₦airaland Forum

Who I Wan Explain Give?” – Nigerian Lawyer in UK Reveals Her New Job, Sparks Reactions Online

A Nigerian lawyer has set social media buzzing after candidly revealing the kind of work she now does since relocating to the United Kingdom (UK) — a story that has resonated deeply with Nigerians in the diaspora. Eyes Of Lagos reports,
From Barrister to Care Assistant

The lady, identified on TikTok as @gee87849, shared in a lighthearted video that she currently works as a care assistant in the UK.

According to her, she has yet to continue her legal practice abroad — a reality she finds both humbling and humorous.

Quoting her exact words, she said:

“Who I wan explain give say I be lawyer for my country?”

The phrase, which loosely translates to “Who am I supposed to explain to that I was a lawyer back home?” quickly struck a chord with many Nigerians who have faced similar challenges while trying to restart their professional lives overseas.
Reality Check: Life Abroad for Professionals

Her honest confession mirrors the experience of many skilled migrants who are often forced to take up non-professional jobs while navigating the strict licensing processes abroad.

For many, it’s a temporary adjustment — but one that often comes with emotional and social pressure, especially when explaining their new reality to friends or family back home.
Reactions From Nigerians in the Diaspora

The viral video drew hundreds of supportive and empathetic comments.

One user wrote:

“Same here, I was a banker in Lagos. Now I’m a support worker in Manchester. Life no balance 😂.”

Another added:

“It’s not easy starting over, but at least you’re earning well and living decently. That’s what matters.”

Some others praised her for being real, saying her openness helps shed light on the sacrifices many professionals make when they move abroad.
The Bigger Conversation

Her story has reignited discussions about career transitions, professional requalification barriers, and the mental toll of migration. Despite the differences in job roles, many Nigerians abroad agree that the journey — though challenging — is part of building a better life.

As one commenter summed it up:

“No shame in honest work. The title can wait — the bills can’t.”

Sonnobax15:

Gone are those days when law as a profession used to command so much respect..

Make she come ughelli police station Make she come see how lawyers dey stand for station gate dey hustle for clients . Na once she go thank God for her stars...

Lanretoye:
Abeg wetin be your own discipline?…na the ones wey Dey ugheli police station be 90% of the population of lawyers in this country.i don’t know what is wrong with some of you and reasoning,in fact i am very sure that you don’t even have children in school.isn’t it insane that someone doesn’t see lawyer’s that have their own chambers and the ones doing very well in their field?,na the ones wey Dey hustle for police station be your own yardstick.howmany lawyers self Dey the ugheli police station compared to population of well to do lawyers in the country

motymop:
as an immigrants, you have to start all over again even if you have phd

ZombieDredd:
Not quite true.

Many immigrants entered NHS band 5,6.( Lab Scientist, doctors, biomedical science, radiography, physiotherapy etc etc)

That's not starting all over again

WizardOfNG:
She can't blame the UK for not allowing her jump straight into practising law there after arriving from Nigeria.

They're not dumb to not see how Rotimi Amaechi, Deji Adeyanju, Dino Melaye, and literally thousands of other wealthy Nigerians, buy Law degrees, from even Nigeria's neighbouring countries like Togo and Benin Republic, and even "call to the bar".

The reality they know about us reveals they will destroy their systems over there if they take our "professionals" at face value.

This is not indictment of this lady who may be a properly qualified and talented lawyer.

She however needs to accept it is best she does the needful and gain all accreditation that will allow her practice law in the UK.

That's how she needs to move and not lamenting about her former life in Nigeria publicly after she willinglymade the decision to relocate .

The truth is that Nigeria is a nation that fails to do the right thing and thus expose her people to ridicule where systems are organised with strict insistence on compliance and proven capacity in important professions like Medicine, Law, architecture etc.

