WHAT I MISS ABOUT LIVING IN THE UK... & WHAT I LOVE ABOUT LIVING IN LAGOS!

So I have been getting so many questions since I moved back: "Sisi Yemmie what is it like in Nigeria"... " Should I move back to Nigeria?", "How easy is it to get a job in Nigeria"..."Is it tough to run a business in Nigeria"? I cannot answer all these questions at once but I will take them one post/video at a time. Today I will be telling you what I miss about that obodo oyinbo life and what I love about living in Lagos! You can choose to watch the videos HERE or read the post below. The videos are embedded. 

  • I miss fish chips and curry! I was addicted to that, I love chips and currry! I should make that for myself sometime. 
  • I miss those 5 pounds Chinese Buffets in Birmingham, you know I love buffets and I love Chinese. On some day's I think about how much I miss it and I feel sad, but I always console myself with Pounded Yam.
  • I miss 24/7 power supply! We dey suffer for this 9ja sha oh, everyday generator, fuel and diesel no cheap at all. The noise , the pollution! Oh I miss constant power supply! 
  • I miss constant water supply too! The house I moved to now is better than where I was living last year, there was always no water. Immediately we start pumping water with the generator you can hear my neighbours scrambling to fetch everything in drums, gallons, basins. The bad thing was, I was the one always pumping and water never gets to my flat until it has gone through the pother flats. Sometimes I pump water for more than an hour and I don't see nutting running through my tap. Na this water one dey pain me pass. I resorted to taking my bath with CWAY water etc. 
  • I miss the structure that is present in the UK: almost everything is organised. People are always on time, no naija time. If you miss your 8:00 clock appointment, o ti miss e ni yen. Nothing like Oga Abeg. 
  • I miss easy and cheap access to the internet. Back in the UK I watch unlimited videos on YouTube and I basically live on the internet, now I screen what videos get watched, is it worth my data? LOL.
  • I miss that people mind their business. You can be on the tube and nobody will say hi to you. You can walk down the street 10 times a day, no body send you. It has it advantages and disadvantages. In Nigeria so many people are in your business and they feel like they have shares in your life...it can be annoying when people don't respect those invincible boundaries. 
  • I miss shopping!!! I used to be a shopaholic, that habit died a cruel death in Lagos. How can one tiny top be 25000 naira? and they will put ONLY there, dress wey I know say na from New Look. I need to applaud myself because the only clothes I have bought are Ankara materials. I am no longer a shopaholic. I miss just window shopping, playing with makeup in places like Boots, Debenhams...spraying perfumes in the mall before going to work. LOL.
  • I think most of all I miss my friends from school, church, colleagues and neighbors...

...WHAT I LOVE ABOUT LAGOS!
Prior to moving back home I've never lived in Lagos: I visited, maybe stayed a week or two. I was living in Warri. There was a time I even said I would never ever ever live in Lagos because of the fast and stressful life but all that changed. I enjoy Lagos (without traffic and danfo drivers). Let me tell you what I love about Lagos...
  • The first thing has to be the variety of Nigerian food! You know my love affair with good food is never ending. I enjoy eating out and having easy access to great food! 
  • I love Praise and Worship in Lagos Churches! There is nothing as amazing as praising God in your mother-tongue. I remember the Nigerian Churches I atttended in the UK would convert all the ibo, yoruba songs to English. Imagine singing "Kabyesi Oh" in English...it's not the same.
  • I love that you can have a better standard of living in Nigeria as compared to living in the UK. An average family in Nigeria that perhaps relocated from obodo can afford to live in a nice house, have one or two cars, perhaps has a house help or driver. Life can be easier. I would rather live better life in Nigeria...that UK is not easy. Some people leave their well paying jobs in Nigeria and go all the way to obodo oyinbo to work as a teller/cleaner.
  • I love that Lagos is a land of opportunity: there are many businesses thriving here and that's why some people are making the move back home. It's easier to start a business in Nigeria: that is my belief. 
  • There might be tribalism in Lagos but there's no racism, you can move free without people looking at you funny or spitting as you walk by.
  •  Lagos is welcoming and Lagos is homely, which is why I guess they say it is no man's land. This exactly is why I love Lagos and more...
What do you love about Lagos or where you live?


