THE NIGERIANS HAVE ARRIVED

[Trajan]

Meantime, Kessie, her twin sister Eku Edewor (Nigerians pop out more twins than anyone else) and their old chum Adora Mba recall the golden days of Kabaret, 10 years back, when they were still naughty teenagers at large in London. The scene's moved on, but £10,000 nights are spoken of, though not admitted to, by all the beautifully spoken and exquisitely mannered people I speak to. And one young man, the budding oil and property mogul Rotimi Alakija - whose mother, Folorunsho Alakija, is the richest black woman in the world (oil) and dropped £100m on four flats in One Hyde Park ('She didn't mess around,' says Vedelago, who helped sell them to her) - tells me a Nigerian champagne war in an American club ended with the winner spending £1.1m, though Rotimi certainly wasn't there: 'That's just silly. It's not part of who I am.' Mind you, on one night at Cirque du Soir, the hard-toiling Rotimi and his friends sent a pal at another table a bottle of champagne, and 'he sent back 20!' But then, 'we're a very celebratory culture,' says Kessie (ex-Benenden, international sales manager for Lazul resort wear and a freelance stylist), 'so every day's a champagne day. It's not, "It's your birthday!" It's "You got back from work day! Let's party!"'

Nigerians are this country's sixth-highest foreign spenders, racking up an average £628 in each shop, four times what the average British shopper coughs up. Selfridges is a favourite, as is Harrods, which has been looking for Yoruba-speaking staff - the research unit at the shopping company Premier Tax Free reports that, for Knightsbridge, 'Nigerian spend so far this year has increased by 52 per cent'. Premier Tax Free also says that Nigerians account for 46.3 per cent of total African sales in London, and that the fastest-growing region for international sales in the UK this year has been Africa, whose spend has risen by 45 per cent year on year. No wonder the managing director of Harrods and the chief executive of Gieves & Hawkes inveigh against the government's proposed policy of demanding a £3,000 cash bond for a visa from visitors from Nigeria, Ghana and four Asian countries. More than 140,000 Nigerians come here annually - why make Paris a more welcoming option? Meanwhile, according to Vedelago, Nigerians are investing £250m in British property every year and, says one African expert, 'they're buying up swathes of north-west London' to add to the earlier generations' happy hunting grounds in Belgravia, St John's Wood and Chelsea. (Vedelago also says they're buying up student accommodation in Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds.) And Nigerians spend £300m annually at British universities and schools - King's School Canterbury, Wycombe Abbey, Cheltenham Ladies' College, Eton, Harrow and Bradfield among them. It's the African century, and here in London the Nigerians are the standard-bearers, jostling the Arabs and the Russians out of the picture. Not that Nigerian old money is entirely happy with what it sees as gross ostentation: it is, says another founding father's daughter, 'vulgar'. But, for Nigerians, home is a pressure cooker and London is where they relax. And shop.

Read the rest of it here: http://www.tatler.com/news/articles/november-2013/the-nigerians-have-arrived

 

[Trajan]

Meanwhile:

Students suffer in power-starved Nigeria

In the midst of an energy crisis that has seen petrol stations run dry and major telecommunications companies warn of impending closure, widespread power cuts are having a dramatic impact on education in Nigeria.

A Jazeera's Ahmed Idris, reporting from Kano in northern Nigeria, says that with no electricity at home or in their classes, students are forced to study for end-of-year exams in unusual environments.

One student, Sulaiman Abdulkarim, and his friends were studying under streetlamps on a major highway when Al Jazeera spoke to them.

"I am here in order to read my lecture notes because there is no electricity in our area," he said.

"We are facing the practicals of computer but there is no electricity."

Behind him, cars and lorries rush past.

Teachers say students' grades are falling, along with the larger education sector.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/students-suffer-power-starved-nigeria-150527120355755.html

 

[hashmander]

thanks for the 2nd post. i was reading the first one like this mofo thinks this is a positive thing?

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

The Nigerian wealth gap is crazy. Ghana as well from what I've heard. Not a judgement just a statement.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

The Nigerian wealth gap is crazy. Ghana as well from what I've heard. Not a judgement just a statement.

All of Africa... No middle class just like how the west is sliding backwards.

I grew up seeing luxury cars you would never see in North America riding on pot hole streets next to massive poverty. You wouldn't believe what that wealth gap looks like

 

[Trajan]

All of Africa... No middle class just like how the west is sliding backwards.

I grew up seeing luxury cars you would never see in North America riding on pot hole streets next to massive poverty. You wouldn't believe what that wealth gap looks like

It's an Africa problem.

No responsibility and no accountability.

 

[I.AM.PIFF]

Them gulf arabs dudes are also splashing heavy in London. You should read/know about the shyt they do out there in Europe

 

[TRFG]

All of Africa the world... No middle class just like how the west is sliding backwards.

Only a handful of countries have a middle class

 

[ski]

Only a handful of countries have a middle class

Probably Scandinavian countries.

 

[How Sway?]

Drop 250 million on property in London while your people starve brehs

 

[TRFG]

Drop 250 million on property in London while your people starve brehs

People will starve no matter how much they donate. With donations and jobs comes misappropriation

 

[How Sway?]

People will starve no matter how much they donate. With donations and jobs comes misappropriation

Well The least they can do is help create more opportunities for their educated population and assist in developing their country's infrastructure.

 

[TRFG]

Well The least they can do is help create more opportunities for their educated population and assist in developing their country's infrastructure.

Hard to do when you don't live in the country

 

[88m3]

embarrassing

 

[blackzeus]

Well The least they can do is help create more opportunities for their educated population and assist in developing their country's infrastructure.

Yes, especially we as AAs know how well Africans love helping their own

Spoiler