By Our Reporter
Daniel Bwala, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has asserted that a Nigerian earning N60,000 locally could be better off in certain respects than a counterpart earning between £2,600 and £2,800 monthly in the United Kingdom.
Bwala made these remarks on Wednesday during an appearance on the Morayo Afolabi Brown Show. He was responding to a question from an audience member, Moyo Alabi, who raised concerns about the high volume of citizens emigrating at the Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) centre in Ikeja, Lagos, due to poverty, insecurity, and unemployment.
Bwala argued that the seemingly higher income earned by Nigerian emigrants in the UK is rapidly depleted by the country’s high cost of living.
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“When they go there and do a job, on average they earn about £2,600 or £2,800 a month,” Bwala explained. “2,450 goes off. You pay power, internet, TV, rent. When you put them together, rent alone is about 800, even if you are living in the outskirts of London.”
He stated that after accounting for feeding and basic utilities, workers are left with very little, forcing many to take on multiple jobs. Bwala linked this intense labor to extreme outcomes, noting, “That’s why recently you are seeing in London, they say somebody died by the roadside. There are conditions like that.”
In contrast, Bwala suggested that a worker earning N60,000 in Nigeria benefits from communal social safety nets and lower costs for public utilities.
“Now, that 60,000, at least Auntie Abike can loan you money. Uncle Soso and Soso can support you,” he said. He added that the cost of social services and power in Nigeria is “almost zero” compared to the UK.
While acknowledging that a low-income earner in Nigeria may struggle to buy a car or build a house, he claimed the UK-based worker faces similar stagnation. “That other person is not even about a car. He may not even get it in the next 20 years,” Bwala said. He noted, however, that the UK worker remains “more comfortable” in terms of basic infrastructure and medical care.
Bwala, who noted that he is a resident of the United Kingdom, expressed concern over the professional downgrading experienced by educated Nigerians who emigrate (a phenomenon locally termed japa). He stated that many qualified individuals, including first-class graduates and master’s degree holders, end up working in care homes.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s modern-day slavery,” Bwala said, likening the roles to a position less demanding than a house help. He recounted an anecdote about a friend working in a warehouse alongside Nigerian PhD and master’s degree holders who were being supervised by an individual without a secondary school education.
To address the domestic pressures driving emigration, Bwala highlighted several healthcare initiatives introduced under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to the spokesperson, the Federal Government has introduced a 50 percent subsidy on kidney dialysis at all federal hospitals to combat what he described as a near-pandemic of kidney issues, particularly in northern Nigeria. Additionally, the government has made Caesarean sections entirely free to prevent maternal mortality caused by complications in rural areas.
He concluded by noting that while the government aims to extend these subsidies to private hospitals and prescription medications, such expansions are currently constrained by available national resources.
