When people ask why he left a well‑paying job in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector to pursue a Master’s degree in the UK, Bola always gives the same answer: “The stress was too much, and I just wanted more that wouldn’t require working around the clock.”
In an exclusive interview with FunTimes Magazine, a Ghanaian man shares the brutal reality of his migration journey, a story of survival, loss, and the lengths people from third-world countries will go to escape and build a future in a country with a working system.
Sammy, who left Nigeria in 2021 and currently resides in the UK, shares what it really means to chase a better life abroad. From navigating a language barrier in Ukraine to working night shifts in a warehouse in the UK, his journey is a raw, unfiltered story of resilience and reinvention.
Delight left Nigeria in March 2025, not because she didn’t love home anymore, but because sometimes love is just not enough, and there comes a point where the hunger for more becomes so strong. Like thousands of Nigerians chasing the promise of “greener pastures,” her japa journey was a calculated leap toward a brighter future.
Many dream of relocating abroad and getting well-paying jobs. However, the journey to achieving this is often filled with ups and downs and so many rejections. In this interview, Helen, who left Nigeria in 2022 to join her husband in Canada, shares her experience of job hunting in a new country and how her skills created opportunities to earn.
For many Nigerians who have taken the bold step to move abroad, their first Christmas away from home rarely looks like the movies.
When Maureen Murugi Smith left Kenya for Philadelphia in July 2015 to join her husband, she arrived with the hopes familiar to many immigrants. She dreamed of starting over, finding work, and building a sense of community. What she did not expect was that the very organization that welcomed her into the city would one day become the place where she would help hundreds of others find their own voices just as she had done.
When a Nigerian packs their bags to japa (a Nigerian slang for relocating), they already have this dream of reaching the promised land, flowing with better opportunities, stable electricity, good jobs, and the chance to finally make enough money to be able to afford their wants and needs.
The story is unfinished. For many immigrants arriving in Philadelphia, progress is not marked by dramatic moments but by the slow, steady build of ordinary days.
“What if Africa’s single greatest resource isn’t buried in the ground, but lives and works in every corner of the globe?”
Africa, home to 18.83% of the total world population which translates to about 1,548,441,880 people based on Worldometers’ elaboration of the latest United Nations Data.
