To grow capacity in your career, you need to move from the place of position to a place of skill acquisition.~ Olawale Daniel
When I talk about skills it is because I’ve seen what a lack of it can cause. Some of us emigrated late in life and I can tell you it’s tougher to integrate. Firstly, you have to get a job and many entry-level vacancies target younger people. If I knew what I know now I would have stayed back in Cardiff after my masters over a decade ago. By now I would be an associate Professor. But my belief and businesses in Nigeria were far too convincing so I went back to oil money.
As you can see, that decision didn’t age well because, like some people I mentioned in my defence of japa, I moved again after 4 years. This time to Ireland where my family had been since 2004.
I’ve now lived here for 8yrs. Who would have thought?!
My plan was to return after meeting the following objectives.
1. To be with my family as the kids navigate their teenage years.
2. To get the citizenship that will facilitate my globetrotting lifestyle.
I travelled to Nigeria almost every quarter to oversee my businesses. But as the years flew by, the naira continued plummeting as the Buhari administration plunged the economy into deeper turmoil. When the situation continued to worsen with rising insecurity and unbearable economic hardship something had to give. Yours truly wisely decided to make the relocation permanent, and here we are.
I’m rambling again innit? Ok, back to our story for today and it will do intending japarists (migrants) and new immigrants as well a lot of good to read to the end. It is an interesting encounter with some valuable lessons.
I usually dispose of my recycle heap bi-monthly. Sometime in 2021, I called my usual man with a van, an Albanian named Fitor who has previously helped me with more than disposal to do the job. But he had moved on to bigger things. He informed me that he is now a software developer.
So I searched online and called a few numbers but received high quotes till I got Mohammed. Yes! I knew I had someone who should understand a fellow immigrant’s budget…
