legend00:


I get it but those people put an entire lifespan to make thing's work, I meant those old immigrants.However look around, most of them are living average lives, some didn't even make it, and this was when things were easier, like easy to open account, work with fake tax documents, passport etc. Now, most of those opportunities have long been jettisoned.

One new Nigerian immigrant knocked on my door recently trying to sell me those electric and gas deals, if you hear how much he was lamenting and all the associated problems he has to overcome to even get some sense of stability on par with what he had in Nigeria, you will be shocked. Then there's this other guy who moved to the state's as a student , he used to argue with me about life being easy in the West, he has since changed his position, having felt the desperation of securing employment, high rental cost etc.


I'm here 23 years and I keep asking myself,was it worth it.

legend00:


I get it but those people put an entire lifespan to make thing's work, I meant those old immigrants.

However look around, most of them are living average lives, some didn't even make it, and this was when things were easier, like easy to open account, work with fake tax documents, passport etc. Now, most of those opportunities have long been jettisoned


I'm here 23 years and I keep asking myself, was it worth it.

However look around, most of them are living average lives, some didn't even make it, and this was when things were easier, like easy to open account, work with fake tax documents, passport etc. Now, most of those opportunities have long been jettisoned

this was when things were easier, like easy to open account, work with fake tax documents, passport etc. Now, most of those opportunities have long been jettisoned

IbeOkehie:


Well I don't know what to write anymore about this I guess. This is my real name, I live in Raleigh NC, over 30 years a resident so I guess I'm one of the old immigrants I'm happy and I know FOR A FACT that there's a very low probability I would be enjoying a living standard as high as this in Nigeria. I own a home in a neighborhood that compares favorably, in fact better quality than, Ikoyi, Lekki or VGC. I used to think like you and that was what led me to move back to Nigeria in 2011.

I put in over 7 years preparation for that move, all my friends knew about it, I told them for years I was saving and preparing to go, they thought I was joking, some called me CRAZY, which I know now is true. I quit my job as a pharmacist at one of the best health institutions in THE WORLD, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD and sold off a lot of things except my house in North Carolina....and moved.

Moving back to Nigeria was one of the worst decisions of my life. Money wise I lost over $200K cash and that's a very conservative estimate that doesn't include ANY of the preparatory expenses for my move, including the psychological toll of working like a dog for endless hours overtime.

The only good things I got out of it was that I learned what Nigeria was REALLY like for a working rich person AND I met my wife who worked in one of the major American oil companies in Lagos. By the way, she says it all the time that if she knew the USA was like this she would have moved here much sooner. This is someone who had traveled the world before she met me. None of this is hard to find out, my FAMILY is fairly well known in Raleigh NC.

When I left Nigeria at the age of 16, my family was eating 2 meals a day. We had a family meeting where my parents told us they couldn't afford to give us 3 meals and I, yes me, I suggested 2 meals a day. My father was riding a bicycle to and from work and anywhere else. He never built his own house. It's a time we eventually laughed about but they always warned me to stop telling people the story, that it's shameful. My parents were both teachers, my father was earning ₦‎720 per month and my mother ₦‎240. The naira rate at the time was ₦‎4=1$, I still have letters saved from that time so I know. [b]That means my our total family income at the time was about $250/month. [/b]I attended a Federal Government College where my classmates, children of top businessmen, supreme court justices, CBN governors and Perm Secs were coming to school with ₦‎5,000 POCKET MONEY....my father always gave me ₦‎20, that was it for the whole term.

My father borrowed the money for my air ticket and whatever he paid, he put ₦‎250 bribe on top for the privilege of getting me a confirmed seat on Nigeria Airways, I saw him pay the bribe with my own eyes. I landed in the USA and after living with a relative rent free for 6 months, I was on my own. I sent the money back for my plane ticket and jara on top for sibling school fees, feeding and so on, my first money home was $1200. That's how I started life and I can count around 10 to 20 people that arrived here in Raleigh NC around the same time, most of them much older than me. Remember, I was still a teenager, but many people didn't even know because I'm very tall and big. With time I was a popular caregiver or baby sitter for some their kids.

By the way, I scored 8 straight As on WAEC and some ungodly high JAMB number that got me admission to do medicine at Nsukka. Why didn't I do it? My parents weighed the cost of putting me through University and it was decided I take the chance of fending for myself in the USA and sending back money to help them. The rest is history. Would I have been better of in Nigeria? Like 70 to 80% of those my classmates from high & mighty families are here in the US/UK with me, and people like them definitely know what's up with Nigeria. If they left, who am I to stay?

So what is your story that's making you think twice about your sojourn in the USA?



I sincerely don't know what you're on about. Again, I've tried to be as open as I can. What exactly is your story?

