The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional, and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
Kenneth* (37) left Nigeria for Scotland to pursue a Master’s. In this story, he shares his experiences in Scotland, the health scare that marked his first month in the UK, and the long-distance relationship that led to a wedding three years later.
Where do you live currently, and when did you leave Nigeria?
I live in Aberdeen, Scotland. I left Nigeria in 2020. It has been about six years now.
What inspired you to move?
To be honest, I don’t think I had any big inspiration. The opportunity came in late 2019, my dad was willing to fund my master’s, so I just went with it. Maybe I just wanted a better life, but there wasn’t one specific moment where I said, “I must leave.”
What was it like arriving in Scotland?
I had arranged my accommodation before I even left Nigeria. But when I got to Aberdeen, I was stuck outside for an hour or two before my landlord showed up. I came in during the winter, and I definitely wasn’t dressed for it. It was freezing. I would later learn how to live with the weather here the hard way.
What do you mean?
After only a few weeks in Scotland, my body reacted badly to the cold. I ended up in the hospital for four days. I had to be taken by ambulance from my General Practitioner’s (GP) practice to a bigger hospital in the city. That was the lowest point of my life here. Being in a new country for less than a month and having such a scary health emergency.
Sorry you went through that. How was the healthcare experience?
It was scary at first. In Nigeria, you can just walk into a hospital and be attended to, but here, you have to call a GP first. I remember I had to almost crawl to the GP at 6:30 a.m. because I was so ill. They didn’t open until 7:00 a.m. They really respect their opening and closing times here.
But once I actually got some attention, the treatment was top-notch. Even though I was sick, I felt like they were doing their best. When the ambulance took me to the main hospital, I got the best treatment ever. It’s the kind of quality you would pay an arm and a leg for back home.
Glad you got the care you needed. How was settling in socially?
I arrived just before the COVID-19 pandemic. So just months after, everyone was locked inside. There was really no room for social activities. The only friends I had then were the ones I made right before the lockdown, and most of them were people I already knew from back home.
I’ve always been an indoor person, so coming to Scotland and not having a huge social life wasn’t a shock. Even now, my life here is very similar to my life in Nigeria. It’s just work, church, and the occasional friend coming over.
What was your life like in Nigeria?
I lived in Ibadan most of my life before work took me to Lagos in the last year before I left the country. Life in Lagos was hectic, and getting stuck in traffic daily was a major stressor for me. My life was basically just work, work, work. Then on Sundays, I’d go to church, and if I was bored, I’d travel back to Ibadan to see my family.
Did you feel like you were leaving anything significant behind?
Not really. I knew I wouldn’t see my family physically, but technology makes everything easy. They are just a phone or video call away. I think I was just looking forward to the next phase, and I believed I would find it here in Scotland.
Have you been back to Nigeria?
Yes, multiple times.
What was it like going back?
The very first time I went back, in 2023, the heat did a number on me. The hot weather was just too much for me, so I didn’t enjoy the first few days. I think I later got used to it. In 2024, I came back for my engagement. And in 2025, for my wedding.
Congratulations. How did you two meet?
We met online while I was in Scotland. We were long-distance during our courtship, but she did come here to visit me a couple of times. After our wedding, she moved here and lives with me now.
Your relationship was long-distance until you got married. How did you manage that?
It was hard. We spent a lot of time on FaceTime. We both work remotely, so we would just leave our FaceTime on while we worked. It was our way of being together through the day. We were separated by distance, but technology brought us closer. We only met twice in person—once in 2023 and once in 2024—before we got married.
How were you sure she was the one without being together physically?
I just liked her character. When she visited in 2023, we met for the first time, and it just clicked. We are compatible, and we always find a common ground to sort out our issues.
Love that for you! Are you done with your Master’s? And what are you up to now?
Yes, I’m done. I still live in Aberdeen. I’ve just never had a reason to move. I work now, and I’m currently on a Skilled Worker visa. I think getting this job was actually God ordering my steps. I didn’t even apply. They approached me on LinkedIn.
Do you see yourself coming back to Nigeria permanently at some point?
That is the dream, but only if Nigeria can get its act together. There is a feeling Nigeria has that you can’t find here, and maybe not anywhere else. Ideally, I want to get my permanent residency here, then I’ll love to live in Nigeria during the winter months and come back here for the rest of the year.
Does Aberdeen feel like home now?
Yes, it does. Especially with my wife here. Everything I need is within reach. It’s my second home.
What is your support system like?
It’s my wife, the church, and friends I went to university with here. But they’re basically all fellow Nigerians. Aberdeen actually has a huge Nigerian population, the largest in Scotland. Outside of London, I think this is probably one of the places where you see the most Black people.
Sounds like a great place for a Nigerian. But have you ever felt discriminated against?
I haven’t had any “in your face” discrimination. It’s always the subtle things. Like being on a bus and having an empty seat beside you, but a white person refuses to sit, even if it’s the only one left. Or walking down a path and seeing someone cross to the other side of the road so they don’t walk near you.
I remember once when it was raining, and I was the only one in the bus shelter. The other people chose to stay outside in the rain rather than come into the shelter with me. It’s always subtle things like that in Scotland; the discrimination isn’t loud.
Does the current anti-immigrant talk in UK politics bother you?
Yes, it does. Immigrants have become everyone’s favourite punching bags. Policies are changing, and they are trying to extend the number of years you need for permanent residency. It makes you feel a little unwelcome, especially when you’ve put in years of work without asking the government for a penny.
It creates uncertainty. I like certainty before I plan my life, so this rhetoric makes it hard to fully commit to the country and plan for the future. There are some things my wife and I have talked about doing, but put on hold because we want to watch how things play out. You don’t want to invest in a place, only for them to tell you to pack your things and go back to your country.
The laws are changing every day, and companies are becoming sceptical about sponsoring visas. The starting salary requirements for visa sponsorship are higher now, too. It’s why I tell people it was easier back when I came in 2020. But now, unless you have a full scholarship or you plan to go back to Nigeria after studying, it’s a very stressful experience trying to immigrate through the study route.
Interesting. What was your biggest culture shock when you first arrived?
Spending coins. You know we no longer use coins in Nigeria, so I was surprised to see them here. Having to carry them and sort them out when you want to pay for something was quite the experience. It eventually made me go completely cashless.
On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you in Scotland?
I’ll say seven. Because I don’t have my permanent residency yet. I still have to “beg” for visas. Once I have that residency and I can walk in and out as I like, it’ll be a ten. Overall, Scotland has been good to me; moving here changed my life for the better.
Do you want to share your Abroad Life story? Please reach out to me here. For new episodes of Abroad Life, check in every Friday at 12 PM (WAT).
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