athaboi:
at least ask for what they have on ground already, maybe they have calculated and noticed that they need additional two

You are kidding, right? Is it the same Nigeria where Emergency services was either grossly inadequate or completely non existent that a state would now miraculously need only 2 additional ambulances during a pandemic?

Anyways forgive me, I have forgotten Nigeria is a place where the oppressed make excuses for their oppressors.

athaboi:
so you no see additional abi you no even read am

Well, forgive me but 2 additional ambulances for a whole state is a far cry from what I expect. If it were a for community, I would understand.

For the whole state ?

Hold up! So after 14years on Nairaland, for the first time I somehow by chance find myself on FTC. What's the rave about it? Abeg if dem dey give money for FTC, show me where I go submit my file.

Or11:
Why do most Nigerians feel they need to change their accent when they speak with a foreigner? Nigerian accent is rated as one of the sexiest in the world. People should learn to embrace it.

I think the accent they mean isnt the natural nigerian accent you know. To be easily understood, we make subtle changes to our accents and (corrections to our) pronounciations when in the diaspora. So, this is the accent they end up praising and thinking is Nigerian, when in fact it is a modified one. Many white folks struggle to understand the natural nigerian accents and even pretend that they do, so as to be polite. So what I have had to do is speak more clearly, watch my intonations and pronounce words correctly(not the nigerian way of pronouncing bird as bed). Although this isnt what AY is doing in that video

Zinny25:
I heard their government provide basic things for them like food, money etc. how true is this

Well, here in Canada the govt has a stimulus package planned. Those who have to self isolate, or lost jobs due to coronavirus, should get about 60% of their income paid by the govt. Though we are yet to see how it would play out. The attached image is a summary of the packages.

Newmum0615:
Yeah, lots of people flooded them with questions on this and they had to clarify. Thank God. Still hoping that parents will be allowed in.

Even if Canada allows parents in, one is still not out of the waters. The problem is that since Nigeria has banned incoming international flights, it would be difficult to get a flight from Nigeria until the ban is lifted.

SlowlybtSurely:


It's possible. Idris Elba is still not showing any symptoms.

Welcome back to the land of the living.

and his wife too. Surely, there are not a few infected people going about their normal day to day activities, thinking that they are healthy.

salford1:

I had sore throat about a week ago too. I rarely have a sore throat. I can still feel it a bit. A work colleague arrived from Vegas on the 23rd of February. She and her husband became sick like a week after. I sometimes think maybe I had the corona but did not even know

That's the worrisome part. That one maybe asymptomatic and unknowingly infect someone in the vulnerable class(elderly, folks with underlying health conditions). I had a mild fever for the past 2 weeks and was too scared to let anyone elderly come near me. A little more, and I would have hung a slate bearing "Unclean" to deter folks from coming near.

SlowlybtSurely:


It really will take a while for the job market to come back up. Some people who can't work from home are losing their jobs. Small businesses are shutting down. I'd honestly not advise any prospective immigrant, who has a job in Nigeria, to land within the next 3 months.

True. Nice to see your moniker again. Your moniker really gave me some hope during LVO wahls.

Torkwase1:


I was meant to start a new job on Wednesday. Almost everything set. Just to undergo a short training. They just sent an email that the offer is on hold till further notice.
I'm trying not to think too much of it.

Oh boy. At least you have the job already, that is a ray of hope. I just feel for newly landed immigrants, they were hoping to get a job to offset bills.

salford1:

I just read that Airports (Lagos, Abuja, Kano, PH and Enugu) are shutting down international flights for one month in Nigeria, starting from Monday the 23rd. Only international emergency and essential flights are allowed.

https://www.nairaland.com/5748239/coronavirus-nigeria-shuts-all-international

In other news:
Within Canada, boundaries are closing. NWT is closing it's borders to non-essential travel which I find interesting. Chief Medical officers of Health of provinces are also in discussion about restricting travel between provinces.

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/n-w-t-closes-borders-to-all-travel-with-limited-exceptions-1.4862674

Yeah. My friend is stuck in Nigeria. He was supposed to return on the 28th.

DexterousOne:

Well said

But Ontario is far more than 3m

Just so you know

Thanks for the correction. I mixed it up with Toronto's population. Hopefully I dont get deported for that

BreconHills:


Not strictly true. The import substitution policy has favoured companies that produce high Nigerian content - Nigerians wishing to eat imported food should rightly pay the going rate. You cant have your cake and eat it.

