Someone you know has left or is planning to leave. 1,000 Ways To Japa will speak to real people and explore the infinite number of reasons and paths they use to get to Japa.
Shalom (23) is not a stranger to chasing big dreams. At 19, she said goodbye to her parents and moved to Lagos alone. At 23, she’s getting paid to study for free in a prestigious London school. She talks about how other Nigerian students can land the same scholarship in this week’s episode of 1,000 Ways to Japa.
When did you leave Nigeria, and where did you move to?
I’m currently schooling in London. I left Nigeria about three months ago.
How did you end up in London?
I applied for the Chevening scholarship last year and got in. It still surprises me because I could not have imagined that I would get a fully funded scholarship with the potential to change my life in every way.
Why was it such a surprise?
First of all, it’s important to know that Chevening is very competitive. Like a 0.3% chance of landing the scholarship competitive. I couldn’t believe that I’d be among that 0.3%; When you’re young, there’s a chance that you’d want to underestimate yourself— I felt like I hadn’t done enough in the advocacy space, but I applied anyway, and here we are today.
0.3% is crazy! Tell me a bit about life in London
Funny how I made a tweet one time that since I had experienced what it felt like to live in Lagos, I’d love to experience living alone in London next, and that’s what has happened, so this is literally a dream come true for me.
London and Lagos have the same energy, though London can be a bit more fast-paced than Lagos in a way. It shares a lot of similarities with Lagos, actually; both cities are where dreams come true, and they are both super expensive. But Chevening gives me an extra allowance for staying in London.
I moved from Abeokuta to Lagos to chase big dreams, and I’m here in London doing the same thing. Since I moved, I’ve made some African and British friends, and my Nigerian church has a beautiful branch in London. It feels like Lagos, but the Lagos that works.
You mentioned moving from Abeokuta to Lagos to chase big dreams. Tell me more.
Respectfully, I’ve always felt like Abeokuta was too small for my dreams. There are so many old people there, and the young ones look satisfied with life’s basics. You see superstars like Kizz Daniel and Fireboy? They looked too hungry for Abeokuta, so they had to move to Lagos—I was 19 when I moved, I just knew the world was waiting for me.
The only friend I had in Lagos lived in Iyana Ipaja, and the job I got was in Victoria Island. I was spending at least 6 hours in traffic daily, but I was happy. My mom begged me to come back home, but I told her that I wouldn’t leave Lagos until it gave me what I wanted. Now, I can say Lagos owes me nothing—It gave me quality friends, life-changing experiences and a very overpriced apartment that felt like home.
So you manifested the life of your dream?
I’m a Christian, I pray my dreams into existence. Plus, these are not my dreams; This is God’s way of preparing me for what He wants to do in my life. I’ve seen visions of all these things; they only catch me by surprise when I lose my faith.
Love that. So back to the Chevening scholarship from before. What is it, and who is it for?
The Chevening scholarship is a fully-funded scholarship offered by the UK Government. Every year, young people from over 160 countries are selected by Chevening to come and study any course, in any UK university of their choice. When you’re done studying, you have to go back to your country and apply what you have learned there for at least two years before you can return to the UK.
You’re not restricted from travelling down to the UK when you have events, engagements, workshops or anything else; they just don’t expect you not to go back to help your country after getting access to world-class education from the UK government.
That’s crazy. What makes someone a potential Chevening scholar?
The whole point of the Chevening scholarship is that the UK government is trying to bring together young leaders and potential leaders who are trying to drive change in their countries. So, a perfect candidate for Chevening is someone who’s trying to drive change, has leadership skills and is working on innovative ideas, either in the non-profit or corporate sector. The scholarship gives you access to a large alumni network and an opportunity to study in the UK without worrying about money.
Because your tuition is covered, right?
Oh, it’s not just your tuition. I don’t think I fully appreciated Chevening until I moved here and met many international students who are funding their studies themselves. I would not even advise anyone to go through that stress. If your family is not very wealthy, please don’t leave your life in Nigeria to come down here. Try to get a fully-funded scholarship like Chevening. It makes your life easy.
When you get the Chevening scholarship, your visa is taken care of and they pay for everything—think health charges and even flights. If you want your flight booked down to the city you’re going to, you just have to tell them what city it is, and they’ll book it. Everything is taken care of. Your own is just to board the plane and start your new life.
They cover your tuition and also give you a stipend for your accommodation and your living expenses. Even after you’ve paid for these things, you’ll still have about £500 left. Your visa also allows you to work 20 hours if you plan to work and study simultaneously.