Lanretoye:
Abeg wetin be your own discipline?…na the ones wey Dey ugheli police station be 90% of the population of lawyers in this country.i don’t know what is wrong with some of you and reasoning,in fact i am very sure that you don’t even have children in school.isn’t it insane that someone doesn’t see lawyer’s that have their own chambers and the ones doing very well in their field?,na the ones wey Dey hustle for police station be your own yardstick.howmany lawyers self Dey the ugheli police station compared to population of well to do lawyers in the country

brain54:
Foreign trained professionals from all countries...

Pass face similar requirements when moving to the US or uk and I don't see it as being perculiar to Nigeria.

And be careful about making allegations without evidence.

Or how do you know Amechi,adeyanju etc bought degrees?

Nigeria currently has a total of 147 private universities. Checks on the National Universities Commission’s website indicate that 107 of them were established in the last 15 years. Among them are Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State; Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State; Elizade University,Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State; and Baze University, Abuja, among others.

motymop:
you wrote not quite true as if there are immigrants driving taxis in the uk

brain54:
I have this Ghanian friend that worked at a hospital...

As an anesthetist. He had a poultry large poultry farm and did crop farming as side business. This is a poultry farm that had close to 10,000 birds and was doing well and he was comfortable. His wife also worked as a staff of one of the highest paying companies-Cocoabod.

Dude woke up one day and said he was leaving all these behind, including his wife and 2 kids to travel to America to go "hustle."

He told me he worked in Winter and his fingers froze from the cold.


Scenario 2 is another friend that recently traveled sometime in the middle of last year. This one also had a good job, an 11 acres peice of land where he did pig farming as side business (he even gave me about 3 acres from the part he wasn't using on which I planted maize and okra last 2 years) he had property a wife and recently had a kid.


This one called me just early this year telling me he was now in America looking for a job.

He told me he recently got a job, he didn't disclose the type of job. But I suspect it's one of those unskilled jobs. He was telling me recently when we chatted how he had to work and was paying the person whose paper he was using to work.

He said something like he was saving money for now to get his own papers and couldn't even afford to get a decent bedsheet for now. He didn't want to open up on many things but I could sense his struggles.


My question is why would someone be doing fairly or averagely okay in their own country and decide to travel to another country not to go work as skilled or start a business but to go do demeaning unskilled labor work.

Why would I leave my country where I live almost as a king to go live in a rat race.


I can never understand that.

Another person was confiding in me recently that he wanted to travel to the US. This is someone that has a small factory, into iron rod sales and construction business. I just looked at him and told him not to do it. He should focus on growing his business and I used the other 2 people I mentioned earlier as examples.

If I want to travel to the US or any other country it's to go flex, explore, or look for bigger business opportunities and not to go hustle and start from the scratch.

A crocodile in the my country is better than a lizard in obodo oyibo!

ZombieDredd:
You dey live like king for where?

As a caregiver, some months down she can decide to go vacation in Spain or France with small money from salary........now as a king that you are in Nigeria, can you go to South Africa on vacation with small money from your salary, oh king

Sonnobax15:
. Eyahhhhhhhh . Pain,is that you?

Well,lemme don't reply you in a tone similar to the one in which you just did to me . Personally,my first job after my secondary school was in a lawyer's chambers...I could recur how we hardly had clients,to the extent that my boss had to close his chambers . I'm talking about a well known and respected lawyer,but he was also a contractor under an engineering site as at then..... No matter how you may try to sugarcoat or sweet-mouth it,law as a profession in Nigeria has long lost it's respect and regards..

eyesoflagos:
https://eyesoflagos.com/nigerian-lawyer-uk-care-assistant-reveals-job/

Mindlog:
That is the survival stage and with resilience, will achieve stability in the coming years.

I packed bananas at Fyffes Bananas as a student and on some shifts paired with an Indian who was also a postgraduate student and shared she is a Pediatrician and relocated to the UK with her family through studies...I humble instantly.

AustineE1:
In UK she can still seat for the law exams that will qualify her as a solicitor of Wales and England but she needs to read very well and cover the hell of voluminous law books. In UK,many Nigeria lawyers seat and pass the exams.