₦airaland Forum

Ironfaceman:
I like your summation but it lacks reality. You can be a second class citizen in Nigeria. Do you know I was born in lagos and lived all my life in lagos but when I try to get state government jobs. The state government will tell me am not an indigenes.

While in Canada, I was a Nigerian I emigrated to Canada, I did as the law stipulates and became a citizen, then I tried my political ambition. And I became a governor in a foreign land..

Success isn't stagnant and where your heart finds success that is your home.

What you experienced was one individual’s tribal bias, not the entire Lagos system, not the entire Nigerian society, and certainly not a justification to paint a whole state as inherently against you. A single gatekeeper with a small mind does not represent millions of people. Reducing an entire city to the actions of a few is the same flawed thinking that fuels the insecurity you claim to have escaped.

And let’s be honest.. Becoming a citizen in another country and rising in their system doesn’t erase your roots it simply shows what structure, fairness, and opportunity can do when combined with personal effort. That’s admirable. But it doesn’t mean Nigeria is incapable of producing the same outcomes. What’s unfair is pretending that your success abroad automatically proves that home is worthless.It doesn’t. It only proves that you found a place that worked for you not that everyone else must abandon theirs.

The truth is this One bad experience does not invalidate the dignity of building at home. And one person’s foreign success does not make Nigeria a wasteland. People need to stop using isolated personal stories to shame others into believing their country has nothing to offer. That mindset is exactly what pushes desperate people into dangerous, reckless japa attempts the same pressure that killed your colleague.

Success is not tied to geography, but disrespecting your own land because one person disrespected you is not wisdom it’s projection.

Ironfaceman:
This is what seasoned Christians call voice of the grave. One obstacle and you fall flat not wanting to get up.

We are living in a spiritual world, the Fools does not know this, only the prudent and the evil ones knows this.

Some think being a Christian is just about singing praise and worship or going to church in a beautiful dress. To be a Christian you most be ready to put on the whole armor of God.

Disappointment will always come in life but its your fortitude that will determine your direction.

Pure ignorance not spiritual attack

Illiteracy of the highest order..whob travelled abroad when visa is about go expire

After two layovers, I finally arrived at my destination. At immigration, the officer stared at my passport for a long time. Then he started asking several questions about the duration of my visit and how much money I had.

Remember, I only had a few days left on my visa. Well, I told him I was there on a short two-day vacation to tour the country. I couldn’t tell him I didn’t plan to return.

But people get money to buy it in UK than in Nigeria

Alusiizizi:
Doesn't he know that immigration did him a favor by sending him back to Nigeria. Do you know that in the U.K, one plate of garri, egusi soup and 2 pieces of meat is about 20 pounds(40k Naira) while it cost less than 2k in Nigeria. Let him remain in Nigeria and enjoy cheap garri and soup.

Fujiyama:
^^^
You have made some good points - can't deny that. But some of your assertions can be challenged.

First of all, there are Nigerians living as second class humans in their own country today. No need to say more about this.

There are people whose livelihoods depend on the inter-state movement of people and goods in Nigeria - and these people have watched their business model collapse over the past few years. There are ordinary people whose lives have been ruined by just one encounter with the moguls of Nigeria's billion Naira kidnap industry. People have borrowed money and also sold land, homes, cars and other assets to pay ransom for their loved ones languishing in the hands of kidnappers. There is a young man on NYSC duty who is in captivity at the moment and his family have all but given up on him. How does this any of this make any sense?

We can all agree that there is dysfunction and violent crime in foreign countries too. The capital city of our former colonial overlords is derisively referred to as 'the city of blades' because of gangs of knife wielding youth roaming the streets. I would argue that it costs less to to get a firearm in one big North American 'superpower' than it does to get a nutritious meal, morning afternoon or night. But if 200 people in a village or county in these countries were massacred in two days by 'unknown' armed men - it would bring down the government.

There are real costs to Nigeria's insecurity. The problem isn't going to go away on its own. Until the issue is tackled, the exodus will continue.

Let’s start with the NYSC claim: the young man you mentioned has already regained his freedom. Using outdated or exaggerated stories to paint Nigeria as a hopeless warzone is exactly how misinformation spreads. It’s not honest, and it’s not helpful.

And this is the bigger issue many Nigerians abroad consume only the worst headlines about Nigeria and start believing that’s the whole country. Social media amplifies the loudest tragedies because outrage gets clicks. But step outside the internet and you’ll see a different reality millions of Nigerians waking up, working, raising families, building businesses, and living their lives every single day.

