*Fola has been in the UK for quite some time. She had gone for her Master’s degree programme and decided to stay back after that. I have known her for about 3 years before she left Nigeria and it feels good catching up again.
Magnus: You’re currently in the UK. Why did you Japa?
Fola: Why did I Japa? Well, I wouldn’t say that what I did was “Japa”. I’m not very comfortable with that term. I mean, I know that people say it as you are leaving the country, but I left for a reason and I guess everybody leaves for one reason or the other, right?
Magnus: Right
Fola: So, in theory, I left to do my Master’s. I always sort of knew I never wanted to do my Master’s in Nigeria because I already went to the best university for my undergrad, which is the University of Ibadan and I saw what it was like being an undergrad there. I saw what it was like to be a Master’s student there. And I felt like, If this is how they treat Master’s students and if this is the quality they’re getting and this is supposed to be the best University in Nigeria, then I don’t want to do it in Nigeria.
So I had a five-year post-NYSC plan at that time that I would have saved up enough money to go to my Master’s outside Nigeria, hopefully. I didn’t know where I would be able to afford to go. I just knew it wasn’t going to be Nigeria. Yeah, funny story. You know, when you start working after a couple of years, you forget certain things. I had forgotten my 5-year plan and I was fine. I was making money and travelling, but there was a particular trip I went on and, normally, whenever I travel and come back to Nigeria, I’m always upset for a few days or even weeks because I’ve gone somewhere where simple things are so easy, and then I come back and…sigh. I started to see things that trigger me. That last trip, when I came back, I just realized I was done living in Nigeria, and it was time for me to go. And so I planned to leave. I sort of gathered myself and yeah I was ready to leave a year from that day.
Magnus: How hard or easy was it?
Fola: To be honest I can’t say it was easy. I mean “hard” is relative, and “easy” is relative. For me it was, it was definitely a challenge. At the time, the exchange rate was climbing already. After a few years of working and forgetting about my 5-year plan, I had money saved up but I was travelling a lot too and spending the money. Thankfully, I had Investments and even though I had done some investments that went wrong, I still had some investments that I could use to offset certain payments but I didn’t have financial support.
My Masters was self-sponsored so there wasn’t really anybody I could go to to give me money or sponsor me. I tried to apply for scholarships, but when I decided I was going to go for my Master’s, it was kind of late for a scholarship application. So I ended up only applying for 2 that were still open and I didn’t get them. Then coronavirus was coming… It was late 2019. Then 2020, there was COVID and so at a point, the UK embassy wasn’t even open and accepting visa applications, so a whole lot was happening at the time and yeah, when I eventually was going to leave, It was during the #ENDSARS period, so when I left Nigeria, I didn’t have one single pound to my name, I couldn’t change money, I just went the way I was.
Magnus: What are the things you feel most people should know before leaving Nigeria?
Fola: What do I start from? Nigeria is tough, Nigeria is difficult. But I feel like a lot of people think that abroad is a bed of roses. It’s not.
Yes, you are coming into a civilized country like the UK or the US, Germany, and countries like that where they are civilized; there’s a lot of structure, but that structure is a price that you have to pay. So things that we get away with in Nigeria like the low taxes that we pay, some don’t even pay, you won’t get away with that abroad.
Your tax rates are high here and apart from tax, you pay National Insurance, you pay some stuff like Council tax. So it’s not how it is in Nigeria. So you have to sort of rearrange your mind about that, things are not going to be easy. You will have bills to pay and they are monthly. One of the first things that struck me when I moved abroad was how easy it is to become homeless. Like, if you don’t have something that you’re doing that can actually cover your bills, you’ll be homeless very fast.
Another thing about living abroad is that you are most likely not going to have a support system right off the bat. And depending on where you go, if you’re lucky and you travel somewhere where you have family or supportive friends, then good for you. But when I moved, I didn’t have a support system, I didn’t know people, and I didn’t even know anyone in my city.
So yeah, that’s what makes it lonely and tough because you don’t have that cushion that you have in Nigeria – something I said about it being easy to be homeless here. It’s difficult to become homeless back home because even if you can’t afford to pay rent, you have a family, and you probably have a family house you can move into. You have a lot of friends that you can probably live with for a couple of weeks, you know, you get what I mean? But it’s not like that here because everybody’s paying bills. So even if they’re trying to help you out and you can’t meet up with your bills and have to move in with someone, you’re going to be adding to the bills that that person is paying and after a while, It’ll begin to hurt that person financially.
Magnus: Yeah, I understand
Fola: I think those are the main things. Just come prepared with the mind of it not going to be all rosy. Money is not growing on any tree here. The money you make, you spend here. Like you’re making the money here, you’re going to spend that money here. So you really have to be very careful.
Lastly, nobody looks at jobs like something like that is beneath them here because the first thing you want to do is be able to fend for yourself. If you moved abroad or Japa, you probably didn’t Japa because you got a job. I mean it happens for a few people but it doesn’t happen for most people. Don’t think that any job is beneath you. Don’t say “I can’t do this, I can’t do that”. I mean, do what your hand finds to do till you find what you really want to do.
Magnus: Would you consider returning to Nigeria and why?
Fola: That’s an interesting question. With the way Nigeria is currently, it’s a big NO, a big fat NO. I left because of a lot of problems that were occurring in Nigeria, and if anything, those problems have gotten even worse. So right now, the only reason I will go back to Nigeria is to visit, not to live.
I’ve gotten used to living in a sane environment, I’ve gotten used to living in a safe environment, and Nigeria just doesn’t cut it for me. Like I won’t come back to that right now, even if I’m being offered double what I’m earning currently.
And of course, I’m paying the taxes and stuff. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss them a lot and there are times when… I won’t lie to you, there are times when things have gotten really difficult here and I did consider going back, but then I remember I was reminded of why I left in the first place. I won’t come back, honestly.
Magnus: What do you love about where you are currently?
Fola: A working system. I love the fact that the electricity supply is constant. I think it’s a fundamental human right… as Nigerians, we’ve been denied of it all our lives. I love that their systems work. One of the things that were like a culture shock to me when I arrived in the UK was when I would sign up for something and won’t realize that they would charge me monthly for a subscription that I wasn’t aware of, and I could call to get that cancelled and get the refund, or easily return something I’ve purchased that I no longer wanted. Stuff like that.
Another thing I love is security. The city I currently live in is really safe. So I’m very comfortable going in and out of my house at any time of the day or night. I remember when I was living in Lagos, once it was 8:00 PM and I’m not home yet and there was nobody to drop me off, I would have to take a cab. You won’t catch me on a bus at past 8:00 PM in Lagos because It’s Lagos. It would have been already dark and I would just never feel safe walking around Lagos at night, but over here It’s completely fine.
The other day, I went to my friend’s house for a party. At first, I was planning to stay over at their place but then at about 3:00 o’clock in the morning, I decided I wanted to go home. My house is about a 15 to 20-minute walk and I was perfectly OK walking at that time. Something that would never cross my mind in Nigeria.
*Please note that her real name is not Fola, she wants to remain anonymous.