‘I thought I was coming to paradise': Expectation-reality discrepancy among Nigerian migrants in

the United States and the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT
There is an increasing hunger for migration in Nigeria. The migration bandwagon without a clear path and
adequate information about the host country can be disastrous for migrants after arrival in the host country.
Most intending migrants have untrue, exaggerated views of life in the West, leading to discrepancies
between pre-migration expectations and post-migration experiences. Discrepancies between expectation
and reality may affect migrants' life satisfaction, regret and overall well-being in the host country. This
study investigates expectation-reality discrepancy among Nigerian migrants in the United States (US) and
the United Kingdom (UK), two major destination countries for Nigerian migrants. The study documents
different aspects where Nigerian migrants experience discrepancies between pre-migration expectations
and post-migration reality. I show how Nigerian migrants deal with the initial disappointment. Data were
drawn from the qualitative study of the author's PhD research, comprising 31 interviews (17 from the US
and 14 from the UK) and migrants’ responses to two Instagram posts on expectation-reality discrepancies.
Data were organised and analysed thematically using Nvivo (version 12). The study found that twenty-one
participants reported negative expectation-reality discrepancies across four major aspects:
finance/occupational mobility, health, aesthetics and sociality. Comments on the social media posts support
these areas of discrepancies. Nigerian migrants reacted to each of the aspects of discrepancies in a unique
way. Notable differences were observed between participants' experiences in the US and UK. The study
argued that migrants’ comparison of home and host countries shaped their expression of expectation-reality
discrepancy and subsequent reactions.

Keywords: Resilience; Expectation and reality; Sociality; Aesthetics; Health; Employment

INTRODUCTION
It is a cliché that there is an increase in the rate of global international migration. The rate of international
migration increased between 1995 and 2019 from 174 million to 272 million (International Organization
for Migration 2020). While a significant proportion of Africans migrate within Africa, there is also an
1
increase in the number of Africans migrating to the West, especially Europe and North America. For
example, a study by the African Polling Institute (2020) found that the major destination countries for
Nigerian migrants are the US and the UK, with Canada attracting more Nigerians in recent years.

In Nigeria, the recent emigration hunger, leading to the popularity of the “japa” concept, is concerning.
“‘Japa’ is a Yoruba term, which literally means to escape or flee from danger or unpleasant situations”
(Alabi and Olajide 2023, p. 78). Japa, in the migration context, suggests that Nigeria is not habitable and
that emigration from Nigeria is an escape from misery and hardship. With the consistent fall of the Nigerian
Naira against the US dollar (one US dollar is over 900 Nigerian Naira at the official market as of early
January 2024), the controversial results of the 2023 national elections, an increasing inflation rate, following
the removal of fuel subsidy in June 2023, without a corresponding increase in the minimum wage, many
Nigerians may be pushed to emigrate. There is evidence that the number of Nigerians living outside the
country has been increasing for decades. According to the International Organization for Migration (2016,
p.30), the number of Nigerian migrants overseas has more than doubled between 1990 and 2013. The United
Nations (UN) (2014) stated that the number of Nigerians living outside Nigeria was over 447,000 in 1990.
The figure rose to over 750,000 in 2000 and increased to over 1.2 million by 2013. With the consistent fall
in the value of the Nigerian Naira, rising level of insecurity, and unemployment rate within the last ten
years, the number of Nigerians living abroad would have increased further. A recent study that analysed the
Afrobarometer survey found that the emigration intention rate in Nigeria was 35.3% (Alabi and Olajide
2023).

Nigeria has a long history of emigration to the West, especially the US and the UK. As of 2013, The US
and UK were the top destination countries for Nigerian migrants- 252,172 and 184,314 Nigerians were
living in the US and UK, respectively (UN 2014). However, the motivation for emigrating has changed
over time. During colonial times, Nigerians emigrated to different countries, including the US and UK, to
receive formal education. Several political rulers (Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa,
etc.) who fought for Nigeria's independence received education in the US and UK. They returned to their
home country after pursuing their education abroad and participated in the struggle for Nigeria's
independence. In recent times, however, the primary motive for emigration has changed to (semi)permanent
relocation, leading to a brain drain in different sectors in Nigeria (Adebayo and Akinyemi 2022; Ogbu
2019). It is noteworthy that the motive for emigration in Nigeria has transcended the economic and push-
pull theories of migration to a bandwagon explanation (Jiboku and Jiboku 2022; Ogunjobi 2022): people
want to migrate because their peers and associates have migrated.

2
In addition, having a relative abroad is an indicator of success. Mbah (2017) reported that many Nigerians
at home respect, fear and obey (returning) migrants, especially those from the US. Acquiring American or
British citizenship is considered a huge achievement in Africa and serves as a marker of class. Hence, some
scholars attributed global inequality to the acquisition of citizenship (Shachar 2007). However, the
acquisition of citizenship can also create inequality within countries. In present-day Nigeria, statements like
“my son is in the US,” “my daughter is in the UK,” “my brother and his wife had their baby in London last
week,” and “I will give birth to my all children in the abroad” are a show of status (see Shachar, 2007, 2009
on citizenship, birthright and inequality). Hence, many Nigerians want to go overseas, too, at all costs
(Ikuteyijo 2020).

Undoubtedly, intending migrants have an imagination of how life in the US and the UK, what Manolova
(2019) calls the "imaginary West", will be. This imagination may be influenced by what they hear from
their friends and relatives in the diaspora, what they see on social media, and what they watch on television
and in foreign movies. However, studies have shown that people tend to have exaggerated views of life in
the West (Covington-Ward 2017; Diamond 2015; Okeke-Ihejirika et al. 2020; Rynderman and Flynn 2016;
Şafak-Ayvazoğlu, Kunuroglu, and Yağmur 2021), leading to an experience of expectation-reality
discrepancy upon arrival in the host country. Expectation-reality discrepancy is the difference between pre-
migration expectations and post-migration experiences. Positive expectation-reality discrepancy occurs
when the post-migration experiences are better than the pre-migration expectations. The reverse is negative
expectation-reality discrepancy.

