Mother Land
This title reminds me of that sober and melodious song by sound sultan titled "Mother Land" he sang about how many have deserted their father's land, can they be blamed for that? He ended the song by advising our leaders to develop the country Nigera so that people overseas can come back.
Though the country Nigeria can be said to be bad, the truth is some people are making it big here, even with the bad economy, you have forgotten that there is poverty everywhere, there are poverty stricken people in the USA too, it is a thing of the mind. The beautiful thing about America is the preponderance of opportunities, that is why it is called a land of opportunities. The most powerful country in the world, but it has it's own disadvantage too, you will know Nigeria is a free country if you travel abroad.
We should not dwell on what is wrong with Nigeria, we should rather look inward and do our best to make the country better, if the Americans didn't build the system in place today, will we be running to them? The sad thing is that once most of us have a taste of America we never want to come back. We prefer to die overseas.
Today I begin a series on stories which will vividly let you in, on life in strange lands. America is sweet that is why everybody wants to go there. Everything works there if you have money, 24/7 light source, running water, good health system, good feeder roads, strong currency. The list is endless, after heaven it is America, you can only believe it if you witness it but some people laid down their lives to make America great, with sweat and blood they made it happen but we want to go and enjoy finished goods, that is not possible, the white man is not stupid, that is why they put an embargo, you need a green card or work permit before you can work there, else you keep moving circles. All you do is wish you were a green card holder.
Some black Americans refuse to benefit from the system by being uneducated, all their lives they survive by doing odd jobs, vicious cycle that ensures they work till they grow old, no retirement benefit, no pension. The bottom line is you can make it from anywhere you are, though opportunities abound in some places, Yorubas will say bi agun yan ninu ewe, bi ase obe sinu epo epa, enito ma yo ayo (if we pound yam inside a leaf and we put soup inside cowpea's cover, some people will still be satisfied) no limitation is real enough to stop you only if you are willing.
The center of this story is Jamiu, a young school leaver, underemployed, single but he is optimistic that one day he will make it. Jamiu's parents were still alive, he is the first in a family of nine(9). Most of Jamiu's friends are in America, and they have left him behind, life has become so cold, his monthly salary was 30,000 naira. His salary can not fully sustain him for a whole month.
Due to paucity of funds he refused to go into relationship with ladies, some people thought he was gay, but he was so determined that he barely had time for ladies. After some years he started giving travelling abroad a thought, his very first attempt was fruitful, he was granted a visa to the United States of America. He never knew how lucky he was because he got it on a platter of gold. He got the visa, kept it at home and continued managing his life. Then his friends told him what he will be missing if that Visa expires without been used. With his meagre monthly income he could barely fund his travels, non of his friends could help, even his family members didn’t help him, he was disappointed, decided to give up, America is not the only place where you can succeed. He carried on with his life, most nights he was unable to sleep, always fantasizing about life in abroad, friends often ask him Jamiu how far about your journey, you never go? He will lie and say I am almost there.
Out of frustration Jamiu collected a loan of 300,000 naira from his place of work, he resorted to loan facility because everybody he knew had failed him, even his parents couldn’t help him. The loan can not fund the journey he wanted to embark on, it was not even up to the amount you keep with you as expandable funds called BTA for international travels. He invested the money into MMM the Ponzi scheme we all know about. He saw testimony of people who have made it through the scheme, while in the ponzi community he made some friends with similar interest. The first money he put into MMM was a loss, that was the first time MMM site crashed.
His last hope is now becoming thin, owo wogbo, he cannot tell anyone about his stupidity, why will you put your money into MMM? He kept everything to himself and stuck to ponzi, ponzi is like coccaine, you get addicted to it, the harder you try to leave it, the more you sink into it. From MMM he moved to whats app ponzi and other mushroom ponzi sites, initially he made money and this motivated him to do more, so he kept investing in ponzi. Greed is in the heart of black man, the owner of the whats app ponzi scheme was ripping them off, he doesn’t provide help but he gets help time after time, he has multiple accounts. In a matter of weeks the whats app ponzi crashed, he moved on and created another whats app ponzi, in a matter of days, it crashed in the process Jamiu was losing money but he was addicted and determined to increase his money, he diversified into other whats app ponzis and telegram ponzis, he kept losing and in few cases he made money.