If both the PhD and job hunting paths fall through my only other choice is to go back to Nigeria—I wouldn’t even call it a choice, my visa would expire so I would have to leave. If I end up going back to Nigeria I’d have to take a year long “work course” which is something every Nigerian citizen has to do before they can work. I’d much rather not to do that so I would end up working for my dad instead, either in his university as lecturer or something with marketing and graphic design. Neither of these prospects are things I’m particular passionate about or remotely interested in. However, I would do it as a means to get by in the beginning while working on my side projects, I’ll be doing things in the much more creative field and building up connections especially through my oldest sister—she knows a lot of people. And use whatever resources I have around me to get what I want.
Back in Nigeria there’s a more clear path laid out for me by my parents, which is working in the family business. I’m not completely against that but that’s not what I want my whole career to be about, I still want to have something outside of that. But it’s all about taking small steps and a lot of times I need to do things I don’t want to in order to get to where I want to be, this is one of those examples.
Here’s my dad’s university, located in Nsukka, Nigeria. So I might end up working here, but I’d rather stay in one of the cities, either Abuja or Lagos.