₦airaland Forum

gracias124:
how does that concern us in Nigeria?

Ifeoluwadev:
Let me start by saying this: I know what you are thinking. "This guy don craze." Even my own mother cried when I told her I was coming back.

I left Nigeria in 2019. Got a visa through my company's transfer program, packed two bags, and landed in Manchester on a cold Tuesday morning that nearly killed my Lagos raised soul.

For 5 years, I did everything "right."

Got a better paying job. Sent money home every month. Upgraded my family's life. Got my indefinite leave to remain sorted. On paper, I was living the dream every Nigerian prays for at night.

But last December, I packed those same two bags now four and came back to Lagos.

Here is why.

1. I WAS LONELY IN A WAY I CANNOT FULLY EXPLAIN

Nobody warns you about this.

You can be surrounded by colleagues, housemates, even "friends" and still feel like a ghost. British people are polite but not warm. There is a difference. You will smile at your neighbor for 3 years and never know his first name.

In Lagos, my street alone has more genuine human connection than my entire postcode in Manchester. My landlord's wife used to bring me food when I was sick. My neighbor knew my name within 24 hours.

I did not realize how much I needed that until I did not have it anymore.

2. THE MONEY LOOKED BIG UNTIL IT DIDN'T

Yes, I was earning in pounds. But London/UK cost of living will humble you fast.

Rent: £900/month for a small flat. Food: £400/month if you cook mostly at home. Transport: £200/month. Bills: £150/month.

By the time you finish doing the math, that "big salary" is already half gone before you enjoy anything. And if you have family back home depending on you, which most of us do, you are effectively running two households.

Back in Lagos, with the savings and investments I had built up, I now run a small logistics business. Last month I cleared more in naira than I was taking home in pounds after expenses.

People forget to calculate purchasing power and cost of living when they are dreaming about abroad.

3. I WAS AGEING WITHOUT LIVING
This one is personal.

In the UK, my routine was: wake up, commute, work, come home, cook, sleep, repeat. Weekends were for grocery shopping and rest because Monday was always coming.

In Lagos, even with the chaos, there is LIFE. There is noise and owambe and suya at midnight and people who actually want to sit with you and argue about football for 3 hours. There is color. There is energy.

I went to the UK and became productive. I came back to Nigeria and started actually living.

4. MY PARENTS ARE GETTING OLD
I watched my father shrink over video calls. My mother's hair went completely white in 3 years. They never complained, that is the Nigerian parent way, but I could see it.

No amount of money sent home replaces presence. I know that sounds like something on a greeting card, but I promise you it is true. My father's face when I walked through the door in December is something I will never forget.

I refuse to be the child who shows up for the burial after spending the last good years sending money instead of time.

5. OPPORTUNITY IN NIGERIA IS UNDERRATED
This will be controversial, I know.

But hear me out. Nigeria is hard. The infrastructure is a disaster. Fuel prices are criminal. The government is not your friend.

AND YET, for someone with skill, international exposure, savings, and the willingness to grind, Nigeria rewards you in ways that a saturated Western economy cannot. The competition is not as fierce at the top. The gaps in the market are enormous.

I identified a logistics gap in my area. Started small. Now I have 6 staff and three vehicles. I am building something. In the UK I was building someone else's dream.

THE HONEST DOWNSIDES, I WON'T LIE TO YOU

Light situation is still a spiritual attack. Generator fuel is expensive. The roads want to kill me daily. Some things that should take 30 minutes take 3 days because of bureaucracy. I sometimes miss the simple efficiency of abroad. Ordering something and it actually arrives. Bills that just work.

I am not here to sell you a fantasy. Nigeria is hard. But it is MY hard. And I am building something meaningful inside it.

FINAL WORD

I am not saying don't Japa. If you have the opportunity and you are young, GO. Gather experience, save money, build skills, see the world.

But do not let anyone make you feel like returning home is failure. It is a choice. And for me, it has been the best one I ever made.

I am home. I am building. I am alive.

Need a business website, e-commerce store, or SEO strategy? Let's talk. devifeoluwa@gmail.com | Whatsapp +2348109733031

Drop your questions or your own experience below, let us talk.

Chibudinho55:
Send me an email, before they will ban me from the thread.

GrammarNazi1:
80k.

Chibudinho55:
Glory be to God!!!

