Nigerians migrate to the UK and US in search of the good life – but this isn’t what they find

Many Nigerians are already familiar with the idea of “japa”, which means to flee from an unpleasant situation.

That many young people have left the country is a cliché; that many more people desperately want to leave is not an overstatement.

A research that utilised the 2017 Afrobarometer Survey reported that the emigration intention rate was 35.3%. A 2024 study found that, among healthcare workers, the rate was 80.1%.

According to the two studies, the preferred destination was the west – the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada. However, among the general population in Nigeria, there is a preference for the Middle East and other countries in Africa, perhaps for socio-cultural reasons.

But many receiving countries are tightening their borders and making immigration requirements more stringent than before, especially against migrants from African countries.

The recent anti-immigrant and nationalist protests across Europe and the attention that migration garnered in the 2024 US elections show how topical and political migration is.

It hasn’t deterred would-be migrants. But is life that easy in the west?

I am a sociologist and my doctoral work investigated the integration and experiences of Nigerian migrants in the US and the UK.

My recent research investigated whether their expectations of migration matched the reality.

To get a feel for this, I got data from qualitative interviews and from reactions and comments to two Instagram blog posts.

I do not, in any way, discourage migration. But it’s important for intending migrants to be aware of what life could really be like in the countries they’re going to. The research could also help governments of the host countries to understand migrants’ expectations and how to manage them.

Data sources

First, I conducted 31 interviews with Nigerian migrants in the US (17) and the UK (14) between May and August 2022. The average duration of migrants’ stay had been 5.4 years, ranging from one to 21 years.

I asked them to explain their pre-migration expectations of life in the host country and the reality they met there.

I also used data from an Instagram blog based in the UK. On 22 April 2022, the blogger made a post in which she asked her followers, who are migrants in the UK, to share the same kinds of information about their expectations and experiences.

Employment and finance

Based on what they saw in foreign movies and on social media before emigrating, many young Nigerians thought that they were going to make money quickly and easily. They expected to continue their original career in the host country, and to advance.

The reality was different. For example, one male migrant in the US said:

You know, we feel everyone in the US is hitting it big. But when I got here, I realised in America, you are paid for your time. Time is money … It’s not easy, you have to work hard … nothing falls on your laps here, like you have to earn everything.

Another said:

I thought I was coming to paradise … It was a different ball game … you get to work very hard.

One reason migrants had to work hard in the host country was the high cost of living: paying rent monthly, the high cost of electricity and the fact that they paid for water. Many people don’t pay for water in Nigeria.

An Instagram user remarked sarcastically:

One might even pay for the air we breathe in and out over here.

Many Nigerian professionals have to do jobs overseas that they would never do in Nigeria. It is not that simple for a Nigerian architect, engineer, lecturer, medical professional or lawyer to continue the same profession upon migration.

Healthcare at a cost of time or money

Twenty-one interview participants reported that the reality was worse than the expectation. Nigerians expected that they would be able to get healthcare easily and at low or no cost. About 68% of my research respondents and some respondents on the Instagram post said they found it was easier to access medical doctors in Nigeria than in the UK.

From the two data sources, some migrants in both the UK and the US were disappointed with the healthcare system in their host country. However, the experiences varied between the two countries. Those in the UK did not expect to experience long waiting times, where public healthcare is almost free.

Those in the US lamented the financial cost of healthcare.

Aesthetics and social life

Many Nigerians were deceived by the attractive images they saw in foreign movies and the pictures of families and friends they saw on social media.

In both countries, there are places that look like Ajegunle – a slum in Lagos – and plush areas. But they’d only seen the better areas in movies and on social media.

Some Nigerian migrants missed the owambe – a Yoruba word for extravagant parties that are a central part of Nigerian culture. They hadn’t expected to live a regimented and lonely life in the US and the UK. Some participants lamented how boring and individualistic life was in these countries. Some of them spent Christmas indoors in solitude or at work. In Nigeria, they would have hung out with family and friends.

Some complained about the unfriendly attitudes of the locals. A typical example is an Instagram user in the UK who said:

Neighbours will even welcome you with ‘tell your kids to keep their voices down else I alert the police and social services.’

Staying despite disappointment

Despite their disappointment, none of the respondents who reported differences between expectation and reality showed an interest in returning home to Nigeria. They mostly hinged their decision on the misgovernance of the Nigerian state.

Some cited the unpredictability of the Nigerian system, including the sudden removal of petrol subsidies, leading to higher petrol prices, and frequent power outages.

Other reasons include the fact that in the west their rights are guaranteed and they cannot be fired indiscriminately by an authoritarian boss. They are sure of when their salaries will be paid. And if they are students, they know their date of graduation from the first day they start a university programme.

They are likely to get to work or school safely and return home in sound health. Their wages will be adjusted for inflation.

In summary, they can plan for the future.