have done so, make a list of job ads - you need to find out what are the most in-demand skills that you think you could learn.

Once you have a list of 2-3 skills - which could be anything, from a SAP module to a programming language (Javascript, C++, etc) or even other things such as web design -, you need to seriously sit down and think what you could learn.

II - Where to learn
Websites such as Youtube, or Linkedin, are your best friend here.

I spent a good month and half trying to learn what I could from Youtube tutorials and other specialized websites before sending my application for a "boot camp" for SAP. If you wish to learn how to program, there many good websites that are also free (e.g. if you wished to learn PHP, you could use https://phptherightway.com/ - found within a few minutes of googling "how to learn php" ) .

III - How to stand out from the competition
Once you have a solid base, you need I'd check if you can earn a certification to distinguish yourself from your competition.

This depends heavily on the field you've chosen - for example the multinational SAP offers certifications on its own, whereas if you chose web design, you could try to put up some websites that you could then link on your CV (to serve as proof of your skills); if you chose to learn a programming language, I'd advise to simply throw anything you programmed on a free-hosting website such as GitHub (and use that as proof of competence).

Again: your goal is now to stand out.

Bits of advice that could be useful in this regard, drawn from my own experience:
a) Make sure to list all relevant work experiences you have. This seems obvious but make sure to follow it - you never know what might catch the eye of a recruiter
b) Make sure your CV is never longer than 1 page.
c) Remember this is a numbers game, so send your cv around, but remember that this is also a matter of targeting the correct company. If you are an aspiring programmer and you send your cv to a cleaning company, they ain't hiring you, simple as. If you learnt programming, send your cv to IT companies that deal in programming, for example.

IV - I got the job interview, now what?
If you managed to land an interview with a company for a remote job, congratulations. Sincerely.

Now comes the hard part - to make a good first impression. European work ethics is different from American work ethic, remember that - we are more relaxed, but also more "on point". Don't try to sugarcoat or sweet talk your way through the interview - you are applying for a technical job, where your know-how matters much more than your personality.

Be polite, be punctual, be on point.

That simple.

Notes on salary: working remotely will likely require you to maintain a flexible sleeping schedule, which could conflict with your usual day-by-day schedule. Having said that the average Nigerian salary, as given by google, is 339 000 NGN. The average IT salary in Europe, at least in my field after 4 years, ranges from 1,852,266.15 NGN (4000 Euro)/month in Germany to 2/3 of that in Italy, and over 6000 in Sweden.

You will be offered less than that. Due to you working from abroad, the companies will be able to get away with it. Having said that, even a quite low salary / entry-level salary (1500 Euro - 694 599.81 NGN) will likely be compensated by the lower cost of living compared to Europe.

Let me make this clear - it will take a lot of efforts to find remote work abroad without migrating, but I know from experience that it can be done given my current employer is an American company.

Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer if I know the answer.

NTSA:
23.6km ngong road

Given I did reply with proof on the last page, now my turn to ask a question out of curiosity - the rivalry between Nigeria & Kenya, where does it come from originally? is it just competition to be the "Giant of Africa", or does it have some deeper reason?

NTSA:

I have seen guys pulling this stunt before.. ..

Not really given I'm just commenting in an interesting thread - your national rivalry reminds me too much of ours (Italians) with the French...

Non proprio dato che sto solo commentando in un thread che trovo interessante dato che mi ricordate tanto noi con i francesi..

NTSA:

We would love more of that rather than the empty talk.

I got no horse in this race given I'm neither Nigerian nor Kenyan, but was just commenting on how the roads the guy posted wouldn't be that out of place around here in Europe - maybe not the newest/best, but still.

Also, I simply scrolled down Google image while googling "ghanaian highway". Here are some images - honestly? IF the entire highway network was like this, it'd be quite good.

NTSA:

Post Ghanian Highways ..I repeat post Ghanian Highways.

This is one of the first images that come up when I google "ghanaian highway". A bit messily done but it wouldn't be out of place in Rome/Turin/Marseille/etc

NTSA:

You better post Ghanian roads .... rather than usual tantrums.
52 km long Thika Road

Those look like the average state roads (one step below highway) one would find in W. European nations (e.g. France, Spain, Italy etc) - no clue why the other guy is calling them muddy/crap/etc

You can do all of this and scrape a living...OR you could spend some months to learn an IT skill that is in-demand and then you could easily find a remote job for a Western company that paid a western salary, without even needing to move to another nation.

Examples? Coding languages (C++, etc), SAP (pick your poison among the various modules), etc.

ilduce31:



At least, you be Oyunbo with cute hair glowing skin. It's not like our hair that is like Sampaper.

Thanks, but honestly one shouldn't put himself down so much man.

Just to add to my answer, to give an example - let's say you earn 30 000 euro/year (13 986 389.40 naira). That's 2500 euro/month. Great, except that taxes will take at least 750 out of that, rent/mortgage will eat at least another 800 (I have seen rents up to 1400 euro/month in the big cities), add on top of that food, fuel for the car (forget about public transports outside of major cities), electricity/heating (which is quite costly, especially now due to the row with Russia) etc, and you see how many people simply can't really cope with the absurd cost of living (and so either find roommates or go live with their gf/wife outside of the city, which sadly adds commute and thus reduces the time one can spend with his family)

ilduce31:



Our talk never finish. What is it like in your country? What do you think of Nigerians. How did you come across Nairaland?

Hey. To put it simply, Italy is a very rich country on the surface, but as soon as you look at the wealth distribution you notice that there is a huge difference between "poor", "middle class" and "rich". Unless you fall in the last 2, you're kind of screwed - high taxes, little welfare, a lot of parasitism...you name it.

Add on top of that the fact that there is a huge difference in how much different jobs pay, to the tune of some jobs paying on average 70k Euro (give or take 32 629 553.77 naira - converted using google so maybe it's inaccurate) or more, while others pay only 20k (9 322 729 naira).

Note that there is some difference in cost of living between regions, but overall the cost of living is very high, especially in the North (where essentially all good-paying jobs are), so you can understand how a lot of young workers are not very well-off.

About Nigerians - I met a few and we became friends a few years ago, during university. Decent people, but with a population of over 206 millions, there are surely some rotten eggs as well - like we say, there is bound to be 1 rotten apple together with 9 good ones out of every 10.

About Nairaland - I found it in 2016 by chance. The website for some reason does not let me reset my password for the old account, so I simply made a new one (and I did not use my old one a lot - I mainly read, rather than write).