Before emigration, many migrants (especially skilled migrants) thought they would continue their
profession in the host country. However, many of them are melted with occupational deskilling after arrival,
leading to a situation where a doctor, lawyer or engineer with several years of experience in the home
country finds less skilled jobs, such as driving, support work and storekeeping to pay bills and survive in
the host country (Rynderman & Flynn, 2016). In addition, the Nigerian system is relatively traditional and
differs in many respects from the West. For example, in Nigeria, healthcare workers and academics are
called by their titles (“Professor A”, “Doctor B”, “Pharm. C”, “Barrister X”, “Nurse Y”) compared to the
West, where people preferred to be called by their first name. In addition, personal relationships and
gestures are appreciated in Nigeria, but formality prevails in the West. House rents are paid annually in
most places in Nigeria but weekly and monthly in most places in the West. Lack of awareness of these
systemic, social and cultural differences may result in a negative expectation-reality discrepancy.

3
This study investigates expectation-reality discrepancy among Nigerian migrants in the US and UK. Earlier
studies have shown that migrants experience negative expectation-reality discrepancy (Alves 2013;
Covington-Ward 2017; 2017; Danso 2002; Diamond 2015; 2015; Gernandizo 2017; 2017; McKenzie,
Gibson, and Stillman 2013; Murphy and Mahalingam 2006; Şafak-Ayvazoğlu, Kunuroglu, and Yağmur
2021), which has implications for their health and quality of life (Murphy and Mahalingam 2006; Wang et
al. 2010; Zhang et al. 2009). However, there is a paucity of literature in that regard among Nigerian
migrants. I ask: In what major aspects do Nigerians in the UK and US experience discrepancy between pre-
migration expectations and post-migration reality? If most migrants experience negative expectation-reality
discrepancy, as earlier studies have shown, what are their coping strategies and what factors encourage
Nigerian migrants to remain in the host country despite the disappointment? This study contributes to
knowledge because (1) it documents migrants’ experiences across two host countries and points to notable
differences between them; (2) it captures not only discrepancies but also resilience strategies; (3) migrants
have transnational orientations (Alfred 2010), and they constantly compare situations at home with
happenings in the host countries. Hence, this study shows how inequalities between the home country and
destination country shape migrants' expression of discrepancies and resilience. The study reported findings
from 31 online interviews (17 from the US and 14 from the US), which are from the qualitative aspect of
the researcher’s doctoral fieldwork. In addition, findings from social media posts related to the two research
questions are presented.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Earlier studies on expectation-reality discrepancy among migrants

There is evidence that a lack of adequate information about the host country is a factor in expectation-reality
discrepancy among migrants. Mbah (2017, p. 252) noted that “a rather naïve image of life abroad quite
often leads to [a] migration decision.” Instead of intending migrants evaluating their chances of success in
the new country, they join the migration bandwagon. Consequently, Sabates-Wheeler et al. (2009) reported
that access to information before migration is essential for migrants’ post-migration adjustment.

Aside from the high cost of rent and tax, many migrants did not know of the structural barriers in their
destination country before they migrated. For instance, Trimikliniotis et al. (2013) noted that, often, the
international communities do not recognise the educational qualifications and training obtained in African
institutions, thus causing most African migrants to be employed outside their specialised area of training.
Hence, some studies on expectation-reality discrepancy have focused on employment, incomes and
4
occupational mobility among migrants (Covington-Ward 2017; McKenzie, Gibson, and Stillman 2013;
Rynderman and Flynn 2016). Typical exaggerations are that there are plenty of jobs in the West
(Rynderman and Flynn, 2016); that the West is filled with "milk and honey with streets paved with gold"
(McKenzie et al., 2013, p. 1); and that migrants can make money quickly with no stress at all (Alves 2013;
Covington-Ward 2017). Rynderman and Flynn (2016) reported disappointment expressed by migrants from
Egypt and the Middle East in their qualitative study of migrants in Australia. Some migrants were assured
by migration agents that there were plenty of jobs in the West and that the destination country was close to
being perfect. However, they found this to be untrue after arrival. . The study further shows that some
professionals, who migrated from Africa, expecting to seek better working conditions in their destination
countries, were employed as cleaners or drivers – jobs they would never have accepted in their home country
(Rynderman & Flynn, 2016). In Barcelona, Alves (2013) reported that female Nigerian migrants had
thought that they “would be able to pick some money from the trees and buy a car” (p. 2). Some of them
resorted to commercial sex work after post-migration realities unfolded.

However, expectation-reality discrepancy is not limited to finance or employment. It may also occur in
other areas of life (See Woodgate et al. 2017; Covington-Ward 2017; Diamond 2015; McCallister 2012;
Takeda 2014).For example, African migrants in the study of Woodgate et al. (2017) were disappointed by
the lengthy referral system and long waiting time in the host country. They were expecting to receive quick
medical treatment as they had experienced in their home country in Africa. However, they were
disappointed by the several tests they were asked to do and how they were passed from one medical
professional (general practitioner) to another (dermatologist, dentist, etc.). In addition, African migrants
were disappointed by the trivialization of their illness, where doctors asked them to drink plenty of water
instead of giving them medicine to cure their illness (Woodgate et al. 2017). Empirical studies and review
papers have reported that contrary to their pre-migration expectations, African migrants in the West have
unmet health needs and deteriorating health (Machado et al. 2022; Chowdhury et al. 2021; Salami et al.
2021). One wonders how and why African migrants in the West have unmet health needs and poorer health
post-migration. While the analysis of this is beyond the focus of the current paper, the healthy immigrant
effect did point to the veracity that migrants tend to have poor health outcomes in the host countries with
increasing duration of stay (Lubbers and Gijsberts 2019). The main point here is that many African migrants
expected better health outcomes in the West, considering the improved healthcare facilities in the latter.
However, they experienced discrepancies between pre-migration expectations and post-migration realities.

