The Real Cost Of Japa by Apostle Femi Lazarus: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

What are some of the funniest, or hardest, jobs you've had to take since relocating?

Guests described a wide range of first jobs taken after arriving in the UK regardless of prior qualifications: kitchen party catering, care work in nursing homes, waste recycling as a "motor boy," and kitchen portering washing plates in school kitchens. A first degree from Nigeria often counts for nothing in the new system, and people with a BSc still end up in manual, minimum wage roles just to get established.

What was that experience actually like?

Care work was described as physically and emotionally demanding: twelve hour shifts, complex care involving spinal cord injuries and manual handling, abusive patients and relatives, management that does not listen, and in one case an injury from lifting equipment that led to weeks of unpaid leave. One guest said the work brought on stress induced insomnia and two years of depression, despite it paying more than what was available back home.

Why Some Still Prefer It Here

There is dignity of labor here: nobody looks down on a person for being a carer or a kitchen porter, and people get paid on time for what they do. Several guests contrasted this with Nigeria, citing employers, including a private school, that owed a teacher six months of unpaid salary. It is not necessarily about earning more; it is about being paid reliably for work already done.

How You Enter Shapes What You Experience

How a person enters the country, and what the person who helped them get there already knows, determines what doors are opened to them. Someone who arrives with nothing to fall back on is more likely to be routed into low paid, physically demanding jobs regardless of their prior education, while others are guided toward visa routes suited to their actual qualifications, such as the global talent visa, which requires an existing level of recognition in a field.

Weighing the Trade Offs

Guests raised comparisons on healthcare access: private healthcare in the UK, sometimes available through an employer or a modest monthly plan, offers faster access, while relying on the public system can mean a six month to one year wait for a scheduled procedure, whereas in Nigeria access is faster if a person can pay out of pocket. Crime, including phone and watch theft, was noted as present even in parts of central London, though guests felt the frequency was lower than back home.

Advice for Someone Considering the Move Without Skills or a Degree

What is available depends heavily on the visa route open to a person; a visiting visa will not allow work. For someone without an existing skill or qualification, learning a trade or skill once settled matters because it becomes the basis on which people can vouch for and recommend them going forward.