But you've all missed the real reason for the stages devaluation. It is simply to create more naira value for its oil receipts offsetting the fall in oil prices caused by Saudi Arabia vs. Russia oil price war.

Govt robbing nigerians to fix the mess the govt created.

Also not true, at least not completely true. The Nigerian problem has been caused by two things
1. Wealth without the creation of value - this is what accounts for high property values at the luxury end of the market.
2. The Nigerian fixation with all things foreign.- literally the apeing of europe and american lifestyle. And I use the word ape without apology.

If you want I can give you the data to show how this government has corrected the wrong allocation of assets by enlarging the circle of pain to include the previously untouchable UHNW and HNW segments.

Please stop making excuses for the ineptitude and incompetence of our leaders. This govt had 5 years to strengthen the economy so that the naira could appreciate naturally in a free market but it wasted time on nonsense. Coming back now to cite the obvious as the reason for letting naira freefall, is just Govt robbing Nigerians. I say this because NLC and other workers who just reached an agreement on minimum wage, did so under the existing market at the time. The amount of work Nigerians have to do for their wages remains constant, while the actual value of the wages and savings is reduced. That is robbery. The govt itself said it did this to have more money from it's less foreign exchange. Whose fault is it that they didn't diversify the economy and why are they passing the buck to the citizens?

Devaluing your currency as a means to boost local consumption is an ill thought fix. The nigerian fixation with all things foreign is just the outcome of bad govt. There was a time in Nigeria when locally manufactured goods won in our markets, what caused the change? Govt's stupidity! An embargo would help our industries way more than devaluing naira but we all know the govt doesn't even care about industries. Nigerians are cheap people and would most definitely go after a cheaper product if it gives a reasonable value. No one in the world bloody cares where an item is manufactured. Most items on retail shelves in the western world bears "made in china", people's only allegiance is to their pocket. The reason why locally made goods can't compete anymore and wouldn't compete even if $1 is 600naira, is simply because the amenities and enabling environment that industries&businesses need is non existent in Nigeria. If after paying exhorbitant import duties, a foreign product is still able to compete with your domestic goods, then the fault can't be your citizen's fixation on the imaginary! Besides, most of our manufacturing also relies heavily on imported raw materials and equipment. A devalued naira means less ability to get equipment that are critical to producing refined & standardized goods that could compete not only locally but globally.

Devalue naira all you wish, until you improve your business landscape, provide constant affordable electricity and are able to secure your country without rogues in uniform having checkpoints at every kilometre, your products wouldn't even be purchased for use at Aso Rock. Besides, the Nigerian market is just a big for nothing. Our 200million people have less disposable income than Ontario, a province of 14million people in Canada! If there was an enabling environment for our industries, no right thinking producer would be so fixated on hoping on local consumption since he would make more money exporting overseas. The only reason why anyone has to almost force us to buy local rice at gun point is because the govt isn't doing its job!

This attitude of govt legislating the illusion of progress is plain dumb. You return from America and ban keke & okada because you didn't see any there. You wouldn't even pause to ask yourself if any right thinking person would use keke if he could afford a car or had timely transit. Focus on root causes and stop chasing shadows. If you want your citizens to only use buses and cars like Americans, then build roads for every nook and cranny and provide subways and surplus comfortable buses for every inch of the city like America did for it's citizens. Stop putting your citizens into unnecessary hardship for your own faults! Summary is that No country in the world devalues its currency to boost local consumption when its industries are still using generator to power their machines. If we had our industries running right, they would earn us FOREX that would shore the naira up.

nedekid:

Well said. It also means if you had 1m in the bank yesterday, this morning you only have 1m in name not in value. It is now worth N947,160. @$380.
YOU ARE GETTING POORER!

Exactly! Whenever a govt devalues currency, they rob their citizens. It is the most common scam in the world.

Jebolala:
All this one na dogon turanchi, in lame man's language pls what does it mean?

it just means Naira has been devalued. The below quote says it all. Govt would be able to get more naira to service it's responsibilities at home with the less dollar it gets from oil sales abroad. The common man would be the one to bear the brunt, as his naira savings/income would henceforth buy less goods than it previously could(which are all imported with dollar). This leaves everyone earning in Naira with less disposable income to meet their needs. Govt devaluing naira, is simply Govt robbing nigerians to fix the mess the govt created.

“It will cushion the impact the lower crude price will have on government revenue as it will increase the naira revenue Nigeria will get from oil exports,” Ayodeji Ebo, managing director at Afrinvest Securities in Lagos said by phone.

