KnowAll:

When i was still in the states, I had $25,000 after my first year straight out of college. This was after paying credit card bills that i incurred as a student as well as all my regular bills. My savings only kept going up as the years went by so enough with all this 250 pounds in your account. You can save if you want to.

Gentle man I am sure you did not save that $25,000.00 without completing your degree. So your capabillity to save that $25,000.00 in one year was based on you working with your degree. You could easily have saved the same money if you get a job in Nigeria with your degree from the states working in either the bankig, telecoms or oil and gas industry in nigeria.

You now compare yourself with myfriend who saved £22,000+ in 8 months doing his own personal business from an intial investment of just £2000.00 and he did not have to go through the rigour of burning the mid-night oil in college. Dont forget he has already settled his kids in a boarding school in nigeria and has payed 2 years rent for a property in lekki. The balance is the N5.6 million in his account. There is no basis of comparisim.

Are you saying your friend doesn't have a degree. I'm sure the he obtained the "knowledge" that he used to start the business from "somewhere"
Anyway,
I only made mention of that to correct the notion that you can't save in places like the U.S and U.K.
I won't comment about the U.K since i've never been there. I didn't even have to cut ends to save that much. I had all the necessities, high speed internet, home phone, cellphone, digital cable and all and i still did save.

With regards to your friend, well there are people who are also business savvy in the states and are doing well, making more than your friend did in 8months. I have a friend who after working for year and half, he took his capital, started his biz in houston and is now one of the notable people in houston with at least 4 homes in sugarland.

Your success depends on "YOU"
Regardless of location, if you've got the brain you can get it done.

Right on!!

A-town:

Are you saying your friend doesn't have a degree. I'm sure the he obtained the "knowledge" that he used to start the business from "somewhere"
Anyway,
I only made mention of that to correct the notion that you can't save in places like the U.S and U.K.
I won't comment about the U.K since i've never been there. I didn't even have to cut ends to save that much. I had all the necessities, high speed internet, home phone, cellphone, digital cable and all and i still did save.

With regards to your friend, well there are people who are also business savvy in the states and are doing well, making more than your friend did in 8months. I have a friend who after working for  year and half, he took his capital, started his biz in houston and is now one of the notable people in houston with at least 4 homes in sugarland.

Your success depends on "YOU"
Regardless of location, if you've got the brain you can get it done.

UK is a different place my dear except you are a citizen. I personally detest working for people,''all paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind''. While I was registering a company in UK, I found out that except you are a citizen, you can not run a coy in UK except if you have £200k capital, I had to make my brother in-law who happens to be a citizen a borad member.  If I break down my wage and bills here, you will understand why UK is not a 'land of opportunities'' like US.

I can categorically tell you that a £22,000/annum earner goes home monthly with about £1250 with average monthly bill of £600-£800 and personal monthly upkeep of £100-£200.

A £32,000/annum earner goes home with the average of £1700.

I think Nigeria needs me more than any country. There is a big gap in service delivery, utilities, in Nigeria and that happens to be my field and am going back to put in my best.

KnowAll:

When i was still in the states, I had $25,000 after my first year straight out of college. This was after paying credit card bills that i incurred as a student as well as all my regular bills. My savings only kept going up as the years went by so enough with all this 250 pounds in your account. You can save if you want to.

Gentle man I am sure you did not save that $25,000.00 without completing your degree. So your capabillity to save that $25,000.00 in one year was based on you working with your degree. You could easily have saved the same money if you get a job in Nigeria with your degree from the states working in either the bankig, telecoms or oil and gas industry in nigeria.

You now compare yourself with myfriend who saved £22,000+ in 8 months doing his own personal business from an intial investment of just £2000.00 and he did not have to go through the rigour of burning the mid-night oil in college. Dont forget he has already settled his kids in a boarding school in nigeria and has payed 2 years rent for a property in lekki. The balance is the N5.6 million in his account. There is no basis of comparisim.

Do you henestly believe that your friend made that kind of money with just £2k doing a legitimate business in Nigeria in 8 months?

The kind of business you described in your post cannot generate that kind of return within the period stated by you. I would have believed your story if a more substantial capital in the region of £8k had been invested.

I'm not trying to debunk you claim but in the Nigerian situation that i'm very much familiar with, your friend did not tell you the full story.

blunt1990:

UK is a different place my dear except you are a citizen. I personally detest working for people,''all paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind''. While I was registering a company in UK, I found out that except you are a citizen, you can not run a coy in UK except if you have £200k capital, I had to make my brother in-law who happens to be a citizen a borad member. If I break down my wage and bills here, you will understand why UK is not a 'land of opportunities'' like US.