Intending migrants also have exaggerated views of aesthetics and social lives in the West (Covington-Ward
2017). Motivated by what they see on social media and in Western movies, many migrants expected that
5
streets in Western countries would be paved with gold and that there would be beautiful buildings
everywhere with no bushes, floods, or dirt. However, they were disappointed to realize that Western
countries have beautiful areas and ghetto-like communities. In addition, migrants may experience a
discrepancy in sociality. Covington-Ward (2017) reported how migrants were disappointed with the
experience of personal relationships in their host country, where unfamiliar people did not greet or interact,
contrary to the impersonal and communal lifestyle they were exposed to in their home country. In Nigeria,
for example, the concept of “owanbe” explains the importance of sociality. “Owanbe” is a popular slang in
Nigeria that depicts the different social events and activities Nigerians engage in to merry with one another.
Owanbe includes wearing the same fabric, which the host or organizer of a party chooses. According to
Nwafor (2011), the idea of owanbe rests on the belief that every occasion is worth a celebration with
extravagant partying. Owanbe events happen mainly during the weekend, and they include wedding
ceremonies, burial ceremonies, chieftaincy ceremonies, birthday parties, naming ceremonies, and other
social functions where people gather to eat, drink, and meet new people (Lawal et al. 2022). Nigerians who
are used to attending owanbe may be disappointed after migrating to the West and realizing they have to
spend most of their time working, leaving no time for sociality.

Resilient factors in coping with post-migration disappointment: a theory

An important question is why many migrants choose to remain in a host country despite the disappointment
and experience of discrepancies between pre-migration expectations and post-migration experience. The
jargon “e no easy” (meaning it is not easy) is commonly used in Nigeria to show how tough it is to make
ends meet. When migrants use this jargon, a critical question to ask is, why they do not return home if it is
not easy abroad. Earlier studies have used the idea of resilience to show how African migrants navigate
through the unpleasant migration experiences in the host country (Babatunde-Sowole et al. 2016; Chigeza
and Roos 2011; Mwanri, Anderson, and Gatwiri 2021; Prah and Sibiri 2020; Roberto and Moleiro 2016).
However, most studies did not discuss how the situation at home and migrants’ subjective comparison of
home and host countries give them reasons to remain in the host country.

In their study, Chigeza and Roos (2011) show how undocumented African migrants in South Africa adopted
individual and interpersonal or relational resilient strategies to remain in the host country despite police
extortion, discrimination, and abuse by nationals. The individual factors migrants adopted include (1) the
“regulation of self to benefit of family” (p. 126), which entails not responding to South Africans who rain
insults at them and controlling their anger when the nationals attack them; (2) expression of hope and
optimism for the future, which resonates with the “e go better” concept among Nigerian migrants- “e go
better” means that suffering is temporary, better days are coming. The interpersonal resilience strategies
6
include shared values and concerns among African migrants from similar cultural backgrounds and the
establishment of migrant communities where they meet regularly to provide care for one another and share
resources.

In an integrative review of African migrants in the West, Babatunde-Sowole et al. (2016) found that the
internal factors employed by female African include micro or personal factors, such as skills, responsible
behaviour, spirituality and faith, which are similar to the individual factors in the study of Chigera and Roos
(2011). There are also external resilient factors at different levels, including, the mesosystem (family),
exosystem (local community in the host country) and the macrosystem (the host wider society). For Mwanri
et al. (2021), who conducted a study among African migrants in Australia, the resilience factors during
resettlement in the host country include a strive for professional excellence and willingness to work in any
sector even in those where they experience occupational mismatch and downgrading.

It can be gleaned that resilience could be a joint effort of the individual migrants and social institutions in
the host country. However, I argue that in the case of Africans migrating to the West, the evaluation of
power relations and inequalities between the sending and receiving countries may push migrants to remain
in the new environment after an initial disappointment. Contemporary migrants maintain transnational ties
and are able to compare opportunities and challenges among different countries (Alfred 2010), including
the home and host countries. The outcome of the comparison of situations in Nigeria and the West may
serve as a reason for Nigerians migrants to adapt in the host countries. In other words, despite experiencing
disappointment and discrepancies between pre-migration expectations and post-migration experiences, the
result of a subjective comparison of the situations between home (i.e. country of origin) and host country
may leave migrants with no choice but to move on.

This argument resonates with the nexus of citizenship and global inequality (Shachar 2007). Canadian
migrants who experience an expectation-reality discrepancy in the US or UK in employment or health, for
example, may return to their home country because Canada, like the US and UK, fares well in the
development indicators. However, A Nigerian migrant may stay in the host country despite the
disappointment. Another example of how home-abroad comparisons allow Nigerian migrants to move is
evident in South Africa. South Africa is currently facing an electricity problem, leading to load-shedding,
where electricity is interrupted between certain hours at different times across different locations. In Cape
Town, residents are notified in advance of load-shedding. There is a mobile app to monitor when load-
shedding will occur in different locations and when electricity will be restored. Despite these challenges
and the lamentations of South Africans, many Nigerians believe it is much better than the situation at home,

7
where electricity can be seized for weeks without prior notification and explanation from the appropriate
authority. In addition, social amenities (road networks, education, and health systems) in South Africa are
more stable and improved than what is obtainable in Nigeria. Although South Africa might have fallen short
of meeting the expectation of being the “Europe in Africa,” many Nigerian migrants may prefer to stay
because the situation is better than the home country. Consequently, citizenship is connected to how
migrants cope with expectation-reality discrepancy in the host country.

METHODS
This study is part of the author's doctoral research. The doctoral research investigated the experiences and
integration of Nigerian migrants in the US and UK using mixed methods. The current paper reports some
of the findings from the qualitative aspect of the doctoral work. The fieldwork was approved by the Ethics
Committee of the department where I completed my doctoral work. The approval number is SOC2022/1.

In addition to the data from my doctoral fieldwork, I analysed two posts from an Instagram blog owned by
a Nigerian living in the UK.1 Social media has become a platform where migrants network and share their
experiences (Lásticová 2014). In April 2022, the blog, which focuses on migration and migrants’
experiences and policy changes in the UK, asked migrants to narrate their pre-migration expectations and
post-migration reality. The comments on the posts are relevant to the first research question of this paper,
as Instagram users narrated the differences between their pre-migration expectations and post-migration
realities. Later, the blog asked migrants to state why they remained in the UK despite the expectation-reality
discrepancies. The responses are relevant to the second research question on resilience strategies.