Jebolala:
All this one na dogon turanchi, in lame man's language pls what does it mean?

it just means Naira has been devalued.

It means Naira has been devalued!

Kaycee54321:
Everyday I check this thread. Everyday, I keep the hope alive that one day, I will drop my own 'landing gist'...One day...


May the Land favour you and yours, iaatmguy.

Ise! I hope you are working towards it.

May her soul rest in peace. She died honourably.

smile11s:
What about those born in a state? Shouldn’t they automatically become ndi genes?

The bill includes them, read the post in detail.

This is a positive development if all parties effect it(esp in northern nigeria). Hopefully, it doesn't become a one sided thing. Nice one Omo-Agege.

Ofemmanu1:
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

This is so poetic. Are you the original author?

southniyikaye:
mtchew
Broda Bola lives in UK.
He wants to impress me every time he sends things home.
Always sending 250naira worth boxers and 300naira worth belt, na one ibo boy dey always help me confirm the price.
I Wan ask, shey Aba boys Don dey send belt and boxers go UK ni?
Does UK people, dem be akagum eshin national theater

You should try walking in his shoes. I really doubt anyone gifts to impress, at least I know I don't. I am also certain that the boxers he sent is worth way more than 250naira, you just don't know it. You would be amazed how much the things you take for granted in naija, cost in the first world. You can simply head to amazon.com and check what the average price of boxers is in the U.K. 250naira can not buy groundnut sef in the firstworld!

Another thing you guys don't realise is that 80% of messages we get from back home ends up in a debit alert. It doesn't matter what the sender starts the message by. You could get a msg from someone asking how you are doing, only for him to end up trying to get some money off you. It gets fustrating. Especially when most of these folks were just friends, acquaintances or relatives that didn't do anything for you that should make them entitled. The moment you change your profile pic/location on social media to reflect that you are overseas, you would see the other side of Nigerians. In my case, I just started getting random msgs from people who haven't spoken with me in a while. I even got friend requests from friends I last saw a decade ago, one of them asked me for money the very next day after I accepted his friend request! You don't think we are humans and this attitude forces us to cut off? No one likes being leeched on.

Hafsat24:


Oh thank you so much. Amen and for us all.
Lol I know right. The 24 hrs here feels like 18hrs

You will pull through, best to do it once and for all and rest. I put school on hold but since you're doing both, I think imma hit you up on tips about how you're doing it

Overall the experience has been a life changing one.
Lol now I'm so accountable for time

lol @ the bolded. so true, over here every second matters. for school and work, the first step is to choose the job wisely(assuming you aren't already locked down). Some jobs would just not work with school, no matter what.

19CannyMum:


I dey fear downtown. The other day someone got slapped on the train. Just like that, he was talking to his friend and the guy seated across from him just slapped his mouth. Also saw a video recently of a lady pushing an elderly woman off the platform, unto the tracks. Since then I always stand well in the middle of the platform when downtown.

The worse the reputation of NE is, the cheaper rents get. So no wahala.

Abeg make una dey cautious o. In 2017, a nigerian was stabbed to death on a train in calgary. Dude just walked up to him and stabbed him for no reason.

I was so glad to read that you and your family made it here. I pray the land is more than you could have wished for. I have been around but not as active anymore. Right now, I work fulltime and school fulltime at the same time(I don't know how I am coping sef). it is a high pressure life and something just had to give.

Hafsat24:

Einsteino too, I love love your write ups. I don't know if you are still on nairaland.

Oluwapomile1:

Hi. Is the group still in existence? How do one join the group?

yes, it is.

canadaman18:


Some of these estimates are quite conservative lol.

I live in the GTA and the minimum spend on food if im cooking every meal and not going hungry skipping meals to save money is $300 a month(and even that is tight)

Please may I have your house address? So I can come eat christmas food at your place. How only you go just eat $300 foodstuff in a month when I dey hungry? Abeg pm me your house address.

Christian22aa:
Winter/Christmas pictures please we need it not just talking talking ..we need sweet inspirational pictures too

This is where I'd join in deriding Canada or "badmouthing", hopefully I don't get caned for airing my honest views. I could share some awesome Christmas abi Winter pics but fact is that all the fun starts and ends at it looking picturesque. The experience is often lacklustre if not outrightly boring, it can easily leave a Nigerian complaining or just realising its empty lol. Winter and its snow might look pretty but trust me when I say the true beauty is the summer sun, lol there isnt any sane person who loves Canadian winter. Anyways, I digress.


