₦airaland Forum

Honestly, I think it's down to an individual to make that call, whether to move to Nigeria or not. Personally I would recommend that the OP visits for about 6 months to test the waters.

On the issue of the OP's finances, I will encourage him to seek the services of an Independent Financial Adviser/Accountant here in Britain, because with an annual salary of circa £50,000; you should not be having financial difficulty EXCEPT in a situation where someone is living above their means. Don't get me wrong, I'm not accusing him of this BUT I have seen quite a number people here (esp of African origin) living and spending like there is no tomorrow.

It is high time everyone understands that the 'West' is undergoing an austerity phase one way or the other. IMHO the government of the United Kingdom is starting to address its financial problems by setting a target to limit the country's overall debt. Surely this will hurt for now but the long term benefits outweighs the current pain.

For those advising that the OP relocates to Canada or the USA please think again. The problem is not about relocating anymore but about how prudent you are with the 'little' you have. The time has gone when we only 'see' Hollywood in the movies, this is 2011. The danger about relocating for the slightest reasons is that it may leave you with no roots anywhere. Think of a tree being uprooted every now and then, when will it germinate properly and bear fruits?

Finally for those that think the UK is the same as Nigeria, I have this to say: Despite the current financial climate in the 'West', the basic necessities of life are still provided for i.e. Shelter, Electricity, good roads etc, even the unemployed are catered for. Is this the same in Nigeria? And please stop judging the whole country based on your limited experience in Peckham or other parts of London, there are beautiful and good looking cities across the land. When the BHC issues you a visit visa, please try to maximise the opportunity and see all the countries of the UK. Thanks.

Peter Falk, the gravel-voiced US actor who played rumpled TV detective Columbo, has died aged 83, his family said Friday.

Falk, whose portrayal of the disheveled, raincoat-wearing homicide detective made him a household name around the world and earned him several Emmy awards, died Thursday at his home.

"Peter Falk, 83 year-old Academy Award nominee and star of television series Columbo, died peacefully at his Beverly Hills home in the evening of June 23, 2011," said a statement issued by a family lawyer.

"Peter Falk is survived by his wife, Shera, of 34 years and two daughters from a previous marriage," it said.

The cause of death was not given. The actor had suffered from Alzheimer's in recent years, and his wife Shera was appointed to look after his affairs in 2009.

Born in New York City on September 16, 1927, Falk was diagnosed at the age of three with cancer of the eye, he wrote in his 2006 book "Just One More Thing" -- named after his Columbo catchprase.

After surgeons removed his right eye, Falk was fitted with a glass eye, which did not stop him from becoming a star athlete and being elected class president at school.

He even learned early in life to play his disability for laughs -- during a high school baseball game, Falk wrote, the umpire called him out at third base when he was certain he
was safe.

"In front of everyone, I whipped out my eye and handed it to the umpire, (saying) 'You'll do better with this one.' Talk about getting a laugh. I got a roar. Even the guys on the other team were rolling in the grass," he wrote.

After high school, Falk joined the merchant marines and went to sea as a cook, but then went to college to study public administration. He tried to get a job working for the CIA, but his membership in a labor union while a seaman -- seen as having the taint of possible communist affiliation -- torpedoed Falk's chances of getting work as a government spy.

He later found employment at the post office, and then as a bureaucrat with the Connecticut state government, doing a bit of regional theater and taking acting classes on the side.

Then in 1956, at the age of 29, he abruptly quit his day job and decided to to move back to New York, declaring himself an actor.

The gamble paid off. Falk found quick on-stage success in a 1956 off-Broadway production of "The Iceman Cometh," playing opposite legendary actor Jason Robards.

But Hollywood was not so hospitable at first. A movie talent scout reportedly had wanted to recruit Falk, but the actor was rejected by the head of a major movie studio.

Undaunted, Falk moved in 1960 to Hollywood, where he received an Oscar nomination for his first role, in "Murder, Inc." He garnered another nomination for his second big screen role, in the 1961 film "Pocketful of Miracles."

But Falk is best remembered for his television turn as Columbo, which earned him four Emmy awards over the years.

The show started as a TV movie in 1968 and later made into a weekly series, in 1971. It quickly rose in the ratings to become one of the most popular shows on television.

He played Lieutenant Columbo, a seemingly slow-witted Los Angeles detective who invariably succeeded in nabbing the criminal just minutes before the closing credits.

"Just one more thing," Columbo would say several times each episode, resuming his questioning of the prime suspect who had been certain until that moment that he had failed to arouse the investigator's suspicion.

