Abeg stop pretending. The real reason we still dey Nigeria no be patriotism

Every time I open LinkedIn another person I know don land Toronto or UK. The caption is always the same sweet thing about new beginnings. Then the DM comes two weeks later. The rent is eating them, the job is not the job they imagined, and they are quietly calculating how many years before they can come back and flex.

I ran the numbers on my own situation. I earn in USD, I live in VI, and after I send my mother her monthly cut and pay for the generator diesel that NEPA forces on all of us, the gap between me and my guy in Manchester is not as wide as people think. London will tax you, freeze you, and charge you rent for a room the size of my kitchen.

So when people ask why I no japa, I just laugh. Staying no be loyalty, e be calculation. But I won't lie, some nights I open the laptop, look at the dollar rate, and wonder if I am the smart one or the one fooling myself.