For the qualitative method, I conducted online interviews with Nigerians migrants in the US and UK. Online
interviews have become since the mobility restrictions that came with the Covid-19 pandemic. Although
online interviews have limitations and challenges, such as distractions during discussions, internet
connectivity issues, etc, they have proven helpful in recent migration studies (Gruber et al. 2021;
Pszczółkowska 2020). I interviewed 31 Nigerian migrants (17 from the US and 14 from the UK). In the
US, interviews were conducted with Nigerians across several locations, including Texas, Florida, Missouri,
Illinois, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Maryland and Georgia. In the UK, participants from several cities
participated in the study, including Brighton, Cardiff, Derbyshire, Belfast, Manchester, Cambridge,
Sheffield and Birmingham. I adopted different sampling techniques, including purposive and snowball
selections.

1
https://www.instagram.com/faithojone/
8
The interviews were conducted using the most convenient platform for the participants. Thirty participants
opted for Zoom, while one person preferred Microsoft Teams. All the interviews were recorded with the
permission of the participants. Data collection lasted approximately three months, from May to August
2022. The average duration of the interviews was 66 minutes, ranging from 34 minutes to 106 minutes. The
primary language of the interviews was English. Pidgin English and Yoruba were used briefly during
discussions with a few participants. An interview guide was used as a structure to follow in the interview
process. However, the interview process was flexible: the ordering of the questions was different for
participants. For the current study, there was a question on pre-migration expectations and post-migration
reality and a series of probing questions to delve into which aspects of life participants had experienced
expectation-reality discrepancies. Those who reported discrepancies were further asked what motivated
them to remain in the host country despite an initial disappointment.

Regarding data analysis, I used Nvivo (version 12) to analyse the interview data and used the thematic
analysis approach. Each participant was assigned a number from Participant 1 to Participant 31. All 14
participants in the UK were assigned P1 to P14. Those in the US were given P15 to P31. Hence, “Participant
8” represents the eighth participant from the UK, while “#21” represents the seventh participant from the
US.
The analysis in Nvivo began with open coding of all the transcripts. This was followed by re-coding and
reorganising the codes into fewer themes. For the current study, there was a parent node on “expectation-
reality discrepancy” with child nodes such as (1) experience meets expectation, (2) experience surpasses
expectation, and (3) experience falls short of expectation. There was also another node that captured the
areas of discrepancy. In addition, there was also a sub-theme on resilient factors or motivating factors that
helped migrants to move on. The themes were generated using the data-driven inductive approach (Braun
and Clarke 2022). For the Instragram posts, I read and did a manual content analysis of the comments. I
integrated the comments on the Instagram with the findings from my PhD fieldwork.

9
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1: Basic information of the study participants

10
S/N Gender Religion Country Current state/city of
residence
P1 Female Christianity UK Brighton
P2 Female Christianity UK Cardiff
P3 Female Christianity UK Derbyshire
P4 Male Christianity UK Belfast
P5 Male Christianity UK Manchester
P6 Male Christianity UK Nottingham
P7 Female Islam UK Kent
P8 Male Islam UK Edinburgh
P9 Female Islam UK Manchester
P10 Male Christianity UK Middlesbrough
P11 Female Islam UK Cambridge
P12 Male Christianity UK Leeds
P13 Male Christianity UK Birmingham
P14 Male Islam UK Sheffield
P15 Male Islam US Texas
P16 Female Christianity US Florida
P17 Male Islam US Maryland
P18 Male Islam US Nevada
P19 Male Christianity US Texas
P20 Female None US New York
P21 Female Islam US Missouri
P22 Male Islam US Illinois
P23 Male Christianity US Massachusetts
P24 Female Islam US Texas
P25 Male Christianity US Massachusetts
P26 Female Islam US Tennessee
P27 Female Islam US Maryland
P28 Female Christianity US Massachusetts
P29 Male Christianity US Massachusetts
P30 Female Christianity US Georgia
11
P31 Male Christianity US Texas

12
Experience of expectation-reality (in)congruence
Of the 31 participants, twenty-two (71%) expressed a discrepancy between their pre-migration expectations
and post-migration realities. Nine (29%) said there was a match between what they expected and what they
experienced. Of the 22 participants with expectation-reality discrepancy, only one experienced a positive
difference: his post-migration experience was better than his pre-migration expectations. His pre-migration
expectations of a tough time in the host country were motivated by the idea of “e no easy”, which his
relatives had portrayed to him. Hence, the participant lowered his expectations and braced for a tough time
in the host country in the first few years of arrival. Although he and his family encountered some difficulties,
they were not as challenging as he had expected. However, the participant reported that his ease of finding
a job was because of lower competition for jobs during the peak of Covid-19 when he arrived in the UK.
Some people died; others left their jobs because of the fear of contracting the virus. Many people from
within the European Union left the UK during the lockdowns, which created employment opportunities for
African migrants.

Congruence between expectations and reality

Some participants reported a match between their expectations and reality. At least, two factors were
responsible for the congruence between expectation and reality.

The first factor was funded migration, which means that the trip to the host country, either to work or to
study, was paid for by an organization or institution. Two participants (one in each host country) who were
funded migrants said they did not experience expectation-reality discrepancy. One of them said she came
with a neutral mind and was aware before she migrated that her university had the resources, such as
laboratory equipment, she needed to do her research. The second participant received the British
Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue his doctoral programme in the UK. He reported that he did not have
any pre-migration expectations. However, he knew the UK had a better education system and facilities than
Nigeria, where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The two participants received funded
doctoral scholarships covering healthcare, accommodation, and the cost of local and international travel.
Hence, they did not have to find a job, pay for healthcare or find accommodation on their own; the
scholarship bodies made provisions for their comfort in the host country. In addition, some funding
schemes, such as the British Commonwealth Scholarship, organise orientation programmes and provide
general guidance to award recipients before and after migration, which keeps them abreast of the dynamics
in the host country.