Criticism is valid. Nigeria has issues. But turning those problems into a one‑sided narrative that ignores context, resilience, and progress isn’t insight it’s bias. The claim that Nigerians are second‑class citizens in their own country is simply not true. What exists is a rewarding system that requires resilience to climb, not a structural declaration that you are inferior. One tribalist, one biased official, or one corrupt gatekeeper does not define an entire nation.

Abroad, the comfort people talk about is built on a saturated system designed for stability, not growth. You can survive there, but you rarely own anything in the true sense. Even the house you buy is never fully yours miss a few payments, taxes, or administrative fees and the government takes it back. That’s not ownership that’s long‑term renting with paperwork. Meanwhile, building wealth in your home country is different. Here, what you build can actually belong to you and your children. Land, business, legacy these things are real. They are not leased from the government. They are not dependent on a visa renewal. They are not wiped out because you missed a tax deadline

You can’t cherry‑pick the darkest stories to justify a worldview. you can’t use outdated tragedies to push a narrative of total collapse.

Please I never disparaged Nigeria or called it names. I only pointing to a fact why people travel to find success in a foreign
Land because the system in their own country has been rigged.

Tribalism is a major problem in Nigeria , you and I know that, corruption too is another. Nigeria has built a system that rewards medioctres. And these bunch will ever let that system flourish.


I remember Francis obikwelu Nigerian track and field athlete. Although he was a top athlete in Nigeria this guy complain of poverty. AFN keep treating him like he doesn't matter until he switch nationality.

In Portugal obikwelu made money, was respected and loved. He was able to send his sisters to the US. What if obikwelu had believed in AFN he would have ended up like Seun ogunkoya. Dude regrets why he didn't switch nationality when the opportunity was calling.

Hoodrat:
What you experienced was one individual’s tribal bias, not the entire Lagos system, not the entire Nigerian society, and certainly not a justification to paint a whole state as inherently against you. A single gatekeeper with a small mind does not represent millions of people. Reducing an entire city to the actions of a few is the same flawed thinking that fuels the insecurity you claim to have escaped.

And let’s be honest.. Becoming a citizen in another country and rising in their system doesn’t erase your roots it simply shows what structure, fairness, and opportunity can do when combined with personal effort. That’s admirable. But it doesn’t mean Nigeria is incapable of producing the same outcomes. What’s unfair is pretending that your success abroad automatically proves that home is worthless.It doesn’t. It only proves that you found a place that worked for you not that everyone else must abandon theirs.

The truth is this One bad experience does not invalidate the dignity of building at home. And one person’s foreign success does not make Nigeria a wasteland. People need to stop using isolated personal stories to shame others into believing their country has nothing to offer. That mindset is exactly what pushes desperate people into dangerous, reckless japa attempts the same pressure that killed your colleague.

Success is not tied to geography, but disrespecting your own land because one person disrespected you is not wisdom it’s projection.

Your story is touching. However, do not blame it on japa itself. Your issue is very obvious. You didn't plan well.

Who travels to a new country with a visitor visa with the hope that when he gets there, he will disappear and stay back?

How will you even work? You cannot work with visitor visa, let alone stay back after expiration.

I still say it. The best way to migrate still remains through temporary or Permanent PR, not even through study.

With your temporary PR or permanent PR, you're guaranteed to stay for 5 years straight with a clear path to citizenship. This gives you the right to work and remain indefinitely. But the process is daunting and long.

You can't cheat the system.

The money was too small, hence the reason for deportation. He should raise 32m this time and try again.🥴

[quote author=Ironfaceman post=138765035]This is what seasoned Christians call voice of the grave. One obstacle and you fall flat not wanting to get up.

We are living in a spiritual world, the Fools does not know this, only the prudent and the evil ones knows this.

Some think being a Christian is just about singing praise and worship or going to church in a beautiful dress. To be a Christian you most be ready to put on the whole armor of God.

Disappointment will always come in life but it’s your fortitude that will determine your direction.




I agreed with you.. I have tried so many times to japa but after spending money not successful.. Should be about 4times.. but the 5th one was successful and here I am enjoying my life and forgetting about my past attempts.. Well, this life is all about spiritual if you believe in it.. Need spiritual cleansing and prayers too for everything to workout for good[color=#000099][/color]

poor planning and preparation caused the problem for ur japa. A very expensive and costly lesson.

Ironfaceman:
Please I never disparaged Nigeria or called it names. I only pointing to a fact why people travel to find success in a foreign
Land because the system in their own country has been rigged.

Tribalism is a major problem in Nigeria , you and I know that, corruption too is another. Nigeria has built a system that rewards medioctres. And these bunch will ever let that system flourish.


