Good evening everyone. I finally found a childhood song that I have been searching for weeks. Why was it so hard to find? Well, It was not in English and I had no idea who sang it. My parents recorded it in the 80s. I absolutely loved the video even though I had no idea what was being said. I spent weeks googling ‘Mananinaninama Kombo’ without no success. Luckily, I remembered it had some English lines and I googled that and viola! I found it. It is South African too. What do you know? Enjoy.

Best part 0.45 to 1.00

Rambling done. Topic of the day

Yesterday, a friend contacted me. He wanted to find out some information about the Middle East as he is planning on moving to Kuwait. He said life has become too hard in Nigeria and he is looking for greener pastures. I asked him if he had a job offer. He replied No. I asked him if he had a place to stay. He replied No. I cautioned him that they don’t just hand over visas easily. He responded that he is in the process of securing a three-year working permit visa and is paying half of the money to the agent on Monday. Immediately, I felt red flags because I know that this was in no way legit. I asked how much he would be paying for the visa. he responded 800,000 naira which is roughly 5,000 dollars.

Wait o! Life has become so hard but you have over 5,000 dollars to give someone who is most likely going to bring you over here on a labourer visa. This is not to mention your flight ticket and the cost of living. It makes absolutely no sense. I have never understood the desperation that my people have to leave the country. There are a LOT of people who made it there, without connections and without rich parents. They struggled and they made a name for themselves. I feel sad when I see graduates at home for years. While there are some that have been very unlucky, there are others who found work but felt that the pay was beneath them and decided to hold out for something better. Now those same people would kill for those earlier offers that they rejected.

In the same vein, although there are many people who have made it in foreign lands, there are much more who gave up better opportunities in Nigeria to come here and they end up doing menial jobs. I met someone a while back who sold his store in Lagos and rushed down here. Now he works as a labourer earning 120 dinars which is roughly 48,000 a month. By the time you deduct his cost of living and other expenses, he is left with little or nothing to send home. Now this young man who I was chatting with, is going to spend over a million Naira to come to a country where no job awaits him, no home, no family and really no prospects. Is it worth the risk?

Today, I read a story on Nairaland that made me sad. A student in the UK, whose visa was not even close to expiring, decided to get into a scam marriage with a lady there. Unfortunately for them, the lady had been to the registry in 2011 and was recognized. They were arrested along with the man she had married in 2011, who happens to be a Nigerian as well (face palm) and another accomplice. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison, after which he is likely to be deported. The worst part of the story, he paid 5,000 pounds to the lady for the scam marriage. 5,000 pounds!!!! I cannot wrap my head around it. He had that much funds. He could not use his time wisely, gather more and then use the money raised to open a business back home. He could not look for a job there and get a working permit? I don’t know what drove him to do this. Maybe he had tried my above suggestions and failed. I don’t know. But what I do know is that he is in jail, 5,000 pounds poorer, going to be deported and probably banned from the UK. Again I ask, is it worth the risk?

A friend I broached this topic with, said “I would not understand”. Maybe I don’t. I know there are a lot of desperately poor people out there who feel like they have no choice. In my opinion, I think it is more of ‘get rich quicker’ than any other reason that makes these boys flee the country. if you can raise 500,000 to travel abroad, surely you can find a more useful venture to direct the money in and make profit.

This is my opinion. I don’t have a problem with people wanting a better life for themselves and their families. I know for a fact that there are a lot of people who took the risk of travelling to a country with nothing and ended up making it. However, I don’t think it is that easy anymore. A word of caution. These countries you are rushing to, have their own problems. Someone (I have no idea who) once said “It is better to be a king in your home than a butler in another man’s home’
Please drop your comments. Is my view extremely one-sided? Do I truly not ‘understand’?