13
The second factor was having family and friends in the host country. Families and friends in the host country
serve as reliable sources of information for Nigerian migrants. They guide them through the visa application
process, pick them up from the airport when they arrive and provide accommodation in the first few weeks
after arrival. This resonates with the suggestion of Sabates-Wheeler et al. (2009) that access to reliable
information about the host country reduces negative expectation-reality discrepancy. Importantly, it
reinforces the importance of social networks in shaping how migrants settle in the host country (Olliff et
al. 2022). In this regard, a participant narrated thus:

I really actually did not have high expectations of the place anyway. I have siblings here; I
have friends here. So even before coming, I already knew, like, I've heard how it is here, you
know, like paying so much tax and working really, really hard… so I've already prepared
my mind towards that even before coming. So yeah, I'm not surprised in any way (Participant
3, UK).

The form of support received by Participant 3 has been reported by earlier studies (Poros 2011; Chi 2020).
This social network is different from non-resident ties with the home country, and non-kin resident ties that
migrants form after arrival in the host country; it comprises close relatives and former benefactors who
already lived in the host country (Yue et al. 2013). This social network often assist with migration decision,
visa type to obtain (whether study, visiting or work visa), cost of flight, accommodation and finding jobs in
the host country.

Negative expectation-reality discrepancy

The qualitative interviews (21 out of 31 participants) and comments on social media show that many
migrants have negative expectation-reality discrepancies in different areas. The four major areas that the
two data sources have in common are work or finance, health, aesthetics and sociality.

The economy (work or finance) was the most recurring theme in the analysis. Nigerian migrants thought
they would (1) make money and get rich quickly with little or no stress (Covington-Ward 2017; McKenzie,
Gibson, and Stillman 2013) and (2) experience career mobility and continue their original career in the host
country (Rynderman and Flynn 2016). However, these were different from what they experienced in the
host country. On the Instagram posts, migrants lamented that they thought there were plenty of lucrative
jobs from which they would easily choose and quickly recover the financial cost of migrating to the West.
Hence, some migrants sold their properties to meet the cost of visa applications and flight; some took loans
(Alabi and Olajide, 2023). The interview participants in both countries also reported the expectation of
14
getting rich quickly. Some thought they would “hit it big” when they arrived in the host country. They were
unaware that, unlike in Nigeria, where workers are paid monthly, many less formal jobs that migrants often
find pay workers per hour. Hence, some migrants were disappointed that they had to work for several hours
to pay bills and save a little. A participant stated thus:

When I was leaving Nigeria, I thought I was coming to paradise. I had a picture of 'wow US
is one of the best of the best place, as soon as I got my masters. I am going to be making like
crazy hell of money’…I realized that wasn't the case. It was a different ball game…you have
to hustle before you get money. The impression back home was, as soon as you get there,
any little job you get, you're gonna be making good money but that's not the case….you get
to work very hard, you have to sweat (Participant 22, Male, US).

Similar findings were reported earlier in the study by Covington-Ward (2017), where Liberian migrants in
the US were disappointed that the US was a world of work, and in the study by Ryndermann and Flynn
(2016), where African professional migrants in Australia thought they would find jobs that were
commensurate with their level of education and previous experience in the home country. An interesting
finding from the interviews is that most Nigerian migrants who thought they would make money quickly
were mostly from the US. Perhaps this may be because of the overblown views that the US is a place “filled
with gold” (Participant 28, Female, US). It also resonates with the belief that the US is a land of better
economic opportunities than the UK (She and Wotherspoon 2013; Ecer and Tompkins 2013). However,
one UK Instagram user also thought they would start making money immediately after their arrival.

One factor that makes migrants work hard in the host country is the high cost of living. In Nigeria, most
people pay rent annually. In the US and UK, however, most migrants pay rent monthly. Similarly, Nigerian
migrants lamented the high cost of electricity and the fact they pay for water. An Instagram user remarked
sarcastically, “One might even pay for the air we breathe in and out over here.”
It is crucial to note that some expectation-reality discrepancies were more common in one host country than
the other. Underemployment, that is, finding a job that is not commensurate with one’s education and
previous job experience, was reported more in the UK than in the US. In short, as my doctoral research and
earlier studies found, migrants in the US have better labour market experience than UK migrants (Ecer and
Tompkins 2013; She and Wotherspoon 2013). This could be because the US is larger than the UK, and the
former operates a laissez-faire system that gives everyone an opportunity (Imoagene 2012) and because the
UK is often reluctant to import labour (She and Wotherspoon, 2013).

15
Some interview participants and Instagram users stated that the UK is unfriendly towards migrants
compared to the US and Canada. Hence, many Nigerian migrants use the UK as a stepping stone to migrate
to other countries, such as the US, Canada and Australia in the West. They use the UK as a stepping stone
through the student visa route, which is easier to obtain. In other words, the US visa requirements are more
demanding than the UK’s. Some participants in the UK expressed the intention to migrate to the US for
better opportunities.
Another area of expectation-reality discrepancy is health. No doubt, the two host countries have better
healthcare systems than Nigeria, according to the interview participants and most Instagram commenters.
However, some migrants had overblown expectations of the healthcare systems in the US and UK and
expected that (1) they would access medical doctors and other healthcare professionals at the snap of their
finger, (2) they would access quality healthcare with little or no cost. Some migrants were disappointed
with the reality of the healthcare system in their host country. However, the experiences varied between
Nigerian migrants in the UK and those in the US. Those in the UK did not expect to experience long waiting
times, where public healthcare is almost free. Those in the US lamented the cost of healthcare. This
resonates with the reports of earlier comparative studies that report peculiar health challenges facing each
of the two host countries (Adeniran 2004; Ham 2005).
In the UK, Instagram commenters agreed that the health system provides quality care. However, accessing
health professionals was a challenge. Many commenters on Instagram submitted that, after they migrated,
they realized it was easier to access medical doctors in Nigeria than in the UK, contrary to their pre-
migration expectations. In an emotional tone, an interview participant remarked thus:
The health system in the UK can be frustrating sometimes. There was a time when my
daughter was having a high temperature. So, I called them, and they said if it was not an
emergency, we should try to use paracetamol. It is not like in Nigeria where when something
happens, you go to the hospital. If it is not something critical, they will keep posting you in
the UK” (Participant 7, Female, UK).

