Financial and monetary affairs often are witnesses to strange tales. This is the case in the life of 68-year-old Joseph Ibironke, a Nigerian man.
He shared that he left his motherland for the West, and returned after 30 years with nothing.
In an interview, Joseph Ibironke revealed that he migrated to the UK between 1983 and 1984 to look for better opportunities. He quit his Nigerian bank job behind to spend 9 years in the UK working as a security guard.
“I worked as a security officer after I was trained as an armed guard,” he said.
However, Ibironke became dissatisfied with his life in the UK and decided to migrate to the US, where he spent 21 years. Most of his friends who lived in the US also played a big role in influencing his decision.
His first work experience in the ‘land of freedom’ was with Burns, then with FBI Police Department. However, he received a calling to serve God, making him to resign from his police job. Afterwards, became a highly successful electronics dealer.
“I had a store in Orange County, California, which was predominantly occupied by whites, no blacks lived there. I sold sophisticated electronics,” he narrated while speaking to Punch NewspaperÂ
“I was always going to Japan to buy electronics and sell them. I was also the only black in Orange County at the time who made it,” Ibironke added.
Before departing Nigeria, Ibironke had a Nigerian wife and they had two children before his move to the UK. While in the US, he got married to an American woman from Texas, and they had four children together.
“I was married with 4 children. Right now, I don’t know their whereabouts. Their mother left me after my sickness,” he stated.
“I was hospitalised for 14 months, and the doctors couldn’t detect what was wrong with me. Nigerians who saw my condition said it was a spiritual attack and advised that I be taken to Nigeria for treatment.”
This is how Ibironke found himself returning to Nigeria with nothing. His family arranged for him to be taken to a psychiatric hospital, where they abandoned him.
Later, he was transferred to a correctional facility, where a man of God allegedly empathized with him. After reviewing his records, he took him back to the psychiatric hospital.
“However, no one checked on me again after some time and I ended up under a bridge. I was there for a while before some policemen saw me.”
Ibironke maintained that he plans on returning to the United States with the intention of leading a better life.