I can categorically tell you that a £22,000/annum earner goes home monthly with about £1250 with average monthly bill of £600-£800 and personal monthly upkeep of £100-£200.

A £32,000/annum earner goes home with the average of £1700.

I think Nigeria needs me more than any country. There is a big gap in service delivery, utilities, in Nigeria and that happens to be my field and am going back to put in my best.

Sorry just a slight adjustment to the stated take home pays for the two income levels above.

£32000/annum = over £2000 if you dont have personal pension (Over £1800 with pension) - Pls note that NI deduction has also been considered

£22000/annum = Over £1300 (with pension) - £1400 without pension

tos:

Do you henestly believe that your friend made that kind of money with just £2k doing a legitimate business in Nigeria in 8 months?

From experience, I would advice folks take these stories with a pinch of salt. A friend, after hearing so much of how "people" make in oil, invested his savings in the same business. He is still loosing money as we speak, and is back in the UK looking for a job to help handle his bills.

Kobojunkie:

From experience, I would advice folks take these stories with a pinch of salt. A friend, after hearing so much of how "people" make in oil, invested his savings in the same business. He is still loosing money as we speak, and is back in the UK looking for a job to help handle his bills.

He didnt conduct a proper research before investing. Must he invest in crude oil
why not export or trade in Groundnut oil, palm oil? There are people in that industry that are doing okay.

tos:

Do you henestly believe that your friend made that kind of money with just £2k doing a legitimate business in Nigeria in 8 months?

The kind of business you described in your post cannot generate that kind of return within the period stated by you. I would have believed your story if a more substantial capital in the region of £8k had been invested.

I'm not trying to debunk you claim but in the Nigerian situation that i'm very much familiar with, your friend did not tell you the full story.

500k plus is a huge capital depending on the business you're investing in.
wholesale of provisions, cosmetics, wristwatches, gift items, boutiques etc will do very well with that amount of capital, once you get your shop in a nice location.

that same amount can get you distributorship in various companies.

I've been into Legitimate business for over 12 years and i know what i'm talking about.

All these "Been tos" wey dey come hia begin dey talk of how dem leave "quality of life" to make money for 9ja, how many of una make the money without cutting corners?Ehh?Na only 9ja person go give thanksgiving because dem award am N200 million contract.Which kain thing be dat?And the whole church go dey rejoice because dem no say im go thief minimum of N150 million and tithe go come from dia.Arrant rubbish.

Anybody wey proudly talk say im make N6.8 million naira in 8 months from nothing na THIEF. Forget all the grammar, THIEF NA THIEF

mccloud224:

All these "Been tos" wey dey come hia begin dey talk of how dem leave "quality of life" to make money for 9ja, how many of una make the money without cutting corners?Ehh?Na only 9ja person go give thanksgiving because dem award am N200 million contract.Which kain thing be dat?And the whole church go dey rejoice because dem no say im go thief minimum of N150 million and tithe go come from dia.Arrant rubbish.

mccloud224:

Anybody wey proudly talk say im make N6.8 million naira in 8 months from nothing na THIEF. Forget all the grammar, THIEF NA THIEF

roflmao!!!!!

Na so dem go dey talk of "profitable" ventures in the private sector.The only profitable business you fit do with small capital na dey one wey need little or no light e.g point and kill and nkwobi.

Any business wey dey use light or need good road network for efficiency go definitely knock head for wall unless you give one of Yar Adua daughters belle, if you don give one of dem belle, then you are safe.You don now many "venturers" don lose money tire?You no how many millions me sef don lose before i get myself?Nonsense, all of una wey come back 9ja with $500 for wallet come begin boast of N51 million in 3 months na THIEF!!!

Abi na money doubling? Make una tell me the secret na! Ehhh?

Please explain the statistics how from having $60 from murtala airport, an individual moves to having 1 billion naira in his account in 7 months.Please insert pie charts and histograms to show the progressive margins.

I swear, if EFCC interrogate any of una, na stammer una go dey stammer (well, una fit tell dem say you see bag of money inside toilet for Mr BIGGS)

so you guys dont believe there are geniune millioniares in Nigeria?

No wonder the whole world see Nigerians as theives and bandits. so sad.

@Samparian

First of all, there is NO such thing as a "honest millionaire" in the business world (except Hollywood).There is no successful business man that has made it being fair in his dealings with customers.No successful businessman buys for $1 and sells for $1.10 (no let dem deceive you)

And your jab at the whole world looking down on us?Well, na people like you dey always bring una selfs down.Nobody can give you shit unless you allow it (plain street knowledge)

Even the "advanced" nations have their levels of dishonesty that is beyond comprehensive.One short example.Credit card companies are the most advanced and successful fraud known to man and their victims are the poor who they know CANT met their payments/premiums.They call more successful people that pay up "Dead beats".As a debtor to a credit card company, you are done with unless you win a lottery.They live their entire lives buried in debt.You see a man that never had anything but an RV to live in being buried with $1.2 million dollar debt and you wonder, WTF?