Like many Instagram commenters, some interview participants reported waiting months in the UK before
seeing a health professional. In some cases, appointments were rescheduled to a later date. This finding
resonates with the study by Woodgate et al. (2017), where African migrants were disappointed by the long
waiting time and lengthy referral system in a Western country, where they thought they would have
paradise-like experience.
However, in the US, access to healthcare professionals was easy, but participants lamented the high cost of
healthcare. As one participant remarked: “The health system in the US is expensive, but very good. That’s
16
why people try not to get sick in the US, they try not to call the ambulance. I think the ambulance fee is
$1,500” (Participant 16, Female, US). Another participant lamented that despite having a health insurance,
he still had to pay out of pocket. Another participant gave an instance where her employer paid 80% of her
medical, but the remaining 20% of the total cost was huge and unaffordable to her. In addition, health
insurance may not cover certain treatment costs, such as treatment for skin diseases, in which case migrants
will have to pay the total cost out of pocket.

Another expectation-reality discrepancy in health that participants in both countries experience is the
challenges in getting drugs, such as antibiotics, that can be bought in Nigeria over the counter with(out) a
doctor’s prescription.

Regarding aesthetics, Instagram commenters and participants in both host countries were disappointed with
the dirt in some areas. Some Instagram commenters mentioned the words “dirt,” “dirty,” “heaven,” and
“paradise” to express their expectations that everywhere in the UK would be glamorous. For both the
interviewees and Instagram users, their expectations of aesthetics in the host country were motivated by
foreign movies and the pictures of friends and families they saw on social media. The word “movies” was
used by some participants and commenters to show how their expectation of aesthetics was formed. An
Instagram commenter said, “Hollywood movies deceived me.” Similarly, a participant from the US
lamented thus:

Before coming to the US, I always imagined the US as this perfect country… I mean what
we see in the movies… are the fancy and glamorous parts of the US, but when I got here,
…in some neighbourhood and I'm like, ‘it doesn't feel like I'm in America’ (Participant 26,
Female, US).

Similarly, some participants in the UK expected to see tall buildings and beautiful streets all over the UK.
For example, a participant thought that every area in the UK would be as beautiful as the Lekki City of
Lagos. Some participants never expected to see ghetto areas in the US or UK. Some participants were
disappointed to see places in the US and UK similar to some areas in Nigeria. For instance, flooding is a
regular occurrence in some communities in Nigeria during the rainy season. However, some participants
had thought that the US and UK would never face such a challenge because of their level of development
and technological sophistication. However, they were disappointed that roads were flooded and some
houses were affected by floods during the wet season in the host countries.

:
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These pre-migration expectations resonate with the study of (Covington-Ward 2017) and the idea of an
“imaginary West” (Manolova 2019), where intending migrants assume that everything is shining and
perfect and “a place offering possibilities for a more meaningful life and a better future” (Manolova 2019,
p. 7).

Concerning sociality, Nigerian migrants expected that the informal relationships they experienced in
Nigeria would be the order of the day in the West. In traditional Nigerian society, one may not necessarily
need to inform their friend before visiting; informal greetings and respect for older colleagues exist in the
workplace. Senior colleagues at work are referred to as “Sir” or “Ma”, not their first name. Similar to the
study by Covington-Ward (2017), Nigerian migrants were disappointed with what they experienced in the
host country. Some participants lamented the lack of respect for older people in the US and the fact that
some Nigerians have embraced such a culture of equality regardless of age. A participant remarked thus:
“I've met some Nigerians, and I have to ask them if truly they are Nigerians. These Nigerians have imbibed
the American culture of disrespecting old people.” (Participant 23, Female, US). Some participants
lamented how boring and individualistic life was in the US and UK for them. Some of them spend Christmas
indoors in solitude or at work. Meanwhile, they would have hung out with families and friends in Nigeria.
Some Nigerian migrants complained about the unfriendly attitudes of the nationals. A typical example is
an Instagram user in the UK who said, “Neighbours will even welcome you with ‘tell your kids to keep
their voices down else I alert the police and social services.’”

An interesting finding concerning sociality is the lack of owanbe in the UK and US. In Nigeria, especially
in Lagos, Owanbe provides an opportunity to unwind after a stressful week at work. It is an opportunity to
connect with new people and merry (Lawal et al. 2022; Nwafor 2011). You do not necessarily need to know
a celebrant or be related to them to attend their party. If a party is not strictly by invitation, you can attend
with a friend without necessarily informing the celebrant. In the West, however, Nigerian migrants hardly
attended parties like in Nigeria. A participant in the US explained thus:

the only disappointment I had was there is no enjoyment in America…Interestingly, we do

owanbe, but we struggle to do it. There is no time to do it as we do in Nigeria…Owanbe is
fun.. I know people that live in this America with their parents, but they haven't set eyes on
them for the past 1 year. This is because everybody has to work. Here, it's all about work,
work, and work (Participant 30, Female, US).

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Interestingly, the response from Participant 30 is similar to the finding in the work of Covington-Ward
(2017) in the US, where participants reported that the American system is about “work, work, work, work”
(p. 1027), which does not allow them time for sociality. When some migrants manage to hang out, each
person is expected to pay for their meal. In Nigeria, it is customary for a male to pay the bills on a date with
the opposite sex. It is also common for one person to fund the hanging out of a group of friends. Hence,
some Instagram users were surprised when they had to pay for their meals in the UK despite being invited
by friends. Some expressed that sociality is not free in the West.

Disappointed but not going back: resilience among Nigerian migrants

The focus here is why participants chose to remain in the host country despite experiencing discrepancies
between pre-migration expectations and post-migration experiences. On the Instagram post on expectation-
reality discrepancies, some commenters in Nigeria asked those lamenting their disappointment in the UK
to return home if their experience is unpleasant abroad. Some submitted that no matter how discouraging
the lamentations are, they, too, will migrate to the UK or elsewhere. For clarity, I discuss resilient factors
for each of the four aspects of discrepancies. Importantly, I show how migrants’ comparison of the situation
at home and host country serves as motivation to move on despite the disappointment.

