Stats: 3,172,665 members, 7,885,738 topics. Date: Wednesday, 10 July 2024 at 02:27 PM |
Nairaland Forum / Guddylover's Profile / Guddylover's Posts
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I guess you don’t believe in “calling a spade a spade.” Moreso, nothing in this article can be debunked by you, at least from what you have written thus far. As for Nigerians being opportunists, it’s not peculiar to Nigerians alone. During the Great Famine, people of Ireland emigrated to diff parts of the world to find a better quality of life. Just because you stayed behind in Nigeria or profess your patriotism doesn’t make you more Nigerian than those outside. This is not “Abroad vs Nigeria” thing. It’s just about analyzing Nigeria’s issues without bias. boyo123: 2 Likes 1 Share |
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Did you read the article? Why not address the points made in this article rather than talk about some people having “I must travel mentality ?” Have you ever asked why the rich politicians go abroad for healthcare or sending their kids to go school abroad. Yes, Nigeria can be the place to make money “if you know what you are doing” just like you said, but don’t forget that it’s the same reason why Nigeria is regressing. You can make more in Nigeria because of the rules and regulations u can disregard, just to name a few. Patriotism is good but you have to be sincere in your analogy, too. boyo123: 1 Like |
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Nigeria’s ongoing middle-class brain drain is costing it two generations in one swoop https://qz.com/africa/1615518/nigerias-middle-class-keep-emigrating-to-canada-australia/ Yomi Kazeem7 hours ago When Timi and Ehis got married in a small, intimate ceremony in Lagos last October, it marked the start of their new lives together—but it was not one they planned to live in Nigeria. Six months later, the young newlyweds both quit their jobs and moved to Ottawa, Canada joining thousands of middle-class Nigerians who have moved to the North American country through its skilled workers immigration program. Their reason for making the move boils down to one thing: thinking of their future children. That sentiment cuts across board as thousands of Nigerians increasingly emigrate through a mix of avenues. Skilled worker programs (also referred to as Express Entry) inviting immigrants to Canada and Australia are a popular and legitimate choice. But other choices—including applying for asylum and refugee protection in Canada, sometimes while crossing the US-Canada border illegally—are being explored as well. As of March, Nigeria had more pending refugee protection claims in Canada than any other country globally. There’s also the choice of deliberately overstaying on a visitors’ visa in the United States, a trend that’s proven strong enough for the Trump administration to clampdown on US visas for Nigerians. Whatever the method of emigration, pursuing the chance to seek a better life—particularly education for children—remains a common theme. Decades of under-funding have impacted the quality of teachers and lecturers as well as the learning infrastructure in Nigeria’s educational system, leading to significant decline. Strikes by Nigerian university lecturers protesting low wages and inadequate benefits are now an almost annual occurrence. The lack of investment in public educational institutions has also fueled a rise in expensive private schools and universities for middle and high-income families seeking higher standards. But even those schools pale in comparison with quality of education obtainable outside Nigeria. “The biggest area of concern for most people who are leaving is getting access to the right type of education for their children,” says Tunde Leye, an economist with Lagos-based SBM Intel who wrote a personal essay on the subject two years ago while considering the move himself. “The point of it all is that here, your money can’t buy you the quality of education that is available abroad and the gap will only get bigger.” Reuters/George Esiri But we remain loyal. “Then there is the access to opportunities that become available to the children on the back of the education they have. The range of opportunities that are available to children in Nigeria is limited because the range of education is limited,” Leye says. Wale Oyediran, a Berlin-based software engineer who left Nigeria last year, is wise to the importance of quality education and the advantage of being globally competitive, especially in a technology driven world. As a result, he says there is “no question” he will start his family abroad rather than Nigeria given “the opportunities and exposure” potentially available to his future children. “To raise kids that will have all they need to conquer the next generation is super expensive in Nigeria,” he says. “It is way easier outside [Nigeria].” For his part, Oyediran remains interested in returning to Nigeria and contributing to the growth of the blooming tech industry but says the immediate priority is securing back-up options for economic security. “The [young] people that appear to be contributing to the current building process in Nigeria all have one leg outside the country with fallback plans like a second citizenship or residency,” he shares. “It seems stupid right now to put all one’s eggs in the Nigerian basket.” Not looking back The lack of faith in Nigeria’s political leaders and their ability to reverse the decline in the educational sector is such that many of the middle-class Nigerians making the exodus to Europe and North America do not trust the situation will change soon. The looming big picture for Nigeria is that many who either have emigrated or plan to are unlikely to return and neither are the children they raise in their new countries of residence. Richard (real name withheld), an experienced lawyer says he moved to England last year mainly to ensure that his three children attend high school and university there. And as they’ve already “expressed a strong preference” for life there, Richard says it’s already “likely” his children will remain in Britain after their education. “They don’t like it when we joke about moving back in the short-term,” he says. “Moving abroad is me giving my two children a chance to experience life in an environment that ‘works’,” says Opeyemi, a telecoms software specialist, who is due to move to Canada with her family within weeks having had their application approved. “I’ve decided my children will not be