Japa: Nigerians In UK Recount First Job Experience After Migration

It is no longer news that Nigerians, mostly the youth are desperately in search of greener pastures, as this has led to great increase in the number of Nigerian youth migrating to the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, among others, in what is commonly known as ‘Japa’ back here at home.

Migration data released by the UK government revealed that in the year ending June 2023, over 141,000 Nigerians have migrated to the United Kingdom.

However, some Nigerians in the UK have disclosed that the situation in the country is not always favourable to all migrants – a case of different strokes for different folks.

Sharing their different experiences about their first work in the UK on X (formerly Twitter), it’s a mixed bag of satisfaction and disappointment. Some even paused to query whether they made the right decision to ‘Japa’ or not, while others cursed the prevailing situation or persons that ‘forced’ them to seek greener pastures abroad.

A Twitter user with the handle @stifler_Ldn kick-started the discussion whe he or she wrote, “A friend linked me to event decoration job in Romford, Naija party. The amount of chairs I carried that day and plate, I still never recover till date.

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“I slept off on the train , even missed my station, I block the company cos that work no be for human being. 😂”

A spontaneous reactions followed with different comments as follows:

Another Nigerian in the UK, @cute_pecky tweeted, “Pretty Little Thing. My fitbit watch counts between 70k/80k steps daily. I developed lower disc pain even NHS physio no get solution. I quit after I woke up and couldn’t feel my left leg due to numbness and pain from my spine.”

Also, @pharuc noted that his first job in the UK was at Cygnet Hospital for people with mental health issues, he revealed that he was once kicked and spat on by a patient at the facility.

He said, “My first job in the UK was at Cygnet Hospital for mental people. Omo I was with the patient first I received one mad kick and she spat on my face if not for face mask. I said God are you sure I made the right decision to come to this country.”

Speaking on his UK first job experience, @nuru_barca said, “Tesco shelf replenishing, first night they put me for biscuits section, It was easy, I had help from one of the old guys, second night, they put me in Vegetables and fruits section, I wan die, cried my eyes out 4 morning, swore for Buhari, swore for my ex, swore for everybody.”

Also commenting, @dimeji_MOA said: “I worked at a warehouse job in castleford and it was night shift, I was so happy I finally got a job after about 1 month job search. Shift was from 11 to 7 in the morning. I want die after 4hrs, I managed to stay till 7 in the morning and ran home and swore never to enter warehouse EVER.”

For @laby_t, she was employed as a chef, adding that she got the job by walking into the organisation, introduced herself and asked about any vacancy available.

She explained that the manager stated that the company was in need of a chef and had asked her to come the next day.

Eventually, she got the job, enjoyed it as she was also trained on the job.

Another X user, @scollyus said, “Tech mobile advisor for my uni covering the hostels with any IT issues. Helped me get my first proper IT job as a developer then. Loved it.”