Most interview responses and Instagram comments were based on subjective comparisons of situations in
Nigeria and the two host countries. When asked while they refused to return home despite the expectation-
reality discrepancies, the answers provided revolved around Nigeria being unsafe, unpredictable, and
having a system that cheats. Nigerian fear returning to a country where you leave your house without a high
hope of a safe return. They are unwilling to return to the country where they work but are unsure when their
salaries will be paid. The comment of an Instagram user provides a general summary:

I honestly don’t think there's a perfect country on this earth, till we get to heaven but the goal
is to taste heaven on earth. Regarding UK; It’s the functional system for me. The
intentionality put into making every sector work in order to make lives better for their
citizens/residents, it wows me. I mean where were African leaders when God was sharing
common sense? It's really not just about ostentatious living and self-aggrandizement, it’s
about living a good, peaceable and content life.

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The argument here is that aside from the individual migrant’s efforts and institutions that contribute to
migrants’ resilience, a subjective comparison of home and abroad helps African migrants in the West to
move on. If the host country has working institutions and better infrastructure than the home country,
migrants may decide to stay back even when they initially experience expectation-reality discrepancy. For
clarity, I discuss resilient factors for each of the four aspects of discrepancies. Importantly, I show how
migrants’ comparison of the situation at home and host country serves as motivation to move on despite the
disappointment.

Concerning finance and employment, participants emphasised that despite the high tax rates and cost of
electricity and rent in their host country, it is better than the home country because things are programmed
and predictable in the former. For instance, some participants made reference to an interrupted power
supply, knowing for sure when their salaries would be paid in the host country- things that are difficult to
predict in Nigeria. Significantly, they prefer to live in a country where “they enforce their laws” (Participant
8, Male, UK); in a system that does not cheat (Participant 25, Male, US); in a country where merits prevail
over ethnic and religious considerations for appointment and promotions (Participant 22, Male, US); in a
system where “you see the results of your hard work” (Participant 28, Female, US). Similar reasons were
also provided on the Instagram post. In addition, some participants (like Participant 1) said they prefer to
live in the UK anytime because of the adequate security and “rest of mind.”. Participant 1 had experienced
traffic robbery three times while driving in Lagos City, which made her resign from her job and migrate
through a student visa to the UK. In short, the social institutions in the host country have better structures
in place for Nigerian migrants to deal with challenges related to finance and employment, reinforcing the
social resilience perspective of Preston et al. (2022).

At the individual level, participants expressed the idea of “e go better”, that is, hope, which resonates with
the findings from the early studies (Chigeza and Roos 2011; Babatunde-Sowole et al. 2016). There is little
difference between how Nigerian migrants between the two countries expressed hope. In the UK, most
participants migrated via a student visa, allowing them to work only 20 hours per week. However, some
participants were able to secure full-time and better-paying jobs after their postgraduate studies. The UK’s
postgraduate study visa allows migrants to work for two years after their postgraduate studies. Hence, many
Nigerians in the UK believe that it is worth it: they struggle for one year while studying and work full-time
for at least two years afterwards. In addition, some participants in the UK expressed hope in migrating to
Canada and the US, especially. Three participants (Participants 15, 24 and 27) had lived in the UK before

20
moving to the US for better opportunities, reinforcing the findings from earlier studies that the US has better
economic opportunities than the UK (She and Wotherspoon 2013; Ecer and Tompkins 2013). No participant
in the US expressed a plan to leave for the UK. For some migrants, the US is a final destination.

In the US participants expressed hope through hard work and being competitive in their field, supporting
the findings of Mwanri et al. (2021) among African migrants in Australia. Some Nigerian migrants in the
US switch their professions after realising that healthcare and ICT jobs pay higher. For instance, some
participants who had at least a bachelor’s degree in humanities and social sciences (such as sociology and
history) were enrolled as nursing students. Some work multiple shifts to earn more income. An example is
the case of a care worker who assumed the position of four different workers during the peak of Covid-19.
As the participant remarked: “So, COVID made me step up my game, and with my Nigerian upbringing of
‘Naija no dey carry last’ Many people didn’t come to work because they were scared…I became a cook,
server, and dishwasher. I became virtually everything….” (Participant 25, Male, US). The participant
worked hard and earned more during the peak of Covid-19, but he paid the price with his health: he caught
Covid four times.

At the interpersonal or mesosystem level, a resilient factor that cuts across both countries is support from
families and friends in the host country. Similar to the findings from earlier studies (Poros 2011; Yue et al.
2013; Chi 2020; Chigeza and Roos 2011; Babatunde-Sowole et al. 2016), some participants lived with their
relatives with whom they have kin-resident ties in the first few months after arrival, enabling them to save
enough to get their accommodation and reducing the pressure of working many shifts to pay bills. Social
networks comprising ascribed relations, such as people related to migrants by birth, served as a massive
support for migrants. They reduce the likelihood of overblown expectations and facilitate migrants’
familiarization with the economic and sociocultural terrain of the host country (Yue et al., 2013). While
some migrants needed to work and pay rent immediately after arriving in the host country, others were
housed and fed by their older relatives for up to a year. An example was participant 18 who said, ““I had a
solid support system. I was living with my sister. She's the one paying the bills. I was just chilling.”
(Participant 18, Male, US). The participant was supported by his sister through his education in the US and
was working as a cloud engineer as of the time of this study.

Regarding health, some participants from both countries believed in the potency of traditional medicine.
Participant 16 said that she took herbs when she was sick. However, herbal sticks and leaves are not readily
available in the host country. Hence, some participants have their relatives send them herbs from Nigeria.
A few participants upheld that African and Asian herbs are better than synthetic drugs. For example, some

