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By Modupe Ogunyemi
"I’m not an economist but I like kudi, so I pay close attention to economic trends. And as someone who has consistently urged young Nigerians to relocate in recent years, I feel compelled to give this small advice right now. Please grab a seat ☺

I moved to England in the wake of the 2007/ 08 economic recession. It was brutal. My #SurreyFam Tobe Obi can tell you how we hustled for every and any job. We applied for cleaning jobs sef and were rejected for lack of experience. Imagine, cleaning job o!

So yeah, I know firsthand what it’s like moving to a new country in an economic downturn. Those of you who are planning to move to Canada or the US this year, pay attention!

If this Corona issue continues for much longer, it is very possible that the US economy will crash. Because of Canada’s proximity to the US, it will not be unaffected. Even if the Corona Virus stops tomorrow, the economic indices already look dire.

Trump’s knee jerk handling of the matter has done more damage than good. Financial markets were already nose diving but the moment he announced that flight ban, it became a race to the bottom. The Toronto Stock Exchange dropped yesterday to its lowest in 8 decades.

Yes, that’s 80 freaking years. The Dow Jones lost 2000 points and is now the lowest it’s been since 1987. That’s 33 years ago. The S & P 500, Nasdaq. It’s a bloodbath. Airlines have already started laying off and some of those that haven’t have announced plans to do so.

Westjet, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, not to mention cruiselines. Transportation, tourism and hospitality sectors are reeling. Manufacturing is teetering. Oil? Naija sef don dey feel that one. There’s also the issue of supply chain disruption from China.

Many companies, including the gazillion dollar Apple have already revised their growth forecast for 2020 downwards.
What does all this turenchi mean for you that’s planning to come to Canada in the next few months?

Come o, but bear in mind that an economy that’s not growing is an economy that’s not hiring. An economy that’s not hiring means jobs can become scarce. So remove those rose – coloured glasses and reassess your plan.

Definitely, if there were to be a global recession, countries like Canada will handle it better than Naija. Canada was the only economy that didn’t enter a recession in 2008 so, that argument is valid. However, it is easier to hustle in a known land than in a foreign land.

After the 2008 meltdown, Britain started the “British jobs for British people” campaign that made it extra hard for immigrants to get jobs. In an economic downturn, governments will naturally move to protect their own.

Policies that don’t exist today may come into play if push comes to shove. So unless you’re coming on a beneficial immigration track, you should mitigate your exposure as much as you can.

If you are coming to Canada as a family for instance, you might want to change that to one person coming first, while the other person retains his or her job in Nigeria until the one in Canada finds a job.

I wouldn’t advice a ‘sell everything in Naija, Yankee or Canada here we come’ approach with the current economic outlook except you’re in a recession proof industry (for now, only healthcare seems to be in that category) or unless your Papa na Dangote.