Our christmas at best has the vibe of a workers day public holiday in Naija.... It is even worse for our bros who are muslims, their salah here can easily get them feeling homesick & dejected. In my opinion, Canadian christmas is awfully quiet. It's a caucus kinda thing, mostly happens indoors with your family and close friends only, unlike naija where you can be a stranger and still catch the festive feeling even weeks before. This could be a good or bad thing, depending on your kind of person, and your networks here.

Personally I miss the pomp and liveliness of not just naija's christmas but any celeberation in Naija and with it's people. But then again, Naija comes with the chaos that caused me to run away to Canada. Hence when we complain, its often with a tongue in cheek.

salford:

She has 5kids. For that, a nanny would be cheaper than daycare. I highly doubt if the government wil subsize payment for nanny services.

There are websites offering Nanny and child minder services. One can also find by joining Facebook groups within the community. I know a nanny could cost around 2k and up for maybe 2 kids. I don't know if they will want more money for more kids.

I am seeing $30 bucks an hour. Chai.
Maybe I should enrol on a nanny course too and work casual

Lol the cost of childcare services is the real contraceptive in Canada. Back in Naija, I wondered why they have an ageing population but living here even me sef don dey fear pikin.

Jbelieve:


But that's not different from what happens in Nigeria. To me everyone is busy with life till something brings us together again.

I believe there are not a few times I am wrong on my perspective of things but I doubt this is one of them. Anyways, there are many folks here that have lived in canada longer than I have, so I would like them to say if I am right on this or not. I would explain in detail what I have observed here, so they can criticize it, even if it means they nitpicking it.

In naija, people don't go out of their way to be friendly or polite. So, it is easier to read your colleagues/seniors in naija than here. If someone always smiles or interacts with you at work in naija, they are not merely doing it because you are colleagues. It would be because y'all get along or they are sycophants seeking your(their superior) attention. Over here, smiling, or someone always indulging you in conversations about their entire life is just for courtesy and a good chat. As a result, when you use your naija lens, you'd misconstrue the depth of your association and think you can relate or confide in them as you do with naija colleagues that became lifelong friends. However, from experience you would learn that most of those associations are just for as long as you work together.

It is true, naija ex-colleagues often may not stay in touch, but this is different from forgetting your existence. Like you said, it is because they are busy and maybe out of mind is naturally out of sight... not because they see no need to or you no more work together! So, you would find that you can literally call an old colleague of yours in naija that you haven't spoken with in a year and you'd very likely get a warm response like: "Longest time bro! You just forget me o! How every na? I happy to hear from you o". Try it here with most folks you were good friends with at work a few months ago, and it can easily seem like you are trespassing if it goes beyond formal stuff like reference request. What is funny is that even they(canadians) complain about this and yet do nothing to change it. In general, people here relate differently.

I think it is just a difference in culture. For example, people are so polite here that it is very easy to misinterprete them. In naija, an order is "Go and do this"(with strong face), here it is "Would you like to do this? Please." Inshort there have been times I replied No thinking na question them they ask me. Also when you are slipping, in naija you would get an open confrontation from your boss that would clearly show his/her displeasure and exactly where you messed up. Here you would get intermittent smiles till a query rolls in; or a very warm and short conversation with your supervisor that has you thinking it isn't a serious matter. Friendly colleagues here would go to your supervisor to report you over things naija colleagues(that arent close to you) would have brought to your attention. We neva talk about your friendly neighbour wey go report you for small thing like parking your car overnight on the street

I think they avoid confrontations here and view bluntness as being rude so they talk and act in circles, leaving you ignorant of their feelings until your cup gets filled.

Suspectzero:


Very insightful comment. I especially enjoyed the last paragraph.

I tried to refrain from calling it a mentality (because i didn't want to seem accusatory or derogatory). At the end of the day, it is still a bit of preference as you pointed out.

You are also right about the québécois and even Italian Americans whom till this day boast about their Frenchness and Italianess. Maybe I'm just a bit biased about Nigeria because it is not a Country i can boast about. Italy, Scandinavia, Ireland, all first world nations so it's easy to feel proud of that heritage. You find Nigerians reminiscing about "Up Nepa" and their suffer suffer boarding housing days lol.

Anyway, happiness and contentment is subjective to an extent. We can all make our decisions as best we see fit for ourselves and our loved ones.

I no follow for that one o. I never saw hardship as a positive process . Though I guess that experience has helped me recognise and make the best use of the priveleges and stability here. Many born canadians here do not even notice they are privileged and usually end up not maximising the opportunities they have.