growing up in Nigeria and I won’t be encouraging them to move back home either.” Meanwhile, for her part, Chinwe, a 29-year old digital marketing expert at one of the big advertising agencies in Lagos, is actively choosing to remain single as she waits on her application to move to Canada being approved. “I don’t want my kids to grow up here and so I’m not pursuing any serious relationships. One of my biggest fears now is having a child in Nigeria,” she says. “What I currently earn won’t be enough to provide a top-quality education if I have kids here but, in Canada, even the public schools are quite good.” Like Opeyemi, Chinwe is not big on looking back: “My kids won’t know anybody in Nigeria so there’s nothing for them to come back to and the country is only going to get worse anyway.” It’s hard to miss the general dire outlook on the country’s prospects among Nigerians who emigrate but it’s even harder to miss the factors that inform that outlook. Nigeria’s unemployment rate has climbed for 13 consecutive quarters and an ambitious four-year plan to boost the economy following a recession in 2016 is proving to be a failure. As a consequence of slow economic growth, a ballooning population and years of failed leadership, Nigeria is not only the poverty capital of the world but is set to remain so for at least a generation given its alarmingly low human capital spending. As it turns out, the ongoing emigration also compounds the problem as an important socio-economic demographic is increasingly choosing to leave. “Emigration is not cheap and most of the people leaving are not poor by any standard—it’s the rich and middle class that are leaving,” Leye says. “It’s an epidemic but people only do this kind of things when they’ve lost hope.” But the grass outside Nigeria isn’t necessarily always greener for emigrants as they face real and expensive challenges of relocating, settling into a new country and starting over. For instance, securing white-collar, upwardly mobile employment does not come easy for emigrants especially in countries like Canada that place a strong emphasis on local expertise or education. As such, highly qualified individuals who leave high-level jobs in Nigeria often have to trade down to restart their lives. In one case, an experienced optometrist, who asked not to be named, obtained a resident permit and moved to Calgary last year but says she will have to take expensive certification courses for up to four years before being able to practice and works at a grocery store in the interim. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s an even tougher reality for immigrants who move by overstaying visas illegally as, without valid work permits and social security, their job prospects are very limited. Despite the known challenges, the possibility of a higher quality of life and education for their children remains a strong pull for several middle-class Nigerians who can afford to move. For their part, one month after moving to Ottawa, Ehis and Timi have both secured jobs and are positive they made the right choice. They also plan to start a family in Canada and stay there for the education of their future children. “That’s the major reason behind the move,” Ehis says. Top occupations for skilled worker program applicants (2017) 1 Information systems analysts & consultants 2 Software engineers 3 Computer programmers & interactive media developers 4 Financial auditors & accountants 5 Administrative assistants 6 Advertising, marketing & PR professionals 7 University professors & lecturers 8 Financial & investment analysts 9 Business management consultants 10 Food service supervisors In truth, the brain drain and exodus of middle-class Nigerians is not exactly new after similar outward waves during military regimes in the late 1980s to early 1990s and also since the turn of civilian rule in Nigeria. The difference, Leye argues, is that while the trend previously seemed restricted to “people in specific professions, now it’s more of a free for all” especially with countries like Canada looking to fill several gaps in their workforce and are offering diverse opportunities from software engineers and accountants to cooks. One often cited upside of emigration is the chance of seeing skilled members of diaspora return to boost the local brain trust. But anyone banking on that future possibility simply needs to look to the past for answers, Leye says: “Those whose parents emigrated in the ’80s and ’90s are becoming some of the people we’re celebrating now as “Nigerian” success stories abroad. Those kind of people are definitely not coming back.” |
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How do you mean her visa is not tied to yours? iammartinzo: |
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Bros, just fill the application form separately and put them in one folder that you will be submitting, those VFS staff will help you with how to arrange them, just make sure you go with the proper forms. (thats what I told my family members to do and they all got the same positive outcome in less than 62 days )/ Pholy: |
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It's not all true, my family members (3 of them) just got a 5-year multiple and they have never traveled out of the country before. Likewise myself, I got my study permit some years back with no travel history. It is just funny how some people think because you have an American visa that you are entitled to a Canadian visa, it doesn't work that way. As a matter of fact, Canada understand that USA don't really scrutinize documents like they do. From my experience, Canada take into consideration such as purpose of visit, ties in Canada and back home, etc. Best of luck. andre99: |
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Don't be discouraged.The only thing I kind of see from my experience is the purpose of visit. They kind of see it as since she has a husband or boyfriend here she would want to stay in Canada, but just like, be hopeful iammartinzo: |
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Just to chip in...I live in Canada and I am graduating from Uni here in Canada so I invited my mother, sister, and brother-in-law to attend my graduation ceremony. They all got their visas (5 years multiple). They submitted on Feb 22 and they got the visa on April 19th.I hope you all get a good news soon. It's always a waiting game with CIC 2 Likes |
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Joe980: Wetin happen since na? I think say you wan comot then na? |