But you will never hear the citizens of that country talk crap about that.Abeg, no dey ridicule your country.Na una dey give una country bad name not others.

@mccloud224

People go into business to make profit. that i buy an item for $1 and sell it for $7 is good business.
Its legitimate(honest) profit.
I must pay my shop rent, pay my staff, recoup my travel expences (flight, hotel, shipment, import duties,haulage, etc)
The concern of most posters has been illegitimate businesses like drug traficking, fraud, looting of the national treasury etc.
If you feel that the $7 cost of the item is too much, travel abroad and import the item your self!

You are repeating the same thing i said concerning business.What i was emphasizing on was that dishonesty is in every nook and cranny of the earth.DO NOT belittle your people at every opportunity, abeg!

mccloud224:

Abi na money doubling? Make una tell me the secret na! Ehhh?

Please explain the statistics how from having $60 from murtala airport, an individual moves to having 1 billion naira in his account in 7 months.Please insert pie charts and histograms to show the progressive margins.

I swear, if EFCC interrogate any of una, na stammer una go dey stammer (well, una fit tell dem say you see bag of money inside toilet for Mr BIGGS)

That's a boats load of $1 dollar items sold at $7 dollar right there. I billion naira is less than 7 months. Na jazzz ooo!!!!

mccloud224:

DO NOT belittle your people at every opportunity, abeg!

I dont quite get you.

No wonder the whole world see Nigerians as theives and bandits. so sad.

Do you get it now?Hmmm?

Haven't you ever been looked at suspiciously or delayed and inspected properly just because you carry the Nigerian passport?

@Samparian, you seriously going to pretend next that those who do so, do it for no valid reason whatsoever? Come on!!!

I won't pretend. I speak from experience.

The first and only time i spent a night in jail was in Cotonou, Benin Republic in December, 2006.
I had returned from a business trip to Hong Kong and went to Cotonou to see my clearing agent about my container. By the time i had finished, it was late and i asked to be taken to a hotel.
i took my shower and went downstairs for a beer. There were 3 of us. One knew Cotonou well and suggested we walk to a nearby club. we were not a few minutes from our hotel when a police truck over took us and heavily armed cops jumped out and asked us to identify ourselves.
once they found out we were Nigerians we were bundled into the back of the truck and taken to a station.
Many Nigerians were being brought there that night.
The cops questioned me and i showed them my passport and told them my reason for being in Cotonou. They said they'd investigate and then threw me into a cell.
They said an armed robbery had occured earlier that day and they were sure it was the hand work of Nigerians.(No one was caught. No witnesses.)

I stayed in the cell till 4am before i was released. they had contacted my shipping/clearing agent who is a very prominent man and he told them who i was. The police apologiced to me and asked me to sign a document which stated that i could not sue them and the did not maltreat me in any way.
Over 50 nigerians were brought there that night.
i was leaving the station that morning, more nigerians were being brought in.

I am not in anyway saying that you have never been suspected of being involved in some crime because you are a Nigeria. I am simply asking why you would want to make that a big deal, when we all know why that seems to happen often to Nigerians? Should the Benin police not be careful of Nigerians? Why? Because you would want it that way?

The point is that we were singled out, because of our Nationality thats what i'm trying to get mccloud224 to understand.

he said i was "belittling" Nigerians

@samparian

I got the whole message and understood.Na you no dey read my posts well.Wetin i dey try tell u be say, no dey advertise "world laff @ us anyhow".E no good.Oyibo dey browse these forums too and dat one dey give dem more onus to misbehave.You get my point?Me i no dey like when people dey talk of how "world take see us".To hell with the world.They gatz they own problems.

Despite what the world thinks of Nigeria, i'm proud of being a Nigerian. its my belief that Nigeria will get better someday and we, the citizens will enjoy the benefits of what our country has.

We have to change the impression that we cannot survive in Nigeria.
we have to change our views on some issues
we quickly believe that almost all millionaires in Nigeria are into some dubious deals or money rituals
Ordinary people can work hard and become very successful in Nigeria.
that is the reason for this post.
Most of our people abroad are told not to come home because Nigeria has nothing to offer them. They are discouraged from investing in Nigeria by starting SMEs, or shops,or factories.

You can succeed in whatever you choose to do, if you plan well, and study the business properly

Nwannem, i don get your gist. no vex, abeg
i dey tell oyinbo for face say 9ja good well well.
i know say some wahala dey for we country but we fit help make things better for we people
na why i dey tell our brothers we dey yankee make dem come home come start all these small small factories, make e help dey give our graduates job

GBAM!!!!