Yes, some don't make it. Remember I told you I knew about 20 to 30 new arrivals just like me when I got to the USA. Some of them were on THE SAME PLANE as me, by the way. Two of them got deported soon after, and one of them died in Nigeria about 5 years ago and another one, Henry N, went back and died maybe 10 years ago? That was a fellow I worked side by side with at Hilton Hotel. A few of them served prison time for one thing or the other. However, the MAJORITY are living middle class lives just like me, with adult children who mostly doing well. Definitely nothing worse than they could have achieved in Nigeria. Even the ones doing LOW CLASS JOBS as cooks, used car salesmen, care workers or drivers for the past 30 years among them own homes, some of the homes are PAID OFF, they own 3 or 4 cars....you can go to their homes and see all this. And I'm very proud of them and also proud of the doctors, engineers and teachers and nurses. Life is NOT ever going to be equal, but it's definitely better to be unequal in the USA than in Nigeria.



Well other opportunities have opened up. Situations are never static. Human beings ADAPTED and Nigerians, whatever their faults, also have the human capacity to adapt. This was my related comment elsewhere, I'll copy & paste below -

Good thing too Nigerians going to the West now are learning to do manual work like landscaping, computer wiring/network setups, auto mechanics and mobile car wash, cooking food and selling from their homes, sewing clothes & shoe repair, so having papers is not even as much a problem as before. Honestly I wish I had such skills when I arrived here, life would have been a lot easier. There's a woman who sells Nigerian food that we patronize often, we buy like one week worth of food at a time. When you go to pick up at her home you can see they're VERY BUSY. There's one or two more people that have opened walk up - carry out restaurants. They cater parties too. A Nigerian mobile car washer cleaned my car last week, he came to the office and did it. Who needs Green Card to do that?

Have a good weekend, all the best to you and yours.

airsaylongcome:


Was it?

IbeOkehie:


I've been in the USA over 30 years and YES, it's been worth it. The USA has made me into one of the wealthier citizens of this WORLD, just being a US citizen and living in this country means I'm LIKELY to have one of the highest living standards in the world. Not many people are that LUCKY and it's amazing to me I once thought I was being oppressed here or that Nigeria is better. I mean what was I smoking?

My major mistake and setback was paying too much attention to Nigeria. I allowed myself to be intimidated into wasting my resources in Nigeria, with the implied threat of losing my place in the community back home if I didn't pay up. But I was very young so I can understand how it happened.

What I should have done was concentrate immediately on getting everyone in my family out of that Zoo and thereafter focus on building my life here. The NUMBER ONE burden and impediment to Nigerian well being in the USA is financial commitment to community, friends & relatives back home in the old country. The sooner one learns to let go, the better. If you're good enough to become super rich in the USA, then you can start wasting money in Nigeria. Until that point, know your level.

President Buhari is just like me. He knows Nigeria is an active, ongoing disaster zone, that's why he and his family have been living abroad since 1980 or whenever. With that kind of example from the President himself, anyone telling me Nigeria is paradise is the very definition of obtuse.

airsaylongcome:


Thank for the very detailed response. Your answer is giving me some clarity. Work from Nigeria for a US firm and while the work hours are “horror” (PST) the job and the pay make it worthwhile. But I think I’m slowly slipping into that silly comfort zone were the frog gets comfortable with the slowly heated water until it gets killed in the water. I’ve been ridiculing ideas to emigrate. My specific set of IT skill would get me a job real quick in the West before I even get there. But I have gotten comfortable with earning American level wages with Nigerian expenses. It’s almost like a golden handcuff

tensazangetsu20:


Come back to Nigeria na. Buhari has really done a lot and Nigeria is very developed now. Full light, good roads, multiple well-paying jobs. Nigeria is presently heaven on earth.

airsaylongcome:


Thank for the very detailed response. Your answer is giving me some clarity. Work from Nigeria for a US firm and while the work hours are “horror” (PST) the job and the pay make it worthwhile. But I think I’m slowly slipping into that silly comfort zone were the frog gets comfortable with the slowly heated water until it gets killed in the water. I’ve been ridiculing ideas to emigrate. My specific set of IT skill would get me a job real quick in the West before I even get there. But I have gotten comfortable with earning American level wages with Nigerian expenses. It’s almost like a golden handcuff

tensazangetsu20:


Airsaylongcome I don't think you have a problem sha. I don't know if you have kids yet or intend to have but if you intend having please make sure your kids all have an advanced country citizenship. It doesn't have to be america or Canada. There's a ton of amazing countries that give citizenship by birth and have strong passport privileges. We aren't ready in Nigeria yet.

Hannania:
I wonder. When they find out the soft life in the west is by true hard work and following the right channels unlike here where we cheat our way with "Man know man". So they comfort themselves to tell people back home on how it's not "easy".