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Joe980: Cool. Where in CA are you hiding lol |
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Joe980: Am okay bro. Here in -26 lol. How have you been too? |
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Joe980: My TRV was issued on Sunday, 2011. I know it's wierd but they do issue visas on weekends. |
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VisaOfficer: Thanks, So what about if he waits till he gets his British passport, that way he won't need to apply for a visa I believe. Thanks for the swift response |
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VisaOfficer: Thanks for the response Sir/Ma, So as long as he can apply with his real information this time he should be fine? So basically now, every applicants that apply for any visa gets fingerprinted inside the embassy? In this case, my friend now lives in London, England but he wants to visit USA from there, so that is why is worried about his previous application from Lagos despite he was not fingerprinted. Any more info would be appreciated. Thanks |
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@visaofficer, A friend of mine went for U.S visa lottery interview sometime in 2007 and he and his then wife was refused the visa, now he is wondering if he can apply again with his real information since his fingerprints was not taken back when he went for interview.Cant go into why he is now trying to use his real info, but I think that happened as a result of what these silly agents made him do. My question is that, can the U.S embassy fish him out with just the Police character cert. obtained from Alagbon? Once again, his fingerprints was not taken at the embassy. Thanks |
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victorazy: So America is this expensive. No wonder my uncle came back with nofin to show. why you dey diss ya uncle na? |
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Na so oo... person don turn cold bloded animal finish oo earthgreeners: No be small thing ooo, I heard its colder in Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg..... 1 Like |
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The country dey more than okay! but the problem be say this weather na elele oo, right now we dey -2 for Toronto, some other part of the country na like -7 to 10 dem dey. I dey Ryerson Uni....BsN (Bachelor of science in Nursing) earthgreeners: |
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lol, na you sabi...I no be senior oo, how you dey? you know say this one na new phase of NL...which school you dey try apply to? earthgreeners: |
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must you insult people ehn? By the way I wanted to quote ronakoks' earlier post...and what image are you denting to achieve your aim? I don dey follow this thread right before you even thought about travelling to Canada...all I am trying to tell the guy asking question is that IF HE MUST USE agency, then he should try Maple Edu cos I went through them last year and I got my TRV successfully... earthgreeners: |
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TRV_IJN: I think he typed his own response in your quote - very unlikely he meant to credit you with thee statement. We all know you are going for Fall 2013 and I know that Fall 2013 applicants are privileged to have you because of the time and diligence you have devoted here. I wish you succes bro. @ronakoks please don't start charging people USD3,700 because once you are done reading parts 1-3, you would have the knowledge to provide agency services, but keep it free and unofficial you get sense jare....na that other guy(ronakoks) I dey try quote |
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earthgreeners: |
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earthgreeners: 1 Like |
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Jokzoh: @siga, where in Toronto do you live? I live around North York... |
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bro, I wish you success in all your endeavors, perhaps when you get to Scotland and after living there for some years, you should ask yourself this question that why Nigerians don't wanna come back home and improve their Nation Donxavier: |
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If dey want to die there whats your biz, you too stubborn sef Donxavier: |
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Irrespective of where you live, my point still stand. Like I have said, being an immigrant is not a new thing. They say enjoy it while it last. So am just trying to enjoy my sojourn and try to make the best of it before i head back to my beloved country Nigeria' that is if the condition changes for the better, and if not, I have no choice other than to still hang around here. Dem no dey catch person for that oo see you then! Donxavier: |
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Bros, hate is hate, it doesnt matter if its becos you are black, christian, or muslim A question for you: where do you reside? Donxavier: 1 Like |
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I get your point too, but the problem I have is that many talk about this issue of being an immigrant in another country like it is a disease or something. Come to think of it, going abroad should be a personal choice. By the way, there as never been a time that I was treated like shit cos am an immigrant here. My believe is this' whatever you think is worth doing, do it to the very best. I was living in Nigeria; where I was born and I have instances of how I was molested, humiliated, and harassed by this so called Nigerian police; mind you I am a first class citizen in Nigeria like you guys always say it 'first class citizen'. The fact is that I don't care about you being a first class citizen or not...I live in Canada now and am being treated like a normal human being, so I don't know where this first class issue comes from. I will definitely return to my country when am fulfilled. And your example about Okonjo Iweala is not a good example at all, cos she is not doing Nigeria any better. Donxavier: |
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Home is wherever I lay my HAT, (thats my home) Donxavier: |
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'Home' is wherever I lay my hat (that's my home) Donxavier: |
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hilarious... Excuzeme: |
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