•Dr. Olayiwola
Dr. Olayiwola Olatunji left Nigeria for Germany in 2015. It was difficult adjusting to the new realities. But he is adamant that despite the challenges, the gains were worth the sacrifices, reports Vanguard.
He said the systems abroad work, and that he is better off than his contemporaries in Nigeria.
He told our correspondent, “I had my bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering in Nigeria. I worked briefly before I travelled down to Germany for my master’s degree. I stayed in Germany for five years before moving to the United States of America, US, where I completed my Ph.D. in Systems Engineering on scholarship, in June this year.”
Narrating his time in Nigeria, Dr. Olatunji said he was working with an oil and gas company. He had a master’s programme going, but “I didn’t put all my effort into it because I was considering leaving the country to pursue my Ph.D. programme. So, when I had the opportunity, I resigned from my job. I didn’t leave because I was trying to look at getting a better career abroad. I left, basically, because of education.
“I was applying to different schools. And while waiting for responses from many schools, I had a plan in mind that if any opportunity came through the admission, then I would take the opportunity. The only preparation I think I had was that I tried to save some amount of money. I set aside a particular amount of money in case I got the admission and had to leave.
“It actually happened the way I planned it, because when I was given the admission, I had only a week to leave Nigeria. My plan actually worked. I had to use the money I had saved to buy some things I needed to take along, and I left.”
Financial preparation
On what he had to do to prepare, he said: “In my own time, the only preparation I made was apply, take the GRE and TOEFL to qualify for admission, and save some money in case I didn’t have enough time to prepare to leave the country. There is a condition attached to all international students: you have to deposit a certain amount of money in a German bank. Until you deposit this amount, you cannot proceed. You open an account online through the embassy and deposit the money.
“I think it was 8,000 Euros. I used my money, and I had the support of my brother. The exchange rate, as I know, was 160 Naira to one Euro. That was during the time of (President Goodluck) Jonathan. I was able to save about 4,500 euros, and my brother supported me with the rest. All this money was transferred to the account I had opened through the German embassy in Lagos. When they realised the money had been deposited in the bank, they gave me my visa.
‘I had fears; UK or Germany’
“The exchange rate actually favoured me at that time because I was able to get the required money deposited and get the visa to go to Germany. Honestly, I did have some fear because I was doing well in my company.
“It was at a time when the company identified one of its business strategic units where they wanted me to head. There was a discussion between the managing director of the company and my general manager. They had a plan to send me to England, gain experience and bring back to service most of the customers in Nigeria. That was exactly what I was planning for.
“I would have the opportunity to travel abroad, but on the agreement that I would return to the company since they were sending me to acquire the experience and bring it back. When the opportunity to travel to Germany through studies came, I couldn’t figure out whether to take the admission or not. Number one, I’d be going for studies, meaning no salary. I had my family in Nigeria, and I saw it as leaving certainty for uncertainty. I was so scared. I questioned whether it was a good choice for me to leave or if I should stick to my company.
In Germany
“Career and personal decisions were tough, and I felt it might not work out as planned. Actually, it didn’t at first because I had some years of instability when I got to Germany. Being in Europe for the first time and staying there was an experience. It was a lonely lifestyle, cold, without my family, and no friends. I had to do everything myself. At one point, I considered returning to Nigeria and trying to go back to my company.
“However, I had to adapt to the new environment I found myself in, even though it was full of risks. Anytime I felt bored, I used WhatsApp to communicate with my people, do video calls, and before I knew it, I forgot about being lonely.
“It took me almost two years to gain stability. I formed relationships, decided to leave my city, and went to Berlin and Dortmund to create links and connections with friends. Eventually, I got a job there, and everything changed.
“One of the things that favored me was that the exchange rate was very reasonable at that time. Now, to move abroad to Germany, the same process would cost much more. You’d be talking about multiplying N2,000 by $8,000. If I’m correct, that should be about N16 million. I think there could be better opportunities in Nigeria with that kind of money if there were systems that allowed businesses to thrive and excel.”
