Oyinade AlofetekunBenjamin Franklin famously once said, “in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But there is at least one other certainty: migration.
When it comes to sensitive political issues like migration, people often encounter incorrect information either through their everyday conversations, in the media, or in statements made by politicians. Whether this arises from honest mistakes or efforts to intentionally mislead, it has generated concerns among many people about whether what they think about immigration is based on good evidence, something that has partly motivated my resurgent interest in factualising the narrative.
As a new immigrant, we all arrived with bubbly ideas and imaginations of what would be and what the future would hold but we soon discovered how these thoughts, however vivid can be deflated in one sharp pierce of reality. The disillusionment of where you came from and the current mismatch presented to you.
As people form their opinions and preferences towards immigration, their understanding of key facts likely feeds into that process by wondering how many immigrants are in a country? what kinds of work they do? and what impact they have on the economy? On these questions, people are largely uninformed as they look at immigrants through the lenses of wanting to snatch an already stretched economy and opportunities they should’ve gotten for themselves in their own country and this probably explains the rash decisions of Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister to thoroughly curtail mass immigration of workers and the abrupt end of immigrant workers bringing dependents.
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As new immigrants, we often encounter wage disparities and find ourselves working in low-paying jobs that do not align with our actual qualifications. This mismatch hinders our ability to achieve financial stability and can lead to feelings of frustration and disillusionment but like every other person who has bills to pay, mouths to feed, we take on them however raggedy and sometimes with both hands stretched in utmost gratitude for a denomination that triples compared to where we have come from.
Rather than badger continuously or wallow in the discrepancies we face, African immigrants continue to rise and thrive even in the face of serial challenges that poses to them. Through hard work, perseverance, and a willingness to adapt to new circumstances, immigrants have gradually improved their economic prospects, with many managing to build successful careers, start businesses, and contribute to their new communities, showcasing the power of resilience in the face of economic and social adversity.
