What’s it actually like being a Jamaican dwelling in Nigeria? Meet Cherise Ige, a Jamaican skilled now dwelling and dealing in Lagos. Her journey from Kingston to the UK and finally West Africa has taken her throughout cultures, continents and life experiences she by no means imagined.
On this episode of Jamaicans to the World, I sit down with Cherise to speak about adjusting to Nigeria’s quick tempo, navigating on a regular basis challenges, constructing group and discovering items of Jamaica removed from residence.
From Mountain View to London to Africa
Earlier than she was Mrs. Ige she was born Cherise Howell at Jubilee Hospital in Kingston and spent her early years between a number of communities, together with Mountain View, Langston Street and Jake’s Street. Her household roots stretch throughout the island, along with her father from St. Mary and her mom from St. Thomas within the Blue Mountains.
She attended Norman Backyard All-Age College earlier than incomes a spot at Campion Faculty, giving her publicity to very completely different sides of Jamaican life. Rising up between Kingston’s inner-city neighbourhoods, rural household communities and one of many island’s prime excessive colleges formed Cherise’s understanding of Jamaica’s numerous social and cultural panorama.
After highschool, Cherise moved to the UK for college and later started her skilled profession there. She finally took on a task that led her to Ghana as a part of her firm’s African enlargement, and later to Nigeria, the place she now lives along with her husband.
What’s it like Residing in Lagos?
Cherise admits that her preliminary impression of Nigeria was formed by adverse stereotypes, however dwelling in Lagos gave her a extra nuanced understanding. Town is intense and aggressive, with heavy site visitors and infrastructure points, however it is usually stuffed with vitality, alternative and a vibrant social scene.
Working in Nigeria, Cherise explains, is each demanding and eye-opening. With greater than twenty million individuals in Lagos alone, competitors for jobs is intense, and Nigerians typically pursue a number of levels to face out, even for entry-level roles. She notes that the workforce is extremely educated and relentlessly pushed, working in an surroundings the place lengthy hours are the norm.
Day by day life, nevertheless, is formed by infrastructure challenges similar to inconsistent electrical energy, unreliable web and heavy site visitors that may stretch commutes to a number of hours.
Cherise additionally factors out the stark disparity between locals and expatriates: whereas many Nigerians wrestle with rising prices and restricted sources, expatriates incomes overseas foreign money typically expertise a much more snug way of life. Regardless of these inequalities, she says Nigerians stay hardworking, resourceful and decided, making a dynamic however extremely aggressive skilled panorama.
Staying linked to House
In Lagos, Cherise stays linked to residence by means of the Nigeria West Indian Affiliation, a long-standing group that brings collectively Caribbean nationals dwelling in Nigeria. The affiliation hosts cultural occasions, charitable actions and an annual Caribbean tropical fiesta, serving to members preserve a way of group removed from the area.
Cherise has change into an energetic a part of this community and was even topped the group’s “Caribbean Queen,” a task she embraced as a manner of celebrating her heritage and maintaining Caribbean tradition seen in Lagos. She additionally will get her Jamaican meals repair at egusi, a small however well-loved restaurant run by a Jamaican chef, whereas nonetheless exploring native favourites like pounded yam and egusi, even when Nigeria’s well-known spice ranges typically check her limits.
She has travelled extensively throughout Africa, visiting nations similar to Tanzania, Senegal and South Africa, and sometimes finds sudden similarities to Jamaica. She notes that Jamaicans are warmly acquired in locations like Ghana, and that many Africans really feel a cultural connection to the island.
Recommendation on Residing and Working in Nigeria
Her recommendation to Jamaicans contemplating a transfer is easy however grounded in expertise: do your analysis, communicate with individuals who really dwell in Nigeria, perceive the realities of value, infrastructure and day by day life, and put together your self mentally for a demanding however doubtlessly rewarding transition.
Cherise stresses that Nigeria is among the hardest African nations to regulate to, with a quick tempo, important competitors and infrastructure challenges that may overwhelm newcomers. She believes that many misconceptions about Africa lead individuals to underestimate the complexity of dwelling there.
By getting into knowledgeable and with sensible expectations, she says Jamaicans usually tend to succeed, discover group and recognize the alternatives Nigeria can supply.
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