Part of Falk's loveable schtick as Columbo was the ever-present cigar that dangled from his fingers and his wrinkled raincoat, worn regardless of the weather, plucked from Falk's own bedroom closet.

The veteran actor also had considerable success on stage and on the big screen, with more than 40 Hollywood movies to his credit.
,

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/tvs-columbo-peter-falk-dead-83-171125711.html

These guys are getting tougher.

The number of visas granted to foreign students is to be cut by the UK as part of a crackdown on abuses of the system, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said.

• Successful applicants from outside the EU will have to speak English to a level only just below GCSE standard, rather than beginner level as at present.

• Students taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work for only 10 hours a week, instead of 20 as at present.

• Those on courses which last under six months will not be allowed to bring dependants into the country, while the dependants of students on courses below degree level will not be allowed to work.

• Additionally, visas for courses below degree level will also be granted only if the institutions they attend are on a new register, the Highly Trusted Sponsors List.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8502640.stm

tunnytox:
I wish these 2 could rot in jail, i have no sympathy whatsoever for them, people like these make mockery of some of us who are very hardworking, I see few Nigerians here that live like kings and one could not possibly understand where they get the money from, one thing is certain, the day of judgement is drawing near for all doers of evil,

I couldn't have said it better.

Which way is Nigeria heading to?

This is utterly sad.

Another "boost" to Nigeria's image - Great People, Great Nation - 

On 23rd December 2009, Gboyega Akinbola (36) and Oyetundi Oyedeji (31), both Nigerian men living in London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and were sentenced to three and a half years and two years in prison respectively. They are expected to be deported in due course.

https://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1886/picg.th.jpg


Sources:


http://www.soca.gov.uk/news/155-gboyega-akinbola-a-oyetundi-oyedeji-jailed-for-credit-card-fraud

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/12/24/two-jailed-over-20m-card-fraud-115875-21920129/

Introducing fingerprint checks at the border
25 November 2009

From 30 November 2009, the UK Border Agency is introducing fingerprint checks at the border for passengers with biometric UK visas, entry clearances and identity cards for foreign nationals (ICFNs).

On arrival in the United Kingdom, these passengers will have their fingerprints scanned at border control in addition to the normal checks that take place. These will then be checked against the fingerprints the passenger gave with their application.

The purpose of these checks is to verify that the individual entering the United Kingdom is the same person who gave their biometrics when they applied for their visa, entry clearance or ICFN. Using fingerprints enables us to do this with greater certainty.

For more information about the new fingerprint check process, see the entering the United Kingdom section of this website.

Source: http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2009/november/introducing-fingerprint-checks

, not surprised though but this is abject poverty in the midst of plenty, the african media should broadcast this sort of stuff, so as to give a balanced view to the intending immigrant.

London, England.

I love the UK! - This country needs no introduction. Geographically small compared to many countries yet gave independence to many nations e.g United States. Relatively strong currency, low unemployment and good social welfare system, world class premiership football league, their language (first global lingua franca) is extensively spoken around the world! Need I say more?

Some land marks in pictures;

London Eye:
https://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7405/londoneyeil7.jpg

London Museum
https://img391.imageshack.us/img391/1317/britishmuseum2oj5.jpg

Gherkin - World Class Architecture on display:
https://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8730/gherkinxc9.jpg

The Famous BIG BEN:

https://img245.imageshack.us/img245/3001/bigbenfe2.jpg

Tower Bridge:
https://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1467/towerbridgenightnj1.jpg

Trafalgar Square:
https://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6473/trafalgarkk3.jpg

City Hall: (Onikan?)

https://img245.imageshack.us/img245/2355/cityhallgu7.jpg

London Cabs:

https://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6645/londoncabsag3.jpg

Here goes my 2 pence, the wedding does not make the marriage!
It's high time people get their prorities right.
What's the point of "clearing out" the bank accounts (and some even take out a loan) and face financial hardship afterwards, when all the guests have even forgotten about the wedding, not very clever
This alone can create the first crack in the marriage.

Just shocking.

There have been a few questions about how much money a person needs to make in the United States to be able to live there ,  and how much an immigrant needs to show the government to demonstrate the ability to support themselves and any dependents.

This article will give some guidelines:

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/152804/1/

Quote:
U.S. Poverty Data Raise New Questions About Cost of War
Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US Fri Aug 31, 6:19 PM ET

NEW YORK, Aug 31 (OneWorld) - It is one of the most affluent countries in the world, but still millions of people in the United States find it very difficult to put a nice meal on their dinner table.