I remember Francis obikwelu Nigerian track and field athlete. Although he was a top athlete in Nigeria this guy complain of poverty. AFN keep treating him like he doesn't matter until he switch nationality.

In Portugal obikwelu made money, was respected and loved. He was able to send his sisters to the US. What if obikwelu had believed in AFN he would have ended up like Seun ogunkoya. Dude regrets why he didn't switch nationality when the opportunity was calling.

Francis Obikwelu’s story is real but it is one man’s experience with a corrupt sports federation, not proof that Nigerians are second‑class humans in their own country. AFN failed him, not Nigeria as a whole. If one rotten institution defines an entire nation for you, then every racist police killing abroad and far right anti immigration atmosphere currently spreading in europe and america should define those countries too. But you conveniently don’t apply that same standard.

And your argument contradict itself when you say Nigeria rewards mediocrity, yet the same Nigeria produced Obikwelu, Seun Ogunkoya, Falilat Ogunkoya, Chioma Ajunwa, and countless global achievers.

You say the system is rigged, yet millions of Nigerians build businesses, careers, and generational wealth every day without switching nationality. You say tribalism blocks success, yet your own example is a single biased official not a national decree. You’re using extreme cases to generalize an entire country, while ignoring the millions of Nigerians who succeed because they stayed, not because they ran.

And here’s the part you keep skipping...... Foreign success doesn’t erase the value of home.
1.Abroad, you survive.
2.At home, you build.
3.Abroad, you rent stability.
4.At home, you own legacy.
5.Abroad, even your house isn’t truly yours miss taxes and it’s gone.
6. At home, land is land. Legacy is legacy.

Obikwelu found success in Portugal good for him.But that doesn’t mean every Nigerian must switch nationality to matter.
It simply means his path opened elsewhere.

Your personal story is valid.Your conclusion is not.

Stop using isolated failures to paint Nigeria as a place where nobody can rise.

There are somethings you don’t start executing unless you have the resources . This case is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse . He knew the funds required from the beginning but opted to start the process without having the full funds.

As long as there is life , there is hope. He should keep pushing , things will get better

You made a lot of terrible mistakes.

A 6-month Visa and you decided to travel just 2-3 days to the expiration of the visa?

Then the issue of telling everyone. Learn to keep secrets. That also must have devasted you because if only few people knew it would have been easier to manage the set bsbk.

Last but not the least, you didn't prepare well. Lack of preparation. You didn't do your home work properly, you had only 700k and immediately you applied for visa. Then later you started selling properties and borrowing money. All these ought to have been put in place, your finances ought to have been well planned before applying for the visa. You already set yourself for failure even before you started.

Even with one month remaining on a visit visa ,it is still dangerous not to talk of two to three days ,that is just 72 hours . No immigration officer Wil allow you in for vacation reasons on that period

Your overzealousness deprived you of best travel advice and guidance.Again the land you sold in your village might have stirred up some of your extended family members' anger to place a curse that led to your quick deportation.

Ironfaceman:
This is what seasoned Christians call voice of the grave. One obstacle and you fall flat not wanting to get up.

We are living in a spiritual world, the Fools does not know this, only the prudent and the evil ones knows this.

Some think being a Christian is just about singing praise and worship or going to church in a beautiful dress. To be a Christian you most be ready to put on the whole armor of God.

Disappointment will always come in life but its your fortitude that will determine your direction.

When you fail to plan then you plan to fail. About 80% of any successful endeavor goes into planing while the smaller percentage goes into the action itself.


Thank you for your attention to this matter

Ironfaceman:
Name one Nigerian billionaire that was not involved in fraud or fraudulent politicians.

There are many. I won't mention names though.

nairalanda1:
It's not a spiritual anything

The guy was planning to enter the country on false pretences, and he got caught. That's lying. He paid the price for his sin. What you are calling obstacle na man wey dey lie. Comes into a country on toruist visa...and no details of which hotel he dey stay for or which hotspot tourist he wan visit? He lied, and he got into trobule for lying. Make we no dey decieve ourselves.

Plus you want to go to a foreign man country and start hustling for job? The only jobs available are probably worse than what he was getting in nigeria.


For anyone reading this, the best way to jakpa is

1.HAVE A JOB WAITING FOR YOU THERE
2.GO THE STUDENT ROUTE
3.Read a course like medicine or nursing, take the certification exam for the country you want to go to, and you are ok
4.Be the child of someone who is legally jakpa.

