Nigerian man shares ‘japa’ experience as he marries, buys car within a year after relocating to Canada

He narrated his ‘japa’ experience as he marked his first year of migrating from Nigeria.

A Nigerian man has taken to Twitter to share his experience after relocating to Winnipeg, Canada, in 2022.

The man, who goes by the handle @KaizTweets, narrated his ‘japa’ experience on Thursday, May 18, to celebrate his first year of migrating from Nigeria.

According to him, he got a job two weeks after migrating to Canada, bought a brand new car, and married the love of his life in January 2023.

He also expressed gratitude for his experiences thus far and highlighted that his monthly expenses, including taxes, in Canada is more than his annual salary back in Nigeria.

Read his lengthy tweet below,

“MY JAPA EXPERIENCE

Today makes it exactly a year since I left Nigeria.

I had a lot of fear within me as I was leaving, but somehow, the relief and happiness I also felt overshadowed the fear. I had dreamt about the day and 4 days before the trip, I couldn’t even sleep so much I remember I’d be up midnights, and I kept arranging and rearranging my bags, weighing my load, not sure which of my clothes I was ready to leave behind, knowing I had no plans of going back to Nigeria anytime soon.

I would go online and would be reading about the cities in Canada, the people in Canada, the average cost of rent, job opportunities, and every random general fact about Canada. I applied to some jobs that I felt were a good match for my soft skills I was prepared for the worst, as people abroad are always so quick to tell us how difficult life is abroad, especially when you’re in a profession that’s regulated abroad and would need to write several exams before you can practice over there.

I have friends who were already in different countries, and they all tell me the kinds of survival jobs they had to do. I was ready to get there and start the hustle myself. At least, something to pay the bills as I no be rich man pikin and gbese full ground to pay (japa money) But in all these, I was just hopeful. I did a lot of permutations ehn. I’ll calculate my imaginary monthly income on the minimum wage, and I’ll remove necessary expenses in my head like rent, feeding, transport, phone bills, house internet, just to see if I’ll survive…

I chose to settle in Winnipeg, Manitoba because my fiancé (as she then was) was schooling there, and I wanted to be close to her. I remember a good friend of mine kept asking why Manitoba? He even offered to house me for a while in Alberta. “Opportunities no too dey that place o”, “that place is too cold o”, “why not come to Alberta” “There are better opportunities here”, “some of our other colleagues dey here”

I was tempted, but I prayed about it, and I just didn’t see myself anywhere else…

17th May, 2022. I said my temporary byes to my folks boarded my first sole international flight.

The moment our flight left Abuja, and we reached that peaceful space up there, I felt a huge relief, and all the sleep I had been depriving myself of fell on me.

I slept so much that I almost missed the food, but the Naija man beside me that had a German accent was so nice to wake me up. It was while we were eating that I got to know that he had been living in Germany for over 20 years and he is even more fluent in German than English…

We had a layover at Frankfurt, and I just kept admiring the whole environment (without acting like a newbie)…lol.

This picture was at Frankfurt.

Frankfurt to Toronto was the second flight. I was mostly awake, and the 8hrs+ went by so fast. The moment I arrived in Toronto and did all my arrival check-in and got the red bag with the welcome package for new immigrants, I just couldn’t contain the joy I felt that day.

Toronto to Winnipeg was less than 3hrs, but it felt longer. I was so eager to see boo. This woman had helped me secure a room in a 2 bedroom, and my host was in the other room. She got me a bed for the room, and she was at the Airport with her Aunt over an hour before we landed to welcome me and drop me at my “new” place.

I was finally “home”, 25hrs flight time from Abuja to Winnipeg, and I didn’t even feel any jetlag, didn’t feel a single body ache, and I adjusted to the timezone right away.

Even though it was very weird to me that by 10pm, it was still so bright outside. I slept like a baby that night, and by 6am the following day, I was up and ready to explore my new city.

By that weekend, I was already out with some Nigerian folks who have now become my Winnipeg family, we had drinks and food, and they all shared their experiences with me… By the end of the day, I was expecting that we would share the bills and we’ll all pay for what we had (the way abroad people do), so I brought out cash when it was time to pay. 

They all laughed at me that night. They said I didn’t even have a job yet, and I was already bringing out money. They didn’t let me drop a dime, and even after I got a job, I was exempted from paying for the first 3 months of outing. And it was summer, we were going out A LOT!

They didn’t let me feel stress at all, I didn’t feel jobless, it just felt like I was on vacation.

2 weeks after I arrived in Winnipeg, I got an email from one of the jobs I had applied for when I was in Nigeria. It was the biggest Employer I applied to nd the highest paying one.

It was like a movie.

Long story short, I went for exam and had the interview after. It was at the interview that they were even now asking for my phone number and my status in Canada. Lol.

I knack suit because I no wan hear “you’re not properly dressed”

Small boy, BIG GOD. By the second day, the Regional Manager called with good news, and he asked when I could resume. Just like that, no human connection needed. He also told me, it’s a temporary job, and it was supposed to be for 2 months with the option of renewal…

I took the job with grace and resumed the following week.

2 months turned 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 months…and exactly 11 months after working as a Temp, I was offered a Permanent Role last week.

And by God’s grace, I’ve had nothing but sweet experiences in this country.

I got my first car and moved out of my shared apartment within 3 months of resuming my job, took the road test and got my drivers license once (those who know, know), I got married to the love of my life in January, I’ve made some nice friends, and achieved some other things..

My prayer points have changed since I got here.

Life has been so good, I can only give thanks to God, and I know it’ll only keep getting better.

As of today, the monthly deductions (tax et all) on my salary is more than what I used to earn as salary for a whole year…

Some days, I catch myself complaining about some things I hope to achieve or about how much tax they deduct from my pay every 2 weeks, then my wife is always so quick to remind me of where I’m coming from and how I should be more grateful to God.

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