Journalist Samson Kasumba has offered a rare personal reflection on his years working abroad, detailing the physical strain, emotional toll, and family sacrifices that ultimately influenced his decision to return home.
In a candid post shared on X, the NBS Television news anchor revisited his experience in the United Kingdom, where he said he took up a wide range of manual and service jobs while trying to make ends meet.
“I did cleaning jobs, waited on tables at small and huge restaurants, cleaned kitchen floors and washed kitchen utensils of schools, offices and hospitals,” he wrote.
“I cleaned the floor at Tesco and office buildings and also worked at a construction site.”
Kasumba noted that his routine often involved long hours across multiple jobs with minimal rest, a lifestyle he described as physically unsustainable.
“Then there was the care work world supporting people,” he added, highlighting the demanding nature of care-related work many migrants take up abroad.
He further recounted a moment that underscored the intensity of his schedule.
“One day moving between jobs after days of insufficient sleep I stopped at a red traffic light and passed out,” he said, pointing to exhaustion as a major challenge during his time overseas.
Beyond physical fatigue, Kasumba said the lifestyle came at a significant personal cost.
“I had no time for my children, just moving from one shift to the next shift and then school,” he wrote, noting the strain on his family life.
He also reflected on interactions with colleagues that made him question long-term plans abroad.
“I worked on a shift in a care home with a Nigerian with a PhD. I asked him why he was still in the UK with his PhD,” he said, suggesting the experience prompted deeper reflection on expectations versus reality.
Kasumba said these experiences eventually led him to a firm decision to return home.
“I had to leave the UK and come back here. It just could not be me,” he stated, underscoring that the decision was personal and not a reflection of others’ choices.
He emphasized that while some people may thrive abroad, his own experience differed.
“Please understand when I say I am happy here. There are things that don’t work for me. They may work for you and I get that,” he added.