"Brother, I need a new phone, this time I want IPhone ooo"- she said authoritatively on the phone.
We were both in a keke napep, we had previously had a little chit-chat before a phone call came in and she answered her phone. From her conversation I sensed that she was recieving an international call.
Not until, she dropped the call and told me it was her uncle who called from America, I had thought she was being owed money or something.
But I pressed further, "why do you need a new phone", I asked
She smiled, "I am tired of using this one na aunty. I have an uncle abroad, I shouldn't be using this kind of phone".
I looked at the phone she was holding, a Techno WX3Pro. I asked again, "But nothing is wrong with this phone". I collected the phone for inspection and she winked and replied me, "Aunty, my uncle is living in America, my friends are using IPhone, I want one too.
"Okay", I said. What do you do? Do you work or you are still studying?
And she told me that she just wrote the last jamb.
My eyes opened, you just finished in secondary school?
"Yes, last year!"
Before I knew it, I had gotten to my bus-stop.
I had a reflection and I was pushed to write this post.
Dear Nigerians, don't dump all your life needs on your relatives abroad.
It is a typical syndrome and a common fact amongst Nigerian fellows whose relatives are abroad that they expect these people to build a luxury for them. I find this disdainful, especially amongst average Nigerian families whose struggling relative manage to travel abroad. Once one aunty or brother manages to escape this country to find greener pastures abroad, they just automatically assume that these people will take all the household and family responsibility. The mother will ask him for money to buy aso-ebi, the father will ask him for money to buy a family land that is in dispute, the sister will ask him to send a phone, the brother will ask him for school fees. Even the niece, cousins and nephews will always ask for one thing or the other without minding where these people will get money from. Not minding if they have been given work permit, not minding if they how dirty they get their hands dirty to make ends meet.
Dear Nigerians, your relatives abroad are sojourners and they don't have it easy over there.
Some of them work everyday in the cold to earn the money you always complain of not being enough
Some of them don't have work permit, therefore they do menial jobs like washing toilets, cleaning, caring for a messy old-one to survive
Some of them can't afford a residence yet, they squat to pass everyday
Some of them have more financial challenges than you can imagine.
Please, stop frustrating these people by making ridiculous demands.
Nobody owes you anything. Just because the person is abroad doesn't mean they have to carry your cross. Let these people breathe. Don't push them to do something illegal just to satisfy you. You can live your life without depending on your relatives abroad.
It is enough, let them come home with something worthwhile.
If they offer to give, that's fine!
But please, don't make them regret making the decision to find greener pastures abroad.
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