₦airaland Forum

axponline: I have read this type of thread many times in the past without commenting. Here are the points to note

Many Nigerians come to the US after between the ages of 25-35 and some even in thier 40's. For these folks, its like life is starting all over again.
America is about careful planning. The system is built on careful planning and the concept of you get what you have earned. I used to work in Nigeria in a bank where you would get your housing allowance in Jan as a lump sum. You can never get that kind of cash in the US unless
a) you borrow
b) you steal
c) win the lottery

Carefully plan each dollar making sure you save at least 20cents on each dollar and when the hard time comes (and they will come) you have a fall back position.
If you anticipate a major expense coming up, plan for it. (i.e save)
I appreciate the fact the America has gotten harder in the past few years. The jobs available are often high skill jobs in IT and health care etc. The usual low skill service jobs that many of our folks get stuck with are getting few abd far between. The idea is to continually improve your self and the jobs will look for you.
I can readily testify to that. By the grace of God, I have a job where I work from home. I dont leave my house unless I want to. I get paid more than a US senator. I have excellent health care benefits paid for by my employer. I have plentiful savings. My wife has never worked for 1 day since we came to the US. I once started a business and ran up $80k in debt. I paid off the debt all from my salary. And I know many Nigerians here in the neighbourhood that I live that can tell the same story.

I strongly beleive God can bless you wherever you are. If God has brought you to America, utilize the opportunity (and it is a good opportunity) to the fullest and STOP comparing yourself to your mates back home. It is 2 completely different worlds and systems.

he willprovide

Image123: hmmm, OP dey build house for Abuja with which money na. You no want more nigerians to build house for Abuja ko? Monopoly business man, make we come bi your tenants instead of to go amerinka.

ESULAALU: Spot the difference

And that's the misconception there are people who get fired just for being bald or for being of a different race. I know this I live here in America in the[b]Bronx,NY[/b]to be exact. But you're right Nigeria will get there.

Stella_Bella: America is a country defined by hardwork,
you WORK hard, you EARN hard cash regardless of your race, your creed or your sex.
Nigeria is still young and we will get there.

Limaoscar: Now I know why you dey protest..... i beg go back home.

Ofonagoro :
Excuse me DO NOT DISRESPECT ME. You have no basis for such a comment.

tosrich: Ofonagor, the moral of the story is that you dont generalize when in topic like this.....for the fact that you find it difficult out there, is not enough reason to create topic like this to brainwsh the unsuspecting public.
Its not the same situation everywhere.. If oversea does'nt favour you, you still have your green passport and if it has expired, you can go to Atlanta, its faster to get at the Nigeria Embassy...

caseless: Oh my God! I'm not advocating for any half-baked guy like the one u voted for in the last election. Com'on, are doubting all the attributes i outlined are seen among nigerians? So u think everybody in this country is like any half-baked guy leading the country or holding any public office? Do have a rethink....bro are u saying most of our leader got to their various positions by popular votes? Do u think our votes count?

Yeah, no doubt those so called leaders were once part of us , but there is an outright disconnection once they are voted to a particular position between them and the people that voted them in...who do we blame for that? There is a wide gap between us and our leaders, so we can never get it right until that gap is bridged. If those leaders got there by election and not by selection, we wldn't have been where we are today.... They dont get there by our votes, so they don't care about us.....u knw this....bro.

anonimi: Yes. Our votes count when we actually go out to vote.
We cannot sit on our buttocks and keep complaining while touts and thugs do the voting on our behalf.
Did you have preferred candidates in the last elections?
How many candidates did you campaign for in the last elections?
How much did you contribute to any candidate's elections?
If you did not and the candidate used his money and/or that of a godfather to whom should he have allegiance?
Did you volunteer for any of the candidate's campaign?
As we make our beds so we have to lie on them!!!



If we decide not to ACTIVELY participate in the political process and only a few of us show up just to vote then we can only expect that the leaders will not be very accountable to us and remain disconnected until the next voting season. QED.
When we are ready to take part actively from the LG Councillorship level upwards we will start to see changes and less need to be second class citizens in places where we are not welcome.

axponline: I have read this type of thread many times in the past without commenting. Here are the points to note

Many Nigerians come to the US after between the ages of 25-35 and some even in thier 40's. For these folks, its like life is starting all over again.
America is about careful planning. The system is built on careful planning and the concept of you get what you have earned. I used to work in Nigeria in a bank where you would get your housing allowance in Jan as a lump sum. You can never get that kind of cash in the US unless
a) you borrow
b) you steal
c) win the lottery

Carefully plan each dollar making sure you save at least 20cents on each dollar and when the hard time comes (and they will come) you have a fall back position.
If you anticipate a major expense coming up, plan for it. (i.e save)
I appreciate the fact the America has gotten harder in the past few years. The jobs available are often high skill jobs in IT and health care etc. The usual low skill service jobs that many of our folks get stuck with are getting few abd far between. The idea is to continually improve your self and the jobs will look for you.
I can readily testify to that. By the grace of God, I have a job where I work from home. I dont leave my house unless I want to. I get paid more than a US senator. I have excellent health care benefits paid for by my employer. I have plentiful savings. My wife has never worked for 1 day since we came to the US. I once started a business and ran up $80k in debt. I paid off the debt all from my salary. And I know many Nigerians here in the neighbourhood that I live that can tell the same story.