Don't do what chukuwdi did. Immigration officers are very suspicious of people who come in on tourisim visa...infact they go even ask una for details of your hotel stay and where you are going to exactly....plus he wan tour a whole asian country in 2 days? Na carribean island he dey enter?

I used number 3 route.
No regrets

chronique:
I have a certain level of disgust and dislike for unintelligent people and can never pity them. How can you be traveling out of the country to a country for the first time with only 2 days left on your visa and you didn't think of the fact that you were doing something very silly? You think everyone has your kind of brain? I'm sure you were riding on hope/luck/favor but that was an extremely silly thing to do. Good you're building your life back though. Next time, pls don't be silly.

Gbam!

Best comment on the thread. 💯

If he sat down and did his research, he would not have this story to tell, but then again research and the Nigerian...thank God for Nairaland, even with Nairaland, it is clear that a lot don't like to research.

kaludestiny10:
I personally know two big brothers that a similar scenario happened to.
One is from Edo state, he travelled to UK many years ago, as soon as the plane landed at Heathrow, he was put in the next available flight back to Nigeria.
The second person is from Anambra state, same thing happened to him. He was deported right from the airport. He is my parents neighbor in Lagos. He had to sell his car and other properties to settle his debt. Right now, his family have relocated to the village.
To be a man is not easy.

jesu are you for real?

smasher1:
There are many. I won't mention names though.

And thank you for your input.

ijayalolo:
When you fail to plan then you plan to fail. About 80% of any successful endeavor goes into planing while the smaller percentage goes into the action itself.


Thank you for your attention to this matter

How stupidly desperate can some people be? If he had invested all the monies borrowed into a business he for don make am by now.

Desperation is very dangerous.

Anybody that finish reading the story should sunmerize in short writing pls

LZAA:
Apcheat propaganda
Btw before any "chukwudi" will travel abroad trust me he would raise the money complete or go to any African country

It looks like propaganda because ticket wouldn't be up to 2million plus in 2019.

mukthar2000:
Anybody that finish reading the story should sunmerize in short writing pls

The sweetness of the story lies inside the paragraphs. So read it to enjoy.

[quote author=Hmmmmm2024 post=138768512]Ggo and meet sheyi tinubu, he will give you rice[/quote/

Hahahahaaha... I don't know if I should tag this your comment funny or wicked. Oga u badt.... 😹

Hoodrat:
Let’s start with the NYSC claim: the young man you mentioned has already regained his freedom. Using outdated or exaggerated stories to paint Nigeria as a hopeless warzone is exactly how misinformation spreads. It’s not honest, and it’s not helpful.

^^^
I wasn't aware the young man had regained his freedom. The cases are legion and its hard to keep track. He should be genuinely thankful. Many others were not so fortunate.

To imply that my reporting on that young man's case is 'outdated' and 'exaggerated' is simply odd. Nobody is 'painting' this country in colours she isn't already wearing. Nigeria has very serious security problems. To state this very clearly without any sugarcoating isn't spreading misinformation.

The facts are what they are.

Hoodrat:
And this is the bigger issue many Nigerians abroad consume only the worst headlines about Nigeria and start believing that’s the whole country. Social media amplifies the loudest tragedies because outrage gets clicks. But step outside the internet and you’ll see a different reality millions of Nigerians waking up, working, raising families, building businesses, and living their lives every single day.

^^^
This isn't an issue of social media amplification.

To take the position that things aren't so bad because the whole country isn't affected is incredibly short sighted. Should we wait till the whole country is fully under siege? A couple of years ago, the security problems in Kwara were concentrated in a few communities. Today the cancer has spread. Clear evidence of this is the massacre that took place in Woro last month. A couple of days ago, Ondo indigenes took to the streets to demonstrate over security problems. What does all this tell you?

Hoodrat:
Criticism is valid. Nigeria has issues. But turning those problems into a one‑sided narrative that ignores context, resilience, and progress isn’t insight it’s bias.

^^^
No.

No!

We need to confront those issues and call them for what they are. People are dying in large numbers. I mentioned earlier that if armed men were to raid a county or village in any of the countries Nigerians are running to - with casualties running into hundreds - their governments would not be able to contain the fallout. Meanwhile...our own leaders sometimes can't be bothered to even issue a statement. For some reason you side-stepped this and said absolutely nothing.

It is very sad, extremely sad that you describe truth telling as a "one sided narrative". And...given the experience of Mr. Bwala in the last week or so, I wouldn't advise anyone to use the word "context" as a defence or explanation of this country's problems.