Na now you come.

samparian:

Despite what the world thinks of Nigeria, i'm proud of being a Nigerian. its my belief that Nigeria will get better someday and we, the citizens will enjoy the benefits of what our country has.

We have to change the impression that we cannot survive in Nigeria.

I have rarely met any Nigerian who thinks as you claim above. People survive even in somalia.

samparian:
we have to change our views on some issues
we quickly believe that almost all millionaires in Nigeria are into some dubious deals or money rituals
Ordinary people can work hard and become very successful in Nigeria.
that is the reason for this post.

I disagree. It remains that out of every 100 millionaires we have, the vast majority made their money through dubious means. That is what the other guy is trying to make you see. And For anyone to make a million in just 7 months in a country like Nigeria, that person would need to submit to EFCC for us to believe he did so honestly. And I stand with him on that. I know of more people who moved back to Nigeria and have had to compromise on their standards in order that they can make money there. I am sure in their own eyes, they are successful, but how many of them can submit to be investigated by the EFCC or NIRS and found to be honest?

samparian:
Most of our people abroad are told not to come home because Nigeria has nothing to offer them. They are discouraged from investing in Nigeria by starting SMEs, or shops,or factories.

You can succeed in whatever you choose to do, if you plan well, and study the business properly

From where I sit, Nigeria is the gold mine for all Nigerians abroad. In fact, as soon as people start feeling they can no longer handle the hardife of 9-5 abroad, most move to Nigeria and become millionaires overnight there. Not sure who you claim tells people abroad that Nigeria has nothing to offer. I can make you a list of people from my church here who have moved back, become millionaires just like that and only come back to shop these days.

Please, let us be straight with ourselves when it comes to Nigeria rather than playing the FRIENDS vs FOES game each time to make some moot claim.

Kobojunkie:

I have rarely met any Nigerian who thinks as you claim above. People survive even in somalia.

The survival i meant is becoming a millionaire. many of our young guys think they cant make it unless they travel and become illegal immigrants in other countries doing menial jobs and taking unnecessary risks. this is fueled by mis information by dubious travel agents

Kobojunkie:

I disagree. It remains that out of every 100 millionaires we have, the vast majority made their money through dubious means. That is what the other guy is trying to make you see. And For anyone to make a million in just 7 months in a country like Nigeria, that person would need to submit to EFCC for us to believe he did so honestly. And I stand with him on that. I know of more people who moved back to Nigeria and have had to compromise on their standards in order that they can make money there. I am sure in their own eyes, they are successful, but how many of them can submit to be investigated by the EFCC or NIRS and found to be honest?

i laughed real hard. well it all depends on the persons capital.

Kobojunkie:

From where I sit, Nigeria is the gold mine for all Nigerians abroad. In fact, as soon as people start feeling they can no longer handle the hardife of 9-5 abroad, most move to Nigeria and become millionaires overnight there. Not sure who you claim tells people abroad that Nigeria has nothing to offer. I can make you a list of people from my church here who have moved back, become millionaires just like that and only come back to shop these days.

i'm glad you and i agree on this one

samparian:

The survival i meant is becoming a millionaire. many of our young guys think they cant make it unless they travel and become illegal immigrants in other countries doing menial jobs and taking unnecessary risks. this is fueled by mis information by dubious travel agents

Maybe this is because majority of them have seen their fathers, mothers and relatives work ridiculously hard as slaves to those in government, yet barely ever being able to make ends meet. Do you really blame them for wanting to get out to a place where the story is the government’s foot is not on the success of its people?

samparian:

i laughed real hard. well it all depends on the persons capital.

You might laugh now but it is the truth. I grew up during the times when we had next to decent millionaires in that country, and there were few of them. Once corruption became the new trend, millionaires started popping up all over the place, many we still have no clue what they actually do for a living. I remember some of my own classmates became millionaires and big boys in town. A particular one who failed at most everything in school became the first millionaire my class could boast of. When asked what he does, no one seems to have a clue.

samparian:

i'm glad you and i agree on this one

I am not sure it is the case that we do agree here. What I meant to say is that the average Nigerian abroad feels he is a guaranteed millionaire if he ever decides to go back to Nigeria. Not because he has new skills or new ideas to bring to the table on how to fix Nigeria but that the fact that he has been abroad, not only boosts his resume but also ensures he gets preferential treatment when it comes to getting a job or a leadership position in that country.
If you don’t believe it, take a look at your politicians and you will see that quite a number of them lived abroad for some time, then came back to start work in leadership with access to loot, with not much hard work done. If you investigate the resumes of these people, you would see that many of them had next to no solid experiences in any field while abroad.