27 comments

  1. Ooh love this. The one thing I love about Lagos is the hustling mentality. Everyone wants to make it which I admire although some people do go overboard. I love Lagos so much, I told my parents that I'm definitely living here when I finish school much to the their shock lol. xx

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  2. Lol @25000 ONLY.u talk true o

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  3. I love ur lipstick.dash me o

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  4. Sisi lagos is the centre of all confusion for a person that values serenity. But I lived in lagos all my life basically but I moved to enugu,portharcourt then ebonyi, will I live in lagos again ? *shudders at the thought, I no sure whether I go fit cope again.

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    1. lol my dear. I agree with you. I'm kinda anti lagos. I was raised in ph, went to lagos occassionally but couldn't do it biko. Ph sef carry small wahala. omo if or when i move back enugu or calabar will be homebase

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  5. Nice post, I really love living in lagos, but I also miss Canada because of my lovely friends, excess shopping and unlimited internet,( the shopping experience is not the same in lagos). I was also living on my laptop too. But where I stay, there s more light than gen so its not bad at all, the gen can rest up to a week :D.

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  6. I miss 24/7 light and the unlimited internet...not sure I can cope in Lagos again oh, that gra gra life is just not for me.

    www.labyrinthsoflahrah.blogspot.com

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  7. hmmmm I dunno if I can stay in lagos, I visit often but I am a bit scared of moving there completely, but that for this post tho It would help me make up my mind.

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  8. Sisiyemmie tru talk studying ere in Toronto apart from d goodlife(water,light,goodroad,internet and everytin being organised) deres is nothing ghen ghen abt dis abroad. .I still miss home like crazy bcos its so boring ere. .pple re so into deir sef u even need invitation to enter ur flatmate's roommate pple jst act crazy

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    1. haha!! abeg oo, dont discourage me i am heading to toronto soon.

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  9. I miss home (my parents and relatives not the hustle and bustle of the Nigerian everyday life). Sometimes I wish our leaders made our country more attractive to sell-outs like me. I have lived in Canada for 10 years and to be frank I do not see myself moving back to Nigeria. If I ever considered it before, having my baby changed it. The quality of life, education, literally free healthcare (did not pay a dime to have our baby), social care, amenities, good paying jobs, 24hours power and water supply are just a few of my reasons. There are just some things you cannot put a price on.

    I hear you about life being about hustling to make ends meet in the UK I have heard those stories. In Canada, it is very different. Nigerians here are very successful, living well and growing in their professional fields :)

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    1. ure one of the lucky few trust me

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  10. i still luv 9ja
    sηººÞ¬mιηι

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  11. Abeg what areas in Lagos have constant light .......at least 12 hours. Thinking of moving.

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  12. The shopping thing is so true. Before I buy clothes here I have to contemplate because somethings are just too overpriced. Stores want to gain like 500% more than the cost of the product. Plus shopping abroad is so much fun. You can try on different things and spend hours without even knowing and no one will be looking at you with bad eyes. Plus Customer service in lagos is non existent.

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    1. You are so right re "looking at you with bad eyes"....and shop attendants are sooooo rude - it's like being rude is a criteria to get the job!!

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  13. I love the comparisons between Nigeria and abroad. I havent been home in a long time so these posts are definitely enlightening

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  14. AVERAGE family have a nice house and one or two cars? That's not average. Youre still in Oyibo mode.

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  15. Sis Yemmie, Get thee behind me!! I discovered ur blog yesterdaya nd I must say I am hooked. Now trying to catch up on all the posts I've missed. Your blog is refreshing!!!

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  16. my dear, leave it o. when you make it in obodo oyibo with a good job, you live a good life. Sides, me i dey vex... whats ur beef with tellers? i started out as a teller and now, even though i say so mysel, i am not doing bad at all... leave it o, even though you start at the bottom, if you work hard, you will make it. Its not about who you know, its about how hard you work

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  17. Sisi Yemmie, I just discovered ur blog and I'm loving you so bad!! If my employer complains of diminishing returns, na your fault oh!! So trying to catch up on all your posts and voting for you and Boo....

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  18. Lagos is a way of life,its a hustling and bustling place for the brave and strong hearts, if you can survive in Lagos, you sure can survive anywhere even in hell. lol You are welcome to LAGOS .
    This is the real life.

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  19. kindly kill off that background sound in your next video. It was so distracting, i thought there were pop-up ads coming from your site!

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  20. Nothing like life abroad...you can plan ahead.

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Your comments are like delicious grains of jollof rice to me: please feed me! Send me love mail sisi@sisiyemmie.com / Official business@sisiyemmie.com

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