By Dare Lasisi
Let me focus on the United Kingdom for the sake of this essay. It is not cheap to live in Europe and America or just any foreign country. You’re still an immigrant even if you have the passports of those countries. Don’t ever deceive yourself! When the chips are down, they would tell you your country of origin. As simple as ABC.
Please think deeper, don’t engage in crimes in foreign lands.
Where do we start? To apply for citizenships of those countries, work permits or ordinary visa renewals and many others are not so cheap if you convert the pounds to naira. You must be a millionaire in nairas!
What about house rent, bills(gas, electric, phone, internet etc) plus council tax payments?
For example in South London, a single room is about £400 or more per month to rent. You’re free to convert that to naira!
In this single room, no privacy, you will share toilet/bathroom, kitchen and living room with total strangers. You will need to tolerate some people from different family backgrounds. I will write a full story about this aspect very soon.
If you want your own privacy, then go and rent either 1 or 2 bedroom flat. Don’t even think of renting a 2-bedroom flat because the rent per month is close to £1,000 or more. Ask Londoners for details.
If you move out of London, you’re likely to see cheaper accommodation but less African people. It is your personal choice.
I lived in London for almost 14 years before recent relocation to Scotland. I have the map of London engraved in my brain forever!
I am still a Londoner at heart, I love London any day.
Right now, more Nigerians(and Africans!) are now moving out of London because of high cost of house rents and other personal reasons.
For example in Glasgow, you can still see a moderate 2-bedroom flat for less than £600 per month inclusive of council tax. You can never see that in London right now. Quote me anywhere!
Let me drop this bombshell here, life is going to be ‘extra hard’ for you if you’re paperless(zero immigration status) in the United Kingdom.
Life is likely to be ‘hyper-hard’ if you’re working(either as a cleaner, careworker or any odd jobs!) with another person’s document because it is more or less like a modern slavery but better than begging people for money. You won’t get full payment after your stress. That’s the bitter truth.
Right now, I always advise fellow Nigerians, don’t come to the United Kingdom to ‘hustle’, no longer possible without valid documentation. If caught, jail, then deportation to your country of origin. If deported, you cannot apply to re-enter the UK until after 10 years.
Many years ago, I knew one ‘paperless’ Nigerian guy(Mr A) in Peckham who was not paid for working through ‘back-door’ as a night-shift cleaner in one office in Waterloo, central London.
The owner (Mr B, a Nigerian citizen!) of the bank account used for the salaries just failed to pay because he knew the ‘paperless’ guy(Mr A) cannot report to the police. Mr B later escaped to Manchester. Don’t let me re-open an old wound. I rest my case for now.
To cut the long story short, Mr A was recently granted settlement in the United Kingdom after almost 20 years of zero documentation. That’s the sacrifice for the sake of his children.
Are you ready to endure ‘plenty sh*t’ for 20 years before obtaining UK papers? It is your choice if you’re planning to relocate to the UK. I am not here to discourage anybody.
With Brexit, it is no longer ‘business-as-usual’ for immigrants! If you don’t know before today, ask Google for details.
During this endurance of ‘plenty sh*t’ in a foreign land, some Nigerians at home won’t stop disturbing you to send money, shoes or smartphones as urgent as possible. If they know your mobile phone number, you’re in deep mess day and night.
Even if you come from Africa or anywhere with a student visa, you cannot work for more than 20 hours per week except ‘cash-by-hand’ work which is illegal. Life is a risk, it is your choice. The luck of Taiwo is not the same as that of Kehinde.
We(Nigerians living in the United Kingdom) all have our bitter-sweet stories to tell fellow Nigerians still ‘trapped’ in Nigeria.
If you’re able to obtain a full scholarship to attend any UK school, I say a big congratulation to you. I wish you well and don’t ever mess up this ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ golden opportunity.
Let’s say maybe 10 or 15 years ago in the United Kingdom, you can work in many places as an immigrant without proper scrutiny of your passports but right now, proper checks of all papers before any work, even to work as a cleaner in any office. If caught working illegally without proper documentation, you’re free to predict your ‘punishment’, ask Londoner for details. I no go use all mouth talk am.
It is not an easy task to work under extreme cold weather and still be sending money to Nigerians living in Nigeria. Don’t even talk about some of us sending ‘free money’ to total strangers with financial problems on social media.
If you’re working ‘9am-5pm’ in the United Kingdom, after paying rents and other bills, you have little savings.
To help anybody in Nigeria, you need to work extra hours. You also need to consider your health if you’re over 40!
If you’re living in the United Kingdom(or America, Canada, Germany and others) as a Nigerian and you wish to build mansions in Nigeria, you need to be ‘stingy’ to many people and focus on your own life if not, you will come back to Nigeria as a ‘struggling’ personality, and be staying in hotels or in friend’s house! This is the best time to apply common sense.
If you’re living in a foreign country, your brain must be extra sharp not to fall for ‘sad stories’ from Nigerians.
To be honest, some people actually need HELP from abroad but what is the percentage? We have many shameless scammers both online and offline asking for HELP. I don’t need to explain further. Argue with your conscience now.
I recently told a Lagos-based friend that I don’t drive a car in the United Kingdom. I always go by public transport, taxi or ride my bike. Thinking of buying my first car in a foreign land in the new year 2019. I need to work extra hard to save money to achieve this goal. No shame to tell anybody. This is my life.I don’t operate a fake life anywhere in the world. I don’t pose as a rich man for anybody. I am just my natural self. I don’t engage in bogus ‘packaging’ nonsense! I think differently about life. Bo se wa niyen!
If you have a criminal record in the United Kingdom, there is a restriction on where you can work. Ask Nigerians living in the UK to explain this aspect to you.
I am currently waiting for a security clearance to work somewhere ‘sensitive’ in Scotland. Nothing to fear.(Eruobodo!). Don’t ask me for details.
Once they type your name and date of birth into their computer database, all your information must appear within seconds! That’s the power of technology.
I cannot blame anybody hooking up with a partner with either British, French, Swedish, Irish, German or American passport as long as there is a true LOVE between them and not just to have proper immigration status to avoid deportation. Marriage can also rapidly transform an illegal immigrant to become a citizen of that foreign country. It is all about SURVIVAL in a foreign land. That’s the bitter truth. Think deeper about this update today.
To be continued…
