*Nine (9)months ago, my classmate japa’d back to Nigeria from the UK.*
I remember the day she landed. The joy was loud.Family members showed up, friends gathered, pictures everywhere.“Home sweet home,” they said.
She told me, “At least I’ll have peace now.”
No more bills swallowing her salary.
No more night shifts that left her body aching and her mind empty.
No more eating alone in a cold room where nobody knew her name.
Nigeria welcomed her… but not gently.
The first week, NEPA reminded her who was in charge.Light would blink like it was playing games😃sometimes 2 hours, sometimes nothing for days. She started buying fuel like it was food.
Network? Another battle.
Important emails hanging. Calls dropping. Opportunities slipping through her fingers because “the server is not responding.” She tried to get a job…Ah. That one humbled her. “Overqualified,” one company said. “We can’t match your expectations,” another replied. Some didn’t even respond after promising, “We’ll get back to you.”
The few offers she got? Salary that couldn’t even cover what she used to spend on transport abroad in a month.
Transportation showed her pepper too.Fueling her car on a weely basis cost her a fortune. The day she decides to enter bus🤭, standing under the sun, negotiating fares like her life depended on it.
Keke drivers inflating prices once they heard her accent.
Then came the subtle pressure…
“So… why did you come back?”
“UK no favour you?”
“You should have just stayed there na…”
The same people who welcomed her with open arms slowly turned into silent judges.
Even at home, peace wasn’t exactly peace.
Expectations increased overnight.
“You’re back now, you should support this… handle that…”Little by little, the savings she came with started disappearing.
And the loneliness she ran from?
It found her again… just in a different form.
Here, it wasn’t quiet rooms…
It was being surrounded by people and still feeling misunderstood. Slowly, the glow faded.
The excitement turned into quiet frustration.
Plans didn’t align. Reality didn’t match the dream she had of “coming home.”
And today…
She has japa’d again 😊back to the UK.
No noise this time.
No big announcement.
No airport pictures.
Just a silent departure…
and a heart that has seen both sides of the story.
Life abroad is not heaven.
Home is not always the comfort we imagine.
Sometimes, people are just trying to survive in whichever place gives them a fighting chance.
Before you judge anyone’s movement…
pause.
Some journeys are not about pride.
They are about survival, sanity, and starting again.
Truth is…not every return is permanent.
And not every departure is a win.
So tell me… if you had the chance, would you stay back home and struggle with “familiar problems” or travel and face “foreign struggles”?
#everyonefollower #fyp #trend #everyone
Rebroadcast by
Mr. Nurudeen T. O. O. Opeloyeru-Anikulapo
Founder and CEO
NOA Foundation International and NOA Multinational Company
*NOA Foundation Membership Nr.1*
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