I strongly beleive God can bless you wherever you are. If God has brought you to America, utilize the opportunity (and it is a good opportunity) to the fullest and STOP comparing yourself to your mates back home. It is 2 completely different worlds and systems.

he willprovide

axponline: I have read this type of thread many times in the past without commenting. Here are the points to note

Many Nigerians come to the US after between the ages of 25-35 and some even in thier 40's. For these folks, its like life is starting all over again.
America is about careful planning. The system is built on careful planning and the concept of you get what you have earned. I used to work in Nigeria in a bank where you would get your housing allowance in Jan as a lump sum. You can never get that kind of cash in the US unless
a) you borrow
b) you steal
c) win the lottery

Carefully plan each dollar making sure you save at least 20cents on each dollar and when the hard time comes (and they will come) you have a fall back position.
If you anticipate a major expense coming up, plan for it. (i.e save)
I appreciate the fact the America has gotten harder in the past few years. The jobs available are often high skill jobs in IT and health care etc. The usual low skill service jobs that many of our folks get stuck with are getting few abd far between. The idea is to continually improve your self and the jobs will look for you.
I can readily testify to that. By the grace of God, I have a job where I work from home. I dont leave my house unless I want to. I get paid more than a US senator. I have excellent health care benefits paid for by my employer. I have plentiful savings. My wife has never worked for 1 day since we came to the US. I once started a business and ran up $80k in debt. I paid off the debt all from my salary. And I know many Nigerians here in the neighbourhood that I live that can tell the same story.

I strongly beleive God can bless you wherever you are. If God has brought you to America, utilize the opportunity (and it is a good opportunity) to the fullest and STOP comparing yourself to your mates back home. It is 2 completely different worlds and systems.

he willprovide

Wallie:
Hi wallie.love to connect with u on omaluv04@yahoo.com. thanks
I disagree with most of what you wrote not because they do not contain an element of truth but due to your over-generalization. You keep saying "America" like every single state or even counties within a state are the same. How many States have you lived in?

My point is that things are generally hard as could be seen by the unemployment numbers but the same is true for almost every other country in the world. Prove me wrong with stats if you feel otherwise. I’ll even give you the leeway of choosing any country on earth.

The only thing great about Canada is the ability to easily get your papers if you go to school. Canada is actively trying to grow their tax base. If Canada is so great, why are there only 35 million people there - a country bigger than the US? The US has 315 million people and US citizens do not need a visa to travel there. Canada is just a big and empty country with nothing going on but cold weather.


To people trying to immigrate to the US, do your homework! If you have no professional skill to offer, you will probably find it very difficult to live the lifestyle you see on TV. It is a capitalist country and only the fit will grow into a fat cat.

It is true that manufacturing jobs (mostly of the unskilled types) are off-shored to Asia and as such, makes getting jobs in that industry particularly challenging.

If you’re also relying on your Nigerian degree to work here, forget it because you will be competing with people that schooled from known schools. If I’m looking to hire someone with a degree, why would I hire someone from an unknown faraway place with a questionable degree? Most Americans are ignorant about Nigeria except for the negative things they hear on TV. The only people that can truly evaluate the worth of your degree are those in charge of college admission.

The types of people most likely to succeed in America are those that continued their education over here or have a special skill to offer. If you want to live above minimum wage, try furthering your Nigerian education over here. I personally know of friends that make well over $120k and they got their undergraduate degrees from Nigerian universities (Unilag, Ife) but they continued their education over here. One is a CPA and the other a network engineer. The funny thing is that the network engineer does not even need his engineering degrees (BSEE, MSEE) to get a job but his certifications (CCNP, CCNA, MCSA, CCDP etc). In other words, you can get a job that pays well over $100k if you can get the necessary cisco certifications but you will be tested to demonstrate your skill on actual hardware during most interviews.

And one last thing; people always complain about going to school and not being able to get a job afterwards but they never tell you have well they did in school. You cannot just go to school just for the sake of getting a certificate. If you do poorly in school (low GPA), you will find it hard if not impossible to get a job.

dasparrow:
So my point is, things are hard in America now. Even those born and bred in America are finding it difficult to find a decent paying job
All that glitters is indeed not gold.

IbeOkehie:
So this is over 10 years later. I wonder if you have the same opinion now. 🤔 Because it seems things are hard in Nigeria now.

Good Luck wherever you are.

IbeOkehie:
So this is over 10 years later. I wonder if you still have the same opinion. 🤔 Because it seems things are hard in Nigeria now.

Good Luck wherever you are.