Someone you know has left or is planning to leave Nigeria. 1,000 Ways To Japa will be speaking to real people and exploring the infinite number of reasons and paths they used to japa.
Nobody knows how to japa with a student visa quite like this 31-year-old businessman and the subject of this week’s #1000WaysToJapa. He applied to 11 universities in seven different countries before finally deciding to pursue his master’s degree at a tuition-free university in Switzerland.
So when did you move out of Nigeria and where do you currently live?
I live in Switzerland, Geneva where I’m getting a Masters degree in Economics. I moved here in September 2024.
Interesting choice. Why Switzerland?
I wanted to get a good education and Switzerland offered me a chance to get my Masters degree for free.
We’ll come back to the free part. What did your life look like before you left Nigeria?
My life in Nigeria was good- I was running a water production business that made me six figures in profit every month but I wanted more. I wanted to get an international career and position myself for global opportunities.
Sorry, what? Six figures?
In a good month, I would make between ₦5,000,000 to ₦7,000,000 in profit. I was running my business in a student area, so we made lots of sales whenever school was in session. But it wasn’t always great, mostly because water is a seasonal business.
The cost of running a business in Nigeria is high- we had to buy the vehicles for dispatch, fuel them, and spend a lot on maintenance every month. The factory ran on diesel because there was no electricity where it was located; If I calculate how much the factory spent on diesel in one month alone, it was over ₦1,000,000. It looks like I earned well in Nigeria but after taking care of necessary and unforeseen expenses, you’d realise that ₦7,000,000 isn’t a lot of money. That’s just one of the many challenges of doing business in Nigeria.
But you still earned enough money to live fairly well in Nigeria. Why did you leave that life to become a student in Switzerland?
I actually had the opportunity to move there with a work visa but a Masters degree is what I wanted – money isn’t everything. I’m more concerned about the impact this degree will help me make globally.
Fair enough, so when did you know you wanted to leave the country?
I started planning to move in August 2023 but I found out that it was too late to apply for the 2023/2024 session. Instead of wasting time, I started preparing to apply for the 2024/2025 session. At the time, I wanted a scholarship but it didn’t work. In January 2024, most universities in Switzerland started accepting applications so I submitted mine.
What did your application process look like?
I was determined to move out this year so applied to schools in different countries in order not to limit my options. The only downside to that was the application fees I had to pay but it was a necessary damage. I applied to three schools in the US, three in Canada, and one each in Australia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Ireland.
I was rejected by two of the Canadian universities. I was also rejected by two universities I applied to in the US and was accepted by one. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go because my visa application was denied. I also got an admission in Ireland, applied for the visa and got it on the first trial. My Denmark application wasn’t successful too, so I didn’t move further with the visa. That’s how my options were cut down to Ireland and Switzerland. I chose Switzerland.
You’re a japa expert now. If you knew someone who wanted to japa with a student visa, what would say to them?
First of all, not everybody would have enough money to apply to as many schools as I did. I only considered it a good financial decision because the degree I wanted was competitive everywhere in the world. If you’re looking for programs that will give you a high chance of getting admitted on the first trial, you can apply for diploma programs at any university. Studying any course in expensive schools where tuition is paid installmentally is also another guaranteed option for Nigerian students.
But if you’re interested in schools that offer ridiculously affordable tuition and are still among the top 100 in the world, you need to be ready for a bit of competition. I’d say the best thing you can do for yourself is to apply to as many as possible, because just two or three options may not be good enough to get you out of Nigeria.
Did you apply through an agent?
I don’t think anybody should waste their money employing any agent. If you have basic research skills, there are guidelines on YouTube and Google to help you. Just read a lot of stuff and watch a lot of videos.
You’d even find that you have a better chance of securing admission and getting your visa on the first trial when you do it yourself because that way, your school can easily communicate directly with you and you can also get feedback from the admission committee without much delay. These schools themselves don’t even want the chain of communication to be unnecessarily long. If you’re applying to schools in Australia though, you should get an agent. You have a better shot with an agent. I know this because I tried applying myself and it didn’t go well– I couldn’t communicate directly with the school, and the whole process was frustrating.
LMAO, sorry
Again, necessary damage. But for a typical application process to Switzerland or several other countries, you should try to find out what kind of candidates they are looking for – It’s usually on the school’s website. If you meet their requirements, you’d most likely still need to take the IELTS. Countries like the US and Canada don’t necessarily need IELTS from Nigerians, because they recognize us as English speakers. They don’t even need you to get a document from your school stating that your degree was taught in English, at least for the schools I applied to. Some lenient European schools also let you apply with a statement from your school stating that your degree was taught in English.
Most of these international schools also need academic reference letters so the moment I knew I was travelling, I had some lecturers on stand-by to write references for me. Another thing I was intentional about was my Statement Of Purpose (SOP). ChatGPT is your friend for everything else but not your statement of purpose.
LOL. Why not?