21
participants resorted to self-treatment in the UK because the NHS was overwhelmed. Some interview
participants and Instagram users used the word “nonsense” to describe the NHS because of the long waiting
times. One participant narrated how the doctor asked him to go back home, drink plenty of water and rest
because his symptoms were trivial. This trivialization of illnesses was also reported by Woodgate et al.
(2017). The participant did a self-tested and realized that he has Covid-19. He said he took herbs, such as
ginger, lemon and garlic, and tested negative some weeks later. Participants in the US also expressed the
effectiveness of traditional medicine and their reservations for the health system in the US. In this regard,
a participant remarked thus:
The American system will never imbibe African traditional medicine. Because if they do,
their healthcare system will crash… all America got is this health care system. They don't
have anything. So, if they say an African herb is working for this, they will lose patronage.
You know our herbs cure, their own drug doesn't cure permanently (Participant 23, Female
US).
This resonates with the report of a recent study that shows how African migrants use indigenous medicine
(Tshimpaka and Nshimbi 2023). With African herbs, some participants believed they would save a lot of
money, get permanent cures and be stronger. In addition, some participants buy medicines, such as
antibiotics (that may require a doctor’s prescription in the host country) from Nigeria before emigrating or
when visiting the home country. However, several participants in this study still patronize the hospital and
use traditional medicine as a support where necessary.
An argument can be made from the quote from Participant 23, as stated above. Like a few other participants
and some Instagram users, the participant expressed an attachment to African medicine (participant 23 said,
“our herbs”). With the perceived potency of African herbs, one may ask why migrants choose to remain in
the host country instead of returning to Africa. An answer lies in the fact that many migrants prioritize
employment and finance over health. Most interview participants migrated for economic reasons, including
some who migrated via a study visa. While some participants (especially those in the UK) and Instagram
users expressed preference for the Nigerian health system, all the participants agreed that the economy of
their host country (especially the value of American dollars and British pounds) was much better than
Nigeria’s. An Instagram user used a power emoji and referred to the British currency as “Uncle Pounds” to
demonstrate its value and expressed why they would not leave the UK despite the disappointments.

With regards to coping with discrepancies in health, a notable difference was observed between participants
in the US and the UK. Some participants and Instagram users in the UK fake the seriousness of their health
condition to receive swift attention from the overburdened NHS doctors. When they call the NHS office,

22
they falsely report symptoms that suggest that their health is in a critical condition and requires urgent
attention (some Instagram users and participants in the UK reported to have done this, but quotes from them
are deliberately not presented in this study). This may be an implication of attending to patients based on
the perceived seriousness of their case as opposed to on a first-come-first-serve basis. In short, while many
participants in the US avoid visiting the hospital because of the high cost of treatment, some from the UK
want to visit the hospital because it is almost free, but there are barriers to accessing medical treatments.
As for discrepancy in aesthetics, participants adopted what is similar to Chigera and Roos’ (2011, p. 126)
“regulation of self”. They internalized and accepted the existence of social and spatial inequalities in the
host countries; they accepted the reality that no country is perfect. They frequent beautiful places-including
areas with snows- for pictures. Notably, some participants acknowledged that no matter the environmental
challenges facing the US or the UK, it is better than many affected places in Nigeria because of the
differential attitudes of the government. Participants stated that, although their host country's government
is not perfect, it is more people-centric and its promises are more reliable, unlike the fraudulent Nigeria’s
political class. Evidence of the distrust in the Nigerian system is the refusal of Nigerian students in Ukraine
to be evacuated by the Nigerian government at the beginning of the Russian-Ukraine war (Olusoji 2022).
In all, participants expressed that although their host country is not as glamorous as they expected, it has
much better facilities, serenity and beautiful places than Nigeria.

Concerning sociality, some participants expressed that they are becoming more formal, embracing the
impersonal lifestyles in the US and UK and minding their own business (Participants 1, 7, 8, 22, 28, 29,
31). Others have joined non-kin resident social networks, including religious and cultural associations, in
the host country to keep up with other Nigerians in the host country. Some also joined non-resident networks
on social media to keep up and familiarize themselves with their home country and culture (see Yue et al.,
2013). Some Nigerian churches and Islamic associations have branches in the host countries, and some
meet online weekly for praise, worship, support and sharing of relevant information. Some participants
travel to Nigeria twice (or more) a year to attend owanbe. Examples include the notable visit-return
migration of Nigerians during December for Christmas and during Eid-il-Adha for the Feast of Sacrifice
and to attend the Ojude Oba Festival in Ijebu, Ogun State, Nigeria. This reinforces the argument of earlier
works on how transnational ties and participation in transnational activities serve as social capital (Lásticová
2014; Alfred 2010).

CONCLUSION
Young Nigerians have an increased urge to emigrate, and many are aiming at the US, UK and Canada for
a better life. However, they seem to have an exaggerated view of life in the West (Mbah 2017). Despite the
23
increasing number of social media platforms dedicated to sharing the experiences of African migrants in
the West, many intending migrants in Nigeria are still not adequately aware of the economic, environmental
and social terrains in the West.

This study has shown that Nigerian migrants have expectation-reality discrepancies in four major areas:
employment or finance, health, aesthetics, and sociality. The most important thing for many migrants is an
improvement in socioeconomic status (Ryndermann & Flynn, 2016), which is reflected in the fact that
discrepancies are mostly reported in finance or employment. Few Nigerians who had ascribed relations in
the host country had some knowledge of the new environment before they migrated. Many migrants did
not know that finding a befitting job in the West was not as easy as they thought it would be. In addition,
the West they saw in movies and the pictures of the West they saw on social media show only one side of
the coin.

However, Nigerian migrants are quick to get over the disappointment and move on to face the reality in
their host country. An important factor that motivates them to move on after the initial disappointment is
that the economic and social systems in the host countries are more efficient, reliable and predictable than
Nigeria’s. In the US and UK, Nigerian migrants get value for their money, and they see the results of their
hard work. The outcome of the subjective comparisons of the situations at home and in the host country
naturally serves as a reason to remain in the host country. The unpredictability of the Nigerian system was
a reason many Nigerian migrants would stay in a country that was perceived as stable, where they could
plan their future.

Therefore, an American migrant who experienced disappointment in a less developed country may decide
to return home, all things being equal. Contrarily, Nigerian migrants in the US may ignore the frustration
and remain in the host country, thereby showing the role of citizenship and development differences
between home and host countries in how migrants react to expectation-reality discrepancy. Being in the
West is perceived as a privilege and marker of class by Nigerian migrants and their families in the home
country. In addition, the economic development and stable system in the West make up for the
disappointment in other areas and give Nigerian migrants reasons to stay. To be sure, the disappointment
in employment, health and aesthetics is not because the host countries are underdeveloped. It is because the
migrants had exaggerated views of life in the West, leading to overblown pre-migration expectations.

24