₦airaland Forum

uche87:
Let me start this piece with a common saying on social media. If you are in the habit of complaining people are stingy, it might be an indication that you are begging too much.
Well, much has been said about people in the United Kingdom being tight-fisted. To a large extent, I am of the opinion that this is true and could be attributed to some of the reasons explained below:

(1) Culture:
The United Kingdom just like most Western countries has embraced individualism. The system of every man for himself. In Africa, it is collectivism which simply means 'Let's do it as a family, let's grow together' You will hardly see the core Britons help each other financially. They will rather rely on credit facilities from banks, credit cards, and benefits to survive tough financial times. This is unlike Nigeria where 'billing' is almost cultural in the 21st century due to age-long systemic poverty.

(2) Littany of lies:
Some Nigerians are in the business of cooking up comprehensive and water-tight lies to extort money from their family members abroad. Personally, I have friends who have abandoned their WhatsApp accounts to avoid hearing countless touching stories from friends and acquaintances in Nigeria. To cope with the virus of lies, people in the UK have adopted a firewall to block all intrusions.

(3) Hustle is hard:
Life in the UK is historically difficult, and in recent times, things have gotten tougher for the 6th largest economy in the world due to the growing population, Brexit, COVID-19, and other issues. People work round the clock, under extreme weather conditions, to earn money and the cost of living is too high. As of 2020/2021, employees were chasing people for jobs. Two years later, the reserve is the case, even in the blue-collar jobs industry. So every penny counts. You don't want to make money only to play a Father Christmas to someone whose financial challenges might not be genuine.

(4) Taxes:
This topic doesn't require much explanation as this is a paramount issue in the UK. Any sort of comfort you enjoy in the country is taxed. It runs a service-based economy. I have seen people earn about £3,000 gross salary in a month and get a net pay of £2,300. Income tax, National Insurance, and pension deductions took about £750 which is more than the salary of a successful person in Nigeria. Rent, council tax, loan repayment, vehicle insurance, and others would further beat your take-home pay until it struggles to take you home in the end.

(5) Personality traits
Some people are naturally stingy. In fact, they even struggle to spend their own money on themselves. It appears they might be of the belief that the funds could be taken with them to the great beyond. I have a friend who has no record of helping anybody in the history of his life and he has no plan to turn a new leaf. People like these come to the UK and become hardened in the area of stinginess.

(6) People are broke:
If poverty in the world is being measured by raw cash and not access to food, the UK might be one of the poorest countries in Europe. Most people have to overwork, to the detriment of their health to make extra bucks. This is why some locals see the paper chase as a rat race and they prefer to stay unemployed and focus on benefits from the government. Furthermore, the housing crisis in the UK is real. As a family man, 70% of your monthly earnings easily go into accommodation costs. This makes life mentally stressful and frustrating.
Anyone looking from the outside is easily deceived by the glossy pictures, nice clothes, and lovely locations they see on social media. This set of people constitutes the 'God When Squad' - a popular faction in the Nigerian social media space.


Osahon George Osayimwen writes from Sheffield, United Kingdom.

I don’t like having them as client they will price everything including agency fee

Na juju o 😁

Pierocash:
This is a country some people in Nigeria will sell their houses , cars , and borrow loan to migrate to. You see a multi millionaire here , doing well here migrate to UK after selling their properties, only to end up doing menial jobs to survive. No be juju be that

That's the point. They no better than you. It's relative, though. To me, the real lure of the west is the working, functioning system. For example, soooo many preventable deaths in Nigeria that would never have happened if the patient or victim lived in a country like the UK or USA.

Dikastan:
What you wrote is nothing but the truth. I have two cousins living in the UK and they are stingy to a fault. They can never help but I am working hard to help myself

The real problem is Nigerians and their silly entitlement mentality about someone else's income.

What about family members?

seuncyrus:
The real problem is Nigerians and their silly entitlement mentality about someone else's income. How can you even call anyone stingy ffs.
Any amount anyone gives you from their hard earned sweat is a gift, you're in no way entitled to how the person spends their money .

Do you know how many hours he puts in daily to make ends meet ?
Do you know how much he pays for the tiny studio apartment he lives in ?
Do you know how much bills he has to pay after tax ?
Do you know how many people like you that sends him messages daily , and many he's even promised ?

There are too many silly Nigerians adults who are so entitled & self-centered and no different from their leaders.

