Sometime ago I wrote about the very extremes of Lagos.
In Lagos, there’s the rich and the very wealthy. The rest of us are just one serious illness/problem away from poverty and gofundme.
I remember the first time I entered a home where there was an elevator, the domestic staff wore uniforms and the butler announced ‘Lunch is ready’ in a singsong voice.
If not that I am descended from very proud Okpe women, I would have embarrassed myself that day, but I tucked it in.
Or should I tell you about the first time I went to Banana Island? I was just thinking, so people who live here, if they ask them where they live they will say Lagos? No ma, you live in a luxurious Island off the coast of Lagos.
It is almost amusing to watch or listen to these very wealthy Lagos loans talk about their perspective on things, especially the usual young people are lazy line. Hahaha right? However, if you get an opportunity to listen to the intelligent ones, please listen because you might learn a thing or two.
What I want to talk about today is a new trend I just noticed about these very wealthy of Lagos. Maybe it is not even new, but I just started seeing it everywhere I turn.
The very wealthy of Lagos now employ women from Philippines, and poor countries in South America as maids/domestic staff.
Yes, you read that right.
It is always funny to see these women on okadas running errands, buying food items, carrying babies etc. It is not that I think they are above working as maids, no, as long as they are being paid and not being abused, work is work.
It is just the thought that people can no longer find domestic staff from the 170 million people in this country, or in West Africa, or African continent anymore so they have to cross the Atlantic and go all the way to SouthEast Asia/Southern America to get staff.
Every time I see this, I always clap my hands in a ‘na wa o’ gesture.
I am trying to understand how this trend started. Is it that the nannies, maids, cooks from Nigeria and neighbouring countries are too local? If so, can’t they be trained? Is it a prestige thing or a “wow I have this N100m lying around doing nothing, let me import a new maid thing?”
The very wealthy are less than 10% of the total population in this country and now they are above employing staff from the country? Please, if you people understand why, kindly explain it to me. Thank you.