The benefits sound dreamy. What?
And there’s more. Because the Chevening scholarship is well recognised, it’s easier to get internship placements and jobs wherever you go as a Chevening scholar. It just opens many doors that ordinarily will be difficult to assess as an international student. Also, if you’re the kind of person who likes to explore, travel for conferences or experience different cultures, you can travel with the money you manage to save from your Chevening allowance. But you only get the grace to be away for 30 days during your study in the UK experience.
What kind of job are you allowed to do?
As a Chevening scholar, you can work in any industry, but scholars should be strategic with their work choices. You’re already getting a world-class education that is completely funded. You don’t want to spend your time trying to work for just money; you want to work for experience, and you want to work with brands that can add value to your portfolio.
How would you advise Nigerians who are interested in the Chevening scholarship to start their application?
Applications for the 2025/2026 session have closed, The next thing is to note that you don’t apply for Chevening because you want to leave Nigeria. If you are desperate to relocate, it will show in your essay.
Chevening is about giving back to your community, so figure out what problem pisses you off and why you want to solve it badly. Once you figure out what you’re passionate about, the next thing is to tell your story.
You can do your research in one day by reading more and watching many videos about Chevening on YouTube. Then tell Chevening what they need to know about the work you’re doing in Nigeria. Write like you want the person reading your essay to remember your story.
LOL. I’m stealing that line.
Please, feel free to. The next thing applicants should do is go to YouTube. There are several videos by past scholars explaining what the Chevening scholarship is about. Those videos can help you save time. They also have a breakdown of how to write the essays on the Chevening website. Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) on the website too. Once you’ve done all of that, pick your course.
Any personal advice on how to pick the perfect course?
Now, if you are like me and your undergraduate degree is different from what you want to study, narrow it down to one field that has the biggest impact on your work. You don’t want to come off as someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. You get to select three courses, but it helps ensure they are related. Don’t say you want to study public policy in school one and economics in school two. So when you have picked the course, look for schools that offer that course and are eligible to be funded by Chevening. You’ll see a course finder on the Chevening website.
Ah ahn, fancy!
Yeah, they make the application easier. The essays are the most important parts of your application, so you want to ensure they flow. When writing your leadership essay, pick at least three strong leadership experiences that display who you are. I always tell people I work with to start with the problem statement; Do some research in your field, figure out the problem you’re trying to solve and back it up with data to show how much of a serious problem it is. Pick the best examples of how you’ve tried to solve this problem and show the impact. Please, brag. Your Chevening application isn’t where you should try to be humble. Talk about numbers and your impact. Talk about the projects you’ve worked on or opportunities you’ve been selected for.
So basically, blow your own trumpet?
Exactly. For your networking essay, Chevening wants to know that you’re friendly and can leverage unprofessional relationships to create meaningful impact. It’s wiser to pick those three examples of how you created impact in your leadership essay and show how relationship helps you do those things. Remember that the flow of your story is important. You also want to show how you’ll network with members of the Chevening network and use that access to create a bigger impact.
That makes a lot of sense.
Yeah. Then you can move on to your study plan, where you demonstrate why you want to get your master’s education in the UK. Chevening wants to know why the UK is the country you’re interested in, that’s why your research should be really heavy. Go down to the website of your three preferred schools. You don’t need to research the entire school; just focus on your course, faculty, and lecturers, what they are doing and how it aligns with your interest. Look at the course modules in depth and pick one or two courses in the module that are directly related to what you are currently doing and how what you’ll learn will help you do better. Also, feel free to talk about the city your school is in and what you’re looking forward to experiencing there.
What about the fourth essay?
The fourth and last essay is your career plan essay. Here, you want to show them that you have a strong sense of why you’re getting this degree and what the future of your work looks like. Show your big picture— how your life after Chevening will impact generations, but keep it realistic and well thought out.
To keep things as realistic as possible, you need to show them what you plan to do when you return to Nigeria. you also need to demonstrate mid-term goals and long-term goals. You can also find out what the UK government is doing in your country related to your field. The UK government has projects they do in Nigeria every year; Build that connection between what they are doing in your field, find an opportunity for collaboration and link it. Also, if your career plan is not related to your study plan, that’s a problem because you’re insinuating that the degree won’t impact your career in any way.
You also need academic and professional reference letters. You can apply without the letter, but you must find two people who can vouch for you and submit their details.
On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you, you know, with your life right now?
I’d say 9.5. I’m happy. I’m getting a master’s degree I could never have afforded on my own and worshipping at my local church.
Want to to share your japa story? Please reach out to me here.
