By Saheed Ibrahim

On February 20, 2025, Nigerians protested at the Home Office in the United Kingdom (UK). It was not a protest against the UK or the Nigerian government; it was a protest against fellow Nigerians in the UK.

It is easy to assume that Nigerians in the UK are living comfortable lives, but the reality is often far from that assumption. Life abroad, especially in a country with strict immigration laws, is fraught with challenges that many back home do not fully understand.

Barely two weeks after arriving in the UK, I received an unexpected WhatsApp message from a UK number. The person kept asking, “Did you come with your wife?” Surprised, I questioned the identity of the person and why she was asking about my partner. The sender later introduced herself—let’s call her Bimbo, an acquaintance from Nigeria. Her inquiry, though strange at first, soon made sense.

Bimbo came to the UK more than a year ago, but her stay was limited. Her papers had expired, and she had only a few days left in the country before she would either have to leave or risk deportation. She had three options: get a job that offered her a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS), go back to Nigeria and reapply, or get married to someone with valid documents to remain in the UK.

Since I was (and still am) new in the UK, she offered me a deal: we would get married, making her my dependant. In return, she would pay me an agreed amount of money monthly. She added that I could even keep her as my wife if I wished.

The deal sounded like the “Burna Boy-Sophie Lambo” story but in another dimension. I understood her desperation, but it was not a script I wanted to follow.

The marriage offer isn’t the story but her situation represents what numerous Nigerians in the UK go through in their struggle to secure legal stay. One would expect that their Nigerian community would assist its members; sadly, the reverse seems to be the case for many.

For instance, an average ‘hustler’ makes between £2,000 and £3,500 monthly. No need to convert it to naira. Then the deductions begin: tax, rent, transportation, groceries, and the ‘Black tax’ – you’ll have to send “something” to your people back home.

How would Bimbo get such huge sums? Would she go back to Nigeria? Her mission to find someone to marry in the UK began that day. When we spoke, her time was almost up. I felt pity for her, but it was beyond me to help.

If you are a member of the Nigerian Community in the UK on X (formerly Twitter), you would have seen several lamentations by members. The community, ideally a platform for sharing opportunities and offering support, has instead become a space filled with complaints. Just like Bimbo, who was asked to pay £12,000 for a COS job, many Nigerians are venting about similar situations. In worse cases, some allege that their fellow kinsmen swindled them. They claim they paid money for COS jobs that were never delivered.

The February 20 protest at the Home Office in London was against fellow Nigerians who had scammed others with fake COS job offers. Prior to the protest, a poster displaying pictures of 30 people allegedly involved in the scams was circulated.

In a report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, a veterinary doctor accused the immediate past president of the Nigerians in the UK (NiUK) community, Benjamin Kuti—popularly called Olumo of Derby—of failing to refund £7,000 of the £10,000 he paid him in August 2023.

The doctor claimed that he had contacted Kuti to help him obtain a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) for a relative in Nigeria. He alleged that he paid a total of £10,000 to Kuti, but rather than getting the COS, he only received excuses. According to him, Kuti refunded only £3,000 but never returned the remaining £7,000. Another Nigerian also claimed that Kuti collected £9,000 from him in August 2024 for a COS deal that did not materialise.

In one of the posts shared on the NiUK X community, Omonla Consulting Firm (OCF) allegedly charged a fellow Nigerian £1,700 for a job application with COS but offered no guarantee that the client would secure the job.

Beyond immigration struggles, Nigerians in the UK face other daunting challenges, including racism, job discrimination, and high living costs. Many professionals who were thriving in Nigeria often find themselves working in lower-paying jobs just to survive. For example, qualified doctors, engineers, and lecturers sometimes end up working as care assistants or security guards due to the stringent certification and licensing requirements in the UK.

The situation is even worse for those without legal documentation, as they live in constant fear of deportation. Some resort to menial jobs with exploitative wages, while others seek marriage as an escape route to legality. Unfortunately, this desperation fuels an underground market of fake marriages and fraudulent COS job offers, further entrenching the cycle of exploitation.

True change will only come when Nigerians genuinely support one another rather than exploit their fellow countrymen in their time of need. Only through collective efforts can Nigerians in the UK truly thrive and make meaningful contributions to their host country without falling into the hands of opportunistic fraudsters.