Na d "portable" off me. 😄

vengertime:
In my Local Government Area, nobody from the UK has broken the record by building a duplex.(upstairs)

Na always 3 bedroom portable bungalow

happney65:
I tire o. Tell her to come to Naija,they won't o. They fvcking won't.

I dey naija, I know the country is corrupt and things are bad but things are not that bad for me. So you think say like this if opportunity come for me to japa to UK, I go go? He'll no, except nah country way I believe in or get opportunity or dream of going to. So because people dey complain you think say e easy to come back start afresh?

Pierocash:
This is a country some people in Nigeria will sell their houses , cars , and borrow loan to migrate to. You see a multi millionaire here , doing well here migrate to UK after selling their properties, only to end up doing menial jobs to survive. No be juju be that

It depends on what you call "doing well". A man can be doing those so called menial jobs you speak of and be living well too. Afford to take trips with his family on vacation and have access to decent healthcare.

Stingy to your people my UK people aren't stingy to me

In this same UK that football players are bought for millions of pounds.. ok oo

Pierocash:
This is a country some people in Nigeria will sell their houses , cars , and borrow loan to migrate to. You see a multi millionaire here , doing well here migrate to UK after selling their properties, only to end up doing menial jobs to survive. No be juju be that

It's a complicated matter

Okay

AllenSpencer:
So people in other countries don’t go through same. Only UK peeps go through your mentions?

I don't think other countries have free healthcare. Things are different in other countries. It can just be why UK left Brexit. Their level is different.

AllenSpencer:
Been that way since the 80’s

UK people are “NATURALLY” stingy!

Rumors even has it that, Peter Obi learnt it from there.

Do they owe you anything?
You should be ashamed with your entitlement mentality

Go and work and dash your money to beggars on the road

vengertime:
In my Local Government Area, nobody from the UK has broken the record by building a duplex.(upstairs)

Na always 3 bedroom portable bungalow

easy ur pressure 😂

hakeemhakeem:
Stingy to your people my UK people aren't stingy to me

Leave them to dey talk rubbish

I know what my brother did in just two years of residing in UK

E too loud although he's in medical line and is with NHS

Noting new UK citizens re naturally stingy

RaptorX:
That is just a consolation when they discovered the abroad is not as rosy as they thought

it is. South of Uk has a lot of Nigerians. You would even think you are in lagos.

You are still calling them stringy despite some reasons stated already? Lol, I hope you are not only helping your self?

Dikastan:
What you wrote is nothing but the truth. I have two cousins living in the UK and they are stingy to a fault. They can never help but I am working hard to help myself

uche87:
Let me start this piece with a common saying on social media. If you are in the habit of complaining people are stingy, it might be an indication that you are begging too much.
Well, much has been said about people in the United Kingdom being tight-fisted. To a large extent, I am of the opinion that this is true and could be attributed to some of the reasons explained below:

(1) Culture:
The United Kingdom just like most Western countries has embraced individualism. The system of every man for himself. In Africa, it is collectivism which simply means 'Let's do it as a family, let's grow together' You will hardly see the core Britons help each other financially. They will rather rely on credit facilities from banks, credit cards, and benefits to survive tough financial times. This is unlike Nigeria where 'billing' is almost cultural in the 21st century due to age-long systemic poverty.

(2) Littany of lies:
Some Nigerians are in the business of cooking up comprehensive and water-tight lies to extort money from their family members abroad. Personally, I have friends who have abandoned their WhatsApp accounts to avoid hearing countless touching stories from friends and acquaintances in Nigeria. To cope with the virus of lies, people in the UK have adopted a firewall to block all intrusions.

(3) Hustle is hard:
Life in the UK is historically difficult, and in recent times, things have gotten tougher for the 6th largest economy in the world due to the growing population, Brexit, COVID-19, and other issues. People work round the clock, under extreme weather conditions, to earn money and the cost of living is too high. As of 2020/2021, employees were chasing people for jobs. Two years later, the reserve is the case, even in the blue-collar jobs industry. So every penny counts. You don't want to make money only to play a Father Christmas to someone whose financial challenges might not be genuine.

(4) Taxes:
This topic doesn't require much explanation as this is a paramount issue in the UK. Any sort of comfort you enjoy in the country is taxed. It runs a service-based economy. I have seen people earn about £3,000 gross salary in a month and get a net pay of £2,300. Income tax, National Insurance, and pension deductions took about £750 which is more than the salary of a successful person in Nigeria. Rent, council tax, loan repayment, vehicle insurance, and others would further beat your take-home pay until it struggles to take you home in the end.

