…the good, the bad and the ugly. Survival hacks every new migrant in the UK needs to know.
So you have recently picked up your passport from VFS Global and have seen your vignette. And now you are packing your bags in preparation for your flight to begin a new dispensation as an international student in the UK.
I imagine how you smiled in excitement and struggled to hold yourself from swinging on the road – like a baby would at the sound of cocomelon – as you left Ikeja, or was it Victoria Island or that centre in Abuja? Maybe you were even indifferent. As nepobaby wey you be.
Perhaps, your story is different. Like other japa applicants, you are still waiting for a decision and are going through that could-this-be-it-notification anxiety phase. No worry, e go come and e go plum.
Or your case is none of the aforementioned. You have not applied; are not awaiting a decision and are not packing any bags.
Whatever it is, this story is for you if you at least know someone who knows someone who is planning to leave for the United Kingdom as a student and you want to know what life in the UK has been like for others who have made the move in recent years.
In this story, a few international students of Nigerian origin in the United Kingdom share their experiences and survival hacks.
Empathetic Etim
Every serious-minded Naija student should be able to survive academically over here in the UK because the academic environment is conducive.
For context, for my undergraduate degree, I graduated from UNIBEN with a Second Class Lower. However, after only my first-semester here, I have scored 3 As and 1B in my courses. Not to say the grading is easier or there is less rigour, rather, I think it is down to the resources and ease of access. You can get any resource you need without sweating much and that changes a lot. I am currently in my second semester and I have even higher hopes.
Finance-wise, I try to live within my means. That is why, since arriving, I have learned how to eat the local food here because buying Nigerian foodstuff from African shops can be pretty expensive. So I just patronise local supermarkets like Asda and Tesco where they sell cheap British food.
I must acknowledge though that my parents have tried to provide me with enough cash. But even then, I work a part-time cleaning job, 12 hours per week, for minimum wage. If I convert that to Naira at the current exchange rate, I am able to support a few friends and family. And when I don’t, I can still spend on myself and be okay. This way, I don’t get to use the money my parents gave me at all.
Frank Francis
For me, the hardest thing after relocating was adjusting to a new life, new rules, fending for myself, and ultimately taking responsibility for ALL my actions. I also remember working different jobs while in the Uni – and paying all my fees myself. Lowkey, I even had multiple girlfriends sef. Lol. The UK is designed for anyone to be able to live a decent life at least if they have a job.
What worked for me was that I quickly learned to plan well with what I earned. I was also very proactive when looking for work by approaching stores and companies around me, even when vacancies were not advertised. It is one bit I think many international students can do better with. A lot of people who are out-of-job or unemployed but in dire need of money often put all of their focus on job sites only and forget the occasional go-out-and-touch-grass approach also works. Maybe not for the office jobs, but for short-term survival jobs in desperate times.
I believe the japa life is whatever you make of it: hard if you see it as hard but manageable with a little extra effort, if you are willing to put in the work and have reasonable expectations especially in your early days. Just give yourself grace.
If you are skilled in several areas, you will find it easier to survive. So put yourself out there; in school, class, your religious or social gatherings. Get involved, volunteer, or even join a viable network marketing company. I’ve met with students who are living off passive income from network marketing endeavours.
Jarring Jide
I will be completing my Masters’ degree somewhere in England in a few days but I have had my fair share of culture shock since I came here.
Saner clime, saner clime. But nobody told me that in some ways, the UK can be more expensive to live in compared to Nigeria. For example, the rent. Omo, it takes like 30% of my monthly earnings and that’s on the conservative end.
And yes, the frustration here is considerably the same as that in Nigeria if you don’t have money or even worse when you don’t have a job. The pressure to pay your bills which are mostly timed has run many into depression.
Yes, there is currently a post-study or graduate visa that allows you to work here for two years after your studies but that’s about it except you get a job that sponsors your continuous stay in the country. Other than that, OYO. If you don’t get sponsorship, the only thing you will be able to say you got after your study would be world-class knowledge and your MSc certificate. Maybe that counts for something too sha.
But IMO, the UK government is just ripping international students off because beyond your expensive tuition, you will be needing between seven to 10,000 quid for your upkeep for the duration of your one year postgraduate study in this country. The government makes billions of pounds from international students yearly, yet consider them as fodder for votes every electioneering season!
The koko is, in some places in the UK, there are barely student jobs, so if you are going to such towns like Hull, Derby for example, before you board that plane, make sure you have paid all your tuition fees, and have close to 8 grand in your pounds account. Otherwise, get ready to relocate to another city and do the long haul to your school.
Also, professional jobs that offer sponsorship are scarce. Yes, they exist but they are too few to the number of people who need it, so it boils down to your own personal competitive edge. That – alongside family reasons – is why many people resort to care jobs for sponsorship. It is like a low hanging fruit. Understand all of this and prepare for the worst. Or else, you could be shocked.
And in this country, there’s no padi for jungle. No relatives, and even if there is, sometimes even ur own blood no give you shishi. It may not be wickedness, they may just be struggling to survive too.
Logical Laide
I genuinely think the UK is designed for the native UK people.
My common advice to folks who have newly arrived in the UK is this:
If and when you come to the UK, think like the Asians – Indians and Pakistanis – when spending/investing. Explore like a Nigerian would. Network with as many non-Nigerians as you can. People from the Eastern Bloc, and folks from the Gulf are often calm and OK.
Take advantage at all times of all deals and cost savers available. Do not posture as what you are not because frankly, nobody cares. Rinse and rid yourself of that classist mentality that argues that buying from a budget store or crappy maker makes you less wise.
Last but not least, be as entrepreneurial as you can. And if you are Nigerian, you are halfway there. We are naturally gifted with an entrepreneurial spirit. So, what’s stopping you?
However, if you are yet to make the move, I advise you to please sit, ponder, plan and attempt to answer the following questions before you begin that application:
- Why am I going to the UK?
- What would I gain from investing in this move to the UK?
- How would I recover my investment of coming to the UK?
- What opportunities are there in the UK that the UK government and citizens can not fill or provide that I can offer?
- How and what is the return if I decide to explore these opportunities?
- What skill is in demand that can give me the edge and make me marketable?
- What is the relative recovery time on all investments I will be making by relocating to the UK?
If you found this story interesting, you may also want to read other #JapaStories to give you more insights to the famed “abroad life”.