These schools use software to detect AI and that can ruin your admission chances. Even if you’re not using ChatGPT, eliminate any form of vagueness from your SOP because the person reviewing your application wants to get a strong sense of who you are and why they should pick you. For example, I didn’t say I aspired to become an economic relations manager in my SOP, I told the story of why I chose the course instead– the admission committee will see generic stuff in every other application, so you want them to find something different in yours.
You can use AI to get the general format of writing a statement of purpose but anything else is a bad idea.
Thank you. Now, let’s go back to the “free” part. What does that mean?
I’m in an institution where students don’t pay school fees. We only pay a semester contribution of 500 francs which is about ₦950,000. So it’s almost free for everybody. Also, you’re only required to pay it during your first semester. For the second semester, you can write to them and say “Hey, I don’t think I can pay this, the contribution be waived for me?” And they’ll waive it for you.
They have nothing to lose because the school is a public institution, and it’s publicly funded. This is one of the things I was looking out for when I wanted to choose an institution– my school is ranked high in the top 100 universities in the world list, it’s cheap, and it offers quality degrees.
Sounds like a steal
It is, I can’t lie.
Do you mind sharing the name of the university?
University of Geneva. But every other public university in Switzerland offers the same opportunity.
You seem to know quite a lot about admission rejections. Are there things you did to improve your admission chances in Switzerland?
Rejections are normal. You should know that not everybody who meets the cut will be admitted. Now that I’m here though, I’ve noticed that Switzerland universities try to make their institutions as diverse as possible. They want to get representatives from every region. I think everybody who intends to study abroad should make sure their institution is as culturally diverse as possible because it could be an advantage.
In my university, Swiss people have a smaller chance of gaining admission compared to a Nigerian and it’s not because they didn’t meet the criteria, but because these schools have their quota for Swiss students. Let’s say they just want three students from Switzerland and as many as 20 applied, they’ll pick their three and move on even if the remaining 17 did exceptionally well, and had good references. They’d rather pick from Africa or Asia or anywhere else.
Now that you’re in Switzerland, is it everything you expected?
Yes, I watched a lot of videos on YouTube about Switzerland and I followed a lot of Swiss people It’s everything I expected but in Geneva where I stay, you won’t find a lot of Nigerians.
There are more Nigerians in other cities but I love Geneva regardless. The people are friendly and they make you feel important. I’ve never felt so important in my life. They don’t look down on anybody. If you are lost, you can stop anyone and be assured that they will abandon whatever they are doing to help you find your way. That’s something you probably wouldn’t experience in Nigeria. I’ve also never experienced racism here and there are more English speakers here than most people realize.
Sounds like a chill place. Do you ever get lonely without Nigerian friends?
Loneliness was something I was worried about before I left Nigeria. In fact, at some point, I told my friends in Nigeria that they would have to get used to me constantly texting and calling them but since I moved here, it’s been the opposite of what I anticipated. This is mostly because I live in a shared apartment.
Interesting. What’s that like?
I have my bedroom. I have a sink in the room where I can brush my teeth and take water to drink. Yeah, we drink tap water in Switzerland.
We are seven in the house but we share one kitchen and two toilets. Living with seven people is one thing that has helped me because they are all willing to connect- If I go out of my room now and sit in the kitchen, there’s no way I won’t start a conversation with at least one person. It also helps that we are all from diverse backgrounds– We’ve got two Swiss guys, two Chinese, one Canadian, and one French guy.
These days, they are the only ones I talk to because I don’t have time to communicate with people back home. It’s either I’m in class, swamped with assignments, or I’m out socializing. I’m having a wonderful time and I don’t think I’ll be feeling lonely anytime soon.
Are you satisfied with your decision to move away from home?
I have zero regrets. Initially, the US was my top choice. Canada and Australia at some point too but now that I’m in Switzerland, I’m glad I didn’t get the American visa. I feel like I’m in the best place I can be right now- I’ve made a lot of connections since and I’ve attended a lot of conferences that I wouldn’t even be considered for if I were still in Nigeria. I’ve attended United Nations conferences, I’ve shaken hands with delegates from the World Health Organisation. Most of the time when I walk up to world delegates at these conferences, they are willing to connect because they assume you are someone from a very important organisation. This is the kind of life I wanted to live.
Wow, you make Switzerland sound flawless
The only thing I probably don’t like is how cold the weather is. Going outside is always a challenge. People act like they’ve won the lottery when there’s sunshine. A Swiss girl once told me that people take antidepressant pills in Denmark when it’s cold. She said it was only a matter of time before I started feeling depressed too.
On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you with your life post-japa?
A solid 8, I love my life here.
In next week’s episode, you’ll meet a tech bro who woke up with a sudden urge to live a normal life and decided to move to the UK with a Global Talent Visa. See you by 9 AM (GMT) every Wednesday. Be the first to know when it drops by clicking here. If you want to share your story, please reach out to me here.
