Daniel Bwala, a special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on policy communication, has argued that Nigerians working in the UK on modest salaries can end up financially worse off than someone earning ₦60,000 in Nigeria, once living costs are factored in.
Speaking on the Morayo Afolabi Brown Show, Bwala said UK-based Nigerian workers typically earn between £2,600 and £2,800 a month, but a large chunk of that — around £2,450 — disappears quickly into rent, utilities, and other basic expenses. He noted that rent alone can run about £800, even in areas outside central London, leaving many workers with little after covering feeding and other costs. This financial strain, he suggested, forces some into taking on two or three jobs at once, which he linked to reports of Nigerians dying on the streets of London.
By contrast, he said someone earning ₦60,000 in Nigeria benefits from a support system — family members who can lend money in tough times — along with utility and service costs that are far lower than in the UK. The tradeoff, he acknowledged, is that such a person may struggle for years to afford a car or build a house, something the UK-based worker is more likely to achieve due to steadier access to infrastructure and healthcare.
Bwala was responding to an audience member who described long queues at a visa facilitation centre in Ikeja, Lagos, and asked what the government was doing to address emigration driven by poverty, insecurity, and unemployment.
He also claimed that many Nigerian professionals who move to the UK — even those with strong degrees — end up in low-status jobs, particularly in care homes, which he described as more demanding than domestic work back home. He recounted a story about a friend who took a second job at a warehouse and found himself working alongside Nigerian PhD and master’s degree holders, under a supervisor without a secondary education.
To ease pressures at home, Bwala pointed to government healthcare measures, including a 50% subsidy on dialysis at federal hospitals and free Caesarean-section services — steps he said were especially relevant given high rates of kidney disease in northern Nigeria. He added that extending similar subsidies to private hospitals and other medications remains limited by available government resources.