I just got my Visa Grant 🥹

School: UNSW, Sydney
Program: Masters Of Professional Accounting

Admission came on: February 19th
Visa Application: March 30th
Medical: April 2nd
Biometric: April 7th

Grant: April 29th

GrammarNazi1:
Good morning, everyone.

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I have been teaching these standardised tests since 2016, and since then I have taught thousands of students, and helped them achieve their target scores.

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DreCharles:
New Arrival

2017 Foreign Used Toyota Highlander XLE

Price: 34m (slightly negotiable)_

Buy and Drive

Location: Lagos

Call/WhatsApp: 08061269689

nurey:
Yes, all these android screen or Garmin products

EvangelistMFM:
*🇺🇸Foreign-used Lexus RX350 2013 Model*

IAM THE DIRECT OWNER

Smooth V6, luxury interior, full options, chilling AC, reverse cam, leather seats, push start.

Buy & Drive to Mauritius, no stories. 🔥🚙

Location:With me, Ogba

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For Further Enquiries Please Call/Whatsapp:08146369059

nurey:
Map won't work in Nigeria. buy a 3rd party map and use

Lovebeam:
Good day, everyone
I'm so distressed right now, and any clarity I could get will go a long way.

My profile
Education: Bsc Physiology(Second Class upper)
Age: Currently 25, turning 26 in a few months.
Financial capacity in view: let's say about 25 million naira, I can work for more, God willing.

I want to consider the study pathway to Australia.

I've made a series of research, and I think I'm going insane at this point🥲🥹

1. I want an affordable university where I can study an allied health program(this decision is for long term purpose), good course recommendations will be highly appreciated 🙏
I researched on Occupational Therapy, and speech pathology, and they seem to be a really competitive course.
I'm not sure of the prospects. Psychotherapy has.
2. I don't have families that are well to do for them to stand as my sponsor as I myself do not have 75 million naira(I saw in this thread) in my account to show as proof of funds, but my dad's childhood friend has offered to stand in as my sponsor, but how do I proof relationship?🥲
3. I think I want to study at a regional university to help me claim points during the PR application, which universities can you people please recommend?(I know that this answer is vague, I'm in so much distress🥹)

4. Does anyone think my 25 million naira budget can pay my tuition deposit +OSHC+Visa fee+bio metric+medicals?
I can look around for the travel expenses if my visa gets approved, I pray so.

I don't even know what I'm asking anymore😔

I should note that I tried applying for studies in Europe last year but got refused, its not a rejection as my school deferred my admission until this year September, so the immigration deemed it as incomplete application, closed it temporarily to continue when I apply for this intake, I do not plan on reapplying as I can not provide internship documents as the reason my application was not considered.
There's no visa rejection in my history.

Please, just advise me as your own and direct me 🙏🙏

Osyxcel:
Leave the 5G for now. If you have terrible speed on 4G, it most likely won't be much better on 5G. Airtel has only one 5G band and one frequency available i.e. N78 and 627264.

From your screenshot, I can't figure out the band you're connected to but I can see two other band 3 cells available with cell (PCI) 80 being the better of the two.

Check the system status or network info to see the band you're currently connected to.

Alternatively, lock only the 5G to cell 173 and turn off 4G band lock. Let the device select the best 4G aggregation to combine with 5G to give best results. This is what I did recently since Airtel has been moving mad lately. See screenshots.

dukeo:
This is the odu

testedtechs:
This is the worst decision I made lately.

Got it fixed around 2pm on Saturday, installer left, 4pm it's not working anymore.... Called installer...he said it will come up by itself, this is my 6th day and it hasn't come up at all

I have called installer, marketer, 217, send tweets severally even visited their office.... " the classic response....we will escalate it for someone to work on it)

The annoying part.... I just found out my subscription has been counting since the day it was installed.... now I have 24 days remaining 😅 on internet that I didn't even use for 3hrs....

I've decided to leave it like that...I have better things to do than to be chasing one stupid network for 25k.

..but I will vehemently discourage anyone who wants to try it....

Get something else...
Maybe their 4g or 5g router but definitely not this Fiber zero

zanjorrg:
*INTERNET WITHOUT INTERRUPTION*

AKOWONJO & IYANA IPAJA (LAGOS STATE), HERE WE GO!


A. Do you want to experience fast and reliable internet network?

B. Do you want to enjoy internet network without limit or cap?

Do you want to enjoy the A&B for as low as 25,000?

If your answers are YES, MTN FIBRE X have you covered.


What about in Lekki

MTN FIBRE X gives you fast, reliable and unlimited data for as low as 25,000 naira per month.

What are you waiting for? Contact me for installation information: 08037240034

Note: You just be living in these two locations above as these are the only areas I cover for now.

Keep the call coming...

dukeo:
Nope, works for the odu too as long as its zlt

Unfaized:
Every night from 8-10pm network is stuck at about 2mbps. It's crazy how consistent this is. From 11pm till next day 7pm it's 50mbps and above.

Osyxcel:
If the network is generally bad in your area due to congestion (peak period), there might not be much you can do.

1. Ensure you don't have any band lock in place.
2. At night, go to your cell information page and note all the bands you can see and their strength (RSRP and SINR). Best RSRP is usually less than -65db (lower negative) and SINR above 0 (higher positive)
3. Select the bands/frequency that have the highest values and lock them one by one. Start with Band 7 first.
4. Any band that gives you good speed, go back to the cell information page and note the cell no (PCI).
5. You can then go back and lock the cell as well.

dukeo:
Download this app from play store and login.

When you are logged in select access device.

Next select any device that you want to block.

In my case redmi note 10 pro and then toggle the switch off. The person may still be connected to the wifi but internet not available for the person.

The app is tkonnect by tozed

Osyxcel:
I'm glad you were able to figure it out.

Since you did band/cell locking, let me just point out that once in a while, you might have issues with the 4G band/cell especially. If that is the case, just restart and if it doesn't work, just remove the band/cell lock and allow the device to connect to any available band/cell until the issue is resolved and then you can return the lock.

It's not something that happens frequently but just to let you know.

Cheers!

Hopez456:
Update:

I tried all the methods recommended but the best of all that has given me great result consistently since Saturday is that I chose 5g/NSA/4g as network mode then switch off 5G band lock, chose band 7,8 and 3 ,1 and 41 only.

Also I locked 4G cell 3500/172 and 5G Earcn 627264/221.

My download and uploads have remain largely same over time. See attached.

Thanks guys for the assistance.

NSEstudent:
Quote me on a dead thread

NSEstudent:
I have one guy using this but I have not explored the cell locking with it. I'd assume it'd be similar to X17M, so you should check advanced settings from device options. Band locking should be good enough.

If you want cell locking you may need to check the root user interface.

olujosh301:
Greetings to everyone
I was using the odu in Lagos(worked flawlessly) but moved to akure.
I get around 30-40 mbps in the morning but from 8am
It becomes unusable(not up to 1mbps) and only band 8 & 3 are available here.
It's mounted on a pole with clear sight(no obstructions)

NSEstudent:
Which device are you using?

NSEstudent:
In my experience, I have once got the highest upload speed on cell 60 band 8. But that was when I was tinkering and needed to upload one video urgently, a large video.

Over time, band 7 has proven to be the most stable and fastest of all the bands. There is no harm in trying so you can try locking 60,3500 and see how it goes.

Meanwhile, what is the first band your cell uses as primary when all are active? Maybe that can give you a clue of which one has the better download speed which you should lock back to after uploading.

Unfaized:
My speed test result is usually like 50mbps and above till 7-10pm where it drops to between 3-5mbps. Then from 11pm its back to 50 and above.

DutchNegro:
Hello People of NL,

I am planning to place an order for the ODU by next week, but I am skeptical about its reliability as a result of many negative reviews.

In my compound, different locations give different speeds. Outside the gate give about 200mbps, while within the compound it drops to about 40mbps, and inside my flat it way less.

However, I discovered a spot behind by kitchen giving me the rate you see in the snapshot below.

I hope the engineers will be willing to mount the ODU behind my kitchen or do they have strict rules around that?


Thank you

Peterlove11:
I feel it's mainly their unlimited ODU bundles , its having difficulty opening some websites, even gaming ping is poor. I tested it with my regular Airtel sim, put it in my ODU, and I don't have similar issues. Gaming is better and superior. With the ODU sim I was having 70-85ms ping in CODM, while with my regular calling sim, I was having 25-40ms.
I hope they improve the ODU experience. This is beyond the speed because am having maximum speed but the server