(5) Personality traits
Some people are naturally stingy. In fact, they even struggle to spend their own money on themselves. It appears they might be of the belief that the funds could be taken with them to the great beyond. I have a friend who has no record of helping anybody in the history of his life and he has no plan to turn a new leaf. People like these come to the UK and become hardened in the area of stinginess.

(6) People are broke:
If poverty in the world is being measured by raw cash and not access to food, the UK might be one of the poorest countries in Europe. Most people have to overwork, to the detriment of their health to make extra bucks. This is why some locals see the paper chase as a rat race and they prefer to stay unemployed and focus on benefits from the government. Furthermore, the housing crisis in the UK is real. As a family man, 70% of your monthly earnings easily go into accommodation costs. This makes life mentally stressful and frustrating.
Anyone looking from the outside is easily deceived by the glossy pictures, nice clothes, and lovely locations they see on social media. This set of people constitutes the 'God When Squad' - a popular faction in the Nigerian social media space.


Osahon George Osayimwen writes from Sheffield, United Kingdom.

The only valid reasons while people living in the UK hardly help their family members is found in:



No 3

No 4

No 6

seuncyrus:
The real problem is Nigerians and their silly entitlement mentality about someone else's income. How can you even call anyone stingy ffs.
Any amount anyone gives you from their hard earned sweat is a gift, you're in no way entitled to how the person spends their money .

Do you know how many hours he puts in daily to make ends meet ?
Do you know how much he pays for the tiny studio apartment he lives in ?
Do you know how much bills he has to pay after tax ?
Do you know how many people like you that sends him messages daily , and many he's even promised ?

There are too many silly Nigerians adults who are so entitled & self-centered and no different from their leaders.

Exactly my thought.

Throwback:
Truth is many of us who grew up with knowledge of our uncles, aunties, and cousins residing in the UK, do not really rate them highly when it comes to generosity.

We were struggling here.

They were struggling there.

Not many Africans make it big in the UK.

Those Nigerians who live large in the UK, actually made their money in Nigeria and spend it in the UK.

i think now things would be different because of the exchange rate. Imagine 50 pounds is 55k.

Wisereborn:
UK is modern day slavery

All they need is your skills and they will ensure that you leave with practically nothing

Not true. Did you see asake's concert? Go and look at the ticket prices.

IjebuWarrior:
Dat U.K no be am at all. Many of my friends living there still dey ask me for assistance.

never listen to them. 1 pounds is 1200 naira.

uuzba:
Let's get this straight.
Western people know that Everybody needs help. But they institutionalised their helping system..
Evrybodu can get help in multiple ways. Student loans for school, credit card for business, or charity for sick/disabled people, even homeless shelter.
The family members might not help each other because they know, you can just go and get whatever help money from government.
And if government refuses you, it must be because you have a bad habit you have refused to change that is maintaning a low credit score for you. Probably a drug addict or something similar.
They also have PATREON website, where you write your ideas and people donate to help your business.
I didn't think we Nigerians can get any help from that patreon for Nigerian business. It is meant for western people for western stuff. Dollar to Dollar transactions..
So, yes they do help. But in an organised way without favoritism..

You didn't get my point. I wasn't talking of seeking help from government or corporate bodies or what have you. Rather, I was talking of individuals helping out in a way, which isn't available in most of the western countries where the government does almost everything for their people. I had lived in a couple of them, to say the least.

Help could come in different ways and forms, I agree. But not everything you share with the government or what have you. There are some issues that are better shared with individuals or family members due to sensitivity. But because such a structure isn't available in the west, many of them would just keep it to themselves, manage it, for those who can or fall in a depression and later commit suicide, if they feel its not manageable .

I remember a neighbour who walked to me and said her grown daughter still bedwets, someone old enough to even get married. She said her daughter feels depressed about this all the time. I don't want to sound religous here but she received a solution to that disgraceful experience. She's still in the university, I think. In the Western countries, such a pretty girl would have killed herself, due to the kind of the structure in place. Everybody is skeptical of their neighbours over there. This girl had been to hospitals, done several tests yet, no solution before i stepped in.

