Illegal migrant makes good as plumber in Nigeria
December 23, 2015
Mr Okoukoni is now a top plumber in Nigeria[/caption]
Nearly 15 years ago, successful Nigerian businessman Anselm Okoukoni was one of the desperate African migrants prepared to do anything to get to Europe.
As the first son of his widowed mother – a farmer – custom demanded that the responsibility for his six siblings would shift to him the minute he graduated from university. Long before he got his degree in statistics, he decided that he did not want to join the mass of unemployed university graduates in his country. But the embassies of Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, France, Belgium, UK and the US all refused to give him a visa. However, things began to look up when someone introduced him to someone who knew someone who could facilitate a visa to Greece – for the sum of about 400,000 naira which, at the time, was equivalent to about $3,500 (£2,350). “My uncle in America had already told me to let him know whenever I got a visa,” Mr Okoukoni said. He soon sent a total of $5,000 to cover the visa, air ticket and some travel allowance – a gift, not a loan – his contribution to his nephew’s future. Aged 24, Mr Okoukoni left Nigeria in December 2002, arriving in a country where he knew absolutely no-one and so he quickly headed to Italy where he had friends.Anselm Okoukoni: “I felt I was doing something professional. I was paying taxes. I was sending money home to Nigeria.”
When his visa expired several weeks later, he did what most of his friends had done and claimed asylum. “I don’t remember what story I told,” he said, explaining that the thing to do was to choose a topical story. Over the next two years, he struggled with learning to communicate in Italian and found it impossible to get a decent job. He ended up street hawking, which is illegal in Italy, and a number of times he was arrested and his goods seized. “It wasn’t the kind of life I wanted to live,” he said, adding that his income was hardly enough to pay for his siblings’ school fees.
Job satisfaction
Once again, luck shone on Mr Okoukoni when someone introduced him to a man who had a genuine passport from a European country and who shared a strong facial resemblance to him. He agreed to allow him use his passport to cross over to the UK in the summer of 2004. Safe in London at last, Mr Okoukoni was both shocked and thrilled by his first impressions of the city. “I saw Africans driving buses and cabs, and working in McDonald’s and in hospitals,” he said. “In Italy, you could hardly see a black person doing those kinds of jobs. Most of the black people I saw were factory workers or farm workers or cleaners or prostitutes.” His Nigerian friends in London helped him with accommodation; found him a job as a parking attendant and organised the relevant documentation. He would work with someone else’s identity. “Within one year, I had job satisfaction,” he said. “I felt I was doing something professional. I was paying taxes. I was sending money home to Nigeria.” Mr Okoukoni remembers being elated with his salary of £8.50 an hour, but after seeing an advert for a community college open day, he decided it was time to further his education. Of all the vocational courses on offer, he chose to study plumbing. [caption id="attachment_23220" align="alignright" width="624"]
Anselm’s journey:
- 2002: Goes to Greece
- 2003: Goes to Italy, works as street hawker
- 2004: Goes to the UK, works as parking attendant
- 2006: Trains as plumber
- 2008: Starts work as plumber
- 2012: Returns to Nigeria and sets up plumbing business
Over the next few years, Mr Okoukoni acquired another qualification in plumbing, one in heating and gas and a certificate in building services engineering. “I paid for all these courses myself. Everything cost me roughly £10,000.” Long before he had finished his studies in 2012, he had decided to return to Nigeria as he knew his skills would be invaluable in his home country. In 2013, he bought a van and loaded it with all manner of tools of his trade, then shipped if off to Nigeria. Shortly afterwards, he quit his £12-an-hour job in London, for a property development company in Lagos. He proved so efficient his boss was loath to let him go at the end of it. “But I wanted to go and build my own business,” Mr Okoukoni said. His plans to immediately build a website and advertise aggressively did not materialise, as he was soon inundated with contracts that came simply by referral from pleased clients. As he had envisaged, the dearth of quality workmen in Nigeria had made his plumbing, fire protection, air conditioning and ventilation services highly sought after. “Right now, I shuttle between Port Harcourt and Lagos doing jobs,” he said.

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