Your Companion

The driver has just brought in two chest drawers I bought for half the price from an expatriate returning to his country with his family. From a reliable source, not less than four expatriate families are leaving the services of the company. Many other companies are doing the same as every other week; there are text messages to people close to the expatriate community on household stuff for sale by departing families. It is not unbecoming of these companies that few years ago provided such families with paradise on earth facilities in Nigeria for their expatriate staff. Their kids attend international schools where school tuition fees are not less than $20,000 a year, luxurious lifestyle, exotic vacations, hordes of maids and drivers at the beck and call of the wife of the male expatriate popularly referred to in Nigeria as the ‘Madam’. Those were the good old days. Since the global meltdown, there has been belt tightening by companies especially those that hire expatriates to run thei...

Small World is an annual event usually held in February by the Expatriate and Foreign Residents Community in Nigeria to raise funds for charity organizations supported by the various nationalities. Hundreds of thousands of US Dollars are raised at the event from gate takings, corporate and embassies sponsorship. This is possible because they feel welcomed in Nigeria and have the urge to give back to the country many of them now call their home. Food, drinks and culture of the various nations are shared amongst the more than five thousand guests invited to grace the occasion. It is a high profile event looked forward to by all Expats and Foreign Residents in the country especially Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria. It is hoped that through this community from well over 80 countries worldwide, foreign direct investment and good will would flow into Nigeria. Moreover, overseas companies can take advantage of the reservoir of their very educated and highly skilled natives married to Nig...

It was about time to leave house two mornings ago when I heard a reporter on the Cable Network News (CNN) mention 'Lagos'. I stopped to listen. It was a story on the worst places for expatriates to work in the world, and apparently, Lagos topped the list. The report was based on Business Week's findings and other places mentioned included Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and some city in India but we had pride of place as the very worst host of all the world's countries to expatriates. The reporter, whose name I can't recall at the moment, told the CNN desk anchor he was trying to reach an expatriate in Lagos who would talk about his experiences here. He didn't forget to throw in a jibe when he said the difficulty in reaching that expatriate confirmed his theory about the state of affairs in Lagos. According to the reporter, the issues in Lagos included severe crime, horrendous traffic and many other major problems. He finally got through to the Lagos expatriate and it tu...