A Tale of Two Cities
Okay so I have a teeny weeny confession to make…after months of staying in Lagos with promises that had failed to materialise into my becoming Consultant Toks, I decided to go back to Social Worker Toks.
Upon my return to London one mildly cold day in January, I had mistakenly made the assumption that we would be picked up by my brother as per usual. After all I had spoken with mother dearest prior to take off and asked her to alert my brother that we would be arriving as scheduled! Alas I failed to alert him to when that scheduled time was consequently resulting in me having to navigate myself and a tired four year old and four extremely heavy baggage at the mercy of those I henceforth call ‘Heathrow Touts’. To proclaim that I was ripped off by a fellow country man of mine would be a gross understatement! So my ‘Welcome to London’ was such a sorry affair that I spent the next four days indoors (that and the fact that my body was now used to double digit temperature) before I could dare to venture out.
Now although I did not feel my decision to return to UK to possibly work for a few months to be a failure, I did feel defeated that I had not quite conquered Nigeria the way I had planned. Fortunately for me (okay so I knew I was lying to myself about the length of my stay when I only packed one of my corporate dress and left all those other dresses behind) I had fail to factor the fact that the UK is going through a recession. That’s old news you say! Oh yes I was still residing there when the news of recession first broke out whenever that was! But I was immune to it at that time as shortly after receiving my General Social Care Council registration, which enabled me to claim the very much coveted ‘Social Worker’ title, I had managed to bag myself not just one but two Locum positions within a period of one month!
Yet in my month of ‘returning home away from home’ suddenly it was me calling all the same employment agencies only to realise weeks later none had called me back, let alone invited me to go for any job interview! That and the news that the only favourite place I had left in London, the Haagen Dazs Café was now close (sorry I need a moment of silence…this is still very painful news and very raw for me to deal with) was the first time I really comprehended the hard hitting effects this recession, but mostly the drastic and senseless ‘cuts’ being pioneered under the leadership of the Conservative and Lib Dem was having on the ground.
Not a problem I decided! The calls I needed to be making were not to those employment agencies but to the many contacts I had amassed during my first forage of Lagos. So I gladly hop footed it back to the crazier home that ironically makes more sense than the one I had spent most of my life within. Whilst my first encounter back in London, sadly at the hands of a fellow Nigerian, was so negative it contributed in sending me into a mild depression. In contrast my first dealing with another fellow country man when I landed back in Lagos was a perfect example of trying to be your brother’s keeper (definitely a story to be told another day). So here I am back in Lasgidi and already making considerable strides to conquer this Mega City that is Lagos. No Shaking Baby!
toksyk 