A Nigerian returnee from South Africa, Jamyou Sanni, has disclosed how mounting financial pressure and the collapse of his business ventures pushed him into undocumented status after he was unable to renew his residence permit.
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Sanni spoke on Vanguard’s The Nigeria Metre Podcast, recounting years of hardship and harassment he faced while living in South Africa.
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According to him, he initially entered the country through legal channels but later struggled to maintain his immigration status after he was forced to abandon his studies due to financial constraints.
“When I got there, I got there legally. The visa was for some months, but within that month, before the visa expired, I was unable to apply for a permanent residence or a permit,” he said.
He explained that he subsequently secured a two-year study permit through Boston College, which allowed him to remain in South Africa legally for a period. However, he said the rising cost of living, coupled with a decline in income, made it increasingly difficult to sustain his education alongside his other financial obligations.
“But after I got the permit, it was hard trying to survive with paying rent monthly. It wasn’t easy to pay school fees, paying rent and keeping up with life as a person. So, I had to let go of school,” he said.
Sanni noted that once he withdrew from school, he lost the institutional backing required to renew his immigration papers, a development that ultimately altered his legal status in the country.
“Because I let go of the school, the school also can’t help me to renew my papers. That was what happened. That’s how I became [an] illegal immigrant,” he added.
Responding to questions on why he did not pursue permanent residency, Sanni said his goal had always been to secure temporary permits that would allow him to remain in South Africa for as long as possible, rather than settle permanently.
“I didn’t apply to stay permanently. I was applying for permits just to stay for as long as they would let me stay,” he said.
He further pointed to the high cost of renewing permits and South Africa’s generally expensive living conditions as major obstacles to regularising his stay.
“Even applying for a permit costs so much. If you don’t have a full life for yourself, you pay like 5,000 rand at least for rent per month. You have to stock food and all that, and you don’t earn too much to be able to do everything for yourself. So it’s what you can that you sort yourself with little by little,” he said.
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