Hoodrat:
The claim that Nigerians are second‑class citizens in their own country is simply not true. What exists is a rewarding system that requires resilience to climb, not a structural declaration that you are inferior. One tribalist, one biased official, or one corrupt gatekeeper does not define an entire nation.

^^^

Hoodrat:
Abroad, the comfort people talk about is built on a saturated system designed for stability, not growth. You can survive there, but you rarely own anything in the true sense. Even the house you buy is never fully yours miss a few payments, taxes, or administrative fees and the government takes it back. That’s not ownership that’s long‑term renting with paperwork. Meanwhile, building wealth in your home country is different. Here, what you build can actually belong to you and your children. Land, business, legacy these things are real. They are not leased from the government. They are not dependent on a visa renewal. They are not wiped out because you missed a tax deadline

^^^
Only the living can own houses - or anything for that matter.
Only the living can pay (or miss) taxes or fees.
Only the living can build wealth, businesses or legacies.

Only the living can do these things!

I am not making the case for life outside Nigeria. People have eyes and ears - and can make their own decisions without my input - and they do so everyday.

Hoodrat:
You can’t cherry‑pick the darkest stories to justify a worldview. you can’t use outdated tragedies to push a narrative of total collapse.

^^^
You remind me of some fellow here who went by the name 'CoronaVirus Pro'. He used almost exactly the same arguments. But he also missed the point.

I am not a theorist. I am out in the real world.

Some years ago I did project work that took me from Kano to Bayelsa to Kaduna to Enugu to Plateau to Oyo to Rivers to Anambra etc. The only place I couldn't go to was Borno because Chadian rebels were a big problem then and their cross border raids were a major security challenge. That sort of travel is much riskier today. Not impossible to undertake but a lot riskier - unless you have security cover. And even that isn't a cast iron guarantee.

Some of us aren't working desk jobs in central Lagos or some quiet place somewhere. We know what we see and hear on these roads - and that's why we get very irritated when people try to minimize the scale of the problem.

Nigeria is not doing well at all.

ademijuwonlo:
It looks like propaganda because ticket wouldn't be up to 2million plus in 2019.

Apcheat usually just rush to post propaganda

1. Having a Nigerian cost of living while making a modest foreign salary is a win. There are all sorts of things you can do (not scamming) with just a computer and a connection.

2. There are plenty of neighboring countries that wouldn't cost you much to move to where some of the problems you're dealing with in Nigeria (electricity, security, business obstacles, etc) almost don't or don't exist.

3. If you can find money to go abroad, why not find money to start a business?

4. Everywhere in Nigeria isn't the same. Some places have no drama.

5. You don't have to move abroad to set up a business there or buy investment real estate.

Fujiyama:
^^^
I wasn't aware the young man had regained his freedom. The cases are legion and its hard to keep track. He should be genuinely thankful. Many others were not so fortunate.

Nigeria is not doing well at all.

You’re not just telling the truth you’re telling one slice of the truth and insisting it is the whole picture.

You say you’re not making a case for life outside Nigeria, yet every paragraph you write is structured to prove that Nigeria is unlivable and that anyone who doesn’t fully agree with your framing is naïve, sheltered, or dishonest. That’s a position, not neutrality. You keep shifting the goalpost... When corrected that the NYSC case is outdated, instead of simply updating your information, you double down and say many others were not so fortunate which is true, but it doesn’t change the fact that you used an old example as if it were current. That’s exactly what outdated means.

You say nobody is painting this country in colours she isn’t already wearing, yet you only ever describe bloodshed, death, siege,strife,calamity,scourges and collapse,but never the millions of people still living, working, travelling, and building in the same Nigeria you claim is practically uninhabitable. That’s not balance that’s selection.

Your only the living can own houses line doesn’t contradict anything I said. It’s emotional, not logical. Nobody argued that insecurity isn’t deadly. The point is acknowledging danger is not the same as declaring the entire country a write‑off. You blur that line on purpose.

You also keep using foreign governments as a moral measuring stick.. If this happened abroad, the government would fall.Yes because their citizens stayed, fought, organized, and demanded accountability over decades. The same thing you subtly discourage Nigerians from doing by constantly framing staying as foolish and dangerous.

You say you’re not a theorist,then what ae you? if accusing others of Reducing a complex country to one lens.Treating your field experience as the only valid reality.. Dismissing any attempt at nuance as minimization.

Here’s the contradiction at the core of your argument.. You insist we must call things what they are but when someone calls your framing one‑sided, you call it an attack on truth. You say people can make their own decisions yet you speak with the finality of someone declaring that any hope, any talk of building, any mention of context is an insult to the dead.