In another scenario, my wife once told me that her sister has been worried about the delayed conception. She had a son but wanted more. She said each time her husband meets her, the whole stuff would flow out, instead of flowing inside and fertilising her egg and her husband was calling her unprintable names already. She's been to hospital, they've prescribed drugs, et al, no solution.

Long story cut short, I told my wife to tell her sister that, when next she ovulates, she should tell her husband to reach her from the back and wait after pouring it inside for some minutes before pulling out. She became pregnant after that meeting. 2de, they have 3 children together, carbon copies of their dad.

The 2 examples given above were just a few,out of many. People would knock at their relations' or neighbours' doors and share their thoughts on burning issues and find succour. Can you walk to the government over there and discuss such? The answer is no. A nursing student told me she wanted to end it because she had failed a multiple times and she doesn't want to go back home a failure cos her parents will almost kill her. I sat her down, gave her the encouragement she needed . This November, she will graduate. She had to resit those courses, though she had an extra year. She's happy today. Can she go to the government to discuss such? I don't want to share what led to her poor performance here but its not money. She saw me as someone she could confide in and she received a solution.

There's a lady here, whose name I won't mention. She had spiritual problems, bad dreams, etc. She was feeling depressed at some point. I reached out to her personally, she did the needful. She came here to share good news. Such intimacy isn't built in the west and that's why suicide rate is so high oner there. Africa culture really helps in mitigating such missions.

BabaIbo:
I have a childhood friend there.

Both of us have been very good friends from day 1.
As the guy enter UK, na do the guy turn original aka gum.
Anyway, it was at the point of raising capital for my business, when I was contacting family and friends seeking for help, you know how it is when starting a new venture/business.
Some of those in Nigeria did it with ease, you see that UK own, na so so excuse the guy just dey give me before I vex leave am.
I even told him if I can send him money to help me get goods over there and send to Nigeria for me to sell it here.

That was how my dad's childhood friend whom they are supposed to travel out together before my dad decided to stay back because of ..., the man sent one wristwatch to my dad as gift, I look the watch come dey laff, well maybe it is the sender that replaced it sha.
Well, my dad helped him a lot even though he is outside the country and my dad is here.

So, na normal thing for them. 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣


Maybe that was why I hated that country from the beginning. If not, I for don dey there teytey because the man once asked my dad to send his son but I told my dad I don't like that country.

uk is beautiful o. With the bad exchange rate is better now. Infact thats why tinubu devalued the naira to make pounds better. South of Uk dey like naija, you would think you are in naija. Did you see the new yam they did in manchester, go and watch is on youtube.

Now I know why my step brother no dey send me money🤣🤣🤣🤣if he send me highest na 10k and he go adjourn am for like 3 months

Generally, Americans are more generous and flamboyant than Europeans (the UK). Even in the labour market, it is the same thing.

My firm is in the UK and I sometimes wonder how people over there cope. They are really trying to pay tax, save, survive and remit back home.

American firms pay more. I only prefer Europeans because they are more considerate in decision making as they don't do pass themselves from the beginning.

RaptorX:
LOL total and absolute lies, you are delusional with this bold faced lie. People in the UK for 20 to 30 years don't even have 50 million talkless of 3 years.

hmmm. 50 million is now 43 k pounds so you know which is the gross salary of a lecturer 2 in the university

defebe:
2300 pound is like earning 200k monthly in Nigeria, please tell me how a family man based in lagos can survive in Lagos with 200k. Which loan are you paying, when you still pay rent..The major loan people pay in UK is Mortgate and Auto loan of wch auto loan is minute compare to mortgage. With 2300 you can live a decent life in UK if you mo do pass yourself..A saving of 500 pounds monthly is to too small

2300 is earning 200k? Lol. With that amount, car companies would ve begging you to drive the latest car.

adonainana:
If it was this easy, then every single married couple born in the uk would have at least £50,000 (50 million naira ) in thier savings .

And sentiments aside I’m sure we both agree this is not the case.

The uk is an incredibly tough place to have any money left after your monthly bills more less 50 million naira (£50k) saved in 3 years

It’s incredibly hard and almost impossible to accomplish things like this

my brother forget this talk. Please change your circle. Many nigerians use that to buy their car hands down. Just go to all this igbo unions or yoruba or edo unions or even old boys reunion you would see men.

jesmond3945:
Not true. Did you see asake's concert? Go and look at the ticket prices.

all those there are naija students spending money they brought from nigeria