Nationwide, more than 36 million people, or nearly 13 percent of the total population, lived in poverty last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau report released this week.

Among those officially considered "poor," over one third are children, most of them non-white minorities such as African Americans, Latinos, and Asians.

The data reveals continued inequality and concentration of wealth in the United States, with the top 20 percent of households receiving over 50 percent of the nation's income, while the lowest 20 percent got just a little over 3 percent.

"The impact of race, ethnicity, and gender is extremely disturbing," notes Roberta Spivek of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization involved in numerous campaigns for economic and social rights.

According to the data, more than 8 percent of non-Hispanic whites, about 10 percent of Asians, over 20 percent of Hispanics, and some 24 percent of African Americans are "poor."

Although the Hispanic poverty rate went down by about 1 percent last year, African Americans and non-White Hispanics are still about three times more likely than whites to be poor.

Single mothers figure among the nation's poor who suffer the most. "Being a single mother has an alarming effect," Spivek noted, reflecting on the gender-specific aspect of the numbers.

The data shows that more than 28 percent of women raising their children without husbands are condemned to suffer from poverty. Those married but impoverished are estimated to be around 5 percent.

The official poverty threshold in 2006, which many experts believe to be too low, was $20,614 for a family of four, about $16,000 for a family of three, around $13,000 for a family of two and a little over $10,000 for an individual.

Last year, according to the census report, about 47 million Americans had no access to health insurance. Once again, official figures suggest that most of those who lack health care are individuals and families from non-white minorities.

In Spivek's analysis, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaska natives are three times more likely than whites to lack access to medical care.

Noting that currently the U.S. government spends about $720 million a day on the war in Iraq, Joyce Miller, a human rights activist associated with AFSC, said that amount could buy school lunch for 1 million children.

With that money, according to her, the government could also provide over 400,000 children with health care.

Recent studies point out that over 23 million Americans seek emergency food each year. According to a study carried out by the California-based Institute for Food and Development Policy, about 13 million American children worry where their next meal is coming from "because their parents do not earn enough to pay for food, rent, heat, health care, and transportation."

The AFSC figures on the Iraq war are based on a statistical analysis done by Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes of Harvard University.

Their analysis includes $410 billion in Iraq supplemental funding bills, $160 billion embedded in the Pentagon's annual budget, $290 billion for Iraq veterans' medical expenditures, and $191 billion in interest on the war debt.

"America's shameful poverty rate should lead every one to ask how we want to spend our tax dollars," said Miller, "on war or on education, health care, job training, and affordable housing?"
"Reducing poverty is not rocket science. We can go a long way by investing in education, health care, job training, and housing," she added.

In collaboration with a number of human rights groups, AFSC has led calls for a substantial increase in the minimum wage. It claims to have generated more than 100,000 phone calls to Congress in the last two years.

The phone call campaign helped encourage Congress' passage earlier this year of the first minimum wage raise in a decade. Many groups note, however, that even at the new rate, the federal minimum wage has failed to keep pace with inflation, and today's lowest-wage earning workers are worse off than those who earned minimum wage salaries decades ago.

AFSC and other humanitarian groups are now campaigning to make the minimum wage a true "living wage" and to increase human needs spending in the federal budget. But President George W. Bush has threatened to veto those increases by reasoning that the nation "can't afford it," according to AFSC.

In urging the Congress to adopt the human needs spending bills, the AFSC's Spivek said the nation should spend $720 million a day on ending poverty, not on war.

"It's a question of political will and citizens' action," she added in a statement. "It's a question of redirecting our resources away from war and tax breaks for the highest-income households, towards the common good."

I suppose every country has got it's own share of problems - it's just that the western media portrays that of Africa has been the worst. I happened to visit San Bernardino in California last week, the temperature was around 36c, now for someone coming from England that is 'boiling' - I drove past the Blvd (can't remember the name) coming from Ontario Mills shopping mall and I was amazed to see young girls of about 10 - 11 years of age - hawking flowers in traffic - a typical scenario of what happens daily in Lagos and the western media says its child abuse, agreed but this is happening in the US of A, I couldn't believe my eyes.

I also saw quite a good number of people standing by the road side in that hot and sunny weather holding up various signages (like placards) - either advertising 'Sales' for a particular business or just "promotions" - I understand they get paid anything upto $10/hr and may be contracted for 8 hours.

Now these are 'hardships' not known to an average Nigerian - who will do anything to travel out.