Hannania:
I wonder. When they find out the soft life in the west is by true hard work and following the right channels unlike here where we cheat our way with "Man know man". So they comfort themselves to tell people back home on how it's not "easy".

IbeOkehie:


This is a very important insight but rather superficial, which is OK.

I mentioned in an earlier post that one needs to understand the culture that's evolved in Nigeria over the past 60 years and what kind and quality of people it has produced in Nigeria.

Your small comment here shows EXACTLY why Nigerian perform at a MUCH LOWER ECONOMIC LEVEL than other immigrants. Even the much vaunted accolade "the most educated immigrants" is a clue.

Educated with what goal in mind?

Nigerians are a damaged people.

Hannania:
The lower spectrum of the class are the ones suffering the lots. Because the upper-class feast on that accepted habit we've evolved upon.

IbeOkehie:


Hmmmm. Look there's a guy from a highly placed Nigerian family living here. Just think of one of the more famous political/business families in Nigeria. He earns like $1million salary per year, verified. He would always complain to me about how his workplace is systemically racist and he should be CEO of the company by now if not for American racism. Same guy I mentioned in another post.

So I asked him "why don't you just put some money together and open your own business since you're so good with your skill and job?"

His reply? Literally this is EXACTLY what he said.....

"That one is too hard now, why would I do that"

Think on that. This is what has destroyed Nigeria and is directly related to your comment. Immigrants from the 3rd World are being encouraged by Democrats to bring this culture to the USA and with time this country is going to become just like Nigeria. It's already happened in California, Illinois and Washington State.

Nigeria is a Communist nation and it has created a people with a Communist mentality. A culture of entitlement. That's my point. And it's coming here and I don't know if anything can stop it.

Octopusssy:

https://guardian.ng/news/nis-cautions-nigerians-against-irregular-migration/


In sum: If you go hopeless, you come back hopeless.

timesuploaded:
Japa is stupidity. You have to be a dumb person to live this great country to Canada or America. America and Canada are failed nations. Nigerians in diasporans should be held responsible responsible not painting the true picture of living in Canada. Tell Americans to pay fully for their houses and 99.9% of them will be homeless and sleeping on the street this very minute. Tell them to pay cash for their cars and 90% of them will start trekking. This brainwashing madness of Japa need to stop. Japa is the beginning of your failure

Octopusssy:

https://guardian.ng/news/nis-cautions-nigerians-against-irregular-migration/


In sum: If you go hopeless, you come back hopeless.

IbeOkehie:


Hmmmm. Look there's a guy from a highly placed Nigerian family living here. Just think of one of the more famous political/business families in Nigeria. He earns like $1million salary per year, verified. He would always complain to me about how his workplace is systemically racist and he should be CEO of the company by now if not for American racism. Same guy I mentioned in another post.

So I asked him "why don't you just put some money together and open your own business since you're so good with your skill and job?"

His reply? Literally this is EXACTLY what he said.....

"That one is too hard now, why would I do that"

Think about the covetousness and the implied right to rewards without risk. This is what has destroyed Nigeria and is directly related to your comment. Immigrants from the 3rd World are being encouraged by Democrats to bring this culture to the USA and with time this country is going to become just like Nigeria. It's already happened in California, Illinois and Washington State.

Nigeria is a Communist nation and it has created a people with a Communist mentality. A culture of entitlement. That's my point. And it's coming here and I don't know if anything can stop it.

IbeOkehie:


Well I don't know what to write anymore about this I guess. This is my real name, I live in Raleigh NC, over 30 years a resident so I guess I'm one of the old immigrants I'm happy and I know FOR A FACT that there's a very low probability I would be enjoying a living standard as high as this in Nigeria. I own a home in a neighborhood that compares favorably, in fact better quality than, Ikoyi, Lekki or VGC. I used to think like you and that was what led me to move back to Nigeria in 2011.

I put in over 7 years preparation for that move, all my friends knew about it, I told them for years I was saving and preparing to go, they thought I was joking, some called me CRAZY, which I know now is true. I quit my job as a pharmacist at one of the best health institutions in THE WORLD, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD and sold off a lot of things except my house in North Carolina....and moved.

Moving back to Nigeria was one of the worst decisions of my life. Money wise I lost over $200K cash and that's a very conservative estimate that doesn't include ANY of the preparatory expenses for my move, including the psychological toll of working like a dog for endless hours overtime.

The only good things I got out of it was I learned what Nigeria was REALLY like for a working rich person AND I met my wife who worked in one of the major American oil companies in Lagos. By the way, she says it all the time that if she knew the USA was like this she would have moved here much sooner. This is someone who had traveled the world before she met me. None of this is hard to find out, my FAMILY is fairly well known in Raleigh NC.

When I left Nigeria at the age of 16, my family was eating 2 meals a day. We had a family meeting where my parents told us they couldn't afford to give us 3 meals and I, yes me, I suggested 2 meals a day. My father was riding a bicycle to and from work and anywhere else. He never built his own house. It's a time we eventually laughed about but they always warned me to stop telling people the story, that it's shameful. My parents were both teachers, my father was earning ₦‎720 per month and my mother ₦‎240. The naira rate at the time was ₦‎4=1$, I still have letters saved from that time so I know. That means our total family income at the time was about $250/month. I attended a Federal Government College where my classmates, children of top businessmen, supreme court justices, CBN governors and Perm Secs were coming to school with ₦‎5,000 POCKET MONEY....my father always gave me ₦‎20, that was it for the whole term.

My father borrowed the money for my air ticket and whatever he paid, he put ₦‎250 bribe on top for the privilege of getting me a confirmed seat on Nigeria Airways, I saw him pay the bribe with my own eyes. I landed in the USA and after living with a relative rent free for 6 months, I was on my own. I sent the money back for my plane ticket and jara on top for sibling school fees, feeding and so on, my first money home was $1200. That's how I started life and I can count around 10 to 20 people that arrived here in Raleigh NC around the same time, most of them much older than me. Remember, I was still a teenager, but many people didn't even know because I'm very tall and big. With time I was a popular caregiver or baby sitter for some their kids.

By the way, I scored 8 straight As on WAEC and some ungodly high JAMB number that got me admission to do medicine at Nsukka. Why didn't I do it? My parents weighed the cost of putting me through University and it was decided I take the chance of fending for myself in the USA and sending back money to help them. The rest is history. Would I have been better of in Nigeria? Like 70 to 80% of those my classmates from high & mighty families are here in the US/UK with me, and people like them definitely know what's up with Nigeria. If they left, who am I to stay?

So what is your story that's making you think twice about your sojourn in the USA? What exactly is it you think you missed? I bet if you think it through you'll find you're a victim of intimidation by home based Nigerians. I've been there, trust me.



I sincerely don't know what you're on about. Again, I've tried to be as open as I can. What exactly is your story?

Yes, some don't make it. Remember I told you I knew about 20 to 30 new arrivals just like me when I got to the USA. Some of them were on THE SAME PLANE as me, by the way. Two of them got deported soon after, and one of them died in Nigeria about 5 years ago and another one, Henry N, went back and died maybe 10 years ago? That was a fellow I worked side by side with at Hilton Hotel. A few of them served prison time for one thing or the other. However, the MAJORITY are living middle class lives just like me, with adult children who are mostly doing well. Some married and divorced and remarried or not. Definitely nothing worse than they could have achieved in Nigeria.

Even the ones here doing LOWER CLASS JOBS as cooks, used car salesmen, care workers or drivers for the past 30 years among them own homes, some of the homes are PAID OFF, they own 3 or 4 cars....you can go to their homes and see all this. And I'm very proud of them and also proud of the doctors, engineers and teachers and nurses. Life is NOT ever going to be equal, but it's definitely better to be unequal in the USA than in Nigeria.



Well other opportunities have opened up. Situations are never static. Human beings ADAPTED and Nigerians, whatever their faults, also have the human capacity to adapt. This was my related comment elsewhere, I'll copy & paste below -

Good thing too Nigerians going to the West now are learning to do manual work like landscaping, computer wiring/network setups, auto mechanics and mobile car wash, cooking food and selling from their homes, sewing clothes & shoe repair, so having papers is not even as much a problem as before. Honestly I wish I had such skills when I arrived here, life would have been a lot easier. There's a woman who sells Nigerian food that we patronize often, we buy like one week worth of food at a time. When you go to pick up at her home you can see they're VERY BUSY. There's one or two more people that have opened walk up - carry out restaurants. They cater parties too. A Nigerian mobile car washer cleaned my car last week, he came to the office and did it. Who needs Green Card to do that?

Have a good weekend, all the best to you and yours.

Starzo:


What's the minimum wage in Malta??

What high paying job is the person hoping to get in malta?

How many people worldwide (even in developed countries) have $15000 dollars as savings?

Your mind is not exposed

jojothaiv:
Will the recent japa waves eliminate poverty in Nigeria?

I'm asking for a friend who has 10million naira and want to move to Malta.

jibbie:


Pls, before he moves anywhere, he should develop his skills. Acquire something that you can do. He could even venture into the tech ecosystem.

The NGN10m he's bringing here will certainly be divided by 720-800, so he would have the equivalent in Euros.

#Japa is beyond just arriving anywhere to hustle in the freezing cold. You need skills that will get you a high paying job. Skills that will allow people pay for the services that you render.